I am participating in all kinds of craft fairs and maker’s markets this summer in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
I’ve been weaving up all kinds of bracelets for the upcoming shows:
The bracelets are a combination of paper yarn, t shirt yarn, vintage buttons and charms and other embellishments, as well as copper and brass findings and embellishments that I have made.
Here’s what I asked for, and they have designed and created:
1: Taller pegs so I could see more of the weaving emerging before having to advance the warp. This is especially important in weaving tapestries on the peg loom.
2: Fine wooden pegs that are slimmer and closer together to give a firmer, tighter weave. A close sett avoids too loose, loopy fabric.
Another important note about the pegs: I asked for close grain wood for the pegs, as smooth pegs that don’t catch the weft are essential. Gary has found the perfect wood for the pegs that is smooth as silk. He also carefully shapes the top of the pegs to make them guide the yarn beautifully. His attention to detail is exquisite!
3: A really nice threading tool – I came up with a rather crude one, and Gary totally surpassed my concept.
4: Legs that would stabilize the looms- Gary’s design for the legs is so elegant that it knocked my socks off!
They suggested tilting the looms backward slightly. This is brilliant, as it improves the ergonomics of the loom enormously and makes the loom more comfortable to work with.
They also decided to offer a loom with 3 sizes of pegs, for people who want to work with larger pegs.
Personally, I am so smitten with the thinnest pegs that I probably will just be working with them and not the larger pegs, but Gary and Donna wanted to appeal to the widest possible group of weavers.
Gary also decided to make the base of the loom removable in case a peg gets stuck. What a great idea!
Peg looms are eco friendly, as they are great for using t shirt yarn, or tarn, or fabric strips torn from discarded clothing.
And, I am working on a new book for peg loom weaving, so do stay tuned for that
I have made a little video that introduces the Dewberry Ridge Peg Loom:
Several years ago, we bought a metal Ikea computer desk at the thrift store.
I didn’t like having half of the top attached at an angle.
So my beloved DH, Jim and I drilled some holes, took the angled section off and re-attached it so it was nice and flat.
I had passed the desk along to my daughter and her husband, and when they gave it back to me last week, I was inspired.
First, to make the desk a comfortable height for weaving, I cut 3 inches off the legs with a pipe cutter- whew!
That was HARD work!
I mulled over how to attach the loom to the top of the desk, as it was just a hare’s breath away from fitting properly.
I took the top apart and played with the sections to see if I could come up with a workable solution- and then- woohoo!
I discovered that the chanels for a sliding mouse pad section that were supposed to be on the under side of the desk top, fitted the crosspiece of the loom perfectly! Jubilation!
I zip tied the sides of the loom to the desk and was happy as a clam…..
except…. for the pesky owees of the tendons grizzling about the side levels, and my back spazzing out on me.
Hmmmmm…..
Inspiration! add lamms and treadles!
I started by cutting a support piece at the side, and bolting it to the side of the stand.
I used 2 angle brackets as the support for the lamms (with a little block to fill in excess space).
Then, I drilled holes in the lamms for cords to the levers and to the treadles.
I tied the lamms to the levers and was verrrrrrrry pleased! Things were moving along quite nicely!
There had to be a way of supporting and securing the treadles, so I used a board from an old pallet, and drilled 2 holes for the legs. Poifeck.
I had a 6 inch length of threaded 1/4 inch steel rod, which I ran through the treadles (which I had cut out of scrap lumber).
The treadles were too wide at first, so I cut dippsy doodles into them to make them fit better.
The most frustrating part of the whole process was finding nuts that would go onto the threaded rod. Grrrrrrrrr!
I finally ended up filing the ends of the rod, as I just couldn’t get anything to thread onto the rod. Once I did that, zip! on went 2 nuts, happy as can be.
I screwed the whole treadle mechanism to the crossboard on the floor, and tied the treadles to the lamms…..
and held my breath…… what if it didn’t work? eep….. that would have been 3 hours down the tubes….
BUT! Joy! and whee and halleujah! It works like a dream!
So, if you would like to have a floor loom, but don’t have the ca$h, watch for a table loom on the various online places, and convert a desk into a stand for it.
You’ll need to have some basic carpentry skills, and I couldn’t have managed drilling the holes through the sides of the treadles without a drill press, but I bet you could do it if you had to.
Here’s the video that I made about how to convert a computer desk into a loom stand with treadles:
Here are some notes to keep in mind if you would like to adapt my project for your table loom:
Things to look for in a desk or table that you want to use for a loom stand:
1: Being able to bolt or screw the lamm support piece along the left hand side of the table/desk legs is essential.
2: Being able to shorten the legs to drop the height of the table to a comfortable ergonomic height is also essential.
3: Being able to attach the loom to the table is one more essential. (Clamps? Zip ties? A channel like the one on mine was a piece of beautiful serendipity)
Our placemats (is that a Canadianism? Does the rest of the world say ‘table mats’?) are all looking shabby, so I decided to weave up some new ones.
I love upcycling, so I am using fabric strips to weave the placemats.
I decided to weave the placemats on my 14 inch Dewberry Ridge ‘Lil Weaver’.
I know that this is slightly narrower than conventional placemats, but I figured that when we have the whole family around the table, that the squares will fit better than rectangles.
Because fabric strips are hefty, I decided to work over 2 nails at a time. The nails on the loom are too close together to work well with fabric strips, are lovely when you use 2 at a time.
Also…. there are a couple of secret tips that make weaving with fabric strips go so much more easily….
I have just released a new pattern that has step by step photos showing how to weave these gorgeous baskets, using the easiest little loom ever made, the weaving stick loom:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
This basket was woven with paper ribbon and embellished with buttons that I made from arbutus twigs and coconut shells.
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The heart shaped basket has a plywood heart base (the template for the heart is included in the pattern).
Here, the heart basket is woven with art yarn:
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Workshop participants who were learning how to weave the baskets asked me:
What can we use these baskets for?
Anything that fits in them that you want to keep organized! Beads, hair clips, packages of smallness, buttons, thread, bobbins, yarn….
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
The large oval basket in the photo above was woven with strips of torn fabric, so it’s a great eco option.
The yo yo flowers that embellish it’s side are made from scraps of upcycled fabric. (The instructions on how to make the yo yo circles are also included in the pattern).
This basket is great for holding fruit or heaps of little green tomatoes while they ripen, or anything else your heart desires.
Because it’s made of cloth, if it gets soiled, it can just be rinsed clean.
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
The green round basket is woven in the same way as the pink and blue one in the photo below, but I pulled up on the warp strands of the upper edges of the green one to curve it in.
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So you can see that a small change makes a huge difference in the look of the basket.
I did the same thing to curve the top edge of the black oval shaped basket that is woven in exactly the same way as the paper ribbon basket.
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
The yarn that you use (combine several strands to get neat effects) and how you embellish the basket will guarantee that each basket that you make is totally unique.
I love buying vintage crochet cotton at the thrift shop. It speaks to me of the hands that it has passed through, and the pleasure it has brought to other thread lovers.
I like to use it in my weaving, crochet and tatting, as it gives me a sense of connection to needlewomen of the past.
BUT… storing balls of crochet cotton can be a problem. Those hollow cores take up a LOT of space!
So, for many years, I have been upcycling old credit cards or pieces of cardstock to make bobbins like this:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
Because, storing yarn or thread on a small flat bobbin is so much more efficient than leaving it on the cardboard tubes:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
Last night, I had insomnia, and was thinking about winding off a pile of vintage crochet cotton, when I had a flash of inspiration!!
Instead of making chubby little embroidery style bobbins, if I made ‘dog bone’ shape bobbins, I could use my bobbin winder to speed up the process of winding them. AND, they’d take up less room, as it would be a longer, leaner shape.
I jumped out of bed, and started cutting the new shape bobbins:
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And, winding up balls of cotton:
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In a twinkling of an eye, I have compactly wound bobbins that won’t tangle with other bobbins, as the thread is taken through a slot and secured. Another bonus! No snaggles!
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
This shape of bobbin is great for warping the Mirrix loom, as it’s so compact. Yep – it’s a win!
And, they can be easily stored in unusual containers, like this:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay
I made a video to show how quickly and easily this works:
I haven’t tried using these bobbins for tapestry weaving, but I will, and will let you know how I like them.
I love making tapestry bobbins from wood- especially upcycled wood, so I will be showing you how I do that in an upcoming post.
Happy weaving, and here’s to creative ways of storing yarn and thread stash!
