Planning and Designing the Coverlet

• 1). Wind a sample warp of 400 ends and 3 yards. Pre-sley it at 20 ends per inch, and wind it onto the back beam. Thread the sample to Monk's Belt draft. Put the reed and beater back on the loom and sley it at the final sett at 20 ends per inch. Tie the front end of the warp to the apron rod and tighten the warp. Weave 1-inch of tabby with the 20/3 cotton as weft. Now start weaving the pattern. Weave until the warp is used up. Measure the length of the piece and cut it off the loom. Wash it in warm water; then rinse and dry. Press lightly. Measure the width and length of the finished sample to figure out what percent shrinkage to expect. Usually it will be about 20 percent in both directions.
  
  
• 2). Design your coverlet by drawing its finished dimensions on graph paper and calculating how many panels you will need to make the coverlet, and how wide each panel should be. You will seam the panels together after weaving. For example, you might make two 40-inch wide panels for a full-size coverlet. Each panel might need to be 72-inches long, so for two panels you would need a warp of four yards, plus one yard of loom waste.
  
  
• 3). Calculate how many repeats of the threading draft you will use in the panels. Count the number of threads in one repeat, and divide that number by 20 to get the number of inches wide that one repeat represents. Divide that number into the desired width in inches and round the number down or up, to get the number of repeats you can weave in your panels. This number -- multiplied by the number of threads in one repeat -- is the number of threads you will wind in your warp, which will probably be at least 5 yards long.
  
  

Winding the Warp and Weaving

• 1). Wind the warp in two sections, making a figure-eight cross at one end. Tie-off the cross and the ends of the warp. Tie-off the warp at one yard intervals also. Take the warp off the warping board and bring it to the loom.
  
  
• 2). Pre-sley the warp in the reed by pulling four ends through every fourth dent in the reed. Wind it onto the back beam. Take the beater and the reed off the loom. Thread the warp to Monk's Belt. Put the reed and beater back on the loom and sley the reed at 20 ends per inch. Tie in the warp to the front apron rod. Tighten the warp.
  
  
• 3). Wind a rag shuttle with rag strips. Weave a few inches with rag weft. Wind a bobbin with the 20/3 cotton weft. Weave 1.25-inches for a hem. Wind a bobbin with the pattern weft. Start weaving the Monk's Belt pattern with one shuttle of cotton weft and one of wool pattern weft. Weave the panel length and then weave another 1.25-inch hem. Put a few picks of rag weft in the shed and then begin the second panel. Weave it in the same manner as the first panel.
  
  

Finishing the Coverlet

• 1). Cut the warp behind the heddles and pull the cloth off the cloth beam. Cut apart the two panels through the rag weft. Zigzag the fell (the weft edge) at both ends of the woven panels. Sew the panels together either by hand or machine. Turn the hem under and stitch.
  
  
• 2). Fill a washing machine with warm water and detergent. Immerse the piece in the warm water and push it down. Agitate for one minute and let the coverlet soak for about an hour. Spin the soapy water out. Take the coverlet out. Fill the machine again with warm water. Put the coverlet back in the warm water and rinse. Spin out the excess water.
  
  
• 3). Set up three parallel clotheslines with towels over them. Lay the coverlet over the clotheslines to dry. The towels will prevent creases. When the coverlet is dry, press it lightly on the wool setting.