Category Archives: band loom

September 7, 2022 · 12:26 pm

A favorite loom for weaving narrow bands

One of my favorite forms of weaving is narrow band weaving.

This little loom is one of my most favorite looms ever.

I designed and built it over many years, starting with an antique wooden butter box that is older than I am.

My father in law used several of them in his workshop as drawers.

When he passed, we inherited one of them and slowly over the years, I have built this small loom with it.

Back in 2015, I posted about the beginnings of this little loom. Here’s the LINK to that post.

I am working hard on finishing up several new pieces to apply to enter them into a show.

I am using the narrow bands woven on this loom in some of the new pieces.

It makes me so happy to weave on this loom…. it feels like it came out of a fairy tale.

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Filed under band loom, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, personal stuff, upcycling, weaving & handwoven, woodwork

Tagged as #bandweaving, #bandweavingloom, #handmadeloom, #handweaving, #handwoven, #loom, #wovenbands, hand weaving, hand woven, Noreen Crone-Findlay, small loom weaving, weaving

January 17, 2022 · 12:09 pm

Follow the Thread Mixed Media Woven Works

I have uploaded photos of my series of mixed media tapestries, “Follow the Thread” to

https://crone-findlay.com/2022/01/17/tapestries-follow-the-thread-series /

If you’re interested in any of them, please send me a message 🙂 LINK

Follow the Thread Mixed Media Weaving- Terpsichore

The last couple of years have been really intense as I have been working night and day on two new books as well as new tapestries and woven works.

One of the books is now up online available for pre-order (I’ll post links asap) and one of the series of tapestries is now in the gallery (Harcourt House Gallery in Edmonton), awaiting the opening on October 18.

This piece is from my ‘Follow the Thread’ series of mixed media weavings:” Terpsichore- Carmen’s Birds”.

Terpsichore is the muse of the dance.

This piece is definitely influenced by my husband, Jim Findlay‘s commitment to playing flamenco.

I was having trouble resolving the piece, because I knew that she needed something to lift her to completion.

Then, my friend, Carma, who sings and dances with Jim and Susan and Barb in Corazone del Flamenco gave me a beautiful little black necklace with tiny birds, and Voila! Done! The birds were exactly what Terpsichore was needing (demanding!)

She’s at the #HarcourtHouseGallery in Edmonton until November 23.

I’ll post more pics of pieces from ‘Follow the Thread’ soon.

#YEG #YEGflamenco #YEGart #YEGweaving #YEGtapestry

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Tagged as #noreencrone-findlay, #YEG, #YEGart, #YEGflamenco, #YEGtapestry, #YEGweaving, Follow the Thread weavings, hand weaving, hand woven, tapestry, weaving

November 3, 2017 · 11:19 am

Blue Butterfly Mermaid Tapestry and how to weave tapestry on a triangle loom

When someone on facebook asked if it was possible to weave tapestry on triangle looms, I thought: ‘Great question!’

and then … ‘Of course it is!’

and then….’I have to try it to see if it really is!’

I had been mulling over weaving a new Mermaid tapestry for quite awhile, and had woven narrow bands on my Structo 4 harness loom as well as my rigid heddle box loom, to start.

I had a big ‘aha!’ about weaving the rest of the mermaid using my 14 inch triangle loom from Dewberry Ridge Looms. LINK

Because there are a few things to know about weaving tapestry on a triangle loom, I made a short video as part of the video about the Blue Butterfly Mermaid tapestry – it’s close to the end of the video.

I used other looms to weave the other elements of the tapestry: a hexagon woven in copper wire on the Lily Speed o Weave Loom, narrow bands woven on the 4 harness vintage Structo loom, narrow bands woven on a rigid heddle box loom, 2 small triangles woven on the 7 inch Lil Weaver loom from Dewberry Ridge Looms and some tatting.

The hair is twisted cord made with a cord twister from Lacis.com.

The metallic threads used in the tapestry are from Kreinik. LINK

Here’s the video:

Mermaid tapestry mostly woven on hexagon looms

I love Mermaids, and I love weaving them.

This Mermaid has been tapping me on the shoulder for months, asking to be woven, so I made a plan.

I carefully chose my colorways when I was making all the ‘how to’ videos on the hexagon loom, (see previous posts) so that I could use them to build a Mermaid tapestry.

And, here she is: Sophia is her name:

She’s about 44 inches tall.

She includes techniques for weaving tapestry technique, mandala (tapestry woven in the round), Teneriffe and floral motifs on hexagon looms as well as a little help from the Vasilisa and Mollie Whuppie looms.

The glittery narrow band that outlines her body was woven on my little narrow band rigid heddle loom, using Kreinik metallic threads.

This tapestry is a one of a kind piece, and there are no patterns for her.

The looms and latchet lucet are from Dewberry Ridge looms, and the metallic threads are from Kreinik threads.

My friend asked me to please photograph the process of how I was weaving the mermaid tapestry, so I have – although I was well into the project by the time I started the photographing.

Anyhow- here’s a video showing glimpses of the hundreds of hours I put into weaving Sophia, the Mermaid, tapestry:

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Tagged as #hexagonweaving, #wovenmermaid, 2 inch hexagon loom, 4 inch hexagon loom, 6 inch hexagon loom, Dewberry Ridge Looms, Kreinik metallic threads, mermaid, mermaid tapestry, mermaids, tapestry weaving on hexagon loom, video of mermaid, Woven Women multimedia tapestry by Noreen Crone-Findlay, Woven Women tapestry by Noreen Crone-Findlay

July 5, 2017 · 1:22 pm

6th Sense One of a Kind Art Dolls

For many months, I have been working really hard on new mixed media fiber art sculptures.

The 6th Sense is intuition/inspiration/imagination.

These one of a kind art dolls are based on dreams, memories, meditations and contemplations and are an invitation to embrace creativity, healing and wholeness.

They are a combination of tapestry weaving, narrow band weaving, lucet cords, tatting, knitting, wood work wire work and leather work.

Here’s a slide show video of my 6th Sense One of a Kind Art dolls.

Most of the 6th Sense One of a Kind Art Dolls in the video are for sale, but some of them have already sold and gone to live in their new homes.

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Tagged as 'Woven Women' by Noreen Crone-Findlay, 6th Sense Woven art dolls by Noreen Crone-Findlay, doll, doll making, dollmaking, dolls, hand weaving, hand woven, handwoven, narrow band weaving, Noreen Crone-Findlay, small loom weaving, tapestry weaving

December 13, 2016 · 1:06 pm

6th Sense One of a Kind Art Doll- Tree Mother

Last month, when there was a spectacular Super Moon, we stepped outside to admire it.

The gigantic moon looked like it was suspended in the huge trees that line our street.

The image of the Great Tree Mother, rocking the Moon in her arms, rose up in my mind….

and I knew that I had to build one of my 6th Sense one of a kind art dolls.

Here she is:

Great Tree Mother Rocked The Moon in Her Arms:

While I was contemplating how to build the Great Tree Mother piece, my husband and our daughter took the dogs for a walk one morning.

Chloe came home with a wonderfully gnarly branch that had been pruned from someone’s tree and tossed into the alley.

She just knew I needed it…. even though, at that point, I hadn’t told her what I was mulling about 🙂

We have a very deep connection!

It is perfect.

So’s our daughter….

Anyhow…

The faces….

Years ago, my dear friend found a moose antler that had been shed and she asked me if I could use it.

I cut 3 faces from it, and carved them and painted them.

Two of them became part of this piece:

Tree Mother’s face.

She also has a ‘Hidden Face’ that is hidden inside the piece and will never be revealed.

Too bad I didn’t photograph it! Oops…

Here is Moon’s face:

I carved the hand from wood.

I wove the bands on 2 different looms and knitted the grey hand spun cloth of her robe.

All of the 6th Sense Woven Women have 6 pennies incorporated into them, as a metaphor for coming to our senses, and embracing intuition, intelligence and inspiration.

She is 29 inches/72.5 cm tall and the branch spreads out to 15 inches/37.5 cm wide.

She is not for sale.

By the way, she is also a celebration of creative adaptive re-use and upcycling. I love that.

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Tagged as celebrate the moon, celebrate trees, doll, doll making, dollmaking, dolls, hand weaving, hand woven, handwoven, knitted doll, moon, moon doll, narrow band weaving, Noreen Crone-Findlay, one of a kind art doll, small loom weaving, textiles, tree, tree doll, Tree Mother, trees, upcycling, weave, weaves, weaving, wooden dolls, woven, Woven Women tapestries by Noreen Crone-Findlay

October 21, 2015 · 8:28 am

Woven Women: Stardust Woman

For many months, I have been working on a new Woven Woman that is based on Rumi’s poem:

‘We came whirling out of nothingness

Scattering stars like dust…..

The stars made a circle

and in the middle

we danced’

I wove the words on the magical narrow band loom that my son and I created- LINK

using a double slotted rigid heddle.

To weave the letters, I graphed out my hand writing and experimented until the letters wove up in a pleasing manner, both technically, and aesthetically.

I also used the dragonfly and star looms that I designed for Dewberry Ridge looms – LINK

And, I included some tatting, too.

I made the face and hands from 1/2 inch plywood and the backdrop from 1/4 inch plywood.

She’s a departure from the direction I have been going with my Woven Women, so I really questioned myself about her.

She spent quite a long time on the dining room table as I moved her component parts from here to there.

And now, completed, she measures 11 inches wide and from the top of the arch to the tassel at her hem is more than 60 inches.

But, I feel really drawn to weave words right now, so I will continue to do more….

The next Woven Woman is on the loom already. 🙂

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July 31, 2015 · 12:05 pm

Quirky wonderful loom

My son, Angus Findlay, and I have just co-created a loom and stand that I absolutely love.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay www.tottietalkscrafts.com

Last January, I asked Angus to build me a box that I could turn into a loom.

I made the ratchets and pawls from purpleheart wood, cut the ends and sides into the shapes I wanted, made the warp and cloth beams and started painting it.

I loved it, but found it a bit too big to hold in my lap while weaving, and I didn’t have the perfect table to sit it on and weave comfortably.

So, I asked Angus to take some funky old legs that I had bought at a garage sale, and build a stand for the loom.

Woo hoo! I love it! I am enchanted by Angus’ design and how he built such a whimsical and quirky (and VERY solid and sturdy) loom stand.

He intuitively made it just the perfect height for me.

I brought it home and started playing with embellishments.

I cut out some of my favorite wooden shapes to glue on it, and then painted 3 coats of gesso to prime it.

Then, I slowly began the layering on of paint:

Painting was a long slow process, as I applied layers of acrylic paints in thin washes to build up the color shifts.

The screen behind the loom shows how I use this layering technique on other pieces, too.

I was quite surprised when the loom started to lead me in this direction, as I had had a totally different concept

in mind before I started painting.

But, I believe in listening to the piece and allowing it to tell me how it wants to be.

The ‘Dancing Girl’ and ‘Resting Rabbit’ motifs are a theme that I have used for more than 40 years.

They’re just me.

I made the metal image of the Dreaming Lady of Malta with sheet metal, using the repousse technique of pressing and shaping the metal from the back.

Because I work with my dreams and use them as one of the main sources in my art and artisanship, I felt that placing an image of the Beautiful Dreamer was a great metaphor.

and on the stand, I attached another repousse image that I had made at the same time as making the Dreaming Lady.

This is Xchtel, the Mayan Goddess of weaving, with her companion Rabbit.

So, the metaphor and message of these two images is:

Dream weaver. Weaver of Dreams…..

It is just pure bliss to weave on this loom.

Words cannot convey the delight.

I LOVE how my beloved son, and dear friend, Angus, and I created a loom that is so completely US.

I feel blessed.

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Tagged as Angus Findlay, band loom, hand made loom, hand weaving, hand woven, handwoven, loom stand, narrow band weaving, Noreen Crone-Findlay, rigid heddle weaving, textiles, weaving, wooden loom

January 14, 2015 · 10:22 pm

Upcycling a little box into a band loom

I absolutely love weaving Scandinavian style woven bands, using different styles of rigid heddles.

A few weeks ago, as we were cleaning and clearing in preparation for our big move, we found some sweet little drawers that my father in law had made many decades ago.

He had reclaimed some tiny little wooden butter boxes and made wee drawers for his workshop with them:

And, since then, the idea for building a tiny, oh so portable band weaving box loom has been gestating in my mind….

After much trial and error, I have built the little loom, and absolutely adore it!

I have made a small video that shows what I did to build this little charmer:

This is the ratchet and pawl that I designed for my loom.

I made them from a scrap of marine plywood, which allowed me to curve the pawl.

I am going to make the next one from a piece of purpleheart that we’ve been saving, so I am going to make the pawl straight, to make it stronger and not risk breaking it by cutting a curve against the grain.

If you are interested in learning more about weaving Scandinavian style narrow bands, definitely seek out the work of the marvelous weaver extraordinaire, Susan Foulkes:

http://durhamweaver64.blogspot.co.uk/

And, if you’d like to see some of the ways that I use narrow bands please click:

https://tottietalkscrafts.com/2014/08/08/woven-women-small-bird-sang-and-all-was-forgiven/

Note: I have upgraded the little box loom…. it’s even better!

Here’s a link to how the little band loom has evolved: LINK

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Tagged as hand weaving, hand woven, how to build a box loom, how to make a band loom, loom, narrow band weaving, Noreen Crone-Findlay, reclaiming, recycling, Scandinavian style, upcycled box loom, upcycling, video tutorial, vintage butter box, woodworking