I started this project before the New Year, but only had the warp cut and started getting it onto the loom. Yesterday I finished threading it and started weaving. The warp is blue 12/6 cotton, doubled for durability. The weft is all jersey/knit.

Most of the jersey was from a batch of op shop fabric my craft friend Margaret passed on to me. The blue was an unsuccessful attempt to make long t-shirt style pjs.

My plan was to make two bath mats, but that plan came unravelled when I realised I hadn’t cut a long enough warp. I’d allowed for two 80cm mats, loom waste, shrinkage and a gap between the mats, but didn’t take into account how much the warp would ‘pull in’ because it has to go around such a thick warp.

So rather than thread a new warp, or have one and a half bathmats, I simple un-wove back to the end of the first mat, then rewove as one long floor rug. I was glad I did, as I don’t think there were enough rags to make two equal sized mats.

It’s 62 cm wide and 164 cm long. The jersey was nice and soft to weave with, and didn’t leave much dust and no threads from frayed edges on the floor as I had with denim. I’ve got another batch of it in emerald green, dark grey, dark blue and red to weave a jewel-toned rug of the same length. All I’d have to do is follow my notes on warp length and number of ends.