FLAXFAN > notebook > projects > Koru Bedspread in Lampas on the Drawloom

Koru Bedspread in Lampas on the Drawloom
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The finished bedspread. Fits nicely, doesn't wrinkle, we are pleased with the results.
The finished bedspread. Fits nicely, doesn't wrinkle, we are pleased with the results.
Design for Koru bedspread - fabric simulation from Weavepoint, Complex Drafting module. Lampas - 2/1 twill vs plain weave. Cotton ground, wool pattern.
Design for Koru bedspread - fabric simulation from Weavepoint, Complex Drafting module. Lampas - 2/1 twill vs plain weave. Cotton ground, wool pattern.
The overshot coverlet from 1990. They do last a long time - in this case, I am tired of it before it really wore out.
The overshot coverlet from 1990. They do last a long time - in this case, I am tired of it before it really wore out.
This is a koru cross stitch pattern that I purchased to help with the form and design. Since this would require more than 50 pattern shafts as shown, I needed to rework it and turn it into something that could be expanded to an all over pattern.
This is a koru cross stitch pattern that I purchased to help with the form and design. Since this would require more than 50 pattern shafts as shown, I needed to rework it and turn it into something that could be expanded to an all over pattern.
After considerable modification of the initial cross stitch pattern, tiling, rotating, flipping and moving the elements, I decided on this version for the loom.
After considerable modification of the initial cross stitch pattern, tiling, rotating, flipping and moving the elements, I decided on this version for the loom.
The fabric is lampas - ground structure is a 2/1 weft faced twill and the pattern areas are plain weave. The loom is set up with 3 ground shafts with long eye heddles, treadled separately. The pattern shafts have regular heddles and are also tied separately. This means that on the countermarche loom, it is possible to depress two treadles - as long as each belongs to a separate group. To bulk up the design sufficiently for a large item, I took the basic pattern and expanded it 3 x 3, so that every "pixel" or decoupure in the cloth has 12 warp ends-9 ground threads and 3 pattern (bindingn) threads and 18 picks - three times the alternating of one ground and 1 binding for each pick of the 3-end twill.
The fabric is lampas - ground structure is a 2/1 weft faced twill and the pattern areas are plain weave. The loom is set up with 3 ground shafts with long eye heddles, treadled separately. The pattern shafts have regular heddles and are also tied separately. This means that on the countermarche loom, it is possible to depress two treadles - as long as each belongs to a separate group. To bulk up the design sufficiently for a large item, I took the basic pattern and expanded it 3 x 3, so that every "pixel" or decoupure in the cloth has 12 warp ends-9 ground threads and 3 pattern (bindingn) threads and 18 picks - three times the alternating of one ground and 1 binding for each pick of the 3-end twill.
Fresh off the loom. This section is 2 of the center panels. I cut off twice to avoid bulk on the cloth beam. The fabric needed a fresh supplemental binding warp for each panel as the takeup was slightly uneven and the binding warp was being used at about 1.5 to 1 over the ground warp.
Fresh off the loom. This section is 2 of the center panels. I cut off twice to avoid bulk on the cloth beam. The fabric needed a fresh supplemental binding warp for each panel as the takeup was slightly uneven and the binding warp was being used at about 1.5 to 1 over the ground warp.
First "fitting" on the bed. Only the side seams are finished. The plan is to make a tailored spread, with a panel crosswise at the end and corners that are tailored at the bottom allowing the pieces to spread around the legs of the bedstead (this time not a square coverlet).
First "fitting" on the bed. Only the side seams are finished. The plan is to make a tailored spread, with a panel crosswise at the end and corners that are tailored at the bottom allowing the pieces to spread around the legs of the bedstead (this time not a square coverlet).
photos above © FLAXFAN
Finished
March 2020
May 28, 2021

Koru Bedspread in Lampas on the Drawloom

Project info
original adapted from cross stitch patter from Kiwi Crossingn
Koru - fern pattern from New Zealand
Weaving
Home → Other
Our Home
Standard Double Bed
Tools and equipment
Lilla Drawloom
Yarn
48 epi
8/2 worsted heather from Jaggerspun
Tubular Spectrum 20/2 mercerized cotton
Notes

I am not a fan of overshot. However, in 1990, when we were waiting for my husband to be released from his employment in Germany so we could emigrate to Wisconsin, I wove a full sized coverlet in three panels of a brown unmercerized cotton and white handspun 2-ply from our own herd of sheep. It turned out quite nicely and has been on our bed here in Fond du Lac ever since. After 30 years, it is starting to fade a bit from sunlight and not look as fresh as it once did.
Fast forward to our purchase of some colorful artwork and a lovely trip to New Zealand in 2018 where I fell in love with the Koru fern pattern used all over, including on the planes from Air New Zealand.
Now working on a presentation for the 2022 Complex Weavers seminars, I became enamored with Lampas as an excellent fabric for interior fabrics - pillows, upholstery, and yes, a bedspread. Lampas has texture - the ground fabric is finer and firmer than the pattern, and with the right threads, has a feel not unlike uncut velvet. With the lovely 50 pattern shaft drawloom, it wasn’t difficult to work out a possible design.
This project is a joint effort with my husband - our Covid project, if you will. He helps with design approval, measuring, and I do the weaving. As long as we were kept pretty much at home, we could work on this. The idea was that if we ever were able to leave the house again, we’d at least have something to show for the time spent inside. We received our second shots on Feb. 24, so getting this off the loom is a timely event.
Now the finishing begins - sewing a panel across the end and calculating the dimensions of a hem facing to bind off the outside edges.

viewed 181 times
Finished
March 2020
May 28, 2021
 
  • Project created: April 8, 2021
  • Updated: September 25, 2021