Snail Spirals

The mystery unveiled:



Not that big of a mystery, really, I just didn't want to show it before it was received. This is a set of four placemats, made for my sister and her husband, as a wedding/Christmas present. Yes, they were married last September, and Christmas is in December. Wanna make something of it?

The warp is a thick 4/4 linen, unbleached and fairly rustic, and the weft is 4/4 unmercerized cotton. The weave pattern is the same one I used to make my placemats, a draft I designed myself, though I'm sure it's not original.



I really like the way this pattern weaves up. It's easy to thread and treadle. These placemats are set at 13 epi, the weft is beaten (hard) to 10 ppi, and the resulting fabric is quite thick and sturdy.

I purposely made this a tight weave, because the warp is a somewhat hairy linen and the weft is a cotton that tends to fuzz easily if it's not contained firmly. By making it tight, everything is controlled and stays looking nice.

I wove a 1" hem on each end using #5 pearl cotton, intending to turn it under twice and stitch a hem. When I actually got it off the loom, though, this presented a problem. The warp yarn is so thick and stiff, a twice-folded hem would not have been acceptable; too thick and bulky. I didn't want a fringe though, not with this yarn, and I didn't have enough space between mats anyway. So I zigzagged the ends, sewed a piece of grosgrain ribbon to the right side, folded to the back, and stitched it down.



This way the hem is less bulky, the raw edges are still covered, and the mat lies flat. All right and tight. I like it even better than what I originally planned. Plus, how lucky was I to find ribbon the exact color of the warp yarn?!