Attack of the Squirrels :-)

Hi and welcome! I have lots of artsy, stitchy things to do but I got a full attach of the squirrels 😁 I have a wonderful, comfortable pair of jeans with holes in them - on purpose. I don't mind the style but my whole knee is poking out...so the hole is a little too big. I've been wanting to do something but I know that a patch won't be comfortable, so I wove a band across the hole, over the knee.

Weaving a band

I used a small embroidery hoop and #8 perle cotton to weave the band between the two edges of the hole.

Band woven between the two edges of the hole in my jeans

This is how it started.

For the warp, I stitched a few strands of 4 different colours of #8 perle cotton at both end of the hole. They were pretty taut and I figured that if I had to, I could make adjustments to the tension once the band was finished.

Weaving within the embroidery frame

I had an audio book and it took about 6 hours to finish the woven band.

Finished woven band

At the beginning of the project, I took a picture and sent it to one of the weavers in our Fibre 15 group. She suggested that I stabilize the ends and possibly use interfacing to make sure that it stays put.

The next morning, I put a piece of heavy duty Steam-A-Seam at the ends of the band, overlapping the band and the jeans. I attached a scrap piece of cotton and then sewed over the edge of the jeans to about ¼" of the band. I think that it'll hold.

Finishing the back of the band

Here is the finished project....so far.

The woven band across the hole

Squirrel!!!

What I learned

• I haven't woven anything in years, but it did come right back. 😊
• It was so relaxing and perfect to do while listening to an audio book.
• I used the Weaver's knot to attach a new colour when my thread ran out.
• I googled it and used two different techniques. Every once in a while I was able to make the weaver's knot without following the instructions but then it just wouldn't work. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong but I kept at it until I it worked. 
• I'm linking up the two techniques that worked best for me....most of the time!
• I'm going to wash my jeans in a large garment bag so that the band doesn't get pulled off.
• I also figure that if the band does come off, that it's been secured enough that I'll be able to use it somewhere else.
• I feel like the jeans could use a little something more - maybe just embroidery around the hole? I'm not sure that I want to spend another 6 hours making a second band to go with it 😁

Related links

• The Weaver's Knot - Get knotted paracord
• How To Tie A Weaver’s Knot, Four Keys Book Arts

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. You may want to check some out! Slow Sunday Stitching, 

Put your foot down, Off The Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, Monday Musings, Design Wall Monday, Sew & Tell, Free Motion Mavericks,