Fringy Jean Trim
by Jane Patrick
This design appeared in my Inkle Weaving A to Z video available through LongThread Media.
This perky trim looks trickier to weave than it actually is. It requires two shuttles, one weaving the band and the other carrying the supplementary fringe weft, which gets caught every 3/4" by a pair of warp threads. The supplementary fringe weft is left looped during weaving and trimmed afterwards to the desired length.
The finished band is 5/8" wide (with fringe, 7/8" wide) X 36" long (cut in half for two pant leg trims). Adjust accordingly for your particular pants. Measure the circumference and then add 20% and at least 16” for loom waste.
What You'll Need
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Warp and weft yarn: DMC Pearl cotton #5. 14 yards (1 skein) #778 pink, 16 yards (1 skein) #744 yellow, 32 yards (2 skeins) #3371 dark brown, 3.5 yards (1 skein) #902 wine, 32.5 yards (2 skeins) #794 pale blue.
Use dark brown for the weft and 10 strands of pale blue for the supplementary fringe weft.Note: There are 27.3 yards (25m) per DMC #5 skein.
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Aleene’s OK to Wash It
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sewing thread to match trim
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Inkle Loom
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two belt shuttles (the loom comes with one)
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15 Texsolv or string heddles
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sewing gauge
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sewing needle
Materials
Equipment
Directions
I warped the shortest length on this loom, 63”. The length required for this project is 60” which allows 20% take-up and 16” loom waste.
The project requires 29 ends in the following order:
H O 2x 2x
Note: You will begin and end in a heddle.
Wind two shuttles, the first with 1 strand of dark brown and the other with 10 strands of pale blue. To avoid breaks in the pale blue weft, measure each pale blue strand 104” long then wind them together on the shuttle.
Weaving
Using the dark brown, weave plain weave for an inch and then begin your pattern. Weave as follows:
Up
Pick-up the two center wine threads
Down, holding the picked up threads up weave with the background (dark brown) shuttle.
Still holding up the wine threads, insert the shuttle with the blue supplementary weft yarn under the two wine threads, leaving a 2” tail.
Weave up, down, up, down, up, down
Repeat for the length of the warp. Each time you insert the supplementary weft shuttle, leave a loop that curves outside the band width about 1/4”.
Finishing
Remove the band from the loom and wash it by hand in hot water before cutting the loops. Air dry and then press on the wrong side. Cut the loops with sharp scissors, trimming to the desired length. Cut the band in half. Use fabric glue such as Aleene’s OK to Wash It to secure the band to the bottom of your jeans. Overlap the ends at the inside seam.