I put a warp on my loom of 12/2 cotton at 36 epi. The intention was to weave again some twill patterns I had woven last year at 24 epi. I wanted to do this because of an advanced twill workshop I followed with the Online Guild a few months ago for which I used the recommended sett of 36 and was amazed how different the cloth turned out.
So, why is this first photo of plain weave? Well, half way through the sampler, I was looking around me one day and saw a ball of fine spun singles wool that I didn't know what to do with. So, I picked it up and wove. First plain weave:
and then an undulating twill:
I really like the texture of the wool weft, and the soft look it gives to the fabric. Also, I like the amazing 3-d look of this undulating twill.
Another time, the yarn that came to hand was a cotton chenile. I had a go at weaving this in a horizontal pleat pattern (using 3-1 twill):
And now, here's a little gallery of some of my twills woven at 36 epi and 24 epi. I was fascinated by the difference it made. 36 epi gives a firmer cloth, and sharper definition to the patterns, but 24 epi gives softer fabric and flexibility. Sometimes a softer look to the patterns might be just what is wanted.
Each of these photos shows two cloths, both with 12/2 mercerised cotton warp and weft. The larger-scale pattern will be the one with sett of 24 epi, the smaller-scale has sett of 36 epi.
And here's another bit of something different, a couple of twills I tried from Anne Dixon's new Handweavers Pattern Book (published as Handweaver's Pattern Directory in the U.S.):
Another time, the yarn that came to hand was a cotton chenile. I had a go at weaving this in a horizontal pleat pattern (using 3-1 twill):
And now, here's a little gallery of some of my twills woven at 36 epi and 24 epi. I was fascinated by the difference it made. 36 epi gives a firmer cloth, and sharper definition to the patterns, but 24 epi gives softer fabric and flexibility. Sometimes a softer look to the patterns might be just what is wanted.
Each of these photos shows two cloths, both with 12/2 mercerised cotton warp and weft. The larger-scale pattern will be the one with sett of 24 epi, the smaller-scale has sett of 36 epi.
And here's another bit of something different, a couple of twills I tried from Anne Dixon's new Handweavers Pattern Book (published as Handweaver's Pattern Directory in the U.S.):
Thanks for posting those pictures. It's amazing that the sett can make such an enormous difference in the fabric. I would have thought you were using different weft too.
ReplyDeleteNext time I weave twill I'm going to make sure I put an extra yard or two for sampling a closer sett.
Dorothy, they're wonderful! Lovely samples. I like the ones with the wool and chenille weft. Perhaps I'll get brave and try something like that too.
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