Ask Madelyn: Plain Weave and Satin

Hi Madelyn!

I hope you are safe and well. I have 2 questions: Can you weave a plain-weave border around a satin or sateen weave pattern? What would the draft look like? I have a jack loom with 8 shafts and 10 treadles. Thanks so much for your time and assistance.

—Rebecca

Hi Rebecca!

Most of the time, to weave a plain-weave border when there isn’t any plain weave in the body of the piece, you need 2 additional shafts. Then you have to tie the 2 shafts to the treadles you are using for the satin/sateen structure so that the 2 shafts always alternate (or you can use a skeleton tie-up in which 1 foot operates only those 2 shafts). A drawback to plain-weave edges with satin or sateen is that, because of the denser plain-weave interlacement, the edges may ruffle off the loom (unless you are using only two threads on each edge). 

If your satin threading is on an even number of shafts, you can weave plain weave before and after the satin. But those areas of plain weave will have that same ruffling problem.

—Madelyn