Ask Madelyn: Determining Warp Sett for Boundweave

Madelyn, I am intrigued with the idea of weaving boundweave placemats on a rosepath threading. I want to use up some of my large supply of 10/2 cotton for the weft, but I don’t know how to determine the warp sett (or what yarn to use for warp). --Marcy

Hi Marcy!

10/2 cotton is a very fine (thin) yarn to use as a boundweave weft (meaning that you will be weaving a lot of picks per inch), but that makes boundweave an ideal structure for using a lot of yarn. Boundweave is the name we give weft-faced weaving usually done on a point-twill or rosepath-twill threading. If one shaft is down for a pick, the weft color shows over the threads on that shaft. When all shafts but one are raised for each pick in sequence and the weft color changed for each pick, the several wefts compress to look like a single weft, but in several different colors. Krokbragd is a 3-shaft boundweave (a 3-shaft point-twill threading). Usually, boundweave is used for rugs, and the weft yarns are relatively thick.

You need a strong warp yarn. It needs to have some thickness since it will greatly determine the relative thickness and body of the placemat. Carpet warp will do or maybe 8/2 linen. The thicker the warp yarn, the more open the warp sett must be in order for the fine weft to pack in enough to cover the warp completely and form a sturdy fabric.

Choosing the warp sett depends on both the thickness of the warp yarn and the thickness of the weft yarn. There may be some established parameters for this, but if there are, I don’t know them. You need a warp sett that is much more open than for plain weave (which would be 15 ends per inch for carpet warp, 14 ends per inch for 8/2 linen). I think I would start by wrapping a ruler with the warp yarn, placing the threads as far apart you think will work as you picture the weft covering it up. When I do that with carpet warp, a sett of 8 or 10 ends per inch looks about right. I would probably start with 10 and weave a bit and then change to 8 if I wanted the weft to pack in more densely. I could then drop off a few threads on the edges to maintain the placemat’s width.

Let us know how this turns out! Madelyn

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Posted March 25, 2015. Updated June 26, 2017.