Loom fixed – finished weaving yardage for jacket

I finally got the parts for the loom (no fault of Leclerc’s – the package mistakenly wound up on the desk of a coworker who was off on vacation) and fixed it.  As promised, it was an easy fix – just swap out the parts and off you go.  I promptly went on a minor weaving rampage and finished up the fabric for the jacket.  Here are some photos of it:

The whole cloth:

A closeup (showing the subtle variations in pattern as the treadling advances):

I had one minor problem, which was that I had skipped a dent in the reed while sleying.  This washed out in the wet-finishing of the sample, so I didn’t think twice about it.  Unfortunately, in the finished fabric, the flaw is very visible (center of the tan line):

I wasn’t sure if it didn’t wash out because I used a different yarn than in the original set of samples (yes, I know, I should have tested the specific yarn out first, but it didn’t occur to me after weaving samples in 4 different yarns, some quite similar), or because I didn’t wet-finish it for long enough.  The samples were wet-finished in warm water on delicate cycle in the washer, the yardage was originally wet-finished in cold water, delicate cycle.  I also forgot to throw in the towel that I used to “roughen up” the sample.

So, back into the washer, this time for the same wet-finishing as the other sample.  Still reed marks.  In desperation, I even threw it into the dryer, low heat, for ten minutes, but the reed marks are still there and still visible as a stripe in the finished fabric. (Fortunately, my frantic visions of removing a piece of felt weren’t actualized: it only shrank about 2% in width and the finished piece actually feels nicer than when it went in – a little thicker and with more body, good for jacket fabric.)

Two morals to this story: first, weave and wet-finish a sample with the exact yarn you will be using.  Second, next time, re-sley rather than risk it.

I will probably try to run the flawed section up the side of the jacket rather than the fronts.  Fortunately, the pieces are fairly narrow (except for the sleeves), so I think I can manage it.   I don’t know what I’m going to do with the shawls, though.