Mar 26, 2021 • Written by Kerstin Neumüller
How to: Weave a simple repp band
If I want to try out a band pattern or just weave something quickly I usually set up the warp and thread it onto my heddle at the same time. This isn’t the most meticulous way to set up a small weave, but I find it to be the fastest and for small weaves woven on my kind of heddles I find it to work very well. This instruction is for a warp repp band, meaning that the warp threads cover the weft threads which are pulled very tightly.
A note for experienced weavers: This technique is similar in some ways to using a rigid heddle loom, but differs on two important points: The heddle is not used to beat the weft into place, and the width of the weave is always “as close as possible“ so there is no need to space out the warp threads before weaving.
You’ll need:
Heddle
Warp yarn
Weft yarn
Beating stick (A flat stick made of wood or anything else. A piece of carton folded double would be sturdy enough!)
Two pieces of string; one of them long enough to go around your waist
Start by choosing your yarn. I usually go for a two-ply yarn, sometimes a three-ply but a single stranded yarn will be too weak. It needs to be thin enough to go through the heddle holes though and I used Cottolin 16/2 for this kind of band! The pattern of the band will be decided by the order the different colors are placed in the heddle and there are many opportunities here! I’ll write more on designing patterns in a separate blogpost, promise!
For a quick warp that gives a band about 40 cm long I use the back of chair to tie my threads around. I cut a piece of warp yarn, place it around the chairs back and before I tie a knot of it to hold it into place I thread it through the heddle, placing one thread in each slit and hole. Make sure to place all the knots at about the same place, for example at one edge of the chairs back as I have done here.
When Im done threading the heddle I cut off all the warp threads close to the knots. I hold a firm grip around the warp when I do to make sure it doesnt fall to the floor or tangle too much in any other way. I make a knot on the end that is farthest away from the heddle, and secure that end to something stable like a table leg using a piece of string.
At this point I sit down on a chair close to where my warp is fastened and tie another piece pf string/a band around my waist. Lifting up the heddle I grab the tread ends that are sticking out from it at the un-tied end and pull at them, making sure they have even tension and aren’t tangled. Also I check to see that the warp isn’t twisted. When the tension seems even I divide the warp into two parts, pull one of them around the cord I have around my waist and tie the warp ends together. I scootch my chair back a bit so that the warp is tense enough to have all the threads for straight lines and the heddle sitting upright.
When the heddle is lifted so are the threads situated in the holes, and the ones that are in the slits sink down. The opening that is created is called a shed, and thats where the weft yarn, the one you’ll be adding to the warp yarn to create a weave, goes in. I Take a strand of yarn and poke the end of it into the shed so it sticks out on the other side; this is called “a pick”. To change the shed and make space for the second pick I lower the heddle, bringing the threads situated in the holes down below the level of the ones in the slits. I Make another pick and tug a little at the weft yarn to make the warp come together. Now the weft is secured and the weaving can start in earnest.
I weave by alternately lifting and pulling down the heddle while keeping the warp tense. After each pick I pull the weft tight to make the warp threads come together and then I change the shed, beat down with my beating stick to pack the weft and clear the new shed, tug at the weft yarn again and then make another pick.
The rythm goes like this:
Pick, tug at weft, change shed, beat, tug at weft, pick, tug at weft, change shed, beat, tug etc. It can seem like a lot to tug twice in connection to each pick but i really find the second tug helpful to keep the edges even.
Weaving bands is not so slow as I thought. Of course it differs a lot depending on what yarn you use and how experienced you are but I weave at a rate of about a centimeter per minute, making this rough decimeter about ten minutes work. I think that’s a rather reasonable time rate!
There is so much to write about band weaving that I can’t possibly do it all in one go, but I think this was a pretty decent start! Do you have questions about my instruction or want to show me a band you made? Shoot me an Email at kerstin@kerstinneumuller.com or tag me on instagram, where I am @dearcarvingdiary and @kerstinneumuller.
All photos in this post were taken by photographer Ellinor Hall.