Doubleweave & Two Heddle placemats

My long awaited 10 dent heddles arrived a few days ago so I was anxious to use them right away. I had also just received  an order of 3/2 cotton so commence warping!

Threading the 1st heddle 

I used green and light blue 3/2 cotton along with narrow strips of Zauberball Crazy ball in holly blue.

I played around a bit on the beginning of the warp trying to figure out what weaving structure and weft best showed off the color changes in the Zauberball. 

I ultimately decided to go with two heddle weaving instead of doubleweave because the doubleweave fabric seemed a bit more open than I would like. I used the Zauberball as the weft. This produced a dense fabric with a very subtle color change.

After weaving about a yard and a half, I got bored and changed my mind (as usual) and decided to weave the rest of the warp with tubular doubleweave. This is still using the Zauberball as the weft, but the color change is much more pronounced. 

Here are a few inches in tubular doubleweave (see below for instructions). As you can see, there are some tension issues with this warp 😢 I was surprised that the 3/2 cotton was so stretchy. Instead of worrying about the warp tension, I just went for it, being mindful of catching errant threads and not beating the weft too hard. 

Well, here is the fabric off the loom. 

No matter how many pictures I take, I can't capture the colors in this weaving. You'll have to take my word for it, it's really cool. 

Closeup of Doubleweave section off loom, before finishing. 

Closeup of several different patterns on one two heddle warp and two weft colors. 

I hope to wash and machine stitch these placemats tomorrow, so keep looking for pictures. 

Next project, cotton towels with 8/8 cotton.

Happy Weaving!

Tubular Doubleweave 

With two heddles threaded....

1. Place both heddles in down position.

Take pickup stick and pick up every thread. Turn stick on edge. Place another pickup stick in the new shed and slide to back of loom. 

2. Both heddles up. Sliced 1st pick up stick just behind heddles. Place 2nd pickup stick in new shed and slide to back of loom. 

Weaving sequence:

1. Pickup stick 1

2. Heddle 2 up

3. Heddle 1 down

4. Pickup stick 2

Rigid Heddle - Two Heddle Weaving

After acquiring a Schaht 15 inch Flip loom, I think I've gone off the deep end with two heddle weaving and double weave. If you've never attempted weaving with two heddles, be prepared for a headache, literally. I just could not wrap my mind around the threading of the two heddles. After several attempts, I have finally figured out the threading and can't come up with new projects fast enough!

Here are some pictures of the weaving in progress....

Here is the loom direct warped with 3/2 pearl cotton through the first heddle

Since I do not have a warping board, I direct warp. This can get extremely confusing when trying to thread two heddles. Somehow I managed to thread the heddles properly.

 I used two pick up sticks for a zigzag pattern and a color changing wool weft. 

Here is the fabric off the loom 

If you are going to delve into two heddle weaving, I suggest you make your warp a bit longer so you can play around with different textures. As you can see, in the beginning of this warp I was playing around with two heddle/two layer log cabin. 

You can also see how different textures can weave at different widths. Next adventure..... double width cloth. Stay tuned 😜

Doubleweave Windows on a Rigid Heddle Loom

Adventures in Doubleweave 

Squares and Checks

Here are a few doubleweave projects featuring squares or checks. Be forewarned, this technique can be time consuming but yields awesome results. 

You will need a rigid heddle loom with two heddle capacity. There are many sites out there that have diagrams to show you how to thread two heddles. You will also need four pickup sticks. 

Threading two heddles for multiple colored stripes can be tedious, especially when using two 10 dent heddles 😉 but the effect is well worth it. 

In this technique you will essentially be weaving two layers separately and then interchanging the layers for your pattern. 

Here is the loom warped in cream with three shades of blue that are blended to form a gradient. 

For the pickup sticks, put both heddles in the down position. Starting at the right of the loom, pick up every other thread beginning with the 2nd thread. Picking up from the front of the heddles is easier than from the back. Turn your pickup stick on edge and then insert another stick into the shed formed behind the heddles. Now pull out the stick in the front. 

Place both heddles in the up position and slide the 1st pickup stick directly behind the heddles

Now insert another pickup stick into that new shed and slide both sticks to the back of the loom.

To insert the 2nd pair of pickup sticks, place both heddles in the down position again. Starting at the right of the loom, pick up every other thread beginning with the 1st thread, or if it's easier for you to remember, every thread that wasn't picked up on the 1st stick. Place both heddles in the up position, and again, slide the pickup stick to the rear of the heddles and insert your final stick into the new shed. 

Here is a view of all four pickup sticks in place.

You can see that the color layer is manipulated by the 1st two sticks and the cream layer is manipulated by the second two sticks. 

By using cream weft on the upper layer and baby blue on the lower, you can make a fabric like this.....

With the same warp and a plain weave 

(both heddles up and both heddles down) you can also make this fabric. Note the difference in width....

Another example in different colors

Give it a try!