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A letter to Swedish Weaving enthusiasts: I admit it! I am hooked on Swedish weaving. Just after finishing the sewing for our third book I sorted through my colors and just knew I had to start another blanket! You will often find me strolling through the fabric stores and household departments looking for fabrics and pre-made items to embellish. I was ecstatic the day I found a pink cotton huck fabric material on the 88 cent clearance rack at Joanne's. I bought the bolt. It is a sign extreme Swedish Weaving addiction! What can I make? I have some instructions on stitching techniques on the instruction page, but I thought you might like the following info, too. In our books we use Swedish weaving to make: couch throws, baby blankets, table cloths, table runners, wall hangings, pillows, bread cloths, dresser cloths, framed pieces, a tree skirt, placemats, hand towels, pot holders, a vest, a sweatshirt, Christmas stockings, tote bag, a rug, and gift container cover. Needless to say any even weave fabric may be decorated with this art. What is monk's cloth? Monk's cloth is a loosely woven, 8-count, even weave, 60-inch 100% cotton fabric. Monk's cloth comes in black, blue, chocolate brown, burnt orange, gray, grass green, hot pink, hunter green, Idaho potato, lilac, lime green, mauve, natural, navy, peach, pink, purple, red, rust, sage, turquoise, white, wine, and yellow. And, yes you should pre-shrink this 100% cotton before stitching. Cotton? It shrinks. Sometimes to 52 inches. Sometimes more. Sometimes less. Pre-wash the fabric. Did you notice the new looms cut the weft threads instead of wrapping them back into the weave? Because of these new looms you should stay stitch all four sides before washing. I try to use the gentlest and shortest wash cycle. What do I use for stitching? You can stitch with yarn, embroidery floss, perle cotton, crochet cotton and ribbon! What other fabrics are there? Swedish weaving patterns can be stitched on monk's cloth with yarn or perle cotton, or on huck fabric and aida cloth with embroidery floss or perle cotton. Pearl cotton comes in several sizes and DMC sells many different colors, just like embroidery floss. Use all 6 strands of the embroidery floss on huck toweling and aida cloth. Some of our patterns that are stitched in one direction may also be stitched on Huckaback (huck toweling). Other even weave materials may also be used. Charles Crafts has a wide variety of items that can be stitched, including: hand towels with the aida insert, a baby blanket that has a one strand even-weave, an Afghan, and an aida bread cloth. I saw some items that might be fun to try: a door mat, dish towels, and placemats. You can even stitch on linen. It is very elegant when completed. There is a 7.5 count huck cloth called "Stockholm", manufactured by Zweigart. This huck cloth comes in several colors. They also make a few pre-made items.. They are a lot of fun to stitch on! Can I dye the fabrics? Monk's cloth should be pre-shrunk before stitching. At the same time you can dye the fabric. I dyed white monk's cloth a natural color when the local store was out of the natural color. I also made a piece using monk's cloth dyed blue and stitched with a sparkle white yarn. It looked like a "Willow plate." It's in Book 2. I regularly dye huck toweling with tea and with regular fabric dye. What kind of needles do I use? Use a blunt needle that fits the type of materials you are working with. A #13 blunt point yarn needle works great for monk's cloth. You can also use a bodkin or lacet needle. It is flat and has a blunt point. Some stitchers like this bigger needle. To stitch on finer fabric you can use a cross stitch needle size 18 to 22. They also have blunt points. What yarns do I use? There are many yarns out there to choose from. About the only one I have had trouble with was a clunky yarn. Several times it broke off before finishing a row. I usually use a worsted weight yarn such as Red Heart, Caron, Bernat or Lion Brand. Oh, by the way, you do not have to use yarn. I have successfully used organza ribbon, crochet cotton, trellis yarn, eye lash yarn, inexpensive 1/8 inch ribbon and Lion brand ribbon yarn. Where do I start stitching the pattern? In the center. But ... It is great when you can start in the middle of a couch throw and make each side symmetrical, but you do not have to! What happens if I want to stitch on something else? Sweat shirt, t-shirt, handbag, hat do not have defined lines to follow. If you want to decorate one of these non even-weave fabrics, use waste fabric that the cross stitchers use. I love to crochet and knit. They are even weave. Can I decorate them? Yes, you can. It looks a little like Fair Isle knitting but faster. Decorate a crocheted or knitted item with Swedish Weaving. Using two strands of yarn to stitch the Swedish Weaving design will make the design pop out more. I made a wool knitted hat and decorated it with Swedish Weaving embroidery stitches. Disaster! When I felted it the stitches pulled too tight and puckered the area I decorated. Well I made a second one and left the stitches extremely loose. It worked great.
If you have any questions, area code 801, 546-2655 or 430-0137 Happy Stitching, Jeanne |