Fleece Fabric Scarf
Here’s a fun and unconventional medium for your next weaving project: a scarf woven from strips of fleece fabric. Working with fleece is a bit different because of its natural stretch, but that same elasticity makes it forgiving and easy to handle. Plus, the color possibilities are practically endless!
The finished scarf will be thick and slightly bulky, yet still flexible and cozy.
For this project, we used a 10″ Presto Loom with a 5-dent heddle.
Cut the fabric widthwise into fourteen 5/8″ strips in three different colors—14 strips of each color. Don’t forget to trim off the selvage edges before weaving.
The loom will need to be warped in a slightly different fashion. There is no need to use the warping peg for this one.
- Start by tying one end of a fabric strip to the back dowel, then draw it through the first slot on the heddle.
- Tie a second strip onto the dowel and pass it through the hole immediately to the right of the first strip (we arranged ours in groups of four strips per color).
- Skip the next slot-and-hole pair, then continue this pattern across the loom.
Wind the warp onto the back beam. You will need to stretch out the strips to help them through the heddle. And tie them to the front dowel.
Weave as you normally would, with one exception: there’s no need to create a header. Because the “yarn” is so stretchy, it naturally settles into place on its own.
You may find it easier to pass the fabric strips through the shed by hand rather than using a shuttle. This method saves time and works well since there’s no risk of tangling.
When you reach the end of a strip, join it to the next by cutting a small slit in the ends of both strips and connecting them.
- Thread the new color through the hole of the first strip.
- Next, take the other end of the new strip and pass it through the hole at the starting end of itself.
- Gently pull the tail of the new strip until it is nearly snug.
- Adjust the ends so they sit neatly together in the holes, creating a smooth transition between colors..
Now you can continue to weave, adding strips of fleece fabric as needed.
*Be aware that the tensioning on this project acts tricky, but as stated earlier, it all seems to work out fine in the end as long as things are reasonably even.*
To finish, simply tie off the ends to secure the fringe.
