remember those potholders that you made with cotton loopers for your mom? Here is a grownup way to use them. Blend the colors by looping them together and weave a set of funky mats. Cotton loopers were first created as a byproduct of sock making. They were—and sometimes still are—the tops cut from socks during the finishing process of industrial sock making. It’s recycling at its finest! You can still find odd-lot mill-end cotton loopers here and there that you can dye yourself, or you can get them commercially in a range of colors. Joined loopers also make great rugs.
Two mats, each about 13" (33 cm) wide by 15" (38 cm) long.
Plain weave.
10-dent rigid heddle with a 13" (33 cm) weaving width; two 12" (30.5 cm) stick shuttles; 18" (45.5 cm) ski shuttle; heavy tapestry beater; 2"
(5 cm) cardboard spacer.
Sett (epi)
10.
Weaving Width
13" (33 cm).
Picks per Inch (ppi)
4.
Warp Length
72" (183 cm; includes 30" [76 cm] for loom waste and take-up).
Number of Warp Ends
130.
Warp
4-ply, 8/4 fingering-weight unmercerized cotton (1,600 yd [1,463 m]/lb): 260 yd (237.5 m) light green.
Shown here: Mayville Carpet Warp (100% cotton; 800 yd [731.5 m]/8 oz): #45 Aqua Green (light green).
Weft
Unmercerized cotton loops: 50 aqua, 129 light blue, 129 orange, and 50 pink. 4-ply 8/4 fingering-weight cotton (1,600 yd [1,463 m]/lb): 32 yd (29.5 cm) light green (#45).
Shown here: Cotton Clouds Superior Cotton Loopers (100% cotton): Jade (light blue), Sky Blue (aqua blue), Melon (orange), and Rose (pink). Mayville Carpet Warp (100% cotton; 800 yd [731.5 m]/8 oz): #45 Aqua Green (light green).
Other Supplies
Coordinating sewing thread.
The weft is made by joining cotton loopers into a chain as shown below.
Connect the two shades of blue loopers in the following order: [1 aqua, 4 light blue, 1 aqua, 1 light blue] 24 times. Make another two strands of loopers connected as 1 orange, 1 pink, 4 orange.
Connect the orange and pink loopers in the following order: [1 pink, 4 orange, 1 pink, 1 orange] 24 times. Make another two strands of loopers connected as 1 light blue, 1 aqua, 4 light blue.
Ski shuttles are better than stick shuttles for bulky wefts such as the loopers. Wind the shuttle in wide figure eights.
Getting a Firm Beat
A firm beat is critical for a sturdy mat. For each pick, place the weft in the first shed, bring the rigid heddle to the fell of the cloth, change the shed by pulling up or pushing down the rigid heddle, then move the rigid heddle back into the shed blocks. Use a heavy tapestry beater to press the weft firmly into place.
Warp the loom (see page 24) following the specifications on page 97.
Wind light green carpet warp on one stick shuttle. Wind two short strands of orange and pink loopers on another stick shuttle. Wind the blue loopers on a ski shuttle, forming a wide figure eight.
Weave an inch or two of header to spread the warp ends (see page 40).
Leaving a 30" (76 cm) tail at the selvedge, weave 1" (2.5 cm) with light green carpet warp for the hem. Thread the tail on a tapestry needle and use it to hemstitch (see page 120) around two warps and two wefts at the starting end of the mat. Weave four picks with the blue loopers. Separate the woven weft from the loose weft by detaching the last looper that sticks out from the shed.
To keep the color joins from being visually distracting, tuck the resulting blue tail back into the warp under the last pick. In the same shed, at the opposite end of the same shed, place half of an orange looper from one of the short strands. Beat. Weave two picks with short orange and pink strand. Weave 12½” (31.5 cm) with blue loopers. Weave two more picks of orange and pink. Weave four picks of blues. Weave 1" (2.5 cm) with carpet warp for hem. Hemstitch as before.
Place a 2" (5 cm) cardboard spacer after the hemstitching. Work a second mat after the cardboard spacer, reversing the colors.
Remove the fabric from the loom (see page 46). Remove the scrap yarn in the header.
Trim the warp to about ¼" (6 mm) from the hemstitching. Fold each hem in half and whipstitch (see page 121) in place on the wrong side.
