While we incorporate techniques used in
commercial textile mills, at Sam Kasten
Handweaver we do everything by hand. This
allows us to produce very small quantities and
have minimum requirements, as small as 20
yards, for standard width fabrics.

SETUP Yarns have been wound on small
spools and assembled on racks in preparation
for winding on the warp beam. They are then
threaded through a tension box in a precise
order prior to being wound on the warp beam
in 2-inch increments. At times we will have as
many as 200 threads per 2-inch section

WARPING The yarns are being wound directly
on the warp beam 2 inches at a time. This
method allows us to make warps much
smaller than required for commercial mills and
enables us to create unusual, one-of-a-kind
textiles for our customers.

THREADING After the warp is wound, every
single thread must be individually threaded
through the eye of a heddle in a precise pattern
according to weave structure and color. This can
involve as many as 5,000 threads in a standard
width upholstery-weight fabric.

WEAVING Weaving involves throwing the fill
yarn, using a shuttle, back and forth between
the warp yarns and beating the yarn into the
cloth line. Pictured here, we are making a
dense, 100% linen checkerboard upholstery
fabric. Depending on fabric characteristics, our
weavers make 1-4 yards of standard width
fabric a day.