Bathroom Rag Rug: Weaving Thoughts

The rags are made from cotton t-shirts. How I made them here.

This is my first ever rag rug, so I have a sense of feeling my way. I am uncertain about how it will turn out. No, I didn't sample. I'm actually considering this my sample. I don't know if a mug rug would give me the same information as a larger sample will. The threading and drawdown are here. 

Table loom liftplan

Border (brown with tabby)

1-2 x 4

1-4 x 4

Body (with tabby)

yellow

1-2 x 12

1-4 x 12

orange

2-3 x 12

3-4 x 12

1-2 x 12

1-4 x 12

red

2-3 x 12

3-4 x 12

1-2 x 12

1-4 x 12

yellow 

2-3 x 12

3-4 x 12

1-2 x 12

1-4 x 12

orange

2-3 x 12

3-4 x 12

1-2 x 12

1-4 x 12

red

2-3 x 12

3-4 x 12

Repeat border

The variations in the orange from selvedge to selvedge is due
to the little clip-on lamp attached to the left side of the loom. 

Weaving observations

• The t-shirt rag weft takes up a lot more warp length than I was thinking about when I planned it.
• I did shorten the blocks from 16 pattern picks to 12. This was based on the elongated look of the blocks, which are stretched out under warp tension and will pull in a bit when allowed to relax.
• On the other hand, I'm doubting I'll be able to weave the entire pattern through.
• So I'm mentally gearing up to weave a second one with a length based on whatever information I learn from this one.
• There's a threading error! I discovered it after I'd tied on and tensioned the warp and really didn't feel like undoing all that to fix it. Probably won't be noticeable to anyone but me. 
• I'm curious as to how my adding extra warp pattern repeats in the selvedge blocks will work out. Okay, I think. 
• I'm glad I chose brown for both warp and tabby weft; that really makes the pattern colors bright and dominant.
• So far, I'm happy with the selvedeges. They are a bit bumpy looking, but in keeping with the rustic look of a rag rug. 

After a slow start (feeling my way) I've picked up momentum and it's going fairly quickly. That's one nice thing about a heavy pattern warp. So it should be off the loom soon. I'm curious as to how this first attempt at rag rug weaving will turn out. 

Bathroom Rag Rug: Weaving Thoughts

 © Sep 2024 by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related posts:

Bathroom Rag Rug: Planning

Bathroom Rag Rug: How Many T-shirts Will I Need?

Bathroom Rag Rug: Draft & Calculations For Warping

Bathroom Rag Rug: Off the Loom & Now to Decide