Dear Weavers and Jane,

I have been weaving since 2018 and continue to have the same issue. My right selvedge seems to have a slight "dip" or looser tension compared to the left which is always smooth. After washing and drying the fabric then tends to crease or fold over in that area. What is causing this? I am very careful to give the same amount of "pull" on both side when I throw each pic. Any experience with this problem? See photos below.
Thank you,
Sharon

right selvedge:
/Users/sharonfischer/Desktop/IMG_9880.jpeg

left selvedge:
/Users/sharonfischer/Desktop/IMG_9883.jpeg

Hi Sharon - what do you use for packing as you wind your warp onto your warp beam. I’ve had this happen if the paper I use for packing shifts when I’m not looking.

And …. You can find help for uploading photos to the Forum by clicking on Resources and then Forum at the top of the page.

Thanks, Sandra-
For some reason it is not working at the moment. It's asking me to try later. :)

I am interested in seeing you pictures too.

Did you see my question, Sharon, hidden in the comments about your photos???

Yes, I've tried. But, it keeps saying

"Sorry, there was an error with adding your comment. Please reload and try again."

https://ibb.co/K2bKWhN

It worked. That was the right side.
Here is the left side:

https://ibb.co/Rjm7Cm7

Hi Sharon - I have this issue before, and I figured out that I wasn't being fast enough when I was putting the final knots on the warp bouts on the front beam. I would start right to left. By the time I was tying the final knots on the left side, the right side would sag. So these days I still start right to left, but I skip the first two bouts and then come back to them when I have finished. That way they have a very similar to the left most ones. I also learned to put a much stronger knot, which helps prevents slack.

The other thing that could be happening is that your packing paper on the back beam might be spiralling from the right side to the left side, causing unevenness.

Thank you, Rana! I do think this can help.

If you watch Jane’s video on tying on, she does a final snugging up of all knots, in one go, made possible because of the surgeon’s knots she uses, after tying on.
I will say that while my selvedges are looking better these days, I do have an issue with some of my towels folding in along the selvedge about 1/8” in the wash. One set was twill with a few picks of plain weave at the selvedge. That I attributed to the shift in interlacement. The others that did it were an 8/2 cotton warp with linen weft. I love those towels, but it’s a drag to have to press a kitchen towel. I do have a front load washer which spins at a very high speed and I think the lighter weight fabrics just can’t withstand the impact. Note to self: try a slower spin cycle. My 100% 8/2 cotton plainweave towels do not fold in. I also sew and notice that when I prewash my commercial fabrics, the selvedges are often folded in post washing/drying.

Hi,
I’ve had the problem of one or both selvages curling up on and off for as long as I’ve been weaving (about 3 years). It happened again last night and I was not a happy weaver.

Then I remembered that the problem lessened greatly or went completely away when I started tying on in smaller groups of thread. I looked and sure enough, I’d tied on with 24 for ends of 8/2 cotton, separated into two groups of 12 ends for each knot.

I undid the knots and re-tied them with 18 ends in each knot, 9 ends on each side. Much better. I wove about 3 inches of PW, more than I usually do, but I was not taking any chances with the fell. Then, I spaced forward a bit and wove about 1/2 inch leaving a couple yard tail for hem-stitching. By then it was about midnight and it looked okay to my sleepy eyes. I just went downstairs to the loom and it still looks okay.

My fall-back plan was if 9/9/18 didn’t work, I’d go down to 8/8/16. I hope the current tie-up works because this project has been rough going and I really hope I can finish it without anymore drama.

Good luck with your selvages.

Cynthia
PS: For what it’s worth, I iron my towels, even the old, stained ones that I bought. Especially with the ones I weave, I want them to always look their best. But, I like to iron. Don’t know why, just do. Always have. Weird, eh?