After I warped my loom with two different colored warp threads, I knew I had to weave a plaid. It’s really fun to see how the weft colors interact with the warp thread colors that peek out. I made the plaid for fun, but in the future I probably will follow more of a block pattern that looks closer to traditional plaid and also I will use a heavier weighted yarn for my warp thread so that it is more visible.
Warp up your loom
The most important step to making the plaid is to warp your loom with different colored warp threads. I just used two different colored threads, but you can do as many as you like. To warp with the different colored threads, I used the magical weaver’s knot (find all the knot details here). Here are my steps for the warp (original post & more pictures here):
step 1|| with your first warp thread, start warping your loom up to the point where you want to start your new color.
step 2|| give your first warp thread about 1.5 inches past the loom end and then cut the warp string.
step 3|| take your second warp thread and tie the end of the 1st warp to the second warp thread using a weaver’s knot (our favorite). Make sure to tie this knot so that it lays right at the loom frame.
Tip: I like to tie my warp start and end at the bottom of my loom. And when tying these warp threads together I also placed them at the bottom of my loom. This way when taking my weave off the loom, I can cut the warps at the bottom and ensure my top warps are clean and uniform. The bottom warp threads will be secured in the back of my weave after I cut them from the loom.
step 4|| continue warping your loom as normal, again until the point where you want to change colors again. Repeat the steps starting with step 2 until your done warping your loom.
Add the weft plaid
After your loom is warped up, now add the weft rows that will make the plaid. Like I said I played around with my rows to see what I liked. These aren’t necessary steps to follow, you can make whatever plaid pattern you want, but I wanted to share what I did just to give you an idea of what it can look like.
step 1| I wove three rows of my navy thread (it’s super thin) and then wove a row of the white thread.
step 2| next I added 7 rows of my navy thread doubled up. I did this because my navy thread is so thin, I wanted to double it up and allow for more of the white thread to show through.
step 3| I then added 3 rows of white and 1 row of the navy. The single navy row produced little dashes of color, which is pretty interesting. Where it crosses over the navy warp it created little plus signs.
step 4| after another white row, I wove two rows of the navy thread. This visually creates a solid single row (although we know it’s two rows). I finished with some white rows.
Again next time, I’m going to have more of a block pattern in mind that fits a typical plaid pattern, but this experiment on the different rows was really helpful to see how the warp and weft interact with each other. Also I will definitely use thicker threads for my warp in my plaid weaving future, just so that the warp shows through more and you get a better visual of the colors interacting.
To finish this weave off, I added faux warp threads fringe. If you missed when I shared this before, it’s a little trick to finishing your weave with super long warp threads, even if your loom was too short.
I really like the look of plaid. Something about it appeals to me and I have yet to get sick of it. Have you woven a plaid before? I like the nice pattern it adds to weaves.
Happy Weaving!
Kate
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