Does anyone have an idea how to keep the warp spacing you desire when you don't have a reed or rigid heddle? I weave with string heddles on a backstrap loom, but I want balanced weaves!

Comments

Caroline (not verified)

hi Jenadina, one trick I have noticed, not that I've done it myself, is to use the same yarn for the heddles as for the warp threads, and when you make the string heddles, you can put an extra loop around the dowel holding the heddles, in between each heddle - you could put a couple of loops if necessary.

To work out how wide your piece should be, for a balanced weave it would be wpi divided by 2 = ends per inch, so a yarn that wrapped around a measured inch on a ruler or WPI tool, at 14 epi would have 7 ends per inch in a balanced weave.  You can make a stretcher to fasten to the web as you weave with the width marked on it so you can use it as a guide, or else use a ruler every few rows to see how you are going, but in the end, with backstrap weaving, you pretty much learn to eyeball it. When you change sheds and adjust the warps you can spread everything out so it doesn't draw in too much. also, bubble or arc your weft so it can curl around the warps a bit ( the warps should do the same to keep it balanced) so that you don't pull in the selvedges. Check out Laverne's (Bolivian Warmi) video tutorials on Weavezine where she shows in close up how to do the selvedges. It applies equally to balanced and wide weaves as well as to narrow bands. Francorios also does balanced weaves on his backstrap and has written about selvedges in the backstrap forum and on his blog.

I'm sure you will meet weavers who have other tricks they find useful; try them out, then go with the one that works best for you! Good luck!

jenadina (not verified)

The extra half-hitch is a good idea. I'm not having any trouble with draw-in. It's kinda strange, actually...the center of the last 2 things I've made have been warp-faced while the edges have been pretty balanced. I guess I have the center of my pieces set closer than the edges. I *didn't* realize that you do the selvedges the same way regardless of the weave, that's good to know.

To try to help with spacing, I've run a line of regular white glue on my loom bars every inch so I can SEE how many threads I have to the inch :) Hopefully that will help.

francorios (not verified)

Something I found helpful for maintaining balance weave is to MEASURE the piece constantly. Then I know when to leave more loose weft.

Other item I will be using in the future is a temple/stretcher made from a wooden yardstick(meter stick) and some paper clips. I made one from a ruler(scale) on a previous project and it helped a lot.

See my blog http://francosfiberadventure.blogspot.com/2009/06/temple-is-handy-thing.html

A stretcher made from a measuring stick would give the advantage of measurement and a physical means of holding the width.

Have a good day!

 

MaryMartha

I have no experience with backstrap weaving, but a technique used with various kinds of ground and frame looms is to use a twined header to maintain a consistent warp spread.  Getting the right spacing is a matter of the size of yarn/cord used for the twining, and how many turns you put between each end.   The half-hitch on a heddle bar sounds similar and may work the same way.  The value of using a twined header is that it establishes the spacing right at the weaving line?

See the section on twining at http://www.marlamallett.com/loom.htm.

bolivian warmi

For backstrap weaving, I have my warp ends on a steel knitting needle or length of piano wire and I then lash that to the loom bar winding the lashing yarn, which is usually a doubled piece of the warp yarn, between each warp pair.  When I finish the piece, I remove the needle and then pass the starting weft tail 2 or 3 times through the end loops on a large sewing needle.

This does help with the spacing as does extra hitches on the heddle stick but you still have to MEASURE, MEASURE, MEASURE and adjust as you go along as it doesn't take long for the warps to start wandering. I generally work on pretty short warps-around a yard or so- and it also helps to treat the end loops at the other end the same way-on a needle and lashed- and weave a few inches at the far end before starting.

 

You can see the lashng here on this plain weave piece-one turn of lashing..

Two turns of lashing on this twill.

Laverne