Cut Thread Triangular Weaving

Fiber Studio

How To

Tri weaving

Cut Thread Weaving lessons for Basket Weave and for Tabby Weave

Done in Log Cabin pattern

By Barbara Herdman- copyrighted

Cut Thread Weaving is done with individually cut strands instead of with a continuous yarn.
It is woven on the bias which I feel gives it a nicer drape then continuous weaving. It also completes your fringe as you weave.
Since each strand is cut separately it is very easy to weave plaids and it is also possible to do easy color patterns such as Log cabin shown here in a black and white design with equal size blocks of color.
I give directions for the black & white log cabin outlined in red.
Or if you wish to really be different every strand could be a different color.

Log cabin design Bias Plaid design
red log cabin

Basket Weave Outlined Log Cabin Basket and Tabby Weave

These were done with the same yarn and on looms with the same spacing. The tabby weave might have been woven with more tension and was done on a 1 foot loom. The basket Tri was done on an 18" loom.

In continuous weaving your weaving will progress from the top to the bottom and in from each side.

In cut thread your weaving will progress from one side only.

Your color patterns and plaids will have to be planned for the whole weaving, they will not automatically balance.

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Designing
I will be using an 18" loom with 37 nails on the hypotenuse or long side spaced 1/2 " apart and 37 on a short side spaced about a quarter inch apart. The spacing of nails on your loom will determine how open or close your weaving is. If you use thin yarn on 1/2 inch spacing you will have a very open lacy weaving.
There is a line between lacy and flimsy so do some sampling. If you use really thick yarns it might produce a fiber that is to firm to drape well. So experiment till you find the combination of loom and yarns you prefer.

Your weaving will start from a short side so plan your design on the nails of a short side if you mark your nails to show where colors will go.

Some design options are:

1. Using the same yarn for the whole weaving. It could be a solid color, variegated, spaced dyed, ikat dyed or striped. It can also be a plied yarn with ply strands of different color, texture or type.

2. Use two different yarns alternating them. They can be different colors or different textures. One thick and one fine. One matte and one shiny. One smooth and one fuzzy ( I do recommend you save fuzzy yarns till you have more experience with cut thread. Just as in continuous weaving they can be a bit tricky to weave through. But if you just love the fuzzy texture go for it. Weaving is most fun when you work with colors and textures you love.

3. Plaids-Since cut thread does not weave in from both sides you will have to plan your plaid design the same as you do for a continuous plaid pattern but you will have to double it to cover the whole loom.

House of Tartan Is one of the best sites I have found that lets you design your own plaid and see what it will look like woven. They have limited colors to design with but once you find a weaving pattern you like you can substitute the colors you want to use.

4. Gather a number of yarns in compatible colors then cut stands and design as you weave. No set design or pattern -just blend as you like. This is often best tried on a small loom first unless you are very adventurous.

5. Log Cabin- This is the pattern I will be using in the lesson photos. It is a basic weave and the pattern is formed by the color placement of the strands.
There are endless other design possibilities but these ideas should get you started.

Preparing Your Strands

Once you have decided on your design you need to determine the length of your cut yarn strands.

This is called Cut Thread Weaving but I feel the word thread in the instructions could mislead some on the type of fiber to weave with so I am using the term Strand instead.

1.You need to decide on the length of fringe you want- I'll be using 4 inches since I'm going to be weaving on a small loom.

2. Next measure the length of a short side of your loom from corner nail to corner nail. Mine is 13"

3 Double the length of your fringe so you will have enough for both short sides of your weaving then add the loom length.

Example: 4" fringe + 4" fringe = 8 " added to 13"( the length of the short side of my 18" loom.)=21"
I like to add an extra inch for tying knots so the total length of each of my strands will be 22".

Determining the number of strands
1. You will need two strands for each nail on one short side of your loom.
They can all be the same color or every one can be a different color.
The color control is one of the really nice parts of Cut Thread weaving.

2. My loom has 37 nails on a short side but do not count the two corner nails as part of the pattern. They will be used at the end of the weaving to fasten everything together. So I have 35 pattern nails and need to cut 70 strands.

Number of strands for each color for |Log Cabin pattern
Log cabin pattern is developed from your choice and placement of color instead of by weaving a weaving pattern.
I will do a log cabin so you can get two lessons in one.
I will be weaving with a thinner yarn so that the weaving will show up well. This will not let the log cabin pattern show up well until it is taken off the loom and tension released.
For the pattern to show up really well you should use a thicker yarn..

To do a two color log cabin the pattern would normally be:
blk- wht- blk- wht- blk- wht-Black- blk- wht- blk- wht-blk- White- wht- blk- wht- blk-wht- black blk- wht- blk- wht -blk
Repeat for the length of your loom.

As you can see every time you want to start a new block you repeat the previous color strand then continue alternating.
You could also replace the white strands with a different color in each block. One group blue the next green or what ever you like.
Since I already have a black and white sample I'm going to change it to make black and white blocks with a red outline.
To do this I will replace each of the doubled color strands with red. So it will be:
blk-wht-blk-wht-blk-wht-RED-blk-wht-blk-wht-blk-RED-wht-blk-wht-blk-wht-RED repeated across the loom.

Knotting Your Strands
1. Take your first two strands and put one end of each strand together.
double strand

2. Measure the length of your fringe for one side. Mine is 4" -tie an overhand knot at this spot.

( 12 nails on my loom measure 4" so I put a rubber band around 12 nails and use it as a quick easy measure to judge how much fringe to leave before I tie the two strands together.

As I cut and tie my strands together I loop them over the nails on the short side of the loom in the order I will want to weave them.
I then use rubber bands over the nails to hold them in place.

If you prefer you can write out your pattern then cut and tie strands as you need them to weave. This makes it easier to keep the strands from tangling especially if you are weaving on a large loom. )

For my log cabin design with red outlines on an 18" loom I need to cut 30 black strands 22 inches long (fringe length times 2 plus the side length plus 1" extra for tying knots)
30 white strands and 10 red strands.
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To Weave Basket Weave:
Directions are for weaving with the long side of the loom up and starting on the left short side at the bottom point.
These directions are for weaving a basket weave pattern. Two strands woven over and under two strands.
The sample in the photos is woven with thinner yarn and at higher tension then I would normally use in order to show the weaving structure better.

Where to start:
1.You will have to start on a short side but it will work equally well from left or right side of the loom. As long as you go from a short side to the long side and back to the other short side. It depends on what feels best to you. You can also weave with the point up or if you are using a small loom you can turn it so a short side sits in your lap or on the table.
Just remember to always start weaving from a short side to the long side and back to a short side.

starting on right side

Mark the fringe length off on the nails with a rubber band for quick measuring before you tie the ends together.
Measuring fringe

All of the strands cut and looped over the nails on the left side. They are held down with a rubber band.

strands ready to weave

3. Skip the bottom point nail and hook the knot of your first strands over the next nail up on the left leaving the fringe hanging over the short side.
(For log cabin I start with black strands)
starting to weave

4.Take it up to the right corner of the top of the loom. Go over the top of the nail next to the corner nail. You will come back and use the corner nails when you finish the weaving.

5. Take your strands to the nail below the corner nail on the right short side.(Remember to skip the top right corner nail)

6. Take one strand around each side of the nail on the short side. Tie them under the nail either with an overhand knot or a square knot. It is easier to get it snug with a square knot.
finishing the first strand

Remember that just as in continuous weaving the yarn will take up as you weave so do not pull this strand tight. Let it sag a little.
You now have your first warp strand going from a short side to the long side. Your first weft thread is the part of the strand that goes from the long side down to the other short side. This warp strand is the strand you will be weaving over and under. Notice that you already have a finished fringe on both short sides

7. (For log cabin the 2nd strand will be white)
Using your next set of strands hook the knot over the next nail down on the short side.
Go up and around the next nail on the long side.
Using your hook go from the right side of the loom under the first set of strands and hook the free ends of the second set of strands. Pull the ends through under the first strands tie the ends of the second set of strands around the next nail down on the right short side..
strand 2

8.(log cabin-3rd strand black)
Do the same with the third set of strands but this time weave over and under the previous strands on the long side.
Third strand

9. (Log cabin-4th strand white)
Here the fourth strand is woven in.
strand 4

10. Continue weaving- alternating the black and white. Put in an outline thread when you want to start another block.
one repeat pattern

As you weave make sure you watch the knots at the starting end of the strands. Do not let them slip away from the nails. Make sure they are all centered on the nails.

9. As you weave the log cabin pattern will appear. It will be even more evident when you remove the weaving from the loom.
half woven

To continue the log cabin design the 5th strand -black 6th strand - Red if you want an outline or Black if you just want blocks alternating. 7th-white and then 8th-black 9th-white 10th-black 11th-white 12th either Red or white. Continue alternating in the same pattern.
I'm making my blocks 6 strands wide but they can be as wide or narrow as you want. Just keep alternating colors until you want to change to the next block then repeat the last color (or add an outline color)before continuing to alternate.

10. When the main weaving is finished you will need to decide what color strands you want to use to finish the edges.
I find it is easier to pick the color after the weaving is done. I used black on the left and red on the left to balance the design.
Cut and tie double strands together just as you did for the main weaving.
Tie the end of a yarn to the upper corner loop leaving a tail long enough to blend with the fringe.
Then weave through the middle of each loop till you get to the bottom point corner.
There you can tie the other end of your yarn to the point loop and trim the end to blend in with the
fringe.
Then using another yarn repeat on the other short side. Tie around the loop in the upper corner- weave down
to the bottom point corner and tie it to that loop- trim to match the fringe length.
Another way is to tie a yarn to the upper corner and weave around both short sides through the loops then tie it off on the opposite upper corner from
where you started.
I prefer to weave each short side separately and tie off at the bottom point corner since the bottom point normally looks better with extra fringe to help fill it in.

needle weaving edges

Cut the strands for weaving the edge of the right side and fasten on at the bottom corner- weave through the loops to the hypotenuse corner where you tie off the same as you did on the first side.

finishing right side

You will probably want to fill in the bottom corner with more fringe to fill in the curve.

To release the weaving use a crochet hook the lift the top loops off the nails.
Then gently lift the sides off the loom.
Releasing the top

The finished Outlined Log Cabin Cut Thread Basket Weave.
main weaving done

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TABBY WEAVE LOG CABIN

Tabby weave is weaving over and under one strand at a time.
To do a log cabin pattern in Tabby you use the same alternating colors but each pair of strands will contain two colors.
When you hook your strands over the starting nail make sure the black is on the bottom for the first block of color.
When you are ready to change to the next block the red will be at the top in place of the white yarn.

tabby colors

Carry the tied pair of strands to the long side and over the top of the nail on the long side.
Here is the difference between basket weave and tabby weave.

With Basket weave you wove both strands together going over and under TWO strands at a time.

For Tabby weave you will first weave the black thread to the short side going over and under ONE strand at a time.
Then you weave the white strand down weaving over and under the opposite warp strands.
weaving tabby

After you have individually woven both strands tie them together under the nail just as you did for basket weave.

tabby weave

Here the black strand has been woven and I'm ready to pull the white strand down.

tabby pattern repeat

This shows how you keep the two colors alternating with the placement of th outline strand. The next pair of strands the white will be on the bottom and the black will be on the top as shown below.

tabby log cabin pattern

The color pattern is black then white for one block with the red strand paired with the black. To weave the next block the colors will be white then black then white. The red will be paired with a white strand.
To start the next block you revert to black then white with the red paired with a black strand.
Continue alternating the two block colors across the weaving.

tabby weave half done

Happy weaving
Barb Herdman

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trees on line