Elusive Butterfly Pillows

Add twill pick-up motifs to a plain weave background.

About this Project

Penny Hajdu was inspired by the discovery of a new species of butterfly to create her pillow design. Although it is very much a plain Jane of the butterfly world, Satyrium curiosolus deserved to be celebrated. She decided it was a good opportunity to explore Erica de Ruiter’s Tejido Holandes (Dutch weaving) technique, which is a plain-weave cloth with areas of twill pick-up based on the Tejido Huave technique (named after the Indigeneous Huave people who live on an isthmus in Oaxaca, Mexico).

Contents

• Project Instructions PDF

Details

Structure
Plain weave with twill pick-up.

Equipment
4-shaft loom, 17" weaving width; 12-dent reed; 2 shuttles; pick-up stick.

Yarns
Warp: 3/2 cotton (1,260 yd/lb; UKI Supreme; Camilla Valley Farm), #19 Medium Grey, 582 yd.
Weft: Pattern: 3/2 cotton, #117 Stone, 374 yd. Ground: Tiara Silk #50 (100% silk, 273 yd/spool; Superior Threads), #706 (blues), 374 yd. (Note: Tiara Silk #706 Blue Variegated is a discontinued color. Try #508 Gray Variegated or #605 Blue Variegated as a substitute.) Twisted cord edging: 3/2 pearl cotton, #109 Medium Grey and #117 Stone, 36 yd each. 20/2 bombyx silk (5,000 yd/lb; Jane Stafford Textiles), Salt Spring Sky, 36 yd. (Note: You may use a different gray cotton yarn for the third color in the edging cord in place of the silk.)

Dimensions
Width in the reed: 16 ²⁄₁₂".
Woven length: (measured under tension on the loom) 63".
Finished size: (after wet-finishing and sewing) two pillows, 14" × 14" each.

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