Tuesday, February 11, 2014

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. 
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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/

23 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks for your compliment, Frances. This is a great way for me to share my enthusiasm for color and pattern and I hope that the design ideas will be useful to some other weavers.

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  2. Thanks for this posting. As an inkle newbie, I appreciate the plain weave info which will help me sort out patterns. There's a lot more info out there about card weaving etc than working with plain weave.

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    1. Hi, Rini.
      Yes, I am aware that so many people are weaving complex bands these days and plain weave with all of it's possibilities sometimes gets overlooked.
      ~Annie

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    2. Hello ASpinnerWeaver: I've seen this Word template.... I lost it :( Where can I find it?
      Lovely work! Thanks

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    3. Hi. I'm not sure but do you mean that you want to weave words? You can find info in this blog post; http://aspinnerweaver.blogspot.com/2015/12/weaving-letters-on-inkle-band.html
      If that wasn't your question, you can send me a message and I'll try to help. iweavestraps@gmail.com

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  3. Beautiful patterns. Thank y ou for sharing.

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  4. Thank you so much for these patterns! I am very new to inkle weaving and you have become my go-to place for inspiration. Love your work!!

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    1. Thanks for the kind words. I hope that you will find useful charts and inspiration here!
      ~Annie

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  5. Thank you for these drafts...I am very new to Inkle weaving and need all the help I can get... Can you tell me is there a way to "read" a finished design, in order to figure out what the threading for the warp would be ??

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    1. Well, if you are looking at a finished band close enough, you can see the design thread for thread. Maybe you could try looking at my photos and see if you can create the pattern draft from them. Since the draft is already there, you will be able to check it. Does that make sense?

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    2. Yes that does, I will try it...Thanks...

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  6. quiero saber como hago para ver los patrones

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  7. como hago para ver los patrones de tus trabajos?

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    1. Aliki-
      He mostrado algunas de las fotos con los patrones anteriores. Qué te gustaría ver más? Hay otros aqui http://aspinnerweaver.blogspot.com/2014/03/winning-color-strategy-using-red-and.html y aqui http://aspinnerweaver.blogspot.com/2014/02/plain-weave-color-strategy-inspiration.html. Y este http://aspinnerweaver.blogspot.com/2014/02/greek-key-pickup-tutorial.html
      Yo deseo que yo tenía un libro de una oferta!
      ~Annie

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  8. Thank you so much for posting your drafts. I just got an inkle loom, and after I do a practice piece, I will be making my hubby a guitar strap. We have already picked out a design from your pages, and our colours of thread are ordered. I am already a floor loom weaver, but inkle weaving is just so portable - and beautiful. Thanks again for your websight - it is very encouraging for us beginners

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    1. Nancy- I'm so happy that you found a pattern to help you get started. Thanks for the kind words.

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  9. These are beautiful! My husband just made me an inkle loom. I am grateful for the patterns you shared. It will be a great start.

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    1. Lucky you! Have fun! Glad to give you some designs to try out!

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  10. Wow, thank you so much. I've bought an Inkle loom for my mochilla bags. But here in Germany nobody can help me. So my first band was a deasaster , It slipped from the loom, was too loose, but I did not give up. Then I found your site. I could hug you, for this great guide. Thanks again, Dani

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    1. Oh, I'm so happy that you found this helpful. When I learned to weave, there was no one around to ask questions of and no internet yet. Happy weaving! ~Annie

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  11. Thank you Annie for sharing your knowledge. I ordered your book, and am waiting impatiently for it to arrive. I am so looking forward to playing with plain inkle weaving - I tried card weaving and found it so frustrating - your plain designs are just was wonderful, without all the fiddling around with cards

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