Ask Madelyn: How Do I Minimize Waste When Retying a Warp?

We’ve surely all found ourselves in this spot—we need to cut a handwoven piece off for an urgent gift or to meet a deadline, but we want to finish weaving the rest of that warp later while wasting as little of it as possible. Madelyn explains how to accomplish this.

—Handwoven editors

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A Reader’s Question:

I’m about to weave several separate pieces on the same silk warp. After I finish weaving the first piece, I need to cut it off and tie the remaining warp to the front beam to continue weaving the other pieces. How much extra warp should I allow for the retying? The warp is precious, so I want to minimize waste.
—Margie

Madelyn’s Answer:

Hi Margie!

If you need to cut off a woven piece before you’re done with a warp, I suggest that you use the “weaving in a stick” method instead of retying. Here’s what that involves:

1. Finish weaving your first piece (Photo 1).
2. Weave about 2 inches of very firm plain weave using a non-slippery yarn.
3. Open a shed and insert a stick that’s roughly the same size as your apron rod.
4. Weave another inch or two of very firm plain weave in the non-slippery yarn (Photo 2).
5. Cut off the first piece, leaving the start of the plain weave section with the stick (Photo 3).
6. Tie the stick to your apron rod and tension the warp (Photo 4).
7. Begin weaving the second piece. The stick will wrap around the cloth beam as you work, and you’ll remove it after you cut the second piece off the loom.

Using this method, you’ll waste only three or four inches of warp yarn (plus the amount the stick takes up). In my experience, that’s less than you’d need to tie on again and spread the warp.

You can watch me put this technique in action in my video course Weaving Well. Head to part 2 and start watching around 36 minutes into the video for this technique, or watch the full video for a range of other tips that will make your weaving better and easier.

—Madelyn

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Posted February 15, 2012. Updated June 17, 2019; August 18, 2025.

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