Then before I pull the shuttle entirely out of the shed I flick it toward the fell line, like so:
You can see in the photo that the shuttle is higher than the shed so the selvedge ends are being forced apart which helps to let the weft beat in properly. I am not pulling or tugging on the ends, which would eventually lengthen them and cause yet more problems with the selvedge.
My other option – and one I may try when I go back to the loom – is to reduce the epi in just the 8 selvedge ends. If I sley them 3/2/3 instead of 4/4 the selvedge will not be so dense and will not resist the beat up of the weft pick each time.
Still mulling that over but I’m leaning towards trying that before I go very much further. As I put an ‘extra’ 5 yards on I’ve got plenty to cut the threads, re-sley and weave a sample and not risk running out of warp.
Currently reading Last Nocturne by Marjorie Eccles