Networked Double Weave Pillow

I find the blurred edges of the patterns in networked double weave subtle and interesting.  I also like the clear, sharp edges of the patterns in traditional patterned double weave.  In this post I’m delighted to share photos, drafts, and notes of a plain weave, networked double weave pillow that I recently designed and wove as well as photos of other double weave projects I worked on this year.

The pillow project started out with pattern lines that I designed and then networked (initial 4) using Fiberworks weaving software.  I then played around with the resulting networked threading and treadling drafts, tried different twill tie-ups in case I decided to weave my yardage as a networked twill, and then tried them with double weave tie-ups in case I decided to weave it as a networked double weave.  Eventually I had to make a decision and the winner was a networked double weave draft that I used to weave this fabric from which I made the pillow:

Networked Double Weave fabric and pillow woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2017

Networked Double Weave fabric woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2017 (close-up)

The warp and weft are both 20/2 cotton, 2 strands used together, and the sett is 36 epi and about 37 ppi.  I wet finished the fabric by washing by hand, hanging to dry, and steam ironing while the fabric was still slightly damp.  I sewed the pillow as a one-piece envelope pillow.  I’m not great at sewing so I searched online and found a video on “How to make an envelope pillow cover” by CraftyGemini that was clear and easy to follow.

Here are images of the 16-shaft, networked double weave draft showing one side, the other side, and a close-up of one section of the draft (let me know if you would like the WIF file):

Draft for Networked Double Weave showing one side

Draft for networked double weave showing other side

Partial Draft for Networked Double Weave – close-up of one section (interlacement view)

A few years ago I learned how to design double weave tie-ups using Photoshop Elements, thanks to Alice Schlein’s amazing book, The Liftplan Connection (Designing for Dobby Looms with Photoshop and Photoshop Elements).  I weave on a 16-shaft, 40 inch wide, Macomber treadle loom, and found things in Alice’s book that I can learn and apply even to my treadle loom.  It’s also so much fun!  Here’s the double weave tie-up I used for the pillow that I designed with Photoshop Elements:

Double Weave Tie-Up designed with Photoshop Elements

A more challenging networked double weave project that I designed and wove is this wall hanging that I plan to submit to my weavers guild annual exhibit next year:

Networked Double Weave Wall Hanging woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2017

Networked Double Weave Wall Hanging woven on 16 shafts, cotton, 2017 (close-up)

Last but not least, I wove a traditional double weave runner as a gift for friends of mine and of my husband’s who are antique dealers of early American folk art.  It’s a 12-shaft, 3-block double weave.  I generated the draft with block substitution from profile draft No. 169 that I found in Mary Meigs Atwater’s classic book, The Shuttle-Craft Book of American Hand-Weaving, first published in 1928.  Below are photos of this runner, notice on the close-up the clear and sharp edges of the pattern as compared to the more subtle, unclear edges in the pillow and wall hanging:

Double Weave Runner, cotton, 2017 (woven from Atwater’s 3-block profile draft No. 169)

Hope you enjoyed reading this post, see you next time!

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Tags: double weave, network drafting, photoshop elements, weaving, weaving drafts

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