Calculating Sett for Weaving Using the Spinner's Multitool

One of the things I love about the Spinner's Multitool is its versatility. Just because the name implies that it's for spinners, doesn't mean you can't use it to make your weaving weaving easier!

In weaving, the sett is how close together (or how far apart) the warp ends are. The sett is often expressed as a number, followed by the term "EPI," which stands for "ends per inch." Deciding on a sett is a skill that takes practice and plenty of sampling, but I like to use our Spinner's Multitool to get a ballpark idea of which sett to choose. 

First, lay the warp yarn across the multitool until you find the closest match. This is your WPI, or wraps per inch measurement. In the first image, my measurement is 22. 

For a balanced plain weave fabric, divide your measurement in half to get your sett. This gets us 11. While it's possible to warp most looms to 11 ends per inch using a reed substitution chart, you could also choose to round up to 12 ends per inch (for a firmer fabric) or down to 10 ends per inch (for a softer, drapier fabric). If you're using a rigid heddle loom, you'll want to choose the number that is closest to the reed you have.

For a twill fabric, you usually want the sett to be a little denser. A good rule of thumb is that the sett would be 2/3 of the wraps per inch. With the same 22 WPI measurement from above, that gets us 14.5 ends per inch - but let's round up to 15 for the sake of simplicity!

For a warp-faced fabric, you want the warp to be very closely spaced so that the weft doesn't show. A good rule of thumb is that the sett will between 75% and 100% of the wraps per inch measurement you take. In this example, that would between 16.5-22 ends per inch. 

Remember: this is just a jumping-off point to get you started! It's always important to sample to make sure you're getting the cloth you want, especially when you're using your handspun yarns. 

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