Chapter XXIX: How to Weave Without a Loom

=Method Invented by the Author=

RUGS, portières, table covers, bedspreads, hammocks, in fact, almost anything that can be woven of rags, can be woven without a loom. Any one can do it, for the process is extremely simple and all that is required is a board, a paper of tacks and some rags cut in strips. These may be old rags or new, silk, cotton or wool, and the piece may be woven heavy or light, in a close weave or a loose one, to suit its intended purpose. Many colors or few can be used, and the patterns can be as varied as the colors, for any design in straight lines can be followed in the weaving. A snip of the scissors will cut off one color, a stitch or two insert another, and so the pattern grows. It is quick work and you will find it very absorbing as you sit amid your vari-colored rags and see them grow beneath your fingers into harmoniously colored hangings or soft, warm rugs.

=A Board=

forty inches long will answer for weaving anything one yard or less in width and is of a convenient size to handle. The one-yard width is what an ordinary loom produces, but if you would have your rug or portière wider there is no reason why the board should not be longer. To prevent the material from catching, your board must be smooth on both sides and on the edge and it should be as wide as possible. A good-sized pastry board is excellent for weaving a piece less than twenty-two inches in width.

=Rags are Used=

for both warp and woof; if old and soft they should be more tightly packed than when new and firm. The warp is composed of the strips which run up and down in the work, the woof of those that are woven in and out across the warp, and the process is like that of weaving a splint basket. The following directions are for making

=A Blue and White Cotton Rug=

for bedroom or bathroom. Heavy, new canton flannel is a good material for the rug and it is better to have new goods where the weave, as in this case, is to be smooth and flat.

Cut the canton flannel, do not tear it, into strips half an inch wide, but do not sew the strips together, and make into balls as for loom weaving; piece them as needed while the work progresses. Draw a straight line the whole length of the board one inch below the top edge, then along this line

=Tack the Warp=

As there is to be a blue border four inches wide, entirely around the rug, the warp at first must be all blue.

Take one strip of the blue and tack it on the line at the upper left-hand corner of the board about two inches from the side edge. Leave one end of the warp longer than the other and drive the tack only part of the way in (Fig. 483). Give the strip two twists toward you, close to the tack, and fasten it down with another tack on the line just half an inch from the first tack. See Fig. 484.

Fasten your strips on in this way with the tacks half an inch apart and you will have eight ends or eight strips of warp which will form the side border. For the top border cut the blue strips into ten-inch pieces, twist them at the middle so that the ends will be of an even length, and tack them along the line as far as you wish the centre to extend; then add the longer strips of warp for the other side border, as in Fig. 485. To the ends of the short blue warp sew strips of white, lapping the ends with the blue on top. Sew them securely like Fig. 486 and whip the end edges to make them lie perfectly flat.

This will give a white centre of warp with a blue border at the top and sides. Draw each strip of warp down until it is smooth and taut and tack it near the bottom edge of the board. Be very careful to have the warp of the border and the centre measure the same distance across the bottom as across the top and keep each strip in a straight line from the top (Fig. 487). Frequent measurements while weaving will keep your rug true and prevent narrowing between the two rows of tacks.

When the warp is ready take a strip of blue and begin

=To Weave.=

Tack the end of the strip, which is now the warp, a little to the left and a trifle below the upper left-hand tack (Fig. 487) and, starting under the first strip of warp, weave it in and out several times; then draw the warp out its full length as you do a needle and thread after taking several stitches. Keep the warp flat and even when it is woven and push it up close to the tacks. Weave across in this way, always under one and over the next, and drawing out the end of the woof every little while. When you have reached the last strip of warp on the right, turn the woof over it and weave back again in the same manner (Fig. 487).

The woof for this rug is entirely of blue, and as you weave across the white warp you will find that it makes a blue and white checker-board centre.

When you have woven as much as you can between the two rows of tacks, take the tacks out,

=Move the Woven Part Up=

and tack across again along the second or third row of woof from the bottom, putting a tack through the woof into each strip of warp; then draw the warp down as at first and tack in place. Fig. 488 shows the two rows of tacks after the rug has been moved up and also the effect of the checker-board weaving and blue border. This manner of moving up the woven part makes it possible to weave any length you may desire.

=Lengthen the Warp=

as you weave by sewing on new pieces, and when the centre is almost as long as you want it, cut off the white warp evenly and sew on blue, then weave until the border at the bottom is the width of that at the top and sides. Cut off the woof that is left after weaving the last row, and, turning in the end, sew it securely to the last row of warp.

=Cut Off the Warp,=

leaving ends about one and one-half inches long; turn each end of the warp over the last row of woof and sew it down. One end will turn on one side of the rug, the next on the other side, as splints turn over the edge in binding off a splint basket.

It is best to cut off one end of the warp and sew it down before cutting the next, as this will prevent the woof from slipping out of place during the binding off. Tuck each end of the warp under the row of woof just above it and sew again. Fig. 489 shows how this is done. G, H and I are the ends of the warp cut off evenly, F is an end turned up and sewed to the bottom row of woof. E is an end which is to turn under and be brought up on the other side of the rug. D has been turned up, sewed to the last row of woof and is just being slipped under the third row of woof, J. C is turned under and fastened in place on the other side of the rug, and B has been turned up, sewed, tucked under the third row of woof and sewed again. The end is shown above the woof to make the idea plainer, but in reality it should be hidden under the woof.

When the last end of the warp has been secured and the first end of the woof (Letter A, Fig. 487) has been turned over and sewed to the warp, your rug is finished and will look like Fig. 490. This rug is photographed from one made by the writer on a pastry board. Its size is twenty-two by thirty-four inches. Three-quarters of a yard of white canton flannel and one yard and a half of blue were used for weaving.

=To Make a Heavier Rug=

with the flat weave, double the warp. That is, lay one piece of warp directly on top of another, giving two thicknesses to each strip. A close weave is made by using soft material, tacking the strips close together for the warp and pushing the woof up tightly, crushing it together as in loom weaving.

Diamonds, squares and Indian zigzag patterns are easy and you can work out others quite original with yourself.