Oh no! There's a part in the video where I'm calling the shafts "heddles". 🤦♀ The shaft is the entire part that moves up and down. The heddles can be metal or string and each have an "eye" to insert the warp thread. One shaft will have lots of heddles on it. Hope that clarifies things! Which do you use: cloth napkins or paper towels? Happy weaving, fiber friends! 🧶
Editing Evie; please dont knock yourself out about this. We live in a world that demands sustainability while making it purposefully as difficult as possible to achieve that. We the people are often expected to carry the weight of that while big business and the agriculture sector gets to pay lip service to it and continue with their bad practices.
I feel like the sustainability discussion is identical to the historical accuracy discussion from your previous video! In our modern world, there is no perfect solution. Everything comes from something. Trying to do things perfectly stops us from trying to do our best, which is what matters more. We all have to trust that our intentions are good and that even the little things we do have an impact, even if we can't do them 100% of the time. Your videos have definitely helped me learn that lesson, and I'm grateful. 💜💜💜
Linen is much less thirsty, uses so much less pesticides, and tends to last longer. All my napkins are linen (mostly sewn from scraps of linen that I used to make my own clothing.)
Something that is unique that I love about your videos is all the areas of my brain get scratched!! Fiber arts, history, nostalgia, sustainability, justice, humor… what more could a person want??!?
Loved this episode and the conversation on paper products. We stopped using paper products during covid - originally just because paper towels were constantly sold out for several months. As covid and lockdown wore on, paper towels and paper napkins just became one more thing I had to worry about getting from a store. Instead, I cut up old towels, zig-zagged the edges to prevent fraying, and turned them into wipe-down cloths that I now use the same way that I used paper towels. We also switched over to using 100% cloth napkins. The habit is set now. I haven't bought paper towels or napkins in 3 years. Thank you for having a good conversation about this - and for being so sensitive about the issue too. As a weaver, spinner, and knitter - just want to say, I really enjoy your channel. Keep it up! You're an awesome person and all that you share is is truly appreciated!
Sustainability wise i have some thoughts: Cotton lasts a lot longer than paper towels. However cotton doesnt need to be the only fibre used for napkins! Wool and flax are a good option as well. Even old towels cut up can be used as kitchen rags, used as toilet paper in a pinch if youre in a pickle and as napkins as well. Nowadays with life as it is it is truly difficult for most people to get the time to make these things to be more sustainable and buying them can be unaffordable for most families. There are many ways to cut down on waste and to be more sustainable. Also for anybody reading this whos struggling with their spoons, its ok to use napkins and paper towrls and baby wipes if youre just not ok. Its ok to say screw it. Remember hundred's of years ago families and communities banded together to make things. Doing it alone can be hard. Keep chugging x
Thank you so much Evie for showing all the steps in finishing your Napkins....i have an unrational fear of cutting my weaving so it was great to see all the steps you took. Thank you so much
As a tartan designer and weaver, well done you. :) We use paper products for cleaning. It's a ranch so our dirt is ....well sometimes.... let's just call it dirt. LOL. For meals we use cloth napkins. That said, my looms are too busy with work to bother doing napkins and dishcloths for our home use.
Same here. I have paper towels for the extremely gross stuff, or things I don't think will go out of cloth materials in the wash. But it's gotten to a point where a roll of paper towels will last me *months*. It's not perfect, but it's something.
I love it. I have done continuous warping on my Macomber. I made and painted 2 spindles today. One a mix of Russian and Bulgarian I saw and the other I made as just a really long tear drop. It reminds me of a humming bird. I'm planning my next spindle and I want to find a style (that's not a Navajo or similar size) that has a huge yarn capacity. I've seen videos of Romani women with huge amounts (at least 200g) and I crave the continuous unbroken yarn that that would provide. I don't know just the ramblings of an amateur spindler and woodman. I feel like my comments always get off track but I just love this community you created. It's more like a fiber family to me than just friends. In other news I'm planning on being a nurse after highschool. Thanks for the ear/eye. Have a nice week yall.
I've watched SO VERY MANY of your spinning videos, and I think this is the first time I've seen a weaving video, and I had no clue you had a family. I love your cheerful demeanor, and your amazing smile.
I love this idea. It gives me thoughts....ideas? Dreams? Time will tell. I think you should call your quartet Quatre (Kat) It's French for four, which is what a quartet refers to. In the singing/musical world a quartet is four voices or instruments. You could be even nerdier and call her PowerKat like she amplifies your loom's abilities to the power of four! Math, music and fibre in one reference😎🤓
Yes! We use cloth napkins and my oldest ones (from 1997!) have just started to look too ratty. We also have cleaning cloths for mopping up cat barf, etc. I think the longevity of cotton napkins helps offset some of the (non monetary) cost of cotton production.
That's good news. I did some figuring 20k gallons of water for 1 ton of paper towels, but most of us only use the paper towel once. How many times would we use a cotton cloth? If 1 use of a paper towel is 20k, how many uses 4.8mil...240 uses. If you use a napkin 1 a week for 25 years, that's 1,300 uses. 240÷52...You break even in 4.62 years of weekly use
I also wanted to mention, I’m growing cotton as an experiment this year for the first time. Maybe it’ll go horribly wrong, but I suspect it won’t have any more environmental impact grown in my garden than the tomatoes I grow every year for fun.
Sustainability is a good challenge! I made “select a size“ reusable towels with cotton flour sack towels, but… cotton. If I use paper towels these days, I use the bamboo ones. I’m sure there are issues with those as well… I love your bright, cheery napkins! I hope they wash up well!
Thank you for sharing one of your family traditions. It has been the same in my family as well. The dinner table is a great place to start a conversation about our environmental impact/consumerism/lifestyle. This is how change starts. We could call it brain food :) Congrats on your new finished project!
Wow! Your video is a masterpiece of editing! 🤯 I was so into admiring your editing skills with the music and the cut of the different sequences and everything, that I have to see the video again for the actual content 😅 I think you rocketed to the top (handcraft) videos of UA-cam! I really hope to see more of it in the next 30 Years!
I just viewed the video again for the content (and not just for the marvelous editing skills), I love your humor and your choice of music and now I want to learn to weave too 😍😅
Your cheery disposition and bubbly personality make your videos a joy to watch! I always look forward to your videos. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
That video was lovely. The napkins are gorgeous, the facts and commentary about sustainable choices was informative (the additional water use from washing the napkins regularly would also add up), and you look so genuinely excited!
When I have a series of things like this on the loom I hemstitch each end while on the loom. Then I separate each item with a few shots of toilet paper then start the next item, hemstitching it at the beginning and end. Repeat. When I've finished with the series, I take the entire thing off the loom, remove the paper & machine stitch over the hemstitching so each item has a nice fringe at each end. Then I cut them apart. What can I say, I like fringe.
Your napkins are gorgeous! You remind me of how brilliantly capable women have always been. Our ancestors worked out all of these weaving adjustments while raising a family in conditions similar to camping today. They were even inventing weaving patterns!! I rarely buy paper towels because I bought inexpensive linen towels years ago. As they aged, they became more absorbent and, eventually, they became wonderful handkerchiefs so I haven't bought Kleenex in many years. It takes a tiny fraction of energy to wash them and the tactile experience is so pleasant. They get better with age - like me.
I am so excited for you getting the quartet for your cricket. I got one a couple months ago and it is great. Do not be afraid to cut your fabric apart. I can relate to not wanting to do so. As long as you have finished your ends off properly, & I know you have, they won't fray.
That was SUCH an intimidating thing to build!!!! 🙉 Also, you’re adorable and I’m absolutely addicted to your videos!!!! I love how you deliver information and all you do! Thanks for sharing! ❤
Your napkins are beautiful! I found your channel because I was given a loom as a gift and had decided to try weaving dish towels- I quickly found out it would be more complicated than I thought. My loom is super simple from Amazon- so I don’t know how that will affect things. I would love to make something half as pretty as yours - and if the dish towels come out well, I’ll be moving on to napkins. Thanks for the inspiration! 🎉
Here's a tip for beginners: Use a few picks of invisible fusible thread between projects. Fuse with an iron according to instructions after you take the web off the loom. Just like with any commercially made fabric, it's always best to cut and sew after washing (in this case the "wet finish"---when it turns from a web into cloth). Cut the tag ends off after wet finish also. I hope you found this useful.
Fabulous job! Those turned out beautifully and I bet they become the source of many fond memories. Just a thought on the old set, I've been embroidering some of our old napkins that are super soft and having them as handkerchiefs instead. My kids love pulling them out to see which one they get and it saves on tissues significantly. I can't believe cloth products for such things have fallen so far out of fashion. I genuinely prefer fabric options myself. I have texture sensitivities against paper products in most cases so it just makes more sense for me personally 🤷♀️
Beautiful colour combinations there in those napkins! Now I am inspired, not that I weave but I can sew and am now set on making some napkins for at the table. The last few years I’ve been on a single use plastic elimination drive and have made really good progress (as you pointed out, our society makes it very difficult to achieve 100% success in this but I believe every little helps) and I think reducing our paper consumption can only be a good thing. I will try to repurpose cotton from used garments first though, before I buy new.
One idea that helps with paper towels is to rinse them (if not too messy) and reuse to wipe up water or spills to use them one more time. Not sure about all the brands but many are strong enough for this treatment. It really doesn't take long for them to try on the edge of the sink. Just a thought if that works for you. Thanks for ALL the conversations Jillian I think it's important too. We can all collectively make a difference I believe. LOVE the woven napkins and all the weaving info.
I take old t-shirts and use the logos for "quilted" pillow cases, then use the rest for making napkins. My pattern is a square paper napkin that I add an inch on each side for seam allowance. Your woven napkins are so pretty!
Your napkins are incredible! I have not had paper towels in my flat for decades. I have always been in love with my grandmothers linen damask napkins. Linen is so much better when it comes to water, so I‘m happy! Should I ever have to replace them I would look for unused vintage from the 1920/30s.
Your napkins are amazing! I‘m happy to possess old linen damask napkins from my grandmother. I have some modern half-linen napkins. I would look to find vintage napkins should I ever have to replace them. The only room I have paper products is the bathroom. There really is no need at all for paper napkins. You can make cotton napkins from old sheets. Keep rags for the really disgusting messes.
Love the finished napkins🥰 sustainability can be really hard but we are only individual people unless those that are the actual problem (big corporations and oil companies) start sustainable practices we won’t be seeing much progress. However the little things we do to be sustainable does help 💕
So i hang out with weavers, i myself am a weaver on occasion. But never before now have i seen how a project is finished. I had a vague idea about the sewing but still. In others words, thank you so much for showing the entire process Ms. Evie!!
Oh my, cutting fabric, feeling spoiled to have the warp pre done, adjusting for width, that handweavers guide, not sticking to one strict pattern, fighting with heddles, threading mistakes, All the weaving 'i feel that' lol. Cudos to you for trying to do what you can to be environmentally conscious. _Trying_ is so very important. The more we try, the better we'll get at it, together. The napkins look phenomenal. [High five!] I'm making linen handkerchiefs for the same reasons. Apologies, don't have a suggestion for a name. My looms all 'told' me their names. [The name popped into my head and was so right, it's just what Glemma, Sherri and Gene are called] Keep up the awesome work
Hi EV! This video inspired me to weave again. Warping (Rigit heddle) today as I listen to your video. You’ve done such a lovely job. It’s interesting yours allows you to transform it into a 4 shaft loom!!!!!! How nice!!!!!
Cotton also drains a majority of nutrients from the soil. Linen, wool, and bamboo. Check out Sally Pointer, she shows us how she made a dress from stinging nettles and many different plants you can get fiber from.
Dressing the loom is why I gave up weaving and my loom😍.... but no biggie, I don't miss it. I still have an 8-inch rigid heddle but I hyperventilate thinking about using it.😄
I grew up with using cleaning rags, and in lieu of napkins, a wet washcloth was passed around the table after a course of finger food. For regular eating, we learned tricks to scrape drips off our chins with the utensils, were exhorted to keep our mouth over the plate, and generally learned a pretty tidy way to eat. I still don't use much napkin but when I do, it's cotton. They last so many years. I use a low water washer. I clean with rags, if it's dirty, I wash it. I use paper towels for greasy messes and work that will destroy my cleaning rag yet needs a fresh sterile wipe material. I go through less than half a roll a year.
Congrats on cutting.. I haven't woven in a while, but I want to make towels and I'm nervous about cutting and hemming them.. and I still haven't cut the tails and washed my previous woven work.. I gotta get over the nerves!!!!
So in love with the vibe of your videos ! I watch them during the difficult time of my periods (but not only !) and they bring me so much calm and appeasement. Thank's a lot for that 🙏 also I share your tought about enviromnent, I learnt a lot, and god these nappkins looks incredible, bravo !!
I’ve been making napkins this week too! I love yours. More twill is in my future, too, although I make my rigid heddle a 4-shaft loom with a pick-up stick and a heddle rod. Hey, you know, you can cut your fabric without fear if you zig-zag first along the edge of each section. A nice wide zig-zag equals complete security👍
These are beautiful! Thank you for showing what cool patterns can be made with a smaller loom. I have a 4 shaft tapestry loom. When I saw it at the thrift store, I instantly thought of napkins. I'm not YET a weaver, I didn't understand the uses of various types of looms. I'm still determined to someday weave napkins.
Hi Evie, I hope you're feeling better xx ❣️❣️❣️💞 Thankyou so much for sharing this video podcast. Weaving on your New Loom looks amazing. 🎉🎉 I love your Napkins, the Twill Pattern looks beautiful in all those colours. We too always made it that we all would eat at the table at night and at weekends too. Even though there's now just the 2 of us we still do. What we do with our children especially at mealtimes gets passed down. Happy Spinning and Weaving Fibre Friend 🎡🐑🥰🌞 Hope you All have a Wonderful Weekend 🌞☀️ Take care and stay safe Lots of love and Big Hugs to You, Mark and your Boys Jen xxxx ❤❤❤❤🫂🫂🫂🫂🐕🐈⬛
I wove cotton waffle weave towels for my son while he was in college, 25 years ago and just was at his house ( married and has 4 children) and the towels are thread bear but his wife is still using them!
I’ve just started to learn how to weave, that is, I made a quite large wall hanging back in 1977, so I have some idea how to do it. I studied the patterns on your napkins, it so intricate and beautiful, I have no idea how to make it , but I might learn. I also really love the colors on the napkins, beautiful, just as you are😊
Oh, my goodness the colour! And the sheep! I really need to weave gamps more often. I often forget I don't have to weave the gamp for gamp-sake. Thanks for showing us we can weave something useful that just happens to be a gamp as well. Those numbers on paper towels - eek! Are cotton towels a better choice? Add to that the calculations the joy of making the towels, learning/improving a skill, the memories your family will gain from using them, that your napkins can have more life after they are 'used up' (ie, cleaning rags, or zokin). Is it perfect? short of growing your own fibre using permaculture techniques, it's difficult to be 'perfect' but I don't feel that's our goal. Instead, let's aim for better while remembering the human element. Every step away from the disposable lifestyle makes a huge difference for the planet. Better to do something than being stuck in the old way worrying we aren't perfect enough to even attempt to make the world a better place. Also, my frugal heart loves the money saved by using cloth napkins.
I’ve been wearing a goose eye twill, meant as hand towels, as a scarf until I brave cutting it. It doesn’t help that my sewing machine tried to eat the fabric, so I’ll have to hand stitch it once I brave cutting it I’ve never been a scarf wearer and I live where it’s too hot, but becoming one. It goes wherever the AC might be too cold or when I might be out in the evening.
I’m disabled and this looks like the perfect solution for my limited foot pedal use! Unfortunately, I don’t have a table loom or this attachment and my limited income could never. However, it does seem perfect for different types of weavers with mobility issues.
I just acquired a 4 shaft floor loom, I was planning already to make towels but I think I have to add napkins to the lineup! Love all the colors in your napkins. Maybe Betty for a loom name? No reason other than I'm on a TSwift kick 😆
Paper towel are easy to tear into smaller parts. I buy the half sheet rolls and then tear them into halves or thirds. So 4-6 parts per "standard" sheet. I go through maybe 1 roll per week usually less and don't use cloth towels.
I have an emergency roll of paper towels, it's over a year old at this point and about 1/3 left. I bought a flannel sheet at sal for 3 dollars and it's provided me with dozens of unpaper towels and "family cloth"(aka toilet paper). I still have tp for guests. Sometimes I feel like, why bother, it's just one person. But it makes me satisfied to do it. I think you should name it Quety (cutie). The qu stands for the quartet part and the sound of the hard c is for the cricket part.
This was really fun to watch! I think I'd be way too intimidated to put something like that together myself. You mention around the 12:00 mark that you needed to unstring the levers to move heddles across but that your floor loom had hooks - could you tie an earring hook wire to the end of the lever string? It makes sense that it's not a fully rigid wire here, but that doesn't mean you can't bring in the same convenience and same yourself some time.
I never thought about it but now I will want to make some napkins! Very new to weaving so won't do just yet but I will! And as usual, I love your videos!
@16:40 "The average American" (singular) using 145 rolls of paper towels a year seems very high, average _family_ I could believe, but one individual not so much. I think crafts like that are done more for the love of the craft than, say, environmental reasons. The fiber kit cots $16.50 per napkin even if one pays oneself nothing, one can get nice enough factory made cloth napkins for much less.
I knew cotton was a thirsty and insecticide gulping product but was unaware just how thirsty it was compared to paper towels. Do you know anything about hemp & linen? I wove a table cloth out of cotton kite string & it's still going strong after 15-20 years. My linen napkins are older and look brand new. Once you have a full set you might want to do like our ancestors and number the sets to rotate them. Keep up the good work.
An idea for the shafts (the parts that move up and down?) instead of tiying the cord to the top could you instead tie the cords to a hook of some sort, like maybe the findings for hook earrings so you could use that to hook onto the bars instead? Not sure how heavy those are, of course you would want something that doesn't bend out, but might make treading easier
Living on well water in Texas, and often worried about drought, I also need to consider the water to wash my napkins ... I use paper towels, but they have multiple varied uses before they go to trash (they are also the half-sized sheets) ... they are used as coasters, then at the dinner table, then to wipe up kitchen spills, then rinsed and used to wipe out plates and pots before the dishes are washed ... not a perfect solution, but at least we try
When I am weaving, I hemstitch the beginning and end of each piece (I usually make multiples, because why warp the loom if I'm not going to make 10 or okaaaaayyyy, 20), then leave an inch or two in between each piece so I don't have to cut the actual fabric.
11:23 You could make a new heddle and just tie it in. (Sometimes I have to do that because my metal ones have become "wonky" and are being cruel to the yarn.)
Oh no! There's a part in the video where I'm calling the shafts "heddles". 🤦♀ The shaft is the entire part that moves up and down. The heddles can be metal or string and each have an "eye" to insert the warp thread. One shaft will have lots of heddles on it. Hope that clarifies things!
Which do you use: cloth napkins or paper towels? Happy weaving, fiber friends! 🧶
Editing Evie; please dont knock yourself out about this. We live in a world that demands sustainability while making it purposefully as difficult as possible to achieve that. We the people are often expected to carry the weight of that while big business and the agriculture sector gets to pay lip service to it and continue with their bad practices.
^This
You put it into words 🥰
yes.
Yes, but.....145 rolls per year??? 😮
Jillian Eve - a name for your Cricket Loom?!! Jiminy. :)
Laughed out loud- hard- at pixellated you frolicking in the forest wearing your napkins- absolutely epic insert! 😂❤
Thank you for opening up the conversation and being nuanced and transparant about personal needs! I'm looking forward to your 2053 update ;)
I feel like the sustainability discussion is identical to the historical accuracy discussion from your previous video! In our modern world, there is no perfect solution. Everything comes from something. Trying to do things perfectly stops us from trying to do our best, which is what matters more. We all have to trust that our intentions are good and that even the little things we do have an impact, even if we can't do them 100% of the time. Your videos have definitely helped me learn that lesson, and I'm grateful. 💜💜💜
Linen is much less thirsty, uses so much less pesticides, and tends to last longer. All my napkins are linen (mostly sewn from scraps of linen that I used to make my own clothing.)
Fascinating, I'm always interested in linen! I like sewing it so much and I was wondering how different it would be to compare and contrast linen?
Something that is unique that I love about your videos is all the areas of my brain get scratched!! Fiber arts, history, nostalgia, sustainability, justice, humor… what more could a person want??!?
Loved this episode and the conversation on paper products. We stopped using paper products during covid - originally just because paper towels were constantly sold out for several months. As covid and lockdown wore on, paper towels and paper napkins just became one more thing I had to worry about getting from a store. Instead, I cut up old towels, zig-zagged the edges to prevent fraying, and turned them into wipe-down cloths that I now use the same way that I used paper towels. We also switched over to using 100% cloth napkins. The habit is set now. I haven't bought paper towels or napkins in 3 years. Thank you for having a good conversation about this - and for being so sensitive about the issue too. As a weaver, spinner, and knitter - just want to say, I really enjoy your channel. Keep it up! You're an awesome person and all that you share is is truly appreciated!
They turned out so vibrant, and I love how the weave pattern changes through the cloth! So much fun!
Sustainability wise i have some thoughts:
Cotton lasts a lot longer than paper towels. However cotton doesnt need to be the only fibre used for napkins! Wool and flax are a good option as well.
Even old towels cut up can be used as kitchen rags, used as toilet paper in a pinch if youre in a pickle and as napkins as well.
Nowadays with life as it is it is truly difficult for most people to get the time to make these things to be more sustainable and buying them can be unaffordable for most families. There are many ways to cut down on waste and to be more sustainable.
Also for anybody reading this whos struggling with their spoons, its ok to use napkins and paper towrls and baby wipes if youre just not ok. Its ok to say screw it. Remember hundred's of years ago families and communities banded together to make things. Doing it alone can be hard.
Keep chugging x
I use rags of old garments in my kitchen to replace paper towels.
However, these table napkins are A WHOLE nother level!!! Beautiful.
Thank you so much Evie for showing all the steps in finishing your Napkins....i have an unrational fear of cutting my weaving so it was great to see all the steps you took. Thank you so much
You can do it!
As a tartan designer and weaver, well done you. :) We use paper products for cleaning. It's a ranch so our dirt is ....well sometimes.... let's just call it dirt. LOL.
For meals we use cloth napkins. That said, my looms are too busy with work to bother doing napkins and dishcloths for our home use.
Same here. I have paper towels for the extremely gross stuff, or things I don't think will go out of cloth materials in the wash. But it's gotten to a point where a roll of paper towels will last me *months*. It's not perfect, but it's something.
I love it. I have done continuous warping on my Macomber. I made and painted 2 spindles today. One a mix of Russian and Bulgarian I saw and the other I made as just a really long tear drop. It reminds me of a humming bird. I'm planning my next spindle and I want to find a style (that's not a Navajo or similar size) that has a huge yarn capacity. I've seen videos of Romani women with huge amounts (at least 200g) and I crave the continuous unbroken yarn that that would provide. I don't know just the ramblings of an amateur spindler and woodman. I feel like my comments always get off track but I just love this community you created. It's more like a fiber family to me than just friends. In other news I'm planning on being a nurse after highschool. Thanks for the ear/eye. Have a nice week yall.
First, your napkins are gorgeous!
Second, your editing is terrific!
Third, your photo work is 👌
Thank you so much!
I've watched SO VERY MANY of your spinning videos, and I think this is the first time I've seen a weaving video, and I had no clue you had a family. I love your cheerful demeanor, and your amazing smile.
I love this idea. It gives me thoughts....ideas? Dreams? Time will tell. I think you should call your quartet Quatre (Kat) It's French for four, which is what a quartet refers to. In the singing/musical world a quartet is four voices or instruments. You could be even nerdier and call her PowerKat like she amplifies your loom's abilities to the power of four! Math, music and fibre in one reference😎🤓
Yes! We use cloth napkins and my oldest ones (from 1997!) have just started to look too ratty. We also have cleaning cloths for mopping up cat barf, etc. I think the longevity of cotton napkins helps offset some of the (non monetary) cost of cotton production.
That's good news. I did some figuring 20k gallons of water for 1 ton of paper towels, but most of us only use the paper towel once. How many times would we use a cotton cloth?
If 1 use of a paper towel is 20k, how many uses 4.8mil...240 uses.
If you use a napkin 1 a week for 25 years, that's 1,300 uses.
240÷52...You break even in 4.62 years of weekly use
@@internetopinion3043 You did the math! I was hoping someone would do the math
The lighting in this vid is just chef’s kiss!
I also wanted to mention, I’m growing cotton as an experiment this year for the first time. Maybe it’ll go horribly wrong, but I suspect it won’t have any more environmental impact grown in my garden than the tomatoes I grow every year for fun.
really appreciate your reflections of the nuances of sustainability, and the napkins look brilliant!
Funny, I am cutting my just finished napkins and watching this !
Sustainability is a good challenge! I made “select a size“ reusable towels with cotton flour sack towels, but… cotton. If I use paper towels these days, I use the bamboo ones. I’m sure there are issues with those as well… I love your bright, cheery napkins! I hope they wash up well!
Thank you for sharing one of your family traditions. It has been the same in my family as well.
The dinner table is a great place to start a conversation about our environmental impact/consumerism/lifestyle. This is how change starts. We could call it brain food :)
Congrats on your new finished project!
I am so glad that you came up on my feed because I love everything about you!
I love the napkins. The green in them. Is speaking to my soul. So vivid and bright.
I love color gamps, and your napkins turned out just beautiful! The twill designs were a brilliant idea too!
That is so fun! I use flannel squares for napkins that I serged to finish the edges. So cool to see the quartet in action!
Wow! Your video is a masterpiece of editing! 🤯 I was so into admiring your editing skills with the music and the cut of the different sequences and everything, that I have to see the video again for the actual content 😅
I think you rocketed to the top (handcraft) videos of UA-cam! I really hope to see more of it in the next 30 Years!
Thank you so much!!! I worked really hard on this one!
I just viewed the video again for the content (and not just for the marvelous editing skills), I love your humor and your choice of music and now I want to learn to weave too 😍😅
The napkins turned out awesome! Great work! I'm sure they are super enjoyable on your dining table. Besides being super fun colors.
Your cheery disposition and bubbly personality make your videos a joy to watch! I always look forward to your videos. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
I never thought a napkin-cutting sequence can make so emotional,and yet here I am tearing up at the end of the video 🥹
I’m like that with any material… let alone any handmade article 😱😱
Great show for the ecology and human concern as well as showing the machine. I learned a lot
The napkins are just beautiful. I love your videos
That video was lovely. The napkins are gorgeous, the facts and commentary about sustainable choices was informative (the additional water use from washing the napkins regularly would also add up), and you look so genuinely excited!
Your napkins came out absolutely beautiful! As you were cutting I was for sure cheering you on! 🙆🏽♀️ Great video as always 💗
When I have a series of things like this on the loom I hemstitch each end while on the loom. Then I separate each item with a few shots of toilet paper then start the next item, hemstitching it at the beginning and end. Repeat. When I've finished with the series, I take the entire thing off the loom, remove the paper & machine stitch over the hemstitching so each item has a nice fringe at each end. Then I cut them apart. What can I say, I like fringe.
Beautifully made video Eve. I was impressed by your multi talents I must say! Loved this, and the napkins are pricelessly beautiful!
I love your videos! You sunny smile and presentation are so reassuring to a new weaver like me. Thanks for another great video!
I think the napkins turned out fabulously and the colors - absolutely gorgeous! I have yet to learn weaving, but it's a skill on my list of must do's.
Your napkins are gorgeous! You remind me of how brilliantly capable women have always been. Our ancestors worked out all of these weaving adjustments while raising a family in conditions similar to camping today. They were even inventing weaving patterns!!
I rarely buy paper towels because I bought inexpensive linen towels years ago. As they aged, they became more absorbent and, eventually, they became wonderful handkerchiefs so I haven't bought Kleenex in many years. It takes a tiny fraction of energy to wash them and the tactile experience is so pleasant. They get better with age - like me.
I am so excited for you getting the quartet for your cricket. I got one a couple months ago and it is great. Do not be afraid to cut your fabric apart. I can relate to not wanting to do so. As long as you have finished your ends off properly, & I know you have, they won't fray.
That was SUCH an intimidating thing to build!!!! 🙉 Also, you’re adorable and I’m absolutely addicted to your videos!!!! I love how you deliver information and all you do! Thanks for sharing! ❤
Your napkins are beautiful! I found your channel because I was given a loom as a gift and had decided to try weaving dish towels- I quickly found out it would be more complicated than I thought. My loom is super simple from Amazon- so I don’t know how that will affect things. I would love to make something half as pretty as yours - and if the dish towels come out well, I’ll be moving on to napkins. Thanks for the inspiration! 🎉
Here's a tip for beginners: Use a few picks of invisible fusible thread between projects. Fuse with an iron according to instructions after you take the web off the loom. Just like with any commercially made fabric, it's always best to cut and sew after washing (in this case the "wet finish"---when it turns from a web into cloth). Cut the tag ends off after wet finish also. I hope you found this useful.
Fabulous job! Those turned out beautifully and I bet they become the source of many fond memories. Just a thought on the old set, I've been embroidering some of our old napkins that are super soft and having them as handkerchiefs instead. My kids love pulling them out to see which one they get and it saves on tissues significantly. I can't believe cloth products for such things have fallen so far out of fashion. I genuinely prefer fabric options myself. I have texture sensitivities against paper products in most cases so it just makes more sense for me personally 🤷♀️
Beautiful colour combinations there in those napkins! Now I am inspired, not that I weave but I can sew and am now set on making some napkins for at the table. The last few years I’ve been on a single use plastic elimination drive and have made really good progress (as you pointed out, our society makes it very difficult to achieve 100% success in this but I believe every little helps) and I think reducing our paper consumption can only be a good thing. I will try to repurpose cotton from used garments first though, before I buy new.
One idea that helps with paper towels is to rinse them (if not too messy) and reuse to wipe up water or spills to use them one more time. Not sure about all the brands but many are strong enough for this treatment. It really doesn't take long for them to try on the edge of the sink. Just a thought if that works for you. Thanks for ALL the conversations Jillian I think it's important too. We can all collectively make a difference I believe. LOVE the woven napkins and all the weaving info.
I take old t-shirts and use the logos for "quilted" pillow cases, then use the rest for making napkins. My pattern is a square paper napkin that I add an inch on each side for seam allowance. Your woven napkins are so pretty!
Your napkins are incredible! I have not had paper towels in my flat for decades. I have always been in love with my grandmothers linen damask napkins. Linen is so much better when it comes to water, so I‘m happy! Should I ever have to replace them I would look for unused vintage from the 1920/30s.
Those are BEAUTIFUL!!!
Love this gorgeous set of napkins you created! Keep up the great work!😍😍
Your napkins are amazing! I‘m happy to possess old linen damask napkins from my grandmother. I have some modern half-linen napkins. I would look to find vintage napkins should I ever have to replace them. The only room I have paper products is the bathroom. There really is no need at all for paper napkins. You can make cotton napkins from old sheets. Keep rags for the really disgusting messes.
We LOVE you and we LOVE this video!! ❤❤❤
Thank you!!! I'm enjoying my quartet so much! 💕🦗
Loved the napkins! You should name the cricket after a famous quartet! The Beatles 😂
Weaving napkins…….. maybe something to consider on my Cottage Loom. A real learning experience 👍🧶
This is super beautiful and the visual of your videos only get better and better!
Congratulations on your lovely new napkins! (Also OMG, you were an adorable little baby goth! 🖤)
Your napkins look awesome 😊
Love the finished napkins🥰 sustainability can be really hard but we are only individual people unless those that are the actual problem (big corporations and oil companies) start sustainable practices we won’t be seeing much progress. However the little things we do to be sustainable does help 💕
So i hang out with weavers, i myself am a weaver on occasion. But never before now have i seen how a project is finished. I had a vague idea about the sewing but still. In others words, thank you so much for showing the entire process Ms. Evie!!
Oh my, cutting fabric, feeling spoiled to have the warp pre done, adjusting for width, that handweavers guide, not sticking to one strict pattern, fighting with heddles, threading mistakes,
All the weaving 'i feel that' lol. Cudos to you for trying to do what you can to be environmentally conscious. _Trying_ is so very important. The more we try, the better we'll get at it, together.
The napkins look phenomenal. [High five!] I'm making linen handkerchiefs for the same reasons. Apologies, don't have a suggestion for a name. My looms all 'told' me their names. [The name popped into my head and was so right, it's just what Glemma, Sherri and Gene are called]
Keep up the awesome work
Hi EV! This video inspired me to weave again. Warping (Rigit heddle) today as I listen to your video. You’ve done such a lovely job. It’s interesting yours allows you to transform it into a 4 shaft loom!!!!!! How nice!!!!!
Cotton also drains a majority of nutrients from the soil. Linen, wool, and bamboo. Check out Sally Pointer, she shows us how she made a dress from stinging nettles and many different plants you can get fiber from.
Such a lot of work, even using a kit that did some of the work for you!!!
Dressing the loom is why I gave up weaving and my loom😍.... but no biggie, I don't miss it. I still have an 8-inch rigid heddle but I hyperventilate thinking about using it.😄
You can do it! *sends courage*
I grew up with using cleaning rags, and in lieu of napkins, a wet washcloth was passed around the table after a course of finger food. For regular eating, we learned tricks to scrape drips off our chins with the utensils, were exhorted to keep our mouth over the plate, and generally learned a pretty tidy way to eat. I still don't use much napkin but when I do, it's cotton. They last so many years. I use a low water washer. I clean with rags, if it's dirty, I wash it. I use paper towels for greasy messes and work that will destroy my cleaning rag yet needs a fresh sterile wipe material. I go through less than half a roll a year.
Congrats on cutting.. I haven't woven in a while, but I want to make towels and I'm nervous about cutting and hemming them.. and I still haven't cut the tails and washed my previous woven work.. I gotta get over the nerves!!!!
So in love with the vibe of your videos ! I watch them during the difficult time of my periods (but not only !) and they bring me so much calm and appeasement. Thank's a lot for that 🙏 also I share your tought about enviromnent, I learnt a lot, and god these nappkins looks incredible, bravo !!
I love these!! I would love to make some in my Clan's tartan to give to family members
I’ve been making napkins this week too! I love yours. More twill is in my future, too, although I make my rigid heddle a 4-shaft loom with a pick-up stick and a heddle rod. Hey, you know, you can cut your fabric without fear if you zig-zag first along the edge of each section. A nice wide zig-zag equals complete security👍
The colours are just so wonderful and fun!!
These are beautiful! Thank you for showing what cool patterns can be made with a smaller loom. I have a 4 shaft tapestry loom. When I saw it at the thrift store, I instantly thought of napkins. I'm not YET a weaver, I didn't understand the uses of various types of looms. I'm still determined to someday weave napkins.
I love your videos, I wish I could get near wool. I'm allergic but enjoy your projects. Thank you for sharing your talent!
Hi Evie, I hope you're feeling better xx ❣️❣️❣️💞
Thankyou so much for sharing this video podcast.
Weaving on your New Loom looks amazing. 🎉🎉
I love your Napkins, the Twill Pattern looks beautiful in all those colours.
We too always made it that we all would eat at the table at night and at weekends too. Even though there's now just the 2 of us we still do.
What we do with our children especially at mealtimes gets passed down.
Happy Spinning and Weaving Fibre Friend 🎡🐑🥰🌞
Hope you All have a Wonderful Weekend 🌞☀️
Take care and stay safe
Lots of love and Big Hugs to You, Mark and your Boys Jen xxxx ❤❤❤❤🫂🫂🫂🫂🐕🐈⬛
I wove cotton waffle weave towels for my son while he was in college, 25 years ago and just was at his house ( married and has 4 children) and the towels are thread bear but his wife is still using them!
Quincy the quartet! Idk that’s the only name I could think of! But I like it!❤
I’ve just started to learn how to weave, that is, I made a quite large wall hanging back in 1977, so I have some idea how to do it. I studied the patterns on your napkins, it so intricate and beautiful, I have no idea how to make it , but I might learn.
I also really love the colors on the napkins, beautiful, just as you are😊
I've only completed a table woven belt so far. I can't wait to get into my next project.
13 additional thumbs-up for the environmental thoughts 🙂 🌲🌳🌿🌱🍃
Love this! Thank you for sharing the process. I'm hoping Schact will come out with a similar attachment for the Flip!
Oh, my goodness the colour!
And the sheep!
I really need to weave gamps more often. I often forget I don't have to weave the gamp for gamp-sake. Thanks for showing us we can weave something useful that just happens to be a gamp as well.
Those numbers on paper towels - eek!
Are cotton towels a better choice? Add to that the calculations the joy of making the towels, learning/improving a skill, the memories your family will gain from using them, that your napkins can have more life after they are 'used up' (ie, cleaning rags, or zokin). Is it perfect? short of growing your own fibre using permaculture techniques, it's difficult to be 'perfect' but I don't feel that's our goal. Instead, let's aim for better while remembering the human element. Every step away from the disposable lifestyle makes a huge difference for the planet. Better to do something than being stuck in the old way worrying we aren't perfect enough to even attempt to make the world a better place.
Also, my frugal heart loves the money saved by using cloth napkins.
Well said! 💜
I’ve been wearing a goose eye twill, meant as hand towels, as a scarf until I brave cutting it. It doesn’t help that my sewing machine tried to eat the fabric, so I’ll have to hand stitch it once I brave cutting it
I’ve never been a scarf wearer and I live where it’s too hot, but becoming one. It goes wherever the AC might be too cold or when I might be out in the evening.
I’m disabled and this looks like the perfect solution for my limited foot pedal use! Unfortunately, I don’t have a table loom or this attachment and my limited income could never. However, it does seem perfect for different types of weavers with mobility issues.
I just acquired a 4 shaft floor loom, I was planning already to make towels but I think I have to add napkins to the lineup! Love all the colors in your napkins.
Maybe Betty for a loom name? No reason other than I'm on a TSwift kick 😆
Paper towel are easy to tear into smaller parts. I buy the half sheet rolls and then tear them into halves or thirds. So 4-6 parts per "standard" sheet. I go through maybe 1 roll per week usually less and don't use cloth towels.
Name suggestion for the Quartet, How about "Ivy"? The Roman Numeral IV is four. I + V = Ivy?
I love that idea!
I have an emergency roll of paper towels, it's over a year old at this point and about 1/3 left. I bought a flannel sheet at sal for 3 dollars and it's provided me with dozens of unpaper towels and "family cloth"(aka toilet paper). I still have tp for guests. Sometimes I feel like, why bother, it's just one person. But it makes me satisfied to do it. I think you should name it Quety (cutie). The qu stands for the quartet part and the sound of the hard c is for the cricket part.
This was really fun to watch! I think I'd be way too intimidated to put something like that together myself. You mention around the 12:00 mark that you needed to unstring the levers to move heddles across but that your floor loom had hooks - could you tie an earring hook wire to the end of the lever string? It makes sense that it's not a fully rigid wire here, but that doesn't mean you can't bring in the same convenience and same yourself some time.
I never thought about it but now I will want to make some napkins! Very new to weaving so won't do just yet but I will! And as usual, I love your videos!
@16:40 "The average American" (singular) using 145 rolls of paper towels a year seems very high, average _family_ I could believe, but one individual not so much.
I think crafts like that are done more for the love of the craft than, say, environmental reasons. The fiber kit cots $16.50 per napkin even if one pays oneself nothing, one can get nice enough factory made cloth napkins for much less.
I knew cotton was a thirsty and insecticide gulping product but was unaware just how thirsty it was compared to paper towels. Do you know anything about hemp & linen? I wove a table cloth out of cotton kite string & it's still going strong after 15-20 years. My linen napkins are older and look brand new. Once you have a full set you might want to do like our ancestors and number the sets to rotate them. Keep up the good work.
An idea for the shafts (the parts that move up and down?) instead of tiying the cord to the top could you instead tie the cords to a hook of some sort, like maybe the findings for hook earrings so you could use that to hook onto the bars instead? Not sure how heavy those are, of course you would want something that doesn't bend out, but might make treading easier
You are simply amazing!
Living on well water in Texas, and often worried about drought, I also need to consider the water to wash my napkins ... I use paper towels, but they have multiple varied uses before they go to trash (they are also the half-sized sheets) ... they are used as coasters, then at the dinner table, then to wipe up kitchen spills, then rinsed and used to wipe out plates and pots before the dishes are washed ... not a perfect solution, but at least we try
When I am weaving, I hemstitch the beginning and end of each piece (I usually make multiples, because why warp the loom if I'm not going to make 10 or okaaaaayyyy, 20), then leave an inch or two in between each piece so I don't have to cut the actual fabric.
11:23 You could make a new heddle and just tie it in. (Sometimes I have to do that because my metal ones have become "wonky" and are being cruel to the yarn.)
This makes my head hurt!!! Love the music btw!!!