Saving a Warp

What happens if you  decide half-way through weaving a dozen tea towels that you've had enough of that for now? Maybe you miscalculated the length you needed and there's an extra yard or two you don't want to waste, but you also don't want to weave it up immediately? Or you might have to take your beautifully tensioned warp off the loom before you've even begun to weave, as happened to Jane Stafford, when she had to reschedule our workshop for later in the year. She showed us a neat way to save a warp with the cross intact. 

One starts by weaving a half inch or so of plain weave a couple of inched above your completed cloth. Insert  a thin wooden slat into the open shed, then weave another half inch. Mix up a simple flour and water paste, and apply it to the woven strips. Let dry.

Take a couple of lengths of seine twine and open the shed again. Run one length of twine around the upper half of the threads and tie off in a bow. Do the same for the lower half of the threads. Now your cross is secure, and the warp is still under tension. Jane likes to say, "A thread under tension is a thread under control."

Jane demonstrates cutting the finished cloth warp ends between the hemstitching and the pasted strip, and removing the length from the loom.

 Now, keeping the remaining warp under tension, she walks backwards while her assistant Charlotte keeps an eye on the back beam.

When the back apron rod rolls around,  Charlotte slides the loop of warp threads off, and cuts it.

 Then Charlotte walks towards Jane, making a tight chain as she goes.

Voila! A neat package of warp. When you are ready to use it, overcast stitch the pasted end, stick and all to the back apron rod, insert your lease stick into the cross, remove the seine twine, and you are ready to rewarp your loom. Jane has a great foolproof way to warp your loom on her Help Line.