Loom woven vest

This week I’ve been experimenting with doubleweave to create a simple zero waste vest. I’m working at quarter scale for these prototypes.

I wanted a V neck so wanted to see if I could create a neckline on the loom by cutting warp threads and then weaving them back in as weft. Starting at the centre point, I cut  2 warp threads per pick(2 centre threads then one on each side) on the top layer only and used them as the weft for that layer  until I had a wide enough V. I carried on weaving the bottom layer as a separate, un-joined layer to create the armholes.  Once I was left with the right amount of shoulder width on the top layer,  I joined the shoulders with hemstitch and hemstitched across the back. The V neckline turned out well, very neat.

The process was simple and quite quick BUT what a mess I made at the back of the loom! I had to pull the cut threads out of their heddles  to stop them tangling  and interfering with the shed, so they needed rethreading after I had cut the  weaving from the loom, luckily I had kept the cross sticks in so it wasn’t too difficult.

I’m left with the warp ends at the sleeve edges on the top layer which I need to resolve, maybe have them as a fringe or tassels. I may weave the back layer in this section with cut wefts too so I have a fringe to work with on both sides of the armhole.

I tried hemstitching the 2 layers on the loom individually at the start, not something I’d tried before – or would attempt again! It was very tricky stitching the bottom layer through the top. After cutting off, I found I had made a mistake and so had to cut the layers apart, leaving   a messy hole that needs some visible darning to cover it up.  Next time I’ll hemstitch off the loom.

Overall, this has potential for further development. My plan is to weave a quarter scale prototype of each idea before revisiting them as a collection and deciding which to develop further.

Next: a zero waste trouser challenge!