I sat down to weaving today and noticed I was having serious problems with uneven tension. The center section that was really tight earlier had tightened to the point where I couldn’t relieve the tension by tugging near the back beam, and as a result, everything else was going lax.
I also realized that it really didn’t make sense to continue on after 10 yards if I really intended to cut front and back from different pieces. I’d want the pieces about equal, so I’d have equal amounts of yardage to cut the front and back from. By my calculations I should have as much as four yards left over of each piece – but I’ll need that much if I want to be able to cut around the worst flaws. Since the dress is cut in floor-length panels, there isn’t much room to maneuver.
So, I took a deep breath, pulled out the scissors, and cut the first length off the loom.
Here it is, looking innocuous and NOTHING like something that took three months to weave:
And here is a closeup, for those who missed the first set of photos:
Do click for a closer look; the pattern doesn’t show in all its glory in the smaller version.
This has, of course, not been wet-finished yet, so it will show slightly differently once it’s finished – it will be glossier and drapier. I’m looking forward to finishing it at Laura’s!
The one thing that still concerns me is how (if possible) to loosen up the tension of the “tight” section on the back beam. At the moment, for the first few turns of the beam, it’s wound on considerably tighter than the other sections, which may take me right back to the problem I was having earlier. Short of advancing the beam and then re-winding it (which could cause problems with the sectional dividers – ?) I can’t think of a good way to loosen the tension on the next few turns. I’m not planning to tie on until I get back from Laura’s, hoping that the tension will relax somewhat, but is there a better way of letting the tension even out? If so, please let me know!
Ii think pulling forward and rewinding would be the best solution. A thread or two that stray from one section to another shouldn’t be a big problem in the finished cloth. I often wind the sectional with different number of threads in various sections, to make a pattern fit into the sections.
The fabric is stunning!
A agree that rewinding needs to be done. I’ve had this happen before and that was the only way I could get it back to being even. But, you could always ask Laura, while you are there, and get her opinion, too.
Rewind. I wind with chain warps all the time on sectional beams. The trick is to make sure the first and last pegs drop exactly tight up against an end peg, and the rest will fall evenly in the middle provided they are guided by the heddles. Just make sure you beam really really tight. I usually put in multiple lease sticks when I’m beaming, for tension, but that may be too stressful for the fine silk.
How many girlfriends do you have that you can have a warp beaming party?