Norwegian Pick-Up Bandweaving

—Patterns, techniques & more

Charts from an Orsa Apron Band

Update July, 2025: This booklet is unfortunately out of print. Contact me if you wish to purchase a pdf copy.

Weavers had previously been buying this booklet directly from me, but I’m happy to announce that it will now be sold through Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum & Folk Art School, both at the museum store in Decorah, Iowa and online at https://store.vesterheim.org/products/swedish-pick-up-patterns-by-heather-torgenrud?_pos=1&_sid=8b746f920&_ss=r.

The booklet contains 65 pick-up patterns, charted from a traditional folk costume apron band from Orsa, a rural community in Dalarna County, Sweden. It also contains technical information on threading and following the charts. The patterns, which are separated by double horizontal bars, are presented in the order they appeared in the apron band. A few are duplicates, but those are also included in the order they appeared. The booklet is for weavers who know how to weave Baltic-style pick-up.

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Heather Torgenrud's avatar

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Heather Torgenrud

7 responses to “Charts from an Orsa Apron Band”

  1. gggoneshell Avatar
    gggoneshell

    Yay!!

    Shelley

    >

    Reply
    1. Heather Torgenrud Avatar
      Heather Torgenrud

      Thank you Shelley!

      Reply
  2. gsipmancdf2ab532f Avatar
    gsipmancdf2ab532f

    I just got this book and am eager to try out the patterns. Can you tell me how the long the warp threads would need to be if I weave all the patterns on one band? Thank you!

    Reply
    1. Heather Torgenrud Avatar
      Heather Torgenrud

      The length of your warp would depend on many factors in addition to the number of rows in all the charts: the kind and size of yarn you use, how firmly you beat, how much take-up and shrinkage you have, and how much warp waste your loom requires. You’d need to weave a sample to calculate your own warp length. The traditional apron band was approximately four meters long; it was woven in fine wool and very fine linen and was beat firmly. The actual warp would have been much longer than that to allow for take-up, shrinkage, and warp waste.

      Reply
      1. Glorian Avatar
        Glorian

        Thanks, Heather! I appreciate the detailed reply. I’m still fairly new at pick up weaving, so maybe I need to do this in sections.

      2. Glorian Avatar
        Glorian

        I’d most likely be weaving with 5/2 cotton.

      3. Heather Torgenrud Avatar
        Heather Torgenrud

        Good luck with your projects. 5/2 cotton, doubled for the pattern ends, will make a nice band.

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