Planning Your Weaving

• 1). Trace the pattern pieces for your size off the pattern sheet onto tracing paper. Cut the pattern pieces out and lay them on a table or floor. Measure the widest hat pattern piece; this will probably be the brim piece. Add about 20 percent to this width measurement, as this will be the width of your warp.
  
  
• 2). Lay the pieces out in a row as close together as possible to estimate the length of the fabric you will need. For hand weaving, it's most economical to weave the narrowest warp you can but weave it long to accommodate all the pieces.
  
  
• 3). Wind your warp yarn around a ruler. Count the number of winds per inch and divide that in half. That will be your "sett," or the number of warp ends per inch. Multiply that number -- for example, 12 -- by the width of your warp that you calculated -- for example, 20 inches. This will give you the number of warp ends you must wind, in this case, 240.