How to Weave Linens

Weaving fine linen takes skill and experience.

Weaving linen threads is a challenge for the handweaver: linen is not elastic like wool or cotton, so winding the warp with perfect tension is more difficult. Also, linen is sensitive to humidity changes, and the warp actually alters with the weather. You need a very sturdy, rather large loom for linen weaving; a small folding loom probably won't work well. Beaming the warp requires special considerations. But the rewards of handwoven linen make it all worth it.

Things You'll Need

• Large sturdy floor loom
• Linen warp and weft yarn
• Warping board
• Shuttles

Instructions

1. Make sure you are using an appropriate loom. The loom should be counter-balanced or countermarche: the rising shed on a jack loom won't work because the rising shed puts too much stress on the upper threads. The loom must be strong enough that really tight tension is possible. The beater should be heavy and hung from the top of the loom rather than from the bottom. The loom should be at least five feet deep from front to back if possible. Although it's possible to use two shafts, four shafts works better for fine threads that are close together.

2. Set up the loom correctly for linen weaving. The shed should open just enough for the shuttle to pass through, but not more than that. The best heddles are the nylon Texsolve heddles rather than wire heddles.

3. Calculate the sett for your yarn. If you are using commercially spun yarn, the normal tabby sett may be easy to find out. If your yarn is hand-spun, you will need to work it out for yourself. Wind the yarn around a ruler, packing it tightly, for several inches and calculate the number of winds per inch. Divide by two to get the tabby sett, or plain weave sett. To figure the length of your warp, remember that linen doesn't shrink very much: there is about 3% take-up and 3% shrinkage, so add 6% to the wanted woven length, plus at least a yard for loom waste.

4. Wind the warp with as even a tension as possible. For fine threads, it makes sense to make a group cross (portee cross) and an individual cross (porrey cross). For the group cross, four threads are wound together as one bundle and a cross is made at one end of the warp as a group; this is the cross used for spreading the warp in the reed and winding on. At the other end of the warp, the individual yarns in the group are separated, either with the fingers or a warping paddle, and each yarn alternates with another yarn in the cross. This is the threading cross. Tie off both crosses, the ends of the warp, and one-yard intervals on the warp. Take it off the warping board and bring it to the loom.

5. Use a reed rather than a back-beam raddle to spread the warp. Since linen is usually woven with two ends in each dent, pre-sley by pulling four ends through every other dent. Wind the warp onto the back beam. Insert sticks every fourth round on the back beam. Thread the loom to a straight draw for your first linen weaving (4, 3, 2, 1). Sley the reed at two ends per inch. Tie the front of the warp to the apron rod.

6. Check the humidity in the room. It should be at least 40-50 percent. If you need more humidity, you can mist the warp. Wind the quill carefully, building up a mound in the center of the bobbin. Wind a rag shuttle with a few strips of rag weft. Weave a few inches of rag weft before switching to linen weft. Place a stretcher or temple on the weft after you have woven a few inches. Push the temple pins into the selvage two or three threads from the edge. Move the temple every inch or so as weaving proceeds.

7. Cut the warp behind the heddles when you reach the end of the warp. Pull the cloth off the cloth beam. Zigzag the fell (the weft edges at both ends) and machine wash the fabric in hot water. You can either dry it in the dryer or hang it to dry. Iron on the hottest setting with a steam iron.

References

• "Linen: Hand Spinning and Weaving"; Patricia Baines; 1989