Doubleweave Mug Rugs

Doubleweave is one of the structures that I have wanted to explore since I started weaving again.  I was teaching a friend to weave recently and she picked doubleweave from a project in Handwoven as the weave structure she wanted to use for her second project.  The Handwoven project used rayon chenille and she wanted to make cloth using a heavier weight cotton to make a tote bag.  I wasn't sure what sett we would need to use for 5/2 cotton, so I decided to put a short warp on to sample and found this pattern for mug rugs, so we could kill two stones with one bird.  Glad that we sampled, cause her structure didn't look so good, the colors ended up pretty muddy, but the mug rugs came out great.

Date Finished  February 2014

Loom    Baby Wolf

Weave Structure  Doubleweave

Reed  8 dent, 32 epi

Warp     Fiber  cotton

              Count   5/2

              Color  yellow, orange, burgundy

              Mfr  Valley Yarns

              Source  Webs

Warp     Width in Reed  5"

              Ends   168

              Length  3 yds

Weft      Fiber  same as warp

              Count

              Color

              Mfr

              Source

Beat                       50/50                     

Reversible Rug

This is another project from Interweave Publications Design Collection 19- all about rags.  Rugs seems to be the project that I gravitate to most frequently, utilitarian, sturdy, forgiving of mistakes.  This project is woven in a double weave, weaving two layers of fabric at the same time.  The fabric on the top layer can be a completely different color from what is being woven on the bottom layer and if you get tired of the colors on the top, just flip it over.  It should also result in a very thick rug, since it is made up of two layers.

The first step in this project was accumulating wool clothing to cut up for the weft.  I decided one layer would be red wool and all shades of black and white tweed.  The second layer would be plain black and the same black and white tweeds and plaids.  I accumulated probably 20 items of clothing before beginning to cut.  I used a rotary cutter on a quilting mat and the cutting went fairly quickly.  Cutting up the slacks, jackets, skirts seemed to be such a waste, but it came from the thrift store and already had a good life.  I am just repurposing it for it's second life.

The project was sleyed 1-3-2-3 and the 4th harness was not used at all.  I think there is probably an easier way to sley this on all 4 harnesses, but I couldn't figure it out, even after reading Black (New Key to Weaving) and Collingwood's rug book.  Next time I will probably use cotton carpet warp, since this wool was fairly expensive and is fairly small part of what is seen.



I used the standard tie-up and the following treadling:

From the right
Red tones - 1(lifts 1 and 3)
Black tones - 3 (lifts 3)

From the left
Red tones - 5  (lifts 2 and 3)
Black tones - 2 (lifts 2)


Date Finished  March, 2012

Loom  Newcomb

Weave Structure  double weave

Reed  8 epi, 4 epi  per layer

Warp     Fiber  Navajo wool warp, single ply

              Count  190 yds per tube

              Color  natural

              Mfr  Davidson

              Source  Earthguild

Warp     Width in Reed  31"

              Ends  252

              Length  3 yds, used 5 tubes

Weft      Fiber  wool rags, cut in 1" to 2" strips

              Count

              Color  black, black and white tweeds and  plaids on one side and red and black and white tweeds and  plaids on the other side

              Mfr

              Source  Thrift Store

Beat                       Weft Faced
Size

Notes