How to Weave Monks Cloth

Monks cloth is woven from cotton on a floor loom.

Monk's cloth is a soft, open-weave fabric associated with European monks, but more recently with Swedish weaving or huck weaving. Originally, monk's cloth and tapestry were natural in color, ranging from ecru to tan. Now you can purchase monk's cloth in a multitude of shades. Monk's cloth is sewn onto dish towels, shawls and curtains, and huck weaving can be used to decorate the items, but the material itself is used to create clothing, afghans and needlepoint tapestries.

Things You'll Need

• Loom
• Cotton warp
• Heddles
• Shuttle
• Lifting stick (optional)

Instructions

Laying the Warp

1. 

   Cotton warp comes in dozens of colors.

   Measure out the warp according to the type and size of loom you will be using. The warp will be set so there are four threads per dent, skip a dent and repeat until all of the warp threads are set up. Then fasten the ends to the tension bar. The dent is the hole in the heddle wire or cord. If you are using a loom with a two fixed heddles, treat the bundle of four threads as one and alternate the warp as you would for any other basket weave.

2. Comb through the warp in a smooth slow movement to be sure all of the threads are separate. If any of the yarn is twisted it will add bumps in the fabric. Should you come to any twists, continue to work it as far down the bottom of the warp as you can.

3. 

   The warp should be set up at an even tension to ensure a smooth fabric.

   Set your heddle for a simple basket weave and the four strands will be raised as one strand since they are in single dents.

Weaving the Monk's Cloth

1. 

   The basket weave is used to create fabrics and tapestries.

   Set up the shuttle with the same fiber you used for the warp. The weaver can select to tie four ends of the yarn together and wrap it around the shuttle so that it can be woven more quickly, but this means that the weft must be straightened after each run of the shuttle to ensure that there are no twists or knots. It is cleaner to weave under four times and then over four times repeating until the fabric is complete.

2. Lift the alternating group of four strands and run the shuttle through. Loop the weft around the last of the warp fibers gently taking care not to pull. This will create a closed outer edge and prevent the warp from falling away from the finished product.

3. Lift the alternate set of strings with your stick or heddle, and run the shuttle through again being sure to warp the weft around the last of the warp threads.

4. Finish off the bottom of the monk's cloth before removing it from the loom. Take care to knot the warp so that the two threads that border an open space are knotted together to prevent the warp from slipping away. When this is done, remove the cloth from the loom and lay it on a flat surface. Then tie off the warp as you did at the bottom.

Tips & Warnings

• Between each run of the shuttle, be careful not to beat the row too tightly. This will cause bunching of the fibers. The thickness of the cloth will depend on the thickness of the yarn you select and should you prefer, you can use wools, acrylics, silks or blends to create this weaving pattern.

References

• Weaving Today free weaving instructions
• "Learning to Weave", Deborah Chandler, 2009.
• I Needlework monk's cloth

Resources

• Hallnet.com article How to Build, Warp, and Weave on a Simple Frame Loom
• Weaving in Beauty instructions for tapestry weaving