The twill line, that is…..
Since I tend to do a lot of different twills I keep my treadles tied up in a straight twill draw. In this video I am weaving a straight twill.
If I were weaving a broken twill, I would simply alternate my feet – treadle 4, treadle 2, treadle 3, treadle 1.
But for a straight twill, it’s a straight forward treadle 4, 3, 2, 1.
Notice the position of my feet. The foot that is not being used gets parked on the hinge area of the treadles, about half way between the two treadles – you can just see my left foot about half way between treadle 1 and 2.
The foot that is being used slides forward. The forward movement depresses the treadle. I do not lift my foot, but use that lovely hinge we call the knee.
As I change from treadle 4 to treadle 3, I rest my heel on treadle 4 pivoting my foot so that the ball of my foot moves over onto treadle 3, then my heel follows and the treadle is pressed down.
To depress treadle 2, my left foot slides forward as my right foot slides back to rest on the hinge between treadle 3 and 4.
When that shed is finished, my left foot heels and toes over to treadle 1, then slides back to the hinge while my right foot is sliding forward to depress treadle 4.
To weave a broken twill, my feet alternate sliding back to the hinge and forward to depress the treadle.
Learning a treadling sequence is like learning a dance step. You need to keep the sequence in order to weave the different dance steps – plain weave, straight twill, broken twill, Wall of Troy (twill variation), etc.