A Yarn about Yarn

I always start a rep weaving workshop with a tall tale or “yarn” to introduce weavers to the versatility of warp-faced rep. Imagine if 15 weavers have warped a loom with the following: a 12” wide project of 3/2 cotton sett at 30 ends per inch. That’s 360 warp ends. And if each end is 3 yards long, that’s 1,080 yards committed to the project.

4-block, 4-shaft Rep Rugs by Rosalie Neilson from Handwoven March/April 2011.

Now imagine if the weavers could tie all of their warp ends into one long string, how long do you think the string would be? It would be 16,200 yards long, or a bit more than 9.2 miles for the warp! If they were able to wind the string up into a big ball, and warp a loom at 12” wide, the project would be 45 YARDS long.

With a take-up of 20%, nine yards are lost during the weaving process. And with loom waste and a beginning sample, another yard is lost. But guess what? The finished textile would still produce a 35-yard long project, one-third of a football field, which turns out to be 1,260 inches long!

If the weavers wanted to make placemats that are 12” wide by 18” long, they could produce the equivalent of 70 placemats. And if they never changed the threading, but instead varied the tie-up and treadling sequence, each of the 70 placemats could be a completely different design!

I know this for fact because I have been weaving the technique of warp-faced rep for over 35 years—and have yet to exhaust my ideas for color and design. This is the power of warp-faced rep.

—Rosalie Neilson

16-shaft version of Checkerboard Rep Rug shown in featured image.

Published December 14, 2015 Revised August 16, 2021