Friday 24 March 2023

Not TikTok, But Chesstok

 

At the beginning of the month I posted about trousers. Steph had passed on a pair of jeans, described online as 'ripped Mom jeans'. The dictionary tells me that "ripped" can mean torn, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or possessing good muscle tone. I am not a 'ripped mom' [Steph has good muscle tone though...] How was I going to repair the eight rips on the thighs and right shin?

Visible, creative mending is very 'on trend' at the moment. I considered Japanese techniques [sashiko and boro] and the Indian kantha, [more patching and embroidery, using rags] And then my search ended up just 3 miles from Steph's front door, with the discovery of A & E Chesstok's "Speed-weve, Lancashire's smallest loom" How did I not know about this little miracle before?

In 1963, when I joined the Brownies, we had to learn to darn - we even had the original WW2 leaflets which showed us how to do it. Stitch round the hole, make a series of vertical 'warp' threads, then weave your 'weft' across to cover the hole. Well, it turns out that the Chesstok brothers had developed a gadget to make this process much easier - creating very even darns. These were made in Wilmslow Road, Rusholme, in their factory in The Trocadero Buildings [which sadly burned down in the 1970s]

Here's the instruction leaflet. I learned how a darning loom has two parts: a wooden disc onto which you place your fabric, and a metal loom. The wooden disc has a groove around the side so you can attach the loom to the disc and fabric using 

an elastic band. Run your fingers across the chain of hooks at the top to make the metal hooks flip one way and the other. This alternates the height of the warp/vertical threads so you can quickly and accurately weave over and under

I discovered dozens of YouTube clips about the Speedweve, ways to darn on different fabrics, methods of varying the colours, and threading the wefts to produce stripes, and houndstooth checks and more. 
I sent off for one. And from the moment I got it out of the packet, I was literally 'hooked'. I found a scrap of woollen fabric and tried out different yarns, thick and thin.
The packet contained a wooden disc, elastic bands, a varied selection of needles, some plastic clips, an instruction sheet - and the little metal loom itself.
First attempt - rather over ambitious. I used about 20 different colours and the weaving in on the back was far too messy. But it had a certain quirky charm
I tried fine crochet yarn - the holes were too big. Then soft cotton-a-broder, with blue warp and brown weft. That was a lot neater. I realised that drawing out a rectangle with my marking pen made it much easier to keep to a neat shape.  I looked at the eight rips in the jeans - none was more than 2" long, and not too wide.
I decided on 6 strands of embroidery floss, and chose a selection of the variegated threads from my stash. I darned in the ends neatly and backed each darn with a patch of lightweight iron on interfacing for added security.
I now have some pretty summer jeans, which will remind me of my Manchester family whenever I wear them...[thanks again Steph]  

This site is a good place to start, although I bought a less expensive loom online which is working fine. And here's an American video showing the method,















32 comments:

  1. They are such fun! I bought one last year (or the year before?) and darned my tea towels. Your jeans are brilliant!

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  2. I should have guessed that you would have one (but now I'm surprised there was no darn on the Postcard Project!)

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  3. That's so cute!!! I love what you did.
    I loathe ripped jeans. Had to buy some for my niece last Christmas. Yuck!

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    1. At least mine had vertical rips - I don't think I could cope with rips across the knee- I would be sure to catch my foot whilst dressing!

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  4. Think I will buy one of these now I have seen your lovely darn. I have been looking at them for ages so will order very soon. Catriona

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  5. Check through the ones online. I did not go for the absolute cheapest, mine was 9.99 and came with an accessories pack. The long needle and the hook in that are very useful. Do practise a few before committing to your 'proper' mend, and try out different yarns. That made such a difference for me. The Frixion erasable pens are good for fabric marking [the lines disappear once ironed] My main fault was threading through, flipping the hooks, then immediately threading back without remembering to pick up a stitch of fabric at the side of the darn to keep the edge neat. Have fun!! 😉

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    1. Ordered a £9.99 which should come on Monday. Catriona

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    2. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do

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  6. I like the colorful darning you did! And isn't that weaving loom a nice little gadget to have!

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    1. Thank you Bless - I think it's going to get plenty of use

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  7. That is really effective, but seems so fiddly to do. I guess once you get used to it you can go quite quickly, well you could, I might struggle. ;-)

    Anyway your jeans look great.

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    1. Thanks Sue. I already do a lot of "traditional" darning for friends and family, so have some of the skills set needed to use the Speedweve

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  8. Oh check(!) you out with your trendy jeans! Great job and more importantly, new lease of life for those fab jeans.

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  9. Soooo clever x
    Alison in Wales x

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  10. Good for you, trying out test darns first. Those pretty, finished jeans might just start a new fashion!

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  11. So clever and colorful. I love your results.

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  12. What a wonderful little gadget! You did a terrific job but I think it might be too difficult for someone like me, being less talented with thread. JanF

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  13. I often end up darning things, but find I have forgotten that you have to sew round the hole first. No wonder my darns were never very good!! Your darning machine looks good! Love FD

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    1. Now you've remembered, future darns should be tidier

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  14. Just yesterday DS2 gave me 4 pr. of really tattered jeans and methinks they are beyond hope. of repair.
    Your repairs look great!

    Hugs!

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    1. I'm about to patch Bob's jeans - the worn parts are too large for darning

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  15. Brilliant! This is new to me and a quick search finds me a good kit, complete with embroidery floss, on Canadian Etsy. Thanks so much.

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    1. Watch some YouTube clips, and check out my reply to Catriona above for more tips

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  16. I always darn holes even though I don't really enjoy doing so! It's just a good way to get more use of clothes. I'd not heard of this contraption, but a search shows multiple types available here. Thank you for posting on this! I'm going to order one. It looks like a great little machine.

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    1. Do check out my tips to Catriona above!

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  17. Thank you very much... something completely new for me this little mini weaving frame for darning. I think it's great, your light-colored jeans turned out great with the colorful eye-catchers.
    What opportunities are there... wonderful.
    Many greetings to you and thank you. Viola

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    1. Thank you Viola. I think it will be useful for darning knitted items like socks and mittens

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