Best of Weaving Techniques || Weaving with Denim

Weaving with denim is another one of my favorites. I especially love the idea of re-using the denim fabric from jeans that we can no longer wear. Denim also adds a really unique texture to weaves. It has a sturdiness to it that allows you to use it in ways that wouldn’t work with yarn. For example you can make your denim strips stand out from your warp strings where yarn will hang down. Both create a beautiful texture, but it’s fun to have options when weaving. So let’s take a look at that post….

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Weaving Techniques || Weaving with Denim

Last week I tried weaving with fabric, so this week I wanted to try weaving with denim. Denim is a really neat texture, because it has a stiffness to it and has it’s own pattern in the way it is woven. I also like how it frays when cut.

This again is a great opportunity to recycle/reuse materials. For the denim I used, I cut out strips from an old pair of jeans. As with the fabric strip from last week, I tried different techniques with the denim to see how it would look woven differently.

Plain Weave – thin strip

I started by cutting a ¼ inch strip of denim and wove it in the plain weave for two rows. I like how this is a simple texture that shows off the pattern in the denim. It makes a good accent.

Pile Weave – thin strip

Next I tried making a pile weave with the thin strip of denim. I did this by plain weaving the strip and then pulling it up from the warp strings with my tapestry needle. I didn’t use a pickup stick as I would use with yarn because of the stiffness that denim has, so I found the tapestry needle worked better. I really like the texture of the little loops, they look a lot different compared to the loops that yarn makes.

Plain Weave – thick strip

I also cut out a strip of denim that was 1 ¼ inches wide. I plain wove this across my warp threads and liked the bold look it makes. It can be used for a clean focal point in a weave. I then tried crunching it down to see what happened with the texture. I think the crunched denim was also interesting in a different way. It produces more of a raw and organic look.

Pile Weave – thick strip

I wanted to see how the thick strip looked piled. To make this, I again started with the thick strip plain woven through the warp threads. I then used my tapestry needle to pull up pieces of the denim and create the pile weave. Since the fabric is thicker and has less space to move, the piles turned out a little more uniform compared to the thin denim strip. I like the look.

Have you woven with denim before? What technique would you or have you tried?

Happy Weaving!

Kate

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