Description
Selvedges are the leftover edges from a length of woven fabric.
When a batch of blankets or scarves are woven on a powerloom, or indeed on a pedal loom, there is a thin strip of threads which runs down both edges of the main piece, set slightly apart and themselves bordered by a leno thread which holds every weft pick in place. This edge strip is known as a selvedge. It’s there to stop the edge of the main piece from unravelling once it’s removed from the loom. Cloth finishers use the selvedge to help tenter (stretch) a piece of cloth to the desired width. Once the cloth has been washed and dried these selvedges are cut off and can be used for making rag rugs, among many other creative ideas.
This beautiful bedside rug was made for me by my friend Jean who helps in the workshop:
Jean’s Rug
Although it takes a lot of fabric to make a rag rug/proddy rug/hooky rug, you could enhance your creation by adding in some of these lovely coloured strips.
The sky’s the limit when it comes to using bits of leftovers for creative projects — I’ve seen people turn these strips into beautiful flower brooches, embroidered pictures, fancy cushions and even an amazing crocheted bowl made from a single strip carefully cut into three even narrower strips!
Good to know:
- 100% wool fabric cut from Laura’s Loom blankets and scarves
- sold in groups of 12 strips per bag
- each strip is approximately 2m in length (some significantly longer) and between 1cm and 1.5cm in width
- thickness is variable — from fine wool scarf to thick wool blanket
- ‘mixed neutrals’ are various browns, blacks, greys, and whites — all undyed wool
- ‘mixed colours’ are as it says on the label — a mixture of whatever is available
- other colours groups will include multiple variations of the main colour
