What are selvage papers and are they the same as beaming with paper?
Selvage papers are described in Ulla Cyrus’s book, Manual of Swedish Hand weaving. Many weavers beam their warps with sticks and some looms come with warp beam sticks. If you are beaming a long warp of more than 6 yards on a small loom, adding selvage papers will give better tension. Selvage papers are heavy paper which has been folded and placed on the warp beam so that the folded section lies outside the selvage threads. Use a paper 16″ x 24″ and fold the long edge 1/4 in toward the center. Fold this section two more times so that it has eight thicknesses, leaving the other edge one thickness. The single thickness is placed under the selvage threads and makes up for the space lost as the selvage threads are spreading ever so slightly out of their place. As the warp beam is turned, the eight fold section is placed beyond the selvage threads, resting on the sticks placed in previous turns. The next series of sticks will rest on this thick folded paper and remain flat, making the warp o
