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Hello all- I am just starting to practise the ‘throw, beat, change, beater back’ routine on my David loom, being in the very early stages of using a floor loom for the first time. I am trying to ignore the state of the selvedges to some extent, and have more uneven draw in than I would have had on the Jane, but the main question I have is about the weft thread tending to sort of ride up on the Selvedge thread when I have thrown the shuttle (see photos). I included a close up shot and also one from further away, to show the position of the fell line etc, ( as well as the very wavy Selvedge on the right :-( ….that I AM ignoring!) but I think it happens even when the fell line is closer to the cloth beam. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Not to butt in on Katherine's question. But, I would also love to hear some recommendations on how to avoid that kinda "loose" dip on the right side. Is it when the selvedge is not being drawn in tight enough? But then when it is tight enough not to dip it has a lot more draw in than the left side. Thank you for any advice.

Welcome Sharon! I am hoping this thread will be a long running one, with plenty of follow up questions etc. as the issue of selvedges is an interesting one….we want them to look good, but we don’t want to become obsessed with them either….the beauty of this forum is that the experts can usually save those of us at the early stages a lot of time spent on trying to work out how to solve a problem, when they can just give us the solution to in a twinkling!! :-)

Just posting this to highlight my reply to ThatLoganChick’s helpful reply made earlier, as otherwise the thread will slide down the list…and I am hoping for further responses!! Thanks.

…on further analysis, I think there may be a slight difference in the way I handle the ‘emerging shuttle’ with my right (dominant) hand, compared with my left hand. I know this aspect has been mentioned elsewhere, with the selvedges on the side of the non-dominant hand typically being better than the selvedges on the dominant side. In my original photo this can clearly be seen in the relative straightness and neatness of the two sides. Although I did not consider this aspect in relation to the specific issue of the weft thread sliding upwards on the selvedges, it then occurred to me to closely look at the exact ‘path’ of my non-dominant hand and arm movement when receiving the shuttle from the shed. I think I may have actually been drawing out the shuttle on the left side at slightly ‘flatter’ angle. The ‘sliding’ effect seemed to happen mainly on the right selvedges, which would reinforce the idea that it was down to some difference in my hand/arm action between my left and my right side……I will keep going and see what happens, and report back, in case anyone else comes up against the same issue!

I suppose it is a case of staying observant and frequently trying out small adjustments in technique etc this way and that way and seeing the results, rather than just ploughing along for too long doing the same things the same way, if some issue we are not happy with has come to our notice. I think a medium distance video clip of Jane weaving, taken from directly behind (rather than from the side which is generally the case) might be handy, just to show how far out to each side she moves her hands/arms for each pick and her general positioning at the loom….this is not so easy to see with the close up shots which are really good for so many other aspects of weaving technique.

I found a tiny portion of Jane weaving at the loom where you can see both left and right sides. She talks about keeping the selvedge clean by slightly pulling the shuttle (thread) back as she beats. It is Season 3 episode 8.2 (at around 7:30 in the video). She's weaving with silk, but that shouldn't make a difference.

Well spotted! Thanks very much for pointing me to that. A very useful ‘snippet’! I will try that and see what happens. I am also thinking about the fact that I don’t really control the bobbin at all with my finger underneath the shuttle the way I seem to remember Jane saying she does. Thanks again for your very helpful post.

I still fuss with every pick. That may change soon, as it certainly slows me down. And does NOT produce perfect selvedges.

Hi Kit- I tend to be like that with my Jane loom, but I am determined to take a different approach early on with the David, and develop an efficient, smooth, consistent technique that allows me to get into that sort of ‘zone’ inhabited by Jane when she is just weaving away, back and forth and back and forth, while the weft threads line up neatly in the warp and cloth appears! A’h…one day maybe!

My latest ‘tweak’ is to make sure I am drawing the shuttle out far enough at either side of the warp when it comes out of the shed so that when I throw the next pick, no real tension is coming on the weft thread until it has emerged from the shed and the ‘pull’ against the selvedge is quite gentle. Another thing I keep meaning to do is to put another couple of large washers on the ‘S’ hooks I hang off the floating selvedges threads at the back beam to increase the tension on the floating selvedge threads a bit, and hopefully make an even, straight selvedge line easier to maintain….may not work but I’ll give it a try!

Hi all! Interesting ‘thread’ on this topic. (Pun intended ;))When I was a beginner weaver I would also have selvedge problems and waste a lot of time fussing over them. I was buying yarn and complaining about my sloppy selvedges when it was recommended that I try AVL shuttles. These shuttles are made with tension devices that can be adjusted based on yarn size. After using one, I became hooked!! These shuttles made a WORLD of difference. I generally use 8/2 or thinner yarn and keep the original tension on the shuttle. My selvedges are much better. It sort of seems like cheating, but honestly, I’m better able to focus more on the other facets of weaving (right treadle, right tie up, even beat, etc.).