Selvedge Series, Part 3: Add Commercial or Handmade Trims + Free Video

In Part 3 of her Spice Up Your Selvedges series, popular weaving teacher Sara Bixler shows other types of trims to use around your handwovens.

Previously, Part 1 covered ways to deal with lace and weft floats along the selvedges, and Part 2 considered practical and decorative crocheted edgings.
—Handwoven editors

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Trims added during finishing can protect weft, cover up uneven selvedges, or even bring a touch of pizzazz to your work.

Rugs are a great place to use twill tape. Applied on the ends, it protects the weft; added around all four sides it will cover wobbly selvedges as well.

Plain twill tape isn’t the only option, though. Historically, Shaker rag rugs were often trimmed with braids made from leftover weft materials. Modern weavers can do the same—or they can add a graphic punch to their rugs by braiding coordinating bundles of mop cotton into wider trims.

You can bring even more drama to handwovens of all sorts by applying larger commercial trims around all edges, such as the oversized rickrack you’ll see in this video tip. Sadly, this particular trim has been discontinued, but you may still be able to find it at retailers or on Etsy. If this type of trim interests you, keep an eye out for other styles to pick up and tuck away for later. —Sara Bixler

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Tapes and Other Trims

Below are three projects that use bias tape, strips of commercial fabric, and fingerwoven braids to finish the ends or edges of handwoven pieces.

Photos by Joe Coca