No Waste Warping

One of the problems with weaving is the unavoidable waste that seems to be inherent in any warp. You have to add about 75cm waste to any warp length calculations on the loom. This is just yarn that won’t be woven and can only be used for fringe….or just wasted. The thought of this waste pushes me to weave longer lengths even when it doesn’t suit me.

Of course this depends on the size and type of loom you use. As my loom has 24 shafts and is quite long at the back the loom waste is potentially more like 1.5metres, which alot of waste!. But I use a method of adding extra cord lengths to the back beam apron. This allows me to really get the most out of a warp as you can see in these photos. The end of the warp on this project is nearly up to the back of the heddles and total waste for the back is only 55cms!

It’s exciting reaching the end of a project because I’m anticipating it being cut down off the loom. I’ve been weaving this Ikat band for a few months now. The first couple of metres were woven off as bookmarks, the last few metres as continuous band which I will use to finish off and trim another woven fabric length.