Rigid Heddle Doubleweave - A picture tutorial

I have been asked several times recently about doubleweave on a Rigid Heddle loom so I thought I'd do a step by step picture tutorial. By far, the best resource I've found on the subject is "The Weaver's Idea Book, creative cloth on a rigid heddle loom" by Jane Patrick. I think it is an essential for every rigid heddle weaver. 

I think I nearly turned my brain inside out trying to figure out the threading diagrams online for two heddles. I know it seems daunting, but you just have to do it and after a minute or two, you'll get it. 

Ok, let's start with the threading. When direct warping a rigid heddle loom for doubleweave, you need to have 4 threads per dent. For this example I am using 8/2 unmercerized cotton and two 10 dent reeds on a 15" Flip Loom. This will give me a set of 20epi for two heddle plain weave and 10epi per layer for doubleweave. 

Here you can see 4 threads through each slot. The next step is to take one thread from each slot and sley it into the hole directly to the right, like this....

So now you have 3 ends in a slot and 1 end in a hole. Though it may seem more complicated, I find that using a striped warp for doubleweave actually makes the threading easier. Sometimes, with one color, you can get lost in the threading or easily cross warps behind the heddles, which is not good.

So, onto the 2nd heddle. Place the second heddle in front of the 1st heddles. Take a close look at the threads. 

Take the 1st grouping of 3 threads from the rear heddle and drape them over top the front heddle, like so....

Take the left most thread and sley it in the  corresponding slot in the front heddle. 

Then take the 2nd thread and sley it through the next hole.

Now take the 3rd thread and sley it through the next slot. Next, take the hole thread from the rear heddle and sley it through the same slot as the last thread in the front heddle.

Continue across, sleying the 3 slot threads from the rear heddle into the front heddle as follows: slot, hole, slot. The hole thread from the rear heddle will always go in the last slot you sleyed in the front. 

Now that all the threading is done, it's time to tie the warp into the front beam. I do this with both heddles in the Up position. Once you have adjusted your tension, it's time to spread the warp and check for threading errors. 

Oops, I found two pairs of twisted warp threads. 

They will show up on the weaving like this.....

Now you must untie that group of warp threads and try and figure out the threading mistake. Embrace the mistakes!!! Everyone makes them, you just need to use them as a self-teaching tool. This goes for knitting and crochet as well. Don't give up. Figure out the mistake and why it happened. Next time, you either won't make the same mistake, or you'll know right away how to fix it. 

Ok, now onto the pickup sticks. Put both heddles in the down position. Take stick A and pick up every other thread like this.....

Now, turn the stick on edge. Insert another pickup stick in the shed formed behind the heddles. Remove stick from in front of the heddles. 

Now, place both heddles in the up position. Slide stick A forward to the back of the heddles. You will see that a small shed is formed. Insert stick B in the shed like this.....

Slide both pickup sticks to the back of the loom. You're all done! Let the Doubleweave commence :)

To see a video of how to weave double wide cloth on a rigid heddle loom, please visit my YouTube channel at the following link.......

https://youtu.be/ttFWYjtLk7I

Happy Weaving!

8/2 Bamboo on Rigid Heddle Loom

1st off, weaving with 8/2 bamboo is possible on a rigid heddle, but I Do Not recommend it.....at least for a warp. A weft is just fine, but the yarn will not standup as a warp to the constant friction applied to a warp when using two heddles. That being said, here are the results of the experiment. 

Since I got my 1st rigid heddle loom, I always wanted it to do more. When I got a 15" Flip loom, I went straight into weaving with two heddles and double weave. I finally got the courage to order some beautiful bamboo yarn in 8/2; by far the smallest yarn I've worked with and quite intimidating I might add. 

I warped the loom with two 10 dent heddles and kept my fingers crossed that the fabric would be about 20 epi. 

I wove a header then a bit with the bamboo weft, but the weave was very loose. I realized I had to beat quite hard for the 20 epi and 20 ppi I was going for. 

Everything was going along nicely and then, the warp began to break. I made the painful decision to cut the weaving off the loom. 

The fabric is gorgeous and by far the finest sett I've been able to achieve so far on the rigid heddle. 

So, what have we learned? 

A. Do Not use fine bamboo as warp with two heddle weave; the yarn just gets shorn off by the constant friction of the two heddles. 

B. A very fine sett is possible on the rigid heddle. Next time I will try an 8/2 cotton warp with an 8/2 bamboo weft.

Happy Weaving!

A summer sunset in beautiful Bucks Co., PA

Waffle Weave With Two Heddles

A true waffle weave is difficult to achieve on a rigid heddle loom. Using one heddle and a pickup stick, you can achieve something very close. I've been wondering how to do waffle weave with a finer sett using two heddles. Here is what I came up with. 

I direct warped my 15" Flip Loom for two heddles using 4 ends of 8/4 cotton per slot. I threaded the heddles as usual for two heddle weaving. 

Now for the pickup stick. Put both heddles in the down position. Pickup every other thread and slide the stick to the back of the loom. 

The weaving sequence is:

1. Up (Both heddles)

2. Neutral & pickup stick on edge 

3. Up (Both heddles)

4. Down (Both heddles)

5. Up & slide pickup stick

6. Down (Both heddles)

Here is the result....

The weft floats are more narrow than with with a single heddle, but the weave still produces cells. 

After a quick trip to the sewing machine, it was into to washer and dryer. 

I steam pressed the towel and, Ta-da!!!!

The cut cotton at the ends fluffed nicely.

I also made two other towels from this warp....

Happy Weaving!

One Warp, Two Completely Different Doubleweave Projects

The possibilities are endless for your rigid heddle loom when you learn how use two heddles. The problem is that threading two heddles is much more time consuming than one. Project planning is essential. For me, it seems silly to tie on a short warp and then meticulously sley all those threads for a small project. I will show you how you can maximize your warp, and all the work that went into threading, to produce two vastly different pieces of fabric off of one long warp.

You will need:

3/2 Pearl Cotton for the warp & weft

Any bully or super bulk yarn for weft

15" or larger rigid heddle loom w/ two heddle capacity 

2 8 dent heddles 

2 pickup sticks

The 1st project is a doubleweave rug. I threaded the two heddles with cream colored 3/2 Pearl cotton. 

Weave about 1 inch of plain weave.

 Time for pickup sticks. 

1. Both heddles down. You will see that the threads are in pairs. Pickup the left thread of each pair. Slide stick to back of loom

2. Both heddles up. Slide stick 1 to the rear of the heddles. Insert pickup stick 2 in the lower shed that forms. Slide both pickup sticks to the back of the loom.

Begin the double width pattern with your header yarn. Weave about an inch. By weaving a header in pattern, it will be easier to finish your rug/mat when it's off the loom. You can't hem stitch double width cloth on the loom so the header will assist you in hem stitching after the fabric is finished or when it comes to machine stitching; whichever you choose. 

You can see from the header how it is possible to weave two completely different setts with the same warp, weft and threading.  The 1st part of the header is 16 epi, while the doubleweave section is 8 epi. 

Double Width Pattern 

1. Pickup stick 1

2. Heddle 2 up

3. Pickup stick 2

4. Heddle 1 down 

You can use any color pattern you want. Based on the amounts of yarn I had, I alternated large areas of each color separated by thin stripes of black and the other colors. It really doesn't matter. At the beginning of your weaving you should add a guide string. I measure a piece of yarn the length I want my weaving to be and pin it on. 

End with your waste yarn in pattern for 1 inch then in plain weave for one inch. 

Now for the second project, a placemat.

I wove a header in fingering weight yarn in a cream color. Then, using a blue 3/2 cotton weft, wove about 1 inch of a lace pattern:

1. Heddle 1 up

2. Heddle 1 down

3. Heddle 2 up

I wove another inch in plain weave with the cream header yarn. 

I then alternated one pick of the cream yarn with one pick of the blue. 

Depending on how much warp you have left, you can weave a placemat or a table runner. When you have reached your desired length, reverse the directions above and you're done.

Now, it's on to the sewing machine and then the washer & dryer. Keep checking back for pictures of the finished products. Happy Weaving!

Wet Finishing Woven Cotton

After making the cotton towels I listed in my last post, I machine stitched the towels and threw them in the washer then in the dryer. I was very surprised at what came out. 

I've wet finished wool before with the expected results; quite a bit of fulling and felting. In the past, when I've wet finished cotton, there has always been a bit of shrinkage, but these towels were actually transformed.

I wish I'd had the foresight to measure the towels before they were wet finished, but hopefully these pictures will show the transformation.

Here is the rib pattern towel on the loom.....

Closeup of the stripe detail

Here is the rib pattern towel off the loom and machine stitched before wet finishing.

Here it is after wet finishing.

I LOVE IT! The softness and drape of this fabric is amazing. Of all the towels I made, this pattern lost the least amount of width and length. I wish I had a loom that was capable of making this fabric in a larger size as it would make the best blanket ever. 

Now onto the twill. Here it is on the loom.....

Here it is off the loom and machine stitched...

Though I ran out of warp and this towel ended up being a square, I thought I could use it as a mat for a plant or a trivet. However, after wet finishing. I was left with this rectangle .....

Top Side

Reverse 

Closeup of both sides of twill

Finally, the plain weave cotton towel. I used a cream colored acrylic yarn for the weft, only because I had some left on a shuttle. 

Here is the plain doubleweave on the loom....

It was rather a long rectangle, so I was very surprised when it finished like this.....

An almost perfect square ;)

I learned, from this experiment in towels and wet finishing, that you must really take the length of your warp into great account when planning a woven fabric. I used a guide yarn in my next project and hopefully it will help in attaining the length I want in my finished product. 

I hope this was helpful in some way.

Happy Weaving!

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 😜