How to Weave Selvedges

Woman sitting at a small loom with a shuttle on her lap.

A straight selvedge edge does not need to be hemmed or finished in any way. On a selvedge edge the ends of the yarn are wrapped around the edge and not hanging loose. This means they cannot fray or unravel. Weave a 14-inch-wide strip of fabric and you only have to fringe the two cut edges to make a placemat that will lie perfectly flat. Some projects, such as belts, will not work at all without smooth, thin selvedge edges. Hems in handwoven fabric tend to be thick, but you can avoid thick hems by planning your project to take advantage of the selvedge edges.

Things You'll Need

• Lap loom
• Yarn
• Shuttle

Instructions

1. Thread the warp yarn on your loom by running it from the peg or slot in the lower left corner to the upper left corner and around the first peg or into the first slot on that end of the loom. Run the yarn back down to the second peg or slot on the lower left side and up to the second peg or slot on the upper right side.

2. Continue stringing the yarn back and forth until the yarn on the loom is slightly wider than the desired width of your finished project. Weaving will pull these yarns together to make the finished cloth slightly smaller.

3. Fill your shuttle with your woof yarn. This yarn will be woven perpendicular to the warp yarn. A shuttle is a long thin spool that allows you to weave with long lengths of yarn and create selvedges.

4. Weave your shuttle over and under the warp yarn near the top of the loom. The simplest pattern is to go over one yarn and under the next yarn all the way across the loom.

5. Pull the shuttle out beyond the last warp thread and use a beater to push the yarn up to the top of the loom. A comb or a salad fork can be used as a beater.

6. Weave the shuttle back through the other way. Be sure to go over the last warp yarn if you went under it the first time, or under it if you went over it. Going around the yarn is what makes the selvedge edge. It gives the fabric a finished edge with no loose yarn ends.

7. Continue to weave the yarn on the shuttle back and worth in this way. Push all the woven yarn to the top of the loom with the beater.

8. Begin and end all pieces of yarn in the middle of the piece to avoid having loose ends of yarn on the selvage edges.

References

• Craft Stylish; How to Weave on a Cardboard Loom; Diane Gilleland; June 2008