Adding texture and variation is often one of the first things a new weaver wants to learn. I know, ’cause I’ve been there. There are lots of fun weaving techniques that’ll achieve this, but have you ever tried weaving with fabric instead? It’s an easy way to add interest, but without having to learn any new weaving techniques. In today’s tutorial, I want to show you how to add fabric strips into a woven wall hanging in any easy (and affordable) way.
A Word or Two About Fabric Remnants
Before we get started, I wanted to share with you my thoughts about the kind of fabric you can use in your wall weavings.
In short, nearly any fabric will work.
Since fabrics are by their nature, easy to manipulate, they are great materials to use while weaving. Some may be stiffer, while others are soft and pliable. Try any kind you like and – in the end – stick to those that you feel most comfortable using. You can use coarser materials like old jeans or stiff cotton fabrics or soft and silky materials like polyester.
But where should you get your fabrics? My suggestion: fabric remnants at thrift stores or ones you already have on hand, like clothing you no longer wear. It’s a great way to recycle materials that have been previously used.
I love using fabric at my local thrift store. There are so many different varieties. I happen to pick up the teal-coloured silky smooth fabric – pictured above – that I thought would look terrific in one of my wall weavings.
It’s also soft and easy to manipulate which is what I personally prefer when it comes to weaving with fabric.
Weaving With Fabric
First, cut a long strip of your fabric. You can make yours as wide or as narrow as you like. In this case, I cut a 2-inch wide strip.
Next, if pliable enough, twist the fabric.
If you are using a coarser or stiffer material that cannot be twisted, then work with the fabric as is. Cut it as wide as you’d like it to appear in your weaving without twisting it.
When weaving with fabric, you won’t need a needle, just your fingers will do.
Note: Even if you’ve pre-twisted the fabric, it will naturally ‘untwist’ as you handle it. That’s to be expected. Simply continue twisting as you weave.
Weave the fabric into the warp using the plain (or tabby) weaving technique just as you would with any yarn, going over and under alternating warp strings. (In this case, I went over and under two warp strings at a time).
Using two warp strings gives you a bit more fabric to play with in order to create a more textured effect.
Tip: Remember to create an arc with your fabric first. This gives you some slack so that your row is not too tight. (A tightly woven row will cause the sides of your weaving to pull inward and create an hourglass or wobbly weave once you remove it from the loom.)
Once the arc is created, push the fabric down towards the row underneath – stacking your rows of woven yarn and fabric – and begin pulling and pinching the fabric to create texture.
Then, simply continue weaving more rows of yarn (or fabric) above until you have completed your piece.
Continue weaving, adding in a variety of yarns and incorporating other techniques as you would any other woven wall hanging.
Tip: Treat your woven fabric remnant as you would any woven row of yarn by weaving in your ends into the back of your wall weaving. To see how to weave in your ends, see my beginner-level tutorial: An Introduction to Weaving (Part 2).
When ready, hang your completed weaving.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need to learn a lot of fancy weaving techniques to create interesting texture and variation in your wall weavings. Just use a fabric remnant and your fingers to weave fabric into your wall weavings and you’ll see just how lovely the final results can be.
Happy weaving 🙂
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