In Part 4 of her Spice Up Your Selvedges series, popular weaving teacher Sara Bixler shows how to use weft loops as decorative trims and for no-sew joins.
Previously, Part 1 covered ways to deal with lace and weft floats along the selvedges; Part 2 considered practical and decorative crocheted edgings; and Part 3 suggested commercial trims to add.—Handwoven editors
Occasional extra-long weft loops can add a decorative touch to your selvedges, they can be used to join narrow panels into larger pieces—or they can do both.
The setup is easy: When you put a warp on your loom, you add a pair of warp ends an inch or two away from your selvedges, and weight them over the back beam. Then, on every other pick, the shuttle travels all the way across the warp and around those supplementary warp ends on both sides. When you remove your handwoven from the loom, discard those extra warp ends and you’ll be left with weft loops along the selvedges.
Those loops can serve as a decorative touch or—now the fun begins!—you can pick up a crochet hook and use the loops to join multiple narrow panels into a wider throw or blanket.
—Sara Bixler
Make the No-Sew Blanket from the Video
This design by Sara Bixler for rigid-heddle or multi-shaft looms has you create weft loops along the selvedges as you weave. Then, instead of using a needle and thread to join the panels into a wider blanket, all you need is a crochet hook to connect those loops. Easy!