June Weave Along - Placemats that became pot holders a happy little accident
Placemat Weaving Project (and a Happy Accident!)
This month I took on a special order for a repeat customer — a set of placemats to complement their kitchen decor. I carefully selected my colors, even wove a small sample swatch, and felt confident heading in. But after warping the loom, I quickly discovered my mistake: I had chosen Monte Cristo cotton as my warp yarn.
Monte Cristo is a wonderful weft yarn, but for a densely woven project like this, it was far too sticky to produce a clean shed. And to top it off, the finished pieces shrank much more than I anticipated. Still, no project is a complete failure! The shrunken placemats turned into charming pot holders and trivets — which will actually make lovely accents alongside the finished placemats once this order is complete.
Materials
Warp Yarn
- Monte Cristo Cotton from Cotton Clouds (I'd recommend swapping this for 8/4 cotton in natural — lesson learned!)
- Maurice Brassard 8/4 Cotton in denim, stone, and olive foncé (add neutral to replace the Monte Cristo)
Weft Yarn
- Maurice Brassard Mop Cotton 16/8
- Maurice Brassard 8/2 Cotton in natural
Loom
- Rigid heddle loom, 12" minimum, with a 10 or 12.5 dent reed
Other Supplies
- Scissors
- Tapestry needle
- Flexible tape measure
- Sewing clip
- Loom threading hook
Additional Supplies for Pot Holders/Trivets
- Wool or cotton batting
- Cotton fabric in a matching color
- Sewing thread
- Sewing machine
Weaving Your Placemats
This project measures approximately 12" wide on the loom with a warp length of 60". If you want a full set of 4 placemats, I'd recommend adding an extra 12" to your warp length. Finished placemats should measure around 11" x 14".
Warping
Warp with 2 threads in each slot and hole using a 10 or 12.5 dent heddle — yes, it will be tightly packed, but that's what gives these placemats their rigidity (unlike towels, which benefit from a softer, more open warp).
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- 12 slots & holes: natural
- 4 holes: denim | 3 slots: sand
- 13 slots & holes: natural
- 4 holes: denim | 3 slots: olive
Repeat until you reach your desired length, ending with 6 slots and 6 holes in natural. I ended up with 8 natural stripes, 4 denim/sand stripes, and 3 denim/olive stripes.
Tip: With the heddle in the up position, you'll see the denim and natural colors. In the down position, you'll see natural with alternating sand and olive stripes.
Weaving
Start with a few rows of waste yarn to spread the warp threads evenly. Then begin weaving with your 8/2 denim yarn:
- Weave 2 rows of denim and hem stitch all the way across.
- With the heddle down (exposing the sand and olive stripes), throw one pick of denim.
- Switch to the heddle up position (exposing denim and natural stripes) and throw one pick of mop cotton on a separate shuttle.
- Continue in this pattern — denim when the heddle is down, mop cotton when it's up.
Beat the yarn in firmly with each pass, moving slowly to keep your edges straight and even.
Use a flexible tape measure and sewing clip to track your length. Once you've woven 13", finish with 2 rows of denim and a hem stitch to complete your first placemat. Advance the warp 3" between each placemat — this gives you 1" of fringe on each end when cut apart.
Repeat until all 4 placemats are complete.
Finishing
Cut the placemats apart, machine wash in cold water, hang to dry, and they're ready for the table!
When Things Go Small: Making Pot Holders
If your placemats came out shorter than 12" (like mine did), here's how to turn them into beautiful pot holders:
- Wash and dry your woven pieces first.
- Cut wool batting and cotton fabric to match the size of your finished woven piece.
- Sew the wool batting to the wrong side of the woven fabric.
- Trim any excess fringe after sewing the batting in place.
- With right sides together, sew three sides of the cotton backing and woven piece together, leaving a 2–3" gap on the fourth side for turning.
- Turn right side out, using a knitting needle or stick to push out the corners cleanly.
- Fold in the open edge, secure with a clip, and top stitch all four sides.
- Stitch diagonally from corner to corner in both directions to form an X — this stabilizes the layers and prevents distortion through washing.
- Trim all loose threads, and you're done!
(See the video and diagram for guidance on turning and top stitching.)
Video can be found on the Jenerated Designs YouTube Channel.
What started as a frustrating warping mistake ended up producing a set of pieces I'm genuinely happy with. Sometimes the best projects are the ones that surprise you!
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