I’ve just finished another six tea towels in one of my favourite ‘go to’ patterns; False Damask on 8 shafts. I love weaving this pattern and playing around with the colour sequences. Sorry, there hasn’t been time to press them though! ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmnOD1l_NsVmar6wYQ0lAvBjJmkDMl2DNb_LtKPJlHkMabfyy-gI-nre2pJ0cPmk-zant35gRR-9qohL0Rwqwp-ugzcEmzoJxqQixA94MSuvD7Vp2X859tZOBXyAWz3xxlYSrFTw997Ip/s320/2011_0906Blogger0007.JPG)
I have hand hemmed these two, but I’m leaving for France in two days and these four will just have to wait until October when I come home!
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This pattern really allows me to play around with warp colours the stripe placement. I pulled the warp with stripes in three different shades of grey, black, mauve and white as the divider threads. I used black weft on all six tea towels but every tea towel has a unique weft stripe sequence. These colours just look amazing with stainless steel appliances.
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I thought I’d share my way of ensuring that all the stripes begin and end at the same place, so that when the tea towels are displayed they look their best.
I like to weave 4 inches of pattern before beginning a stripe sequence. I never just weave tabby for hems unless the pattern is tabby, I’ve found that tabby often weaves up wider than patterns. The 4 inches allows me a 1 inch hem (1/2 inch turned under twice) and about 2 inches before the stripe begins.
I like to weave my tea towels 36 inches long and generally end up with about 28 inches when hemmed.
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I have a non stretchy piece of trim that is 36 inches long and that I’ve marked off with a line 4 inches from one end. I pin this to my woven cloth after a few picks and weave to the marker.
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I then begin to weave any stripe sequence I feel like; when I’m happy with the result I pull the other end of the trim forward and match it up with the piece pinned to my fabric. I then insert a straight pin to mark where my stripes end.
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I can then forget about measuring my woven cloth, I just pin the tape to the cloth as I go along. I ‘frog leap’ two pins as I go along so that there is never a time when the tape isn’t attached to the cloth.
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When I reach my straight pin I start the stripe sequence I’ve chosen and weave it in reverse. This ensures that both ends match perfectly.
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I thought I’d share this photo….I feel like a proud mama with my first really ripe Meyer Lemon! I got one lemon last year that I had to remove when still under ripe; but this year I have 10 on my wee tree and one just about ready to eat!