WEAVING TECHNIQUE: tufted work

To continue on our exploration of some basic weaving techniques this week we'll look at tufted work or pile work in weaving. This is again a very ancient technique used to give weight and bulk to woven work for insulation and wearability.

Some amazing pictures of Berber carpets and robes done in pile can be seen at:

Berber Textiles: http://www.kenzi.com/mkhist.htm

Using our trusty smae frame loom, we can create pile or tufts for images or patterns.

Wrap a warp on the frame loom in a basic color which will serve as the background color. Pick an image that you would like to be raised above the background and figure where in the grid you'll place the image.

The project I'll work through with you is a christmas tree design in pile done on a raised background for a mug rug. (NOTE:All of these beginners projects will make nice mug rugs for gifts and still give you practice on weave structures).

To make a raised pile Christmas tree on your mug rug:

Warp with a heavy worsted weight or bulky weight yarn in red. Find the center of the grid and count out how wide you want your tree. Try contrasting yarn their to remind you. Weave in a plain weave until you get to the bottom of the tree section.

Take the green yarn for the Christmas tree and weave it plain weave just through its section of the grid. Then take a thick knitting needle, or something similar, like a sharpened dowel around a half inch thick and pluck up loops of the green yarn at each point it crosses the warp. Leave them all threaded on the knitting needle or dowel. Then take the red yarn and plain weave packing it tightly against the loops to help bind them into the work. Remove the dowel.

Work each row of the tree pattern this way until you have reached the tree top.

Then weave in plain weave with just the red yarn to complete the project. You can leave the tufts as a looped pile, or you can clip them to produce a more fuzzy look.

Finish the edges by looping one over another like a pot holder.

Congrats! You have just created a tufted pile weaving. This technique can be used to create much bigger works.

Have fun! Lili

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