Alternative Yarn for No Loom Open Weave Placemats

A beautiful table setting is a perfect way to dress up your home any time of year. In Weaving Within Reach, I designed simple, no loom open weave placemats that can be made from a wide variety of materials. Woven with a made cardboard loom, you can make a set for every occasion without any fancy tools.

In the book, I made the woven placemats with Habu Textiles N-5b Wide Cotton Kasuri Gima, as seen below. Unfortunately, this yarn has been discontinued. As a result, I wanted to make the placemats in a couple of other versions so you all had some good options!

Although I love the variegated color of this flat cotton yarn from Habu — it’s easy to work with and a joy to look at. Really, any stiff DK or sport weight, tape yarn or raffia will work. First, I tried making the placemat with the Bockens Tow Linen 1.5/1. that I used to make the woven linen tote from Weaving Within Reach, which you can see here.

These placemats are the perfect way to showcase this linen. They are light and airy, still, the linen adds warmth and texture to your table. In addition, you can see this could also be done with a lightweight twine.

Second, for a more traditional look, I tried this versatile Echoview Lanyard yarn to create the no loom open weave placemats.

The texture of this cotton lacing really shines and provides a great alternative. Not to mention, I have a bunch of great colors in the shop!

No matter what colors and textures you choose, this simple design will add wow-factor to your next dinner party.

Finally, if you make the loom for the placemats with illustration or mat board, you can use it many times. That way you can make many sets of placemats, without buying any fancy weaving tools at all!