In Celebration of Plain Weave

I watch many new weavers who are anxious to weave beautiful and complex patterns like the ones they see others posting photos of, maybe not even realizing that there are so many levels of pattern and designs, even to narrow warp-faced bands. While the various pickup patterns are beautiful, I sincerely believe that the place to start is with plain weave. And plain weave has endless pattern possibilities! You don't have to do pickup to have a good time!

FOR SIMPLICITY OF USE, CONSIDER THE TOP ROW TO BE HEDDLED THREADS AND THE BOTTOM ROW TO BE OPEN THREADS ON ALL OF THE DRAFTS. 


This pattern, over time, has proven to be the most popular one posted on my blog. I've seen so many iterations of it in various color combinations. It works well with lots of color combinations! It is pattern #179 in my book, In Celebration of Plain Weave: Color & Design Inspiration for Inkle Weavers. 

For this band, two types of pattern drafts are shown below.

Then a link is given to the Band Weaving Pattern Editor where you can call it up yourself and edit as you wish. 

This type of pattern draft closely represents the threads as they show in a woven band. 

This type of pattern draft shows the warp threads as squares with blank spaces in between them, making it easier to read at a glance. 

 If you'd like to redesign it in your own colorway, you can start with the pattern here and switch up the colors to suit you. 

http://www.raktres.net/l/K0

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My inkle weaving is at a production level. I make and sell hundreds of pieces each year; about 90% of these are plain weave. Since I state that "each one is one-of-a-kind", there need to be new and creative combinations of color and pattern each time I set up my loom. I've been weaving for years and keep inventing something new each time. Plain weave is never boring to me!

In this post are an assortment of straps woven in 2013 each illustrated with a photo and pattern draft so that you can create your own versions if you wish, or use them as a jumping off point to draft your own patterns.
These are all combinations of a few pattern elements like stripes, chains and "teeth".

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Here on my Flickr page, there is an album devoted just to plain weave patterns if you'd like to browse. http://www.flickr.com/photos/aspinnerweaver/sets/72157626855413579/