Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Swedish Weaving & Huck Embroidery

Roughly 2 years ago, I was introduced to a 3rd cousin, Dawn. We immediately found out we had a lot of the same interest, and what was different we were both interested in learning more.  On our Route 66 trip last fall, we came back by her town in Colorado which strangely has the same name as my town here in Kentucky! Dawn knew I liked to sew and showed me a baby blanket she had weaved using the Swedish technique.  We came up with the idea that I would take it home and sew on the binding.  I recently, finally, mailed it back to her.  
       Dawn wrote and provided the following information about this art, and I wanted to pass it on to you as I showed you her blanket.

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 The weaving technique was found in linens dating back to the 1600s. Height of popularity in the 1930s and 1940s in the US… mostly huck kitchen towels and linens.
Some say this faded when the advent of the dishwasher made kitchen towels unnecessary. Today, I feel there has been a resurgence in both Swedish weaving and huck embroidery methods.
      In the Swedish style of stitching, the larger Monk’s cloth is used for Afghans, blankets, table runners, placemats and baby blankets. I’ve even used it for curtains.
    The huck or Swedish weaving is different because it is worked completely on the top of the fabric, so that thread is rarely seen on the back of the fabric. Mine is never perfect. 
           To weave, pick up the vertical threads (floats) on the front of the fabric so the stitching does not show on the back. Good luck on that one. Good for either left or right hand people, stitches are done in a repeating pattern that is easy to follow. Using a blunt yarn needle, I thread the yarn. Find the middle of the cloth, put a safety pin in that float and start the pattern.
(Dawn found the following video on tube that provides easy to follow instructions as well.) 
 
           By stitching alternating sides, it keeps the cloth from stretching unevenly.
        Monk’s cloth is an even weave fabric. 100% cotton usually 60” wide, 7 count per inch. The floats go evenly in both direction Best to pre-wash for shrinkage. Machine zigzag the edges to keep it from unraveling. 2½ yards for an afghan, 1¾ yards for a baby blanket.
 Finish by hemming, fringing, single crochet, bound, or lace. (Yours truly, zig-zagged the edges and ironed a strip of interfacing on both sides of the edges and then I cut off the excess yarn.) 
      Colors that I personally like to use are white, ecru, black, but there are other colors such as turquoise, lime green, hot pink, and red. I’ve only used 4-ply worsted yarn, but I know others have used #3 pearl cotton, multiple strands of #5 pearl cotton, or ribbon. There is also a Swedish weaving technique that is done on a loam. I’ve never done that.
        (Yours truly chose to zig-zag the binding as well because of the lose weave.)

     Yours truly hopes this blanket ends up with a family baby as we claim this piece of art with our names.
....and carries on our interests in the fiber arts.
Update:
10-25-2022- In doing an image search to find this pattern, I found at "I Hold All the Cards."
She called it "Tree Design."
 
It looks like lots of websites offer patterns now. Just use your favorite search engine.
I had to delete the one I offered, because it showed to be corrupted. Good thing I had a virus program. 

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Thanks to the FREE programs:
possibly used for this post
GIMP for cropping & other digital effects
 Photoscape for downsizing & watermarking photo
PicMonkey creating collages used on this page


27 comments:

  1. What a beautiful quilt! I have seen Huck Embroidery before and love it! Thanks for sharing.
    Freemotion by the River Linky Party Tuesday

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  2. Very pretty. I've never seen anything like that before.

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  3. Wow! That's a lot of work! I've done little bits of Swedish weaving on Shepherd's Bush's cross stitch samplers, but have never attempted a big project. Thanks for showing us your blanket.

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  4. What a treasured family keepsake this will be! This is just stunning, I love how you both contributed to it too! ~Diane

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  5. this is so beautiful ♥ Thank you for sharing your lovely blog at the Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop xo

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  6. what a neat process! so beautiful!

    Thanks so much for showing this off at Needle and Thread Thursday!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  7. That is so cool. I love it. I have never seen it before. It's great to learn something new.

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  8. This is a beautiful work of art. I would like to know what color and type of yarn used in this project!!!

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  9. I stumbled across this blog today and WOW... I have never seen anything like this before. It's so beautiful. I would love to learn how to do this. Lovely work!!!

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  10. Would love the red and white pattern on the cover above

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  11. is it possible to have a copy of the diagram for this model? I would appreciate greatly.

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    1. I'm sorry I don't have a diagram. My cousin did the weaving. I only did the binding.

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  12. I love that blanket!!
    I’ve looked at quite a few videos on this craft and I think yours is the easiest to understand!!
    Can’t wait to get started!!

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  13. I’m having trouble finding patterns. Can you help?

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  14. Do you have the pattern to share?

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  15. I have done a Swedish weave on a monk cloth. I would like to do a baby blanket with infacing and a backing. Is that possible?

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    1. Holly, I only did the binding here for my cousin that did the weaving. As one who does sew I can say I think iron on interfacing would help hold the weave together longer but dont know how it would affect the drape. You could definitely back it by taking backing fabric and place right sides together and stitch around edge leaving an opening to turn right sides out. I would top stitch around edge to close opening and keep backing in place.

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  16. I was wondering if there was a way to get this pattern. My mom makes this one but lost her pattern when their house was flooded. Mostly she needs to know how to determine the length of each strand of yarn. Thank you.

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    1. At this time I still don't have the pattern. I've been trying to get it from my cousin.

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    2. I also had this pattern and now I Can't find it
      Do you know where I could get it please

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    3. I'm sorry, my cousin hasn't passed on the pattern.

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  17. I also am looking for this pattern. I was told it was in "Diamond Patterns" book, but it's not.

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  18. hello to whom it may concern: I would like to purchase this pattern where and how can I do this? THANK YOU PAT

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    1. Dear Unknown, My Cousin made this piece. I do have an old book of patterns, but unfortunately it is still under copyright. Did you check the link of free patterns I provided? One looks very much like this piece.

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  19. I found one of mom's monk cloth Afghan patterns books, and wanted to do my own but can't find Aztec easy to do and follow along as she is missing the page from her book it's as close as I want to do. But I'm just getting started and dont want to mess up. I was hoping or wondering if you may have anything like the Aztec or girly for an extra large piece of month cloth using dmc threads. Or anything free patterns you be willing to share. Written or pdf I could use or be sent via email you'd be willing to share
    . My email is robbinbott1972@gmail.com and thank for any advice or suggestions or help you be willing to offer.

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    1. I know nothing about Swedish embroidery other than the info i shared here from my cousin. So sorry i can't help you. I do keep an eye out for books about this.

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  20. I have made several of these blankets each a different design. I donated each of them to our county’s junior fair auction. I still haven’t made one for myself!

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