Tottie Talks Crafts Blog

Quick tip for cutting hand woven fabric

tottietalkscrafts — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:53:32 +0000

So many people are afraid to cut their handwoven fabric….

BUT…. conquering the fear of snipping means that you can chop away with great gusto and whip up fabulous, one of a kind garments and accessories! So, YAY!

I was cutting out a spiffy hat today, and it struck me that I should make a quick little video to show what I do to cut off a length of fabric from my main piece of hand woven. So here’s what I do when I am cutting out the pieces for a project:

Steampunk Brooch with woven fabric and an upcycled juice can lid

tottietalkscrafts — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:33:45 +0000

I love weaving jewelry, and I love upcycling.

So, I have combined these loves by using upcycled elements in some really fun Steampunk inspired brooches that I have designed and made.

I weave the backgrounds for the brooches with the Schacht Zoom loom (the new version of the classic Weave It loom).

Then, using the lid and base from frozen orange juice cans, I build fab brooches.

I combine all kinds of things, like tatting, found objects, various embellishments that I make, as well as crocheted and woven wire.

This video shows how I do it.

I’ve been weaving bracelets

tottietalkscrafts — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:41:35 +0000

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.

And, now, I must get back to my looms!

What’s on my loom April 2013

tottietalkscrafts — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 02:40:37 +0000

My studio is abuzz with weaving weaving weaving…. here’s a glimpse of some of what I am up to these days…..

Introducing 2 new Peg Looms from Dewberry Ridge Looms

tottietalkscrafts — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:13:45 +0000

A couple of months ago, I published my new eBook on weaving jewelry with stick looms: See LINK

My friend, Donna McFarland of Dewberry Ridge Looms was looking at the photos when her husband, Gary, walked by the computer.

Donna told me that he said:’ Those have to be Noreen’s designs, right?’ and she agreed.

He then mused that he would like to make stick looms.

Well… I was delighted, and immediately asked if they would consider building peg looms.

I have a couple of peg looms, but felt that they could use a re-design with improvements that I knew Gary could build.

After lots of conversations, Gary and Donna have created the most wonderful peg looms!

Here’s the link to order them LINK

They are truly the Rolls Royce of the Peg Loom world!

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!

Donna and Gary came up with some neat ideas, too.

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:

DIY How to turn a computer desk into a loom stand with treadles

tottietalkscrafts — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:23:51 +0000

A couple of months ago, I bought the neatest loom on Kijiji.

It’s a 2 harness Leclerc table loom, with a weaving width of 20 inches.

It’s a joy to weave on, but my tendons were grousing about the side levers and my back was honking at me.

I figured that there had to be a cheap and cheerful way to build a stand with treadles for it….

and VOILA!!!!! (happy dance)

I have just figured out how to do it! Wheeeeeeeee!

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)

A new woven shirt to celebrate springtime

tottietalkscrafts — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:12:37 +0000

Springtime has been hopelessly late here in Alberta, so I decided to go ahead and celebrate it anyhow, by making myself a new shirt.

I wove the fabric last year:

I wove the fabric on my Saori loom:

This became a sleeve:

I used my ‘standard’ shirt pattern, Simplicity 2741 LINK

And shortened the sleeves, as I have short arms.

BUT… I blythely cut it out and sewed it up in, ahem, my husband’s size, oops…. so it is too big for me.

Ah well, I guess that’s better than being too small, isn’t it?

I did all kinds of clasped weft and inlay on body of the shirt.

These are techniques that are used a lot in Saori weaving.

Saori is weaving based on the philosophy of creative self discovery through free form weaving.

See Saori Japan LINK

At times, when I was weaving the little squares, I had up to 8 extra shuttles in the row.

Doing inlaid sections slows down the weaving process, but it is really worth it.

Here’s the other sleeve:

I used inkle woven bands for the collar and cuffs.

I am not going to put buttons on it, as I don’t think that I would ever wear it buttoned up.

So, this is my celebration of Spring…. hope you are celebrating merrily, too!

Happy Springtime!

Woven Women- Our Lady of the Waters

tottietalkscrafts — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:13:51 +0000

Today, on facebook, the National Parks of Canada said that it is ‘World Wide Water Day’.

So, I decided to post a photo of my newest tapestry:’ Woven Women: Our Lady of the Waters’

And, here is her poem:

Our Lady of the Waters

Moving in us, through us-

Fill us with awe

with wonder

at the beauty

the Every Thing….

Fill us with delight

in the power of

the sacred drop of water.

What color is water?

It is, ‘Yes’.

It is, ‘Life’.

It is ALL.

‘Woven Women- Our Lady of the Waters’ is a mixed media tapestry, including wool yarn, stones, wire and pounded metal.

I wove her with several different looms: A tapestry loom, a 2 harness table loom, a 2 harness Saori floor loom, a peg loom and also used a spool knitter.

She’s 28 inches tall by 11 1/2 inches wide.

I think that she is probably my favorite piece that I have ever woven.

Here’s a closeup of a section that I wove on the table loom at 15 epi.

I used tabby, inlay, soumak, clasped weft and embroidery.

It was VERY slow to weave:

Weave weave weave booth for shows

tottietalkscrafts — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:55:38 +0000

My daughter LINK and daughter in love LINK are both artisans who create all manner of lovely fiber arts.

They have been participating in artisan and maker’s fairs now for several years, and have been gently nudging me to get back into doing this, too.

So, I have been working away at my looms, weaving the pieces that I am putting together to create a new booth for my woven work.

Because I will be selling mostly weaving, it only makes sense for me to weave the displays- all the table covers, screens, etc.

Kitty inspecting to see if it meets her approval. (Not seen: Other Kitty waiting to pounce on Table Kitty)

A trial set up to see how to arrange things:

I am still weaving weaving weaving, as I have the covers for 2 more small tables in the works.

Because different events have varying amounts of room for the artisans, I am building my setup to have modules that will work from small spaces up to 10 feet.

Once I am finished weaving, then I need to build the carrying cases for all the various pieces.

So, it’s back to the looms for me!

Woven Women – Uncertainty

tottietalkscrafts — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 19:32:34 +0000

When faced with challenges, one of the ways I work my way through them is to weave.

This tapestry is the result of dealing with a huge challenge.

She’s called: ‘Woven Women- Uncertainty’, and she has a little poem….

She’s a mixed media piece, woven in soumak, with inkle bands and spool knitted cords.

I spool knitted wire to encapsulate sea glass, seashell fragments and pottery shards.

Her hands are shaped from wire, and they clasp a purpleheart wooden heart.

She’s approximately 20 inches tall by 11 inches at the base.

And, here is her poem:

Uncertainty

is the trembling bridge

crossing from

Here

What if?

Courage

is the

breath

that tears

the quivering shadows

from the heart.