Rag Rug Weaving

Spool rack: the rug warp was occasionally slipping off the spools and onto the rods that support the spools. In the deep recesses of my mind I recalled reading about a solution to this problem. Take a strong, smooth cord and measure 4 1/2 times the height of the rack. Double the strand a wrap it around the the spool rack, place it in the center of the spools and then tie the strand tightly. Do this for each row of spools. Take the end of the warp and bring it between the two strands of cord. This will be your guide and will keep the string/warp centered on the spool.

The bottom of the photo shows the 3" hem woven using three strands of black cotton rug warp. One of these days I'm going to weave a yard of fabric this way, wash it and see what kind of hand it has. I'm wondering if it would have enough body to be a runner or even a placemat. Perhaps when this rug is complete I'll give it a try.

This rug is set at 12 epi using 8/4 cotton rug warp from Leesburg Looms.

I've been cutting this material for days. It's 3" wide and wound into a tube. I have no idea how many pounds I had, but it took forever to cut using a rotary cutter (Olfa). The mounds of strips were every where. Once wound however, it doesn't look like much. My plan was to use only the green strips and not the green with the plum colored diamonds. Oops, not enough "all" green. I'll alternate between the two, hoping that the red and plum don't assault the eyes.

Wind a center pull tube. When pulling from the center, the fabric naturally coils with the right side facing. It's then wrapped tightly onto a rag shuttle.

.....and unrelated to the rug weaving

The warp has been sitting on the other loom for two weeks waiting to be wound on. Avoidance?