Ribbon selvedge and weft fringes

[Anna-Chiara Bellini]

Hello!

I have a question:

I’ve seen a few blankets woven with a “ribbon” selvedge: at each side, there are about 10 or so warp threads, then a few warp threads skipped, and then in the middle there is the blanket. At the end of weaving, I assume after wet finishing, the weft floats across the skipped warp are cut, leaving a nice side fringe, and a side ribbon. Much like you can see in this pictures:

a finished blanket: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGQcevYpMxe/
leftover ribbons: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0270/0034/0564/products/six_sq_1800x.jpg?v=1586257274

Now, my question is: how do you finish the edge of the side fringe so it doesn’t fray? In this picture it looks like it’s machine sewn or something, but I am not sure… is it maybe something that industrial looms can do? How would you do something similar on a floor loom?

(this is me thinking of a blanket with a hundred colour changes… and a way to avoid weaving in all the ends, they would still show)

 

Thanks!

 

[Anna-Chiara Bellini]

I actually stumbled on the answer while browsing Facebook 🙂

It’s a loop de doupe selvedge, made with thin thread that twist at each wet pick and keep them in place. I’ll try this in my next sample 🙂

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