Swedish Weaving is a classic technique for embellishing tea towels
for the hope chest. Swedish Weaving traditionally uses embroidery floss
to decorate the borders of huck tea towels. Due to the unique nature of
the vertical thread “floats” in the huck weave, the stitching shows
only on the top of the piece. If you turn the towel over, there are no
threads showing on the back. Usually, the designs for Swedish Weaving
are mirror images, both top to bottom and side to side. This technique
became quite popular in the 1940's, and you might still find many
examples of these beautiful towels in antique stores.
Unfortunately,
huck towels are hard to come by and the fabric for huck toweling is
also somewhat hard to find. Luckily, the small waffle weave microfiber
towels available today lend themselves well to thread weaving
techniques. So these towels give me an opportunity to modify the
technique of Swedish Weaving. Because the waffle weave is different than
the huck weave, the same design on a waffle weave towel will spread a
bit more openly than on a huck towel. But I think the result is still
lovely.
The design begins in the center of the towel and is worked one row at a
time from the middle out to each end. For this pattern, cut six 40-inch
lengths of embroidery floss. You'll use all six strands together, so
don't separate them. I used Perle cotton (size 5) for these towels.
Thread a #24 tapestry (blunt) embroidery needle. Identify the middle “
vertical float” on the towel to begin the design.
When I refer to a vertical float, I am intending the threads that rise
to form the tops of the waffles and that run vertically in the weave. If
you catch the tops of these threads, the colored floss will follow
through and lay atop the threads at the bottom of the waffles, making a
perfect running stitch until you move up with a “slant stitch.” The
combination of running stitches and slant stitches create the design.
Stitches are made always from the right to the left (or always left to
right if you are left handed). This consistency is very important. A
slant stitch is made by moving up two rows and catching the stitch
indicated, again always from the right side of the threads.
Follow the pattern, beginning at the bottom middle of the pattern,
indicated by the arrow. Working right to left, catch the two floats
indicated and pull the thread through the floats until you have an even
amount of thread on both sides of the float. Each row of stitching will
begin in this same way, with an even amount of thread on both sides of
the middle. Immediately form a slant stitch two rows up from the
starting point and directly above the left stitch. Please note that I'm
giving these directions as a right-handed individual. If you are left
handed, simply think opposite – left to right.
Continue to work the first (bottom) row of the pattern across to the
left side of the towel, repeating the same pattern across. Do not cut
the floss end.
Now come back to the middle, re-thread the remaining floss. Turn both
the towel and the pattern upside down. Continue to work the first row
(now the top row on the pattern) to the opposite side of the towel. Look
carefully at the row to catch any mistakes. Do not cut the floss end.
Follow the chart to stitch all the rows in the design. Always begin at
the center of the row and work right to left. Do not cut and finish the
ends until the design is complete. You will see the wisdom of this
instruction the first time you find a mistake and have to pull out the
row (or rows) to correct the mistake. It is also tempting to begin at
the side instead of the middle. One important reason for working from
the middle is that the slanted threads are not as easily distorted and
seem to lay prettier. Also, the threads are not worn out from being
pulled through so many times. And, there isn't as much to pull out if
you make a mistake.
After all the rows are stitched, again check the design for mistakes and
correct any mistakes that you see. With some designs, mistakes are hard
to see until the pattern is finished, or nearly so. Don't feel
discouraged by mistakes. The stitches are easily pulled out and then you
have the fun of weaving them in again!
Now you'll need to address all those floss ends. There are a couple of
ways to finish the ends. With each thread end, take a small back stitch
in the side hem or into the serged edge and bury the thread along the
edge of the towel. Clip the thread and tug the end back into the hem. If
there is a side hem on the towel, simply run the thread through the
fabric and come out at the side edge. Do this with each of the thread
ends and then machine stitch from the top of the rows to the bottom
approximately ¼-inch from the side edge. This stitching will secure the
threads. Clip floss ends as close as possible to the towel.
