you’ll find a million uses for this everyday bag. The simple design involves two strips of fabric—one for the body and the other for the handle—woven on the same warp. The houndstooth check is created through a simple color-and-weave technique (see page 87). The sturdy and inexpensive cotton yarn makes this a great project for gifts. Allow an additional 100" (254 cm) in warp length for each additional bag, but because there is a limit to the length of warp that can be wound onto the back beam, only plan for four bags at a time.
About 10½" (26.5 cm) wide by 10¼" (26 cm) long, with 43" (109 cm) strap.
Balanced plain weave with color-and-weave effect.
8-dent rigid heddle with 7" (18 cm) weaving width; two stick shuttles.
Sett (epi)
8.
Weaving Width
6¾" (17 cm).
Picks per Inch (ppi)
8.
Warp Length
130" (includes 30" [76 cm] for loom waste and take-up).
Number of Warp Ends
54.
Warp Color Order
Alternate 2 ends of red and 2 ends of brown, end with 2 ends of red.
Weft Color Order
Alternate 2 picks of red and 2 picks of brown.
Warp
4-ply bulky-weight unmercerized cotton (400 yd [366 m]/lb): 106 yd (97 m) red and 94 yd (86 m) brown.
Shown here: Peaches & Crème (100% cotton) in #96 Brick Red and #121 Chocolate.
Weft
4-ply bulky-weight unmercerized cotton (400 yd/lb): 80 yd (73 m) red and 80 yd (73 m) brown.
Shown here: Peaches & Crème (100% cotton) in #96 Brick Red and #121 Chocolate.
Wind each color of warp separately.
Warp the loom (see page 24) according to the specifications on page 85 and starting and ending with red warp ends.
Wind each color on a separate shuttle.
Weave an inch or two of header to spread the warp ends (see page 40).
Leaving a 24" (61 cm) tail at the selvedge to use for hemstitching later, weave two picks of red. Starting the brown from the same side as the red exited, but in a different shed, weave two picks of brown. Pick up the red shuttle from under the brown thread so that it catches neatly at the edge (see Managing Two Shuttles, page 45), and weave two picks with red. Do the same with the brown. Thread the red weft tail on a tapestry needle and use it to hemstitch (see page 120) around two warps and two wefts at the beginning of the piece.
Continue alternating two picks each of red and brown until the cloth measures 25" (63.5 cm; it doesn’t matter which color you end with). Cut the weft, leaving a 24" (61 cm) tail. Thread the tail on a tapestry needle and use it to hemstitch as before. Cut the other weft yarn and needle-weave (see page 120) the end back into the cloth.
Advance the warp, leaving 1" (2.5 cm) of unwoven warp. Weave a second section of cloth measuring 72" (183 cm) long, hemstitched at both ends as before.
Remove the fabric from the loom (see page 46). Remove the scrap yarn in the header. With sharp scissors, cut apart the two pieces. Machine wash with mild soap and allow to air-dry.
Trim the fringe ¼" (6 mm) from the hemstitching.
Fold over each end of the shorter piece ¼" (6 mm) two times for hem, hiding the hemstitching. With red, use a whipstitch (see page 121) to sew the hem in place (Figure 1). Repeat for both sides of the longer fabric.
Fold the shorter body fabric in half widthwise with the hem facing inward. Fold the long piece of cloth for the strap. Align each end of the strap with the fold in the body cloth and tuck two picks (one strip of red) of the strap under the body fabric to form a seam allowance, making sure that the pattern is aligned across the entire fabric. With red, sew the two pieces together. Repeat for the other side, taking care not to twist the strap (Figure 2).
Using a whipstitch, sew the two selvedge edges of the strap together on the underside of the strap, beginning and ending 3" from the bag body. Allow the edges of the strap to taper to full width at the top of the bag and stitch in place (Figure 3).
To form a flat base, push the sewn ends of the strap into points, then fold the points so that they butt up against the side seams and stitch in place.
Color and Weave
Dozens of patterns can be created by clever combinations of light and dark yarns in the warp and weft. The patterns show up best if there is high contrast between the light and dark yarns. Color with low contrast will create interesting effects, but they won’t be as sharply defined.
In the sampler shown here, two ends of purples are alternated with two ends of mint green in the warp. The first square is woven by alternating one pick each of purple and green. The second square is woven by alternating two picks each of purple and green. The third square is woven with all purple weft. The fourth is woven with all green weft. Use your imagination to come up with other combinations in both the warp and weft!