Red Hen Review: Swedish Weaving Pattern Directory by Katherine Kennedy
May 2024
I’ve always been curious about Swedish Weaving or Huck Weaving/Embroidery. I’ve seen huck toweling around in the fabric stores and mostly thought of it as a utility cloth. As it turns out, there is a form of embroidery using huck toweling that creates beautiful and functional towels, table runners, cushion covers, and other items. I adore handmade household linens!
Swedish Weaving Pattern Directory by Katherine Kennedy is a new book released this spring. A brief flip through reveals bright colorful designs, fifty in total. The author’s introduction tells how Swedish Weaving became popular in the US during the 1930s and 1940s even though it has roots in Europe since the 1600s. It is now enjoying a resurgence in popularity as a hand craft.
The next part of Swedish Weaving Pattern Directory details the materials, stitches, and how to get started. You’ll need to locate some huck toweling, waffle cloth, or Aida cloth. I found huck toweling at my local fabric store(no online shop) but a quick Google search will turn up other sources. I also picked up a pack of bent tip tapestry needles but you can also use a regular tapestry needle. I’m using a skein of No. 5 Perle cotton embroidery floss that I already had, but you can use other types of floss- this Aurufil Embroidery Floss would work great using all 6 strands.
Huck weaving catches the floats on the top of the huck toweling so no stitches or threads are visible on the back. There are a handful of stitches and they are easy to learn and replicate. The pattern I am following only uses two types of stitches and the design ends up looking intricate even though it is a Level 1 design.
If you have done embroidery, sashiko, cross stitch or needlepoint, you will quickly pick up on the stitching rhythms of huck weaving. Even not having stitching experience, you will still be able to catch on due to the patterned floats on the huck toweling.
There are fifty designs in this book. I am doing a simple border on a towel but am eager to try one of the more complicated all over designs for placemats or the designs with corner borders for a table runner. This is a craft that is easy to learn, portable and one that you can pick up for a few rows after dinner and then set aside for another day. It doesn’t require a lot of materials. Other than the huck toweling, you may already have the embroidery floss, tapestry needle, and a cute pair of scissors. That’s it!
I hope you’ll give it a try! Please leave a comment or ask a question. I'm a beginner but would love to learn more about Swedish Weaving.