Cutting Off Celebration!

Is there anything as exciting as cutting off? Oh sure, there will be some errors to mend. And only wet finishing will reveal the true nature of the cloth. But after investing hours and hours at the loom, cutting the fabric off is a celebration. This is the moment when the work of this weaver’s hands is finally revealed!

While admiring and examining the fabric as it comes off the loom, I am already moving onto the next step–finishing. Here are a few of my regular practices.

  • Thread-mark the right side of the fabric on each sample and individual piece before completely removing the fabric from the loom. This removes guesswork later. Thread a blunt-tip needle with 6 – 8″ of warp or weft thread, and make a 1/2″ stitch through the fabric. Leaving a loose loop, tie the ends of the thread together in a square knot on the right side of the fabric.
Weaving tip: Thread-mark the fabric.
Knot in the thread tells me that this is the right side of the fabric. Thread marks are sewn onto each piece before removing the fabric from the loom if the difference between the right and wrong side of the fabric is less than obvious. Thread marks remain until hems are turned under.
  • Tie sequential knots in the thread marks. e.g., First towel has one knot, second towel has 2 knots, etc. This enables accurate record-keeping measurements before and after wet finishing for individual items.
Weaving tip: How I number the towels on a warp.
After washing, I count the number of knots in the thread to know which towel is which. Before and after measurements enable me to calculate the amount of shrinkage that occurs, which helps for planning future projects.
  • Cut pieces apart before washing.

1. Two weft picks have been woven for each cutting line. The two threads make an easy guide path for the scissors.

Cutting line between woven items.
Cutting line for separating the woven pieces. Cut between the two red weft threads.

2. Use the same cutting-line color for every project (I use red, unless red is one of the weft colors in the project). This helps prevent accidental cutting at weft design stripes in the piece (which I did once –Oops!– before establishing this rule).

3. Pull out the cutting-line threads. Any remaining thread residue is easily removed with a lint roller.

Pulling out the cutting line.
Red cutting line thread pulls off, leaving a straight woven edge for finishing.
  • Finish the cut edges with an overlock stitch on a serger or with a zigzag stitch (preferably a three-stitch zigzag, according to my friend, Elisabeth) on a sewing machine.
Getting ready to wet finish these M's and O's towels!
All items are prepared for washing. Errors have been mended, and cut edges have been finished with the serger.
M's and O's (Sålldräll) after washing. Karen Isenhower
Lovely texture of the M’s and O’s (Sålldräll) structure is revealed after washing. A few more finishing steps remain: pressing, adding handwoven hanging tabs, and hemming.

Humans are not finished until they are loved. Love is patience and kindness at the core. We want to be on the receiving end of that, don’t we? We all need someone to love us–to carry our burdens, to believe us, to hope the best for us, to endure with us. It’s in the finishing that we discover the value, the corrections needed, and the beauty that has been woven in. This is the love of God to us. This is the finishing work of Jesus Christ, and his love in us.

May you have many cutting-off celebrations.

With love,
Karen

PS It’s good to be back with you! I hope you had a pleasant and weaving-full July.

20 thoughts on “Cutting Off Celebration!

  1. Nice ideas! God is good God is great!! It’s is true JOY when we give ourselves to Jesus Others and You!!

    1. Hi Beth, Thank you so much! I am thrilled to be here.
      These towels and table runner are going to be some of my very favorite handwoven items. They are simply elegant.

      Happy weaving,
      Karen

  2. I was happy to see this post. I was never sure if I should cut towels apart before or after laundering. This seems much easier.

    1. Hi Carla, I like to cut towels apart before washing because a long piece tends to twist up more, which can lead to some permanent creases. In fact, I had some problem with that on the long table runner in this set. If I have an extra-short sample, I may leave it connected to a towel and then cut them apart after washing, so the short piece doesn’t get too battered in the wash.

      Happy weaving,
      Karen

  3. I so look forward to your posts! So often I am encouraged to try new ideas, and always walk away with a sense of blessings and community! Thank you!

    I usually weave 1 3/4″ with sewing thread on the ends so that my hems are not thick. (But I am mostly using 5/2 cotton at this point, as a new weaver.) I see you are not…is this because you are using finer yarns?

    1. Hi Cherie, I love the community of friends here! I’m glad you get that same sense.

      Great question! Thanks for asking. I’ve never used a different thread for my hems than what is in the towel or other item. I think that’s a great idea if you are using coarser threads. The weft in these towels is 20/1 linen, so it’s pretty fine to start with. I like to think of the hems as a design element of the towel, so the weft choice plays into that.

      All the best,
      Karen

      1. Your weaving is beautiful.
        I’ve used rug warp for my hems when doing rag rugs and always put in the contrasting cutting line, but with the coarser fabric I also try to zig-zag before cutting apart. I don’t have a serger and by careful folding one rug will fit under the machine arm. Cut one off and then sew the next one 🙂

        1. Thank you for the compliment!

          I’ve used rug warp for hems on rag rugs, too. Sounds like you have a great system! Thanks for sharing.

          All the best,
          Karen

    1. Hi Liberty, I’m glad to be back! These towels turned out even better than I had hoped. I’m glad you like them.

      Happy weaving,
      Karen

    1. Hi Betty, It’s a joy for me to get to share about the things I’ve learned and stumbled onto along the way. Thanks for letting me know you get something out of it.

      All the best,
      Karen

  4. Happy to see you back as well. I did take notice that you had separated the towels before washing, seems it would work much nicer.Thanks for your wonderful tips and messages.

    1. Hi Angie, Thanks for the warm greeting! Separating the towels before washing does work well for me. And then, after drying them and pressing them, they are ready for hemming.

      Happy weaving,
      Karen

  5. Hi Karen

    I just love your videos and I am learning so much from them, and they are truly inspiring, I hope to be able to weave as beautifully as you do one day. I’m a newbie to weaving you see so I’m watching loads of videos at the minute. I have just managed to pick up a Glimakra standard countermarch loom second hand (with 8 shafts and 8 treadles) and I am so lucky have it. However, there are no videos on the web or on Youtube (that I can find) about seeing how the lams operate and about how to tie up lams with shafts and treadles according to the desired pattern. So any advise or comments would be hugely appreciated. I have seen other tie up videos but with different looms so unsure if its kind of the same??

    Can’t wait to see your next project x

    1. Hi Julie, I am so happy to hear that you are learning things from my videos! Thanks for letting me know.

      How exciting that you ended up with an 8-shaft Glimakra Standard countermarch loom! You will love it!! It will take some learning and practice, but you will find it is a great loom for anything you want to weave.

      There are some excellent books that describe in detail how the lamms and treadles are tied up on a countermarch loom. Different types of looms do have different ways of being tied up. I have listed my three favorite resources at the end of the post at this link: Quiet Friday: Warping Back to Front with Confidence.

      If you are reading a Scandinavian weaving draft, the upper lamms correspond with the black squares in the draft, and the lower lamms correspond with the white (or empty) squares in the draft. (I hope that is helpful!)

      My next project on this loom (Glimakra Ideal) will be rag rugs. But first, I’m going to concentrate on the other loom (my Glimakra Standard) to make significant progress on that project!

      Let me know how it goes as you get set up and get started weaving.

      Happy weaving,
      Karen

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