31/01/2015

How to do a ”proper hem” (Swedish style)


(or, at least: this is how I learned it, when I was at weaving school)

Let’s start with an ordinary 2/2 twill: comparing the two faces, we see that the twill line goes in opposite directions.


Thus, if we just take the whole piece as is, and turn under, the reverse side with the hem at the bottom would look like this:


If, instead, we weave the hem part “opposite”, what we see on loom would be this:


And, with the hem turned, the reverse side has the twill line going the same way all over:


Going on to a 2-block twill – if the right side looks like this


the reverse looks like this


and therefore the hem part should be woven like this


Note the clean cut(s) between the hem part and the body. It is of no structural importance, but it looks much neater.

And, in parts of the world where the weaving police is active, it is a must!

In those parts, it is also of vital importance that the pattern on the 2-block hem is "correct" - and also that there are exactly the same number of picks on the two hems (of one hemmed piece - or, if one is presenting a stack of towels, for instance, the same # on all the hems).

How do I know? Because I was rejected from a (Hemslöjden) exhibition because there were not the same # of picks. The hems
measured the same, and the pattern matched, but that was less important...
(And no, the primary cause was not my uneven beating - I had used a relatively fat and uneven tow yarn... had I woven one more repeat it would perhaps have evened out. Or not)

Do I always plan/sew hems this way? No, and I even sew my hems with a machine. (Unless they are meant for a Hemslöjden exhibitions, of course.)



The same reasoning can be applied to other bindings (structures) as well.

Here is part of a profile draft for "cat tracks", with the hem at the top:

8 comments:

spinne said...

Very interesting post! I will try this in my next project. Thank you!

Cathy said...

Good info. Thanks!

Meg said...

It's obvious, when you think about it. But I never ever thought about it. Thank you.

Kerstin på Spinnhuset said...

Maybe you just don't have a weaving police active enough in your respective countries... :-D

(At times our WP even have rules about which colours are appropriate...)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the information, I will try that method on my next project. Weaving police have color rules? Oh yikes!

Kerstin på Spinnhuset said...

Yup! If the colours [not DYES] "do not exist in NATURE" it can have.
Um. Not "exist" in "nature"?!?

Have also had several discussions about (can't begin to translate it myself - google translate either to help or hindrance suggests "tinctorially cohesive") - starting again: have also had discussions about which colours "go" with other colours... like: "but it isn't ... "cohesive" to use 15 shades, going from blue to red, in ONE piece".
See some of my, um, "offending" combos at the article about serial weaving (scroll down to the photos at the bottom)

Cally said...

Oh my, counting all the picks. No wonder the weaving police get so cranky!

Anonymous said...

Obvious, now that you point it out! Very interesting post, thank you.
Lora