Scarves with Doubleweave Hems

 The pandemic is still happening and I am still weaving scarves.  I had a friend ask if I ever wove scarves without fringe.  I hadn't but I knew there were ways of approaching that.  I wasn't interested in doing a turned hem because of the potential bulk.  I have weaver friends who wove scarves that had what is called a doubleweave or tubular hem.  

The technique involves weaving two layers of textile at either end of the scarf, i.e., doubleweave.  Once finished, these two layers are folded inward and the folded textile is sewn together.  This gives a nice hem that hopefully isn't a lot bulkier than the scarf itself.  

Since I had been having success with tencel scarves, I decided to use 10/2 tencel Just Our Yarn yarn for this type of scarf.  The plan for the first scarf was to have the body woven as a 2/2 twill with a plain weave hem.  That way, I could weave this on my Baby Wolf.  I threaded the warp as a straight draw on 8 shafts.  The tie-up was a 2/2 twill (treadles 1-4) and the configuration needed to weave doubeweave on the hems was on treadles 5-8.  

Pink Scarf Drawdown

The warp was sett at 36 epi, the same sett that had been used for previous scarves I wove with this type of yarn. The warp yarn was a light peach/pink and the warp a medium dark red-fuschia.  

The weaving was straightforward.  I even hem-stitched each layer of the hem, so that it would be easier to manage after it was off the loom.  

Finished Scarf Hem

The resulting scarf worked.  I did get a slight bit of draw-in - more so at the end than the beginning of the warp.  The two layers of hem turned in ok and they were sewn together to look seamless.

Pink Scarf with Doubleweave Hem

Nice scarf, nice colors.  However, in looking at how this scarf turned out, I decided that I wasn't happy with the plain weave hem versus the twill scarf.  I also wasn't excited about how the short color intervals in the 2/2 twill design.  

Now that I felt comfortable with the technique, I thought about how I could select a different draft to improve on those areas that I thought could be improved.  

Since I wanted to have a more interesting scarf, I chose to use a 2-2-1-1-1-1 tie-up (treadles 1-8) with the straight draw threading.  The hem was to be a twill rather than plain weave.  This called for eight treadles instead of the four needed for the plain weave hem above.  These are treadles 9-16.  This could be woven on a standard 8-shaft loom if you changed the treadles before and after the hem.  However, I have a dobby loom, so it was much easier to weave this scarf on that.  

Here is the drawdown with focus on the tie-up for the hem and scarf. 

Blue-Fuschia Scarf Drawdown - partial

The yarns I used for this scarf were 10/2 tencel from Just Our Yarn.  The warp was a mixture of ends of skeins that ranged from blues and fuchsias to oranges and greens.  I alternated two of the color ways together.  I decided that since there were common colors on the different skeins, this should work.  The weft was a blue-fuschia variegated 10/2 tencel.

Blue-Fuschia Scarf Warp Colors

For this scarf, I used an advancing, irregular point treadling.  

Blue-Fuschia Scarf Draw Down - Full

Weaving the hem took a little bit more care for this scarf.  It was easier to pack down the twill weft picks than it had been with a plain weave hem, so I had to be careful not to beat too hard. Again, each layer was hemstitched while on the loom.  The two layers were turned in and the folded edges stitched together.   

Blue-Fuschia Scarf Hem Detail

The finished scarf looked good and the hem more closely matched the rest of the scarf.

I think this was fairly successful.  I will definitely try this type of hem again.

Scarves, Scarves, Scarves

I realize it has been a while since I've posted here.  I have been doing repeats of many of the things I have woven before - towels by the dozens; shawls and some baby blankets.  I wasn't sure that I had anything new to offer.  

During the current shelter-in-place, I have been weaving a lot:  a dozen towels, two shawls and some scarves.  The scarves were a bit of a departure for me. Typically,  I have used a merino or merino/nylon blend for scarves.  

In thinking about all of the yarn I have, I thought about a promise I made to myself several years ago.  After a fabulous meeting with a dozen other weavers, many of us came away with the mantra to use our good yarn.  I even went so far as to decide that when my old weaver yarn sale happened, people should be disappointed about the quality of the yarn available.  I decided that there was no time like the present and I should seek out the silk yarn I've acquired.  Fortunately for me, I took a bit of a detour and came across some 10/2 tencel yarn I had bought from Just Our Yarns.  

I hadn't used tencel yarn up to this point, although I know lots of weavers who love it.  It just hadn't happened.  Just Our Yarns in no longer in business but the owners dyed their yarns with fabulous and interesting color combinations.  I decided I had had this yarn long enough and I should use it.

In the end, I wove three scarves using the 10/2 tencel:  three different warp yarns and two different weft yarns.  The designs were all 8-shaft point twills, sett at 36 epi using a 2-2-1-1-1-1 tie up.  

For the first scarf, I used an extended twill and an advancing treadling.  The warp was mostly red/fuchsia and the weft was blues.  

Fuchsia Scarf Drawdown

Here's the first scarf.  

Fuchsia Scarf

A more detailed view.

Fuchsia Scarf Detail

The second scarf was woven with a light green warp and an orange/green weft.  The treading was an 8-shaft extended point twill.  The treadling was the same as in the first scarf.  

Light Green Scarf Drawdown

Here's the second scarf.

Light Green Scarf

The last scarf was woven with a green and fuchsia warp and the same green/orange weft as in the previous scarf.  The treading was the same as the scarf above, but the treadling was a regular point.

Green Fuchsia Scarf Drawdown

Here is the last scarf.  (The fringe hadn't been twisted yet in this picture.)

Green Fuchsia Scarf

All of the scarves were woven to 82 inches.  Off the loom they measured around 76 inches and after washing were between 71 and 72 inches long.  The scarves were washed on a gentle cycle and laid flat to dry.  The scarves were a bit still just off the loom but softened up nicely with washing.  

It was a great experience and I love the results.  I guess now I need to seek out more nice yarns.