Weave your own Summer and Winter Table Runner

Finishing techniques can transform a good project into a great project. The Summer-&-Winter Table Runner project below, as featured in Handwoven Magazine recently, is from The Ashford Book of Weaving Patterns from Four to Eight Shafts – a wonderful book crammed full of projects and patterns, written by Elsa Krogh.

One of the lovely features of this table runner is that it is reversible – beautiful whichever way up you have it, but the thing that really stands out, is the finishing. Elsa uses a hemming technique that allows you to use your table runners and placemats either way up. It is worth the little extra effort and it really does turn a good piece into a great finished piece! I hope you give this project and the hemming technique a go!

Here’s how to weave your table runner

You will need:
Loom: Min. six shafts 20ins (50cm) weaving width
Reed: 12dpi (48/10)
Warp yarn quantity and colour: Cotton 10/2, natural white, 3¼oz (90gm)
Weft yarn quantity and colour: Tabby: Cotton 10/2, natural white, 2oz (60gm). Pattern: Cotton 16/2, dark blue, used double, 2½oz (70gm)

Here’s how:
Total warp ends: 480 not including floating selvedges
Warp length: 60ins (154cm)
Sett: 24epi (2 epd = 9.6 e/cm)
Width in reed: 20ins (50cm)
Finished length: 48ins (122cm)
Finished width: 16½ins (42cm)

Warping:
Follow draft repeat threading five times. Floating selvedges are not included in threading.

Weaving:
1¼ins (3cm) tabby for hem allowance, then pattern as shown in the drawdown. Remember one tabby between each pattern pick. With this combination of tabby and pattern wefts, the pattern is higher than wide. To prevent it from looking stretched, shorten the treadling of the “table” (the square part of the pattern) to make it look square. It is 9 units wide, but only 7 units high. Otherwise the weaving follows the pattern in the profile draft. One pattern repeat: 4¾ins (12cm), and the complete pattern area of the table runner: 53ins (134cm), both measured on tensioned warp. Followed by 1¼ins (3cm) tabby for hem.

Finishing
Wet finish, hem and press.

If you want your table runner, placemats or other woven pieces to be reversible, sew the hems by hand as shown here.

Click image below for the PDF printable

CLICK HERE FOR THE PROFILE DRAFT

1. Fold one third of the hem allowance and tack it down.
2. Fold once more close up to the main part of the weaving, and tack it down.

3. Bend the hem allowance backwards (towards the right side of the weaving) and sew these two folds together with tiny stitches.
4. Press the hems flat.

Blog post proudly supplied by Ashford Wheels & Looms.

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