Sewing

What is drape in hand woven fabric and how to achieve it?

If you’ve ever held a piece of handwoven fabric and noticed the way it falls or flows, you’ve already experienced drape. Drape is simply how a fabric hangs or holds its own weight, and it’s one of the most important qualities to understand, especially if you’re weaving garments or anything meant to move with the body.

The beautiful thing is that drape isn’t mysterious or random. As handweavers, we have the privilege of making deliberate choices that directly influence how our fabric behaves. In this article, we’ll explore what drape is, why it matters, and exactly how to achieve the type of drape you want in your weaving.

What Is Drape?

Drape refers to the way a fabric falls under its own weight. Some fabrics spill and flow like water. Others hold their shape, creating crisp folds and firm edges. Both ends of this spectrum are useful and beautiful – they simply serve different purposes.

Amount of Drape – High Drape (think flowey fabric)

A highly drapey fabric:

bends and flows easily,
conforms to the body,
hangs in gentle folds,
feels soft and fluid.

You’ll often see high drape in scarves, shawls, wraps, and handwoven garments intended to move freely.

Amount of Drape – Low Drape (think stiffer, crisper fabric)

A fabric with low drape:

is firm or crisp,
has more body,
keeps its shape rather than flowing,
feels more structured.

Low drape is perfect for items like table linens, cushions, bags, and even some structured outer garments.

Photo Examples of Drape

*High Drape Example – This scarf was woven with very fine 60/2 silk and an undulating twill structure. It is amazingly soft, light and flowing.*

High Drape Example – A combination of 8/2 tencels and bamboos were used to create this plain weave shawl. In addition to the luxury threads used, the fabric was not sett too close, affording it extra drape. This shawl design was featured in WEFT magazine Summer 2025 edition.

Mid Drape Example – The Weekend Scarf was designed to be a “quick weave” and therefore uses thick yarn that weaves up faster. The fabric still has enough drape to make an attractive and comfortable scarf, but is on the firmer side.

Low Drape Example – Krokbragd is a weft faced weave structure. The warp is covered with a thicker weft that is packed down, forming a heavy, stiff fabric.

Why Drape Matters (Especially in Garment Making)

If you’re weaving fabric for clothing, drape becomes even more important. A garment must move with the wearer. A stiff fabric can feel bulky, rigid, or uncomfortable, while a beautifully drapey fabric feels elegant and effortless.

Drape affects:

comfort,
how the garment fits the body,
how it swings and moves,
the overall look and feel.

When we understand drape, we can weave garments that not only look beautiful but feel beautiful to wear.

Ingredients for Achieving the Drape You Want

Drape is influenced by three main elements: yarn, sett, and weave structure. Think of them as the ingredients in a recipe. Change one element and the entire “dish” behaves differently.

1. Yarn Choices

Your yarn will have a big impact on the drape of your hand woven fabric. It is important to sample in order to achieve more predictable outcomes.

Fibre type:

Softer, more fluid fibres (like silk, bamboo, alpaca, tencel) naturally create high drape.
Fibres such as cotton, linen, and wool can range from crisp to soft depending on their preparation.
Woolen-spun yarns (with lots of air) tend to be lofty and less drapey than worsted-spun.

Yarn size:
Finer yarns usually create more drape. Thicker yarns are naturally more structured.

Yarn twist:

Lower twist = softer, more movement.
Higher twist = firmer, more body. Hight twist yarns can also introduce texture or movement in fabric.

Ply:
Singles often feel softer and more relaxed. Plied yarns add strength and structure.

If you want a highly drapey garment, starting with a naturally soft, fine, lower twist yarn will give you a head start, however if using for warp it does need to be strong enough to hold up under tension, so be sure to check that before warping!

2. Sett (Ends Per Inch)

Your sett is the second major influence on drape, and it’s often underestimated, it’s actually a crucial consideration.

Looser sett → more openness, more bend, more drape.
Tighter sett → firmer, denser, more structured cloth.

A wider sett creates a more open, spacious cloth, giving the fabric a fluid quality. Too loose, though, and the fabric can become flimsy or unstable (otherwise known as a “sleazy” cloth.)

A close sett can give beautiful structure but will reduce drape.

Tip: When weaving for garments, always weave a sample and wet finish it before committing to the full project. Wet finishing can completely transform drape!

3. Weave Structure

The weave structure you choose plays a huge role in how your fabric behaves.

Plain weave naturally has less drape because the interlacement is even, frequent, and stable. But don’t worry – plain weave can still have wonderful drape, depending on the other factors.
Twill offers more drape thanks to its diagonal floats and smoother surface.
Lace weaves provide openness and softness, perfect for shawls and lightweight wraps.
Structures with longer floats (some twills, satins, or pattern weaves) allow more movement and therefore more drape.
Texture-heavy weaves like waffle can be stiffer until wet finished, when they often collapse and soften—but will still hold more body than lightweight twills.

Think of weave structure as the “architecture” that supports or inhibits movement.

Bringing It All Together

When you blend yarn + sett + structure intentionally, you can predictably create fabric with the drape you desire.

A few examples:

Highly drapey scarf:
Fine silk/bamboo yarn, slightly open sett, and a twill or lace weave.
Soft, wearable shawl:
Tencel or alpaca blend, silk/ wool blend, generous sett, a simple 2/2 twill.
Structured bag fabric:
Strong, tightly twisted cotton, firm sett, plain weave.
Crisp household textiles:
Linen or cotton, tighter sett, plain weave or simple twill.

Every combination creates its own personality.

Final Thoughts on Drape in Weaving

Drape isn’t something that happens to your weaving, it’s something you can create with intention and understanding. Once you start observing how different yarns, setts, and structures behave, you’ll develop a feel for what works in garments and what works for more structured items.

If you’re new to weaving for drape, start small, sample generously, and take notes. I promise, it’s one of the most rewarding skills you’ll develop as a weaver.

I’d love to hear about your experiences with drapey or not-so-drapey cloth! Feel free to leave a comment dow below to share your own experiences ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Hem handwoven fabric on a sewing machine

by Kelly 4 Comments

I’ll be the first to admit that hemming a project is not my favourite past time, I would prefer if it could just be magically done for me (picture the elves and the shoemaker and you’re on the right track!)

What I do love though, is the crisp, professional finish that hemming hand wovens with a sewing machine gives. Not only does it look really, really good, it is also highly functional with a strong edge.

*This post contains affiliate links. For further information, please see my disclosure policy.

I have my own particular ways of hemming hand woven fabric on my machine and I’m going to take you through the process step by step today with some of my kitchen towels!

You can see that my raw edge is secured on a serger to prevent any unravelling during the wet finishing process. It is helpful to give the whole woven piece a good press before beginning, it’s always easier to work with pressed fabric.

For some of my towels I will weave a band of plain weave on either end of my towel (this does help to reduce bulk a little and can be a very effective look). For other towels, I will just weave the pattern throughout the whole towel. This also works just fine for hemming as long as the fabric is not super bulky.

This is what I call my “dog ear” technique. Fold in a corner on each side of the hem and press down with an iron. There are 2 reasons for this –

1. The corners can get ugly and a bit ragged in the washing process – I want to hide them!

2. Towels have a tendency to be wider at each end. This reduces a little of that “flared out” look.

Once my dog ears are pressed down neatly, I take the raw edge and fold it over, usually around 1/4″ but more if it’s particularly raggy. I try to make this folded edge nice and straight. Press with the iron.

Now I fold again, this time 1/2″ or more and press. Now all raw edges and corners should be completely encased and hidden. Once pressed, you can also place pins along to hold everything in place if you wish.

Take it to the sewing machine (different towel in this photo but the same process). I use Gutermann sewing thread. I learned early in my sewing journey that life is too short to sew with cheap threads that will break over and over! Sew with a straight, medium stitch close to the folded edge (roughly 1/4 – 1/8″).

Sometimes I will choose to do a medium zig zag stitch, which also looks great. Again, stitch close to the folded edge but not over it. Don’t forget to reverse stitch at the start and finish.

For an almost invisible finish, you can hand hem with a needle and thread, you can find that tutorial here.

If you would love to make better use of your sewing machine but lack the confidence, check out my free beginner’s series here:

What about the long edges?

Sometimes you may also wish to hem the long edges, particularly if the woven piece is a towel. For most of my own kitchen towels, I don’t do this extra step, as I’m usually happy with my edges the way they are.

However, if you find that your long edges are not as presentable as you would like, a simple solution is a single fold hem. The edges are technically already “finished” ie. they won’t unravel, so folding them over about 1/4″ and sewing close to the edge will provide an attractive, straight edge.

There are two things to note if you intend to use this method though:

It is best to plan for this extra hem so that it can be calculated into the project in the beginning. This will ensure that your project is the width you intended.

I find it best to complete the side hem first, before completing the end hems. This way the less bulky hem (the long sides) can tuck neatly into the double folded hem at the ends.

I now have a comprehensive online class for members of the Online Weaving School that covers many different aspects of finishing your hand woven cloth, from cutting to securing raw edges and all manner of hemming options.

While we’re talking about towels, perhaps you will be interested in the towel projects I have on offer!

Online class:

Happy Fibonnaci Towels

Diamond Stripe Towel Weave Along (currently only open to members of the Online Weaving School)

PDF Patterns:

Lux Hand Towels

Happy Fibonnaci Towels

Diamond Stripe Towels

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

How To Fix a Weaving Float or Skipped Warp Thread

by Kelly 16 Comments

A “float” in weaving is a skipped warp thread or threads.

They usually occur at the back of the fabric and therefore are not noticed until you remove your piece from the loom.

While the discovery of a float can be disappointing for the weaver, thankfully they are fixable without too much trouble.

*This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

I’m using a plain weave sample, as it is the most straightforward to fix and so makes a suitable introduction to a weaver who hasn’t come across floats before. I’m weaving on my Sampleit Rigid Heddle Loom for the purposes of this tutorial, but floats can occur in any type of weaving.

We’re going to look at the three main culprits for a float happening in your weaving:

Loose or inconsistent warp tension
The angle of your shuttle as you enter the shed
Sticky threads

WARP TENSION

I know, I talk all the time about warp tension, but that is because it is SO important on so many levels to the success of your project. In relation to floats, a warp tension that is either too loose or has loose sections is a place for your shed to get messy. If your shed is not well tensioned and clean, that invites the potential for your shuttle to go over or under threads that it is not supposed to.

SHUTTLE ANGLE

This relates pretty closely to my first point about warp tension, because if your shuttle is at a weird angle when it enters the shed, it may either snag on a warp thread or just skip over it entirely, and then you have yourself a float. Again, we want to aim for a clean shed that leaves no guess work about the path your shuttle should be taking.

STICKY YARN

This is a bit of a pet topic for me it seems, but once again, it has a huge impact on the success of your weaving. Sticky yarn will cause all sorts of trouble and floats are definitely one of them. If you want to know more about which yarns have the potential to give you a rather large headache, check out these posts:

Tip for dealing with sticky yarns:

Use a spare pick up stick or shuttle to “clear” each new shed as you open it. This will force any threads that are sticking to one another back into their natural positions.

Now that we know the reasons why you might see floats occurring in your work, let’s get on to how to fix them!

*Note – Any float fixing should be done prior to wet finishing. If you have already wet finished but want to fix some floats, you can, the results just may not be quite as good.

You will need a tapestry needle and a length of your weft yarn. I used a blue colour instead of my weft green, but only to make the tutorial super clear. You should use the exact same yarn in the exact same colour as your weft.

Normally, I would use my favourite tapestry needle, my Clover Bent Tip Needles, but as we are currently packing up our home to move, I couldn’t find them and just used an ordinary tapestry needle.

There is no need to knot the end of your threaded yarn.

Begin by locating the path that your float yarn is travelling, around an inch away from the actual float. You can see that initially the yarn travels on the over/under path of plain weave, and then we have all those skipped threads where the weft strayed off course. We want to replace that section with a weft thread that is on course.

Next, we want to follow or mimic the exact same path that the weft was taking before it strayed off course. Keep your eyes on the correct weft thread and copy it exactly with your needle, right up to where the float begins.

When you run out of needle, pull your yarn through, but leave a tail of a couple of inches hanging out from where you began. Don’t cinch the thread up tightly, just pull it through so that it lays in place.

When you reach the float, push it aside so that you can see and continue following the over/under path based on where you were up to. Was your last thread under a warp thread? Then the next one should travel over – or vice versa. What you are doing now is placing the thread where it should have been in the thread, before the skipped threads happened.

When you reach the end of the float, continue to needle weave for another inch or so. This picture is not the best example of this, as my float was close to the edge of the work. Whatever the case, continue needle weaving past the end of the float, then leave a tail of a couple of inches like you did at the beginning.

When you have repaired all your floats in this fashion, it’s time to wet finish. Do not cut your tails or floats at this point, leave it all just the way it is. Wet finish and dry completely.

When your weaving is completely dry, it’s time to cut the tails. Use a small, sharp pair of scissors and cut close to the fabric, being very careful not to cut the fabric itself! You can also cut the floats at this point, in the same way you cut the tails.

And that’s it, floats are fixed. I left one float in place over at the left edge for comparison.

If you would like to see this tutorial in a step by step video format, please visit my Youtube channel.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Hand woven fabric Yo- Yo tutorial

by Kelly 8 Comments

Many hand weavers these days are keen to sew finished pieces, particularly clothing from their hand woven fabric. This is a wonderful development for any weaving journey, as sewing opens up a vast amount of finished objects the weaver can make.

One side effect of all the sewing with hand woven fabric that is starting to happen is that there will be inevitable leftovers. Sewing, particularly clothing usually requires cutting shapes out of your hand woven, meaning that you will have smaller pieces of “waste” fabric leftover. I say “waste” but it’s only waste if you waste it!

*This post contains affiliate links

There are some fun and exciting projects that can be made even with very small pieces of hand woven fabric. One of these is the lovely Suffolk Puff or as it may be more commonly known these days, especially in America, as the Yo-Yo.

What is a fabric Yo-Yo? It’s a small, gathered circle of fabric, usually covered in the middle by a button or similar. They have been around for quite some time, seemingly dating back as far as the early 1600’s in Suffolk, England.

Suffolk Puffs were made from old clothing, quilts, bed sheets and so on, and given new life when joined together as quilts and cushion covers.

The idea is to gather a small circle of fabric at the outer edge with a running stitch. When gathered, the circle forms a sweet little “puff” that can then either be topped with another, smaller puff or a button can be sewn into the centre.

With the finished YoYo you can embellish clothing or bags, sew many of them together as in the days of old, hot glue them on to hair accessories (I’ve done this a lot for my 3 girls) or sew on a brooch backing and wear it as a one of a kind brooch.

Let’s begin with what you will need to sew a YoYo similar to mine.

*A 5 x 5″ square of handwoven (or commercial) fabric

*A 5 x 5″ square of light, fusible interfacing

*Strong sewing thread (I use Gutermann Sew All)

*A sewing needle

*A button to finish with

Begin by cutting the fusible interfacing to fit on the fabric piece. My original fabric piece was larger than 5 x 5″, so I place the interfacing on first. Make sure that you have the correct side of interfacing facing the fabric, otherwise you may destroy your iron! Place a pressing cloth over the top of the interfacing for extra protection. Iron it on and allow to cool once properly fused.

Use an object as a traceable template (I used masking tape) to draw a circle onto your interfacing. It’s fine to use pen, as it only marks the interfacing and will provide a cutting line.

Cut out your circle. Sharp scissors are very handy at this point.

Thread your sewing needle with around a 15″ length of thread and knot the end. Take the needle down through the interfacing side, about 1 centimetre in from the edge.

Stitch a running stitch, making the length of your stitch also around a centimetre in length and maintaining a fairly consistent distance between the stitches.

Continue all the way around the circle.

Pull gently on the end of your thread and the fabric will begin to gather up.

Continue gathering until the fabric forms a hole in the centre and can’t gather anymore.

Now you can decide what you will place in the middle. I’m using a Dorset button that I made previously. If you’re interested in learning more about Dorset buttons or making one yourself, I recommend GinaB Silkworks.

My button is flat backed, so I’m taking my still attached thread through the back of it to begin stitching it on.

Continue to stitch through the button to the back of your puff with small stitches until it’s fully attached and none of the raw edges of your circle hole are showing. Knot off the thread and sink it into the back of the puff where it won’t be seen.

Ta da! What an easy peasy use of scrap fabric! I think these ones should be made into brooches so they can be shown off well.

If you are interested in learning how to make buttons with your hand woven fabric, I have a members only class that shows you how to do that.

This tutorial is available in video format here-

What do you think? Do you have any scraps of hand woven that could be used to make a YoYo? And what about the Dorset buttons, are you interested in having a go at those too? Let me know in the comments, I love to hear from you!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Stashbuster Woven Notebook Covers

by Kelly 9 Comments

Otherwise known as “the project that began with a messy drawer”.

This is the yarn drawer that my girls have access to. I could use this photo opportunity to blame it all on them, but if we’re being truthful, I’m pretty messy myself!

*This post contains some affiliate links

Anyway, this mess inspired me to make something, so it’s not all negative. A lot of my yarn stash is smaller pieces leftover from warping or are thrums (what is left on the loom when you cut your piece off) and can be difficult to find uses for.

Perfect for the idea that struck me, and it’s also a great project for little loom weavers, as it can be done on a Sampleit.

I had to break this into a series of 3 videos, you can either view them on Youtube or my Online Weaving School. You can download the printable PDF from my weaving school or view the information here:

Notebook Essential Information

I thought it might be a great time of year to do a tutorial for all my followers and students as a thank you for your support. The bonus is that you can make lots of notebook covers as Christmas gifts, they don’t take much yarn and they are quick to weave up.

The only part of the project that you need a longer length of yarn for is the warp. Here are some suggestions for your warp:

Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8ply

Cleckheaton Country 8 ply

Patons Classic dk superwash

I always use Gutermann Sew all thread because it is so strong and multi purpose.

During the video series, you will notice that I mention some other helpful links, I will list them here for easy access:

Clasped weft tutorial

Woe to Go – Beginner Rigid Heddle Weaving

How to weave neat edges

I really hope you enjoy this project! Let me know in the comments if you intend to give it a go.

One more thing! If you like this project I would really appreciate you sharing links with your friends or on social media so that even more weavers can benefit.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

My completed Clothtober project!

by Kelly 20 Comments

I’m so excited to be finished! A little overdue perhaps, but isn’t the nature of slow cloth?

I went through quite a few of the weaving details like yarns and weave structure in last week’s post, so please check that out if you’re interested (and read of my nightmare-ish warp!)

*This post contains an affiliate link

I’m happy to say that the actual weaving was fairly plain sailing and enjoyable with the simple 1&2, 2&3, 3&4, 4&1 order of treadling.

So, once removed from the loom I had a lovely long length of delightful cloth without serious errors (I’m happy to say that the double threading error referred to in the last post does not even show in the finished garment!)

I made a lovely big vat of indigo and tested it with the neck facing pieces I had cut out of a light commercial cotton. The colour was even better than expected, so I felt very good about submitting my long piece of cloth to the vat.

Have you ever dyed with indigo? It is a wonderful, peaceful and relaxing process. While I was standing at my laundry sink, I had the door next to me wide open and a blackbird hopped right up beside me. He didn’t even notice I was there! I thought to myself “perhaps this is the very best way to live. Quietly, slowly, making beautiful things”. It certainly struck me as a beautiful moment in time.

I took my cloth outside (indigo is very messy!) to let the magic happen. As oxygen hits the cloth, it turns from a glorious green to a wonderful blue. The blue is much darker when wet, so I took that into account. I wanted a dark blue. So, I went back to the vat for a total of 3 dippings. On the last dip, I left the cloth sitting in the vat for at least half an hour.

I absolutely love the colour in this shot. I would have preferred that it stay this dark and rich as it dried, but alas that was not the case. I still think it came out a beautiful colour anyway. That is another of the charms of indigo, even if you obtain a very light colour it is bound to be a really beautiful blue – I don’t think an indigo vat can produce anything ugly!

As an aside, I have just begun work on my Journey to Japan course. One of the focuses of the course will be learning to dye with indigo, so if that interests you, be on the lookout for that.

The next step once my fabric was dry was to cut out the pattern. I’m not scared of cutting my handwoven fabric as it all turns out well as long as you take the right precautions. For this project I cut the pieces as I would for commercial fabric but got them quickly to the serger without disturbing the fabric too much, and it was fine. If you’re worried about cutting your handwovens, you may want to check out this video:

There was a hitch with cutting out the pattern though. The fabric had shrunk more than I calculated for. My front and back pattern pieces didn’t fit the folded fabric! Aaaaagh!!

These are the things that feel horrible at the time, but later I am really grateful for. Why? Because I learn! Not only do I learn what to do by thinking about all the possibilities, I also learn that I might be more capable than I thought, which is a great confidence booster! So, I ended up with some odd little shapes and pieces that I tacked on here and there to make up for the lack of width. And it worked!

I now have a comfortable, special garment that fits really well. Unfortunately we are coming into warmer weather here in Australia, so I won’t get much wear out of it this year, but I expect it to last many, many years. If the indigo fades at all, I’ll do as the Japanese do and re-dip it. Only I know the work that went into making this, but that makes it all the more rewarding.

The little voice in me says that the neckline is too wide and so are my hips. But I told the little voice to shut up please, I want to bask in the joy of having woven, dyed and sewn a garment from scratch just for me.

I don’t know if any of you decided to make your own garment for Clothtober, but I’m thinking I need to make this an annual thing, even if it’s just to push myself to do something just for me again.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Clothtober – Finding your style

by Kelly 3 Comments

If you haven’t heard about Clothtober and why I started it yet, you can check out this post to be filled in.

If you’re frustrated with your fashion (or lack thereof!) situation, I think a good first step towards action can be to spend a bit of time thinking about what your style might be. You may have multiple styles, or you may feel that you have no style at all!

There is hope though. I have always found that I can point out very quickly what I DON’T like rather than choosing what I definitely DO like. If you are the same, make that your starting point by using a process of elimination. Check out Pinterest for ideas and start to gather a board of possibilities for you. I have several of these kind of boards on Pinterest, for example, my general weaving board, sewing and feminine dressing. Pinterest is really good at showing you things you are likely to want to pin, so start collecting and use their search functions to your advantage.

I am your typical fashion avoider, in general I hate fashion and don’t follow trends at all. But, once again, we can use available fashion tools to help us know what we want.

I was amazed when I started googling that there are so many free resources out there designed to help women with fashion.

Using free online tools like this one from Visual Therapy can be really handy when determining your style. They usually involve a short quiz with a series of simple questions that place you in a style category.

I got Classic/ Bohemian, which is actually pretty accurate for my tastes and style.

I really like the Birdsnest Style guide function. You do have to register with the website to access this function, but you don’t have to buy anything. They are an Australian company with a huge range of women’s clothing (as a customer I can also tell you their service is great).

The style guide is formed from detailed questions on all kinds of things about you – your lifestyle, body shape, habits, budget etc. Once your style guide is filled out, they give you suggestions for outfits that may be for you. This is a great way to get an idea of clothes that might suit you and that may be your style. If you want to sew clothes to fit you, you can use the suggestions as inspiration to either search for similar sewing patterns or if you’re really clever, to make your own patterns (I’m not that clever.)

My final suggestion is to research clothes that may be suitable for your body shape. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve found an outfit that I like, but looked terrible on me because it didn’t suit my body shape. It’s worth having a basic understanding of your body shape so that you can eliminate clothes that are likely to never look right on you and go for things that are going to flatter your unique shape. Of course, body shape diagrams are a generalisation, they still don’t allow for individual specifics, but you can treat them as a guide. You may want to check out Clothes recommendations according to your body shape.

Next time I’m going to be touching on colour – how to choose the right colours for you and pitfalls to avoid. If most of your wardrobe is currently black (my hand is up!), the colour post is for you. Click here to read that post.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Clothtober!

by Kelly 48 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot about clothes lately. How dissatisfied I am with my current wardrobe and why. What I might be able to do about it.

I don’t have all that many clothes, and I tend to wear the same things over and over. Once I’m comfortable with something I don’t want to give it up and I really do wear things until they’re completely worn out. This means I don’t have to go shopping too often.

I’m one of those strange women who actually hate clothes shopping. It’s like a vicious cycle on repeat. I head out to the local shopping centre, sometimes the op shop. I have a list of what I need (I never randomly buy clothes, that is just not my personality type!) And the search begins.

I go through a series of predictable steps. I can’t find what I actually want or need, so I compromise, because I need it, because I’ve worn my other clothes to death. I start to try things on. I start to feel hot. Physically hot. Is it the act of trying on one thing after another, or the building anger that nothing fits or looks right that causes this overheating? Probably an even mixture of the two.

I leave the shop. Sometimes I leave with a purchase, which is never really something that I love, it’s just something to get me by until the next thing wears out and I’m forced to come back.

My body type just doesn’t seem to exist on a clothing rack. I need 3 different sizes, 1 for my chest and waist, a larger one for my upper arms, and an even larger one for my hips. So nothing ever fits.

There is something good about all this, I’m coming to that!

It has forced me into a place of action. I’m tired of not wearing clothes I like. I’m tired of being uncomfortable. I’m tired of feeling like I have not style because I can’t buy what I really like. I want to change this.

So, here is my line of thinking. I’m a weaver. I can sew. Pattern drafting is my weakness, but perhaps I can use existing patterns as a template and change them to fit my body? Perhaps, through putting in the extra work and time and effort, I will be able to produce something I enjoy wearing? And perhaps I will even enjoy wearing it more because I know how much time went into it! Instead of junky, off the rack, ill fitting clothes, I can build my own wardrobe of special pieces! Bingo!

I have already begun. I sketched ideas first, then started looking for a sewing pattern that might fit the bill.

I started with the “Esme tunic dress pattern” from Lotta Jansdotter’s book, Everyday Style. (Affiliate link) This book has so many wonderful, classic designs that I would love to build a wardrobe from. I cut the tunic out from the largest size and sewed up a quick muslin from an old bedsheet. The problem was when I set the sleeves in. They looked terrible! No amount of tweaking and re-sewing could make it look better.

After plenty attempts to change my muslin and plenty of sage advice from Instagram and Facebook friends, I decided to look for a different pattern with a raglan sleeve instead of a set in.

I stumbled upon the It’s Always Autumn blog and found a free Raglan tee pattern. She has a lot of really good free patterns, so be sure to check them out if you head over there. Using that tee pattern I started tweaking and changing to get the dress tunic I had in mind. It took hours of cutting, placing darts, sewing, ripping apart, sewing again and then doing it all over and over, to finally get a tunic pattern that fits me properly and in a style I like! Here is the muslin.

Semi fitted, yet not clingy – perfect! And did I mention that it fits?!

OK, so now onto the fabric. I’ll give more of my warp details next time, but the basic idea is to weave the fabric from an undyed cotton and then dye it to a colour I like. Yes, I want this garment to be as customised as possible!

A lot of my social media followers seem to be right into this idea, so I thought “why not make a thing of it? I can encourage other weavers to make an item of clothing with the same aims in mind. And, if we do it through October, then I can name it Clothtober!” Win, win!

So, I’m going to be sharing more details of this project as I go along (and lets face it, with over 800 ends to warp and thread, this is not going to be over in a flash!) And I hope that I may inspire some of you to choose an item of clothing you want to weave for yourself. According to your skills and what you need in your wardrobe. I will be weaving on my floor loom, but you can do what you like.

Ideas?

A skirt, a fitted blouse, a poncho, a jacket, a top, pants, a hat?

If you feel you need some extra help, here are some classes that may interest you:

Clasped Warp Quechquemitl Wrap

Garment making on a rigid heddle loom

Wrist warmers

I’ve also been eyeing the Bias Top sewing pattern from Sarah Howard, which looks terrific.

What do you think, is this something you can do? Are you fed up with crappy clothes that don’t fit?

Let me know in the comments if you want to join in. What will you make? Or perhaps you just want to follow along with my project for future inspiration, that is fine too.

Next time I’ll be talking about finding your own individual style, so be sure to check that out.

Until then…

Happy Weaving!

Tote Weave Along, Lesson 10 (Final)

by Kelly Leave a Comment

Thank you for joining me in this series, it’s been terrific to have you following along, and hopefully by the end of this lesson you will have a beautiful, functional bag to use or gift.

If you missed the last lesson, you can check it out here.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click and purchase, I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Last time we pinned the bag and lining together. Now we need to take the bag to the sewing machine.

At your sewing machine, sew right around the top of the bag with a straight stitch, removing pins as you go. I usually aim for a 1/4 to 1/2″ seam. This will sandwich together the lining, outer bag and handles together.

Trim the ends of the handles if needed. If your seam allowance is rough or wide, you can trim that too, for a neater finish. If you do trim, make sure to secure the raw edge with zig zag on your sewing machine or using your serger.

Give the bag a good press with a hot iron, paying particular attention to the top seams you just sewed.

You will recall that when sewing the lining pieces together, we left a gap along the bottom seam. This is where that little feature comes in as highly important!

Placing your hand inside the gap, begin to slowly and gently work the outer bag through the lining hole. As you do this, the lining will naturally start to turn inside out – this is what we want!

When the lining is fully turned out, give the seams where the lining and outer bag meet a good press, helping to flatten down the layers of seam and giving a much neater finish.

Next we need to stitch the gap in the lining closed, otherwise you will have a hole in the inside bottom of your bag! You can either hand stitch or machine stitch, just make sure that all raw edges are turned inwards.

Grab the end of the lining and push and tuck it to the inside of the bag. Take a bit of extra time to arrange the lining so that it sits flat inside and is sitting in the same shape as the outer bag with no bunchy bits. Pay particular attention to the corners, and poke the lining into them with your fingers.

Once you’re satisfied with the positioning of the lining, press the whole bag once again, slipping the iron inside the bag to flatten the lining. It can be helpful to slip the open end of the bag over the end of the ironing board to ensure the lining is sitting properly at the top.

The final step is optional. You can top sew around the very top edge of the bag, using a matching thread. This will help to secure the lining in place and stop it from moving back out of the bag. It also looks nice. But, you decide.

So, that’s it!

How did your bag turn out? Please let me know if you have made one, and of course, I always love to see photos.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Tote Bag Weave Along, Lesson 9

by Kelly 1 Comment

If you missed lesson 8, you can find it here.

We’re really making progress now, sewing up the bag and getting close to finishing!

The lines that we pinned across the two bottom corners can now be sewn.

Sew straight across the corner, removing pins as you go and remembering to backstitch at each end for strong stitching. Repeat on the opposite corner.

Cut off the excess fabric on the corner and either zigzag or serge the raw edge.

Now do the same with your prepared lining.

Take the bag and turn it the right way out, taking care to push out the corners with your fingers as you go.

At the top of the bag, measure in approximately 3.5″ from one side and mark with a pin. Do the same from the other side.

Place your bag handles with the raw edges meeting up with the top edge of the bag and lining up with the pins. Ensure your handles are not twisted. Pin the handles in place. Do the same on the other side of the bag for the opposite strap. Take the bag to the sewing machine and straight stitch across the top of all the straps, remembering to backstitch and remove pins as you go. This makes your handles stronger and keeps them in place while you move onto the next part of the bag.

Put the main bag inside the lining. The lining should still be turned inside out – that way, the bag and the lining will have right sides facing when you put them together. Line up the side seams and make sure that the handles are tucked in, out of the way. Pin all around the top of the bag, keeping those side seams matched as much as possible.

You can view this entire lesson for free right here:

The next post will be the last lesson where we finish off sewing the bag.

I hope to see you then, and as always, leave me a comment if you have any questions!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!