Selvedges!

Hello Everyone,

Here is the current information and a few pictures of the selvedges available. We are sorting thru the boxes and separating them into bags which can be quite a task in untangling sometimes. These selvedges come from a local mill that weaves upholstery fabrics for mid to high end furniture manufacturers - chairs, sofas, recliners. The content is a mix of polyester, cotton & rayons. Some are matte, some are silky and some are a mix of matte & silky and there are some rather sophisticated colour combinations too. When I took a tour of the mill they were running 15 different looms all at once, including about 7 Jacquard looms which are so impressive! The manager told me with some pride that they are known for being able to get up new designs quite quickly, so there is lots of variety in the boxes now and I expect that every delivery from them will be completely different. Well on with just a few photos to give you an idea of what the selvedges are like - remember there's a lot more variety then what you are seeing here:







We are sorting the selvedges into bags and then they're classified as "light", "medium" or "dark". The minimum order is 25lb up to 50lbs per box and you can specify which of the 3 categories or "The Smorgy Box" which will be a mix of all three. The cost is $1/lb + shipping via UPS. Payment can be by check or paypal.

Some questions I've been asked:

What are selvedges? These are the very long, yards & yards long continuous edge strips that are cut off the fabric as the cloth is woven and being rolled onto the cloth drum. Some people have asked if they are "worms", since "worms" seem to mean the edges cut off from woolen blankets after wet finishing we don't use that term.

Do you send samples? Yes, samples can be mailed but we can't guarantee that those selvedges will be available for any particular length of time or in any particular quantity.

Can I choose by content? Because these selvedges are quite mixed it wouldn't be possible to send you just cottons, or rayons, etc. All the fabrics woven are a mix of poly, cottons & rayons in some combination.

What's the shrinkage? Today, July 17th, I finished a 28X35" rug in a combination of 2 very different types and did a full wash, line dry - there was 1 1/2" shrinkage in the lengthwise and none in the width. This was on a poly/cotton warp from Great Northern. Since these selvedges are all very different the shrinkage will probably vary a little bit.

How many pounds do I need for a rug? I weave my rugs at an 8 epi, 29" width in the reed and usually to about 40" long which takes less than 5lbs of weft. A 50 lb box then could make 10 or more rugs depending on length and your warp sett. A denser sett means less weft material needed I'm told.

Do you have sock loopers? No, I haven't found a local mill doing socks.

Please send an email to littlemeadowsfarm@yahoo.com to place an order or for the phone number if you'd like to speak in person. And if there is a question you have not covered here please send me an email via littlemeadowsfarm@yahoo.com.

Thanks and hope to hear from you soon,
Liese