Upside down heddles

Lately I have been receiving questions about which way to use my heddles. Turned upright or upside down? To an inexperienced band weaver this might seem like a strange question so let me explain.

In the historical context (pre-industrial Sweden, which I like to refer to as “Ye olden dayes“) heddles for band weaving were typically made by non-weavers (usually but not always men) for weavers (usually but not always women). In the courtship proceedings it was common for men to give women gifts of ornamented textile tools or other household items, and band weaving heddles were such items that can still be found in rural flea markets if you’re lucky, or at auction houses if you’re feeling rich.

As one might imagine these courting heddles were often very heavily decorated and they could have ornaments or whole little scenes carved into the top part. This made the heddles very top-heavy, causing them to topple over when suspended on a warp and this is how it came to be that people started to use them turned upside down with the heaviest part facing the floor. To me, this is a clear representation of what might happen when the craftsperson isn’t involved in the toolmaking, resulting in clumsy tools that are tricky to use. Or maybe it is just a manifestation of the eagerness with which the man in question was courting his lady friend? I guess we’ll never know.

Not too much, is it? Three heddles from Hälsingland, photos from digitaltmuseum.se. The animal shapes usually represent lions, even though the viewer sometimes needs a bit of imagination to recognize them.

With this in mind it is not unreasonable to ask wether my heddles would also topple over and might need to be used upside down. The answer is usually no because these heddles are very small and weigh next to nothing, so when the warp is threaded through it and is pulled taught that force will keep the heddle straight even though there is a slight difference in the balance of weight. There is one exception though, and that’s the dancers with arms! The placement of the round holes define where the heddle will rest on the warp when it is pulled taught, and that leaves about 2/3 of the heddle facing upwards. Or, as it might be, toppling over trying to face downwards!

I couldn’t say 100% that all dancers (heddles with arms) will topple, but if you’re having trouble weaving with one placed upright it might just be a good idea to try placing her upside down instead.

The little laugher to the left will not topple over when weaving, but the bigger dancer to the right just might.