A friend from weaving guild told me about a technique called “California Rags ®” developed by Trudie Roberts in 1982 (she recently passed away and was profiled by Handweavers Guild of America on their Facebook page). She used this technique, in which you weave with strips cut from large motif fabrics alternating with a novelty yarn, mostly for clothing. It preserves the “picture” from the original fabric in the woven cloth. I also found an article by Trudie Roberts in an older issue of Handwoven Magazine: “Rag Weave Sweatshirts.” May/June 1989: pp. 60–62, with some more specific information on how to proceed.
I decided to try this out for my other guild challenge project: Placemats Inspired by a Mug.
I started with some drapery or upholstery fabric samples that measured 17″ x 26″, and a novelty yarn I picked up at the stash reduction sale at knitting retreat last fall. I think the yarn is cotton and rayon, but no label, so not sure. The colors were just right to go with the mug, though:
Tied onto the existing warp on my Baby Mac workshop loom (the warp was for the Bronson Lace placemats blogged about previously) – using some colors of 8/4 cotton carpet warp that also came from the mug. 12 epi, 167 ends for a width of 13.9″ on the loom, and about 13″ off loom.
I washed and pressed the fabric first, as some of these showroom samples seem to have sizing on them. Then I cut it into 3/8″ strips and, carefully preserving the order, began to weave them in with alternating shots of the novelty yarn.
When used for clothing, the edges can be ignored since they will be serged and/or incorporated in a seam. But I had to deal with the bits hanging off either end so I would have a finished edge for the placemat. I wound up tucking the ends into the next fabric shed (not the next yarn shed) before laying in and beating the next strip. This seems to work pretty well.
I really had fun with this and am very happy with the results:
It’s great to try new techniques. Thank you for sharing.
Very nice! I’d say you “met the challenge”.
Who is the lucky recipient of this lovely place mat? I thought that technique looked fun when Ive seen it in the past. It’s lovely.
I found this old entry while looking for information on Trudie Roberts method for California Rags. Thanks for being so clear as to your process. I’m thinking of giving this a try.