The fabric is off the loom, washed, and dried. The finished size is on target, and I love the thickness of the fabric. But I think it is still too loose for the intended purpose, even with the tighter set.
I think the problem is the rag pattern weft. Even though the recipe listed rags as one of the optional pattern wefts, my T-shirt yarn is chubby. Crackle floats skip only three threads, but with two of those threads being t-shirt yarn, the float is quite long and creates a gappy appearance in the warp yarn.
My conclusion is that t-shirt yarn is better suited to plain weave, or perhaps 2-end weft floats, such as in a twill. I'll have to experiment with that.
All in all, it's been an interesting experience. Between this and the failed bathroom rug, I've gotten some important information about weaving with t-shirt yarn. I'm taking it to heart, because I love the idea of t-shirt yarn; what a great way to re-use and re-purpose an often discarded item. More sampling to test my ideas is coming soon.
4 comments:
Have you washed the sample? I'm thinking that shrinkage in the wash may move it closer to the fabric you hoped for.
Leigh, I wonder of the nature of the fabric is contributing as well. Older t-shirts were 100% cotton; many of the newer ones (like the things I have gotten at different events) are more of the "sports" fabric with lighter fabric and synthetic materials.
Valerie, yes, it's been warm water washed and hot machine dried. All the yarns are cotton, and it did tighten up with shrinkage. It went from 20.5 x 29.5 inches before washing, to 18.5 x 23.75 after washing and drying.
It might work for something else, but I don't want to use it for upholstering a stool seat.
TB, the way fibers and yarns are processed now may indeed be a contributing factor. The warp was old but the t-shirts and tabby weft were new. All were cotton. I made sure after the different shrinkage rates of the bathroom rug. Some of those t-shirts had synthetic fiber content. Some of the cotton t-shirt fabric may have been preshrunk though, which might have been a factor. I really didn't keep track.
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