The head and nose of the Saffron Teddy Bear are very expressive.
Here’s how to weave the head:
And here’s how to weave the nose:
The link for all the video tutorials for the Saffron Teddy Bears for the 2022 Summer Weaving Challenge is:
Category Archives: frame loom weaving
Saffron Teddy Bear for the 2022 Summer Weaving Challenge- How to Weave the Teddy Bear Arm
Sampling for a weaving project is a really good idea that most weavers often avoid doing.
But, weaving a small sample can give so much information to the weaver that it is a huge benefit.
Weaving the arms for the Saffron Teddy Bears is a win/win in the sampling department 🙂
The arms are small, but will quickly show you if your yarn is going to make a pleasing fabric for your teddy bear.
If not, then it’s better to make adjustments and weave it over again, rather than committing to weaving the whole body and then finding that the yarn doesn’t work.
So, start your bear by weaving an arm first.
You’ll be glad you did!
The link for all the video tutorials for the Saffron Teddy Bears for the 2022 Summer Weaving Challenge is:
Teddy Bears Adventures and Picnic
The Saffron Woven Teddy Bears invited some wooden teddy bears and tiny woven bears to have an adventure with them, and then to join them for a picnic.
They climbed onto some tractors and into some wagons and even a bulldozer to ramble off to the picnic place.
The tiny Blue Bear of Happiness was thrilled to drive the clockwork tractor, but found changing the gears was challenging and sent the passengers tumbling a few times.
They didn’t mind, in fact it was kind of fun.
Jimmy Bear drove the larger tractor with style and his passengers enjoyed the ride in the various trailers, carts and chariots, but did find the heat to be rather intense. (It was blisteringly hot!)
A bulldozer was the ride of choice for a few of the Pandas and their friend….
All the bears sang ‘The Teddy Bear’s Picnic’ at the top of their lungs.
Sadly, the carved wooden teddys found the heat to be un-bearable, so they scampered back into the studio and sat in front of the fan to cool off.
The woven Saffron Bears were perfectly happy in their sun hats, so the sun didn’t bother them.
Jimmy Bear played his guitar and all the other bears loved it.
Two of the bears had brought along a telescope to watch birds, but were able to keep an eye on their carved wooden friends to make sure they made it safely back to the studio.
Only one of the bears had remembered to bring a parasol, but shared it when anyone need a little rest from the sun.
The pandas wondered if the grass might taste like bamboo, but the hot sun had dried it out so much that they decided to not sample it.
And two little bears leaned back in their folding chair and quietly dozed off right after this picture was taken.
The tiniest bears were so glad that someone had remembered to bring their travelling bed along and after some giggling and wiggling, they fell asleep, too….
While the Blue Bear of Happiness and Wee Brown Bear enjoyed the shade of their umbrella.
All in all, it was a fine afternoon on an incredibly hot and sunny summer day.
I designed and wove all the Teddy Bears for the Mirrix Summer Weaving Challenge 2022.
The Saffron Bears were all woven on the Mirrix Saffron Loom. LINK
The tiny Bears were woven on the Baby Duo looms from Hello! Looms. LINK
All the ‘how to’ links to the videos for the step by step process of weaving all the looms are listed on
L I N K (Note: They will be added one by one through the week of August 8 to 15, 2022 and will remain available once they have been released, so there is no time limit on getting the weaving done.)
Happy Weaving! And, may the teddy bears bring you delight!
A Basket Full of Woven Teddy Bears for the Summer Weaving Challenge
I have been weaving up a delightful basket of bears for the week of Aug 8- 14, 2022.
That’s the week that I will be leading the Summer Weaving Challenge that is hosted by Mirrix looms.
The Teddy Bears will be revealed in their full adorableness and by then, I will have finished editing the heap of ‘how to’ videos that I have been obsessively filming about the making of the teddy bears.
The Teddy Bears will be having a wonderful picnic, and I will show how each of them (and those that are still in the works) are in fact, samplers of techniques in my book: Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom.
I’ll be posting links for the videos for the Saffron Teddy Bears here LINK on my blog beginning Aug 2, 2022.
If you don’t have my book, you can order it from Mirrix, and yup, you’ll want a Saffron loom, too (it’s one of my most favorite looms ever- so adaptable!).
Here’s the link: https://mirrixlooms.com/collections/starter-packages/products/noreen-crone-findlay-x-mirrix-looms-imagine-weave-along-kit
Happy Weaving! Happy Summertime!
Videoing for The Summer Weaving Challenge
A couple of weeks ago, we went camping and my much loved little Mirrix Saffron loom came with us.
I was weaving away while we were camping (and I still am, but I have advanced to the video filming and editing stage) for the week that I will be leading the Summer Weaving Challenge (August 8 to 15, 2022).
Here’s the link to join in the fun (and you can buy my book: Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom on the Mirrix website, too on the Starter Kit page 😊 or at any of the online book selling websites.
https://mirrixlooms.com/pages/2022-summer-weaving-challenge
The links to all the how to videos will be posted at LINK
How to Weave a Butterfly on the Mirrix Saffron Loom
I have been weaving a lot of butterflies lately, as a metaphor of hope, transformation, healing, creativity, community, and so much more.
These butterflies are ones that I designed to weave on the Mirrix Saffron loom.
I love the way that I can set up the Saffron to the exact size that I want….
The pink butterfly is made by weaving a full size triangle on the Saffron (see instructions in my book: Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom).
And, the blue butterflies are made by weaving half size triangles.
Because the smaller butterflies are woven using a variation on the technique that I developed for the book,
I have made a video showing how to weave them.
The bodies are made on the loom, using the same setup as the wings, so you can weave away without having to re-set the loom. Yay!
Here’s the link to the Video How to Tutorial:
Mirrix looms are selling a wonderful kit that includes my book: Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom, as well as the Saffron Loom and the Sandy Stand for it. It’s a great kit! Here’s the link for it:
In the video, I mentioned that I carved a chopstick to make the weaving hook for weaving the triangles.
Here’s the link to that video:
Imagine” Banner Weave Along: PART SIX: How to assemble the banner
To see all the links for the ‘How To’ posts for the “Imagine” Banner Weave along, please go to L I N K S
To order the loom, book and extras kit for the Weave Along from Mirrix, please go K I T
ASSEMBLING THE BANNER:
Place Einstein behind the narrow band.
Stitch his hands to the front of the banner and then stitch the banner to his sweater.
Enjoy and be inspired!
Imagine” Banner Weave Along: PART FIVE: How to weave the freeform homage to Albert Einstein
To see all the links for the ‘How To’ posts for the “Imagine” Banner Weave along, please go to L I N K S
To order the loom, book and extras kit for the Weave Along from Mirrix, please go K I T
FREE FORM WEAVING: HOMAGE TO ALBERT EINSTEIN:
Albert Einstein is woven (with a few extrapolations and a slight adjustment to the waistline) following the instructions for the Woven Dancer on page 30 of “Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom”.
In order to hold the pattern onto the loom, a backing board is needed. See: LINK
INSTRUCTIONS:
HOW TO WEAVE THE ALBERT EINSTEIN FIGURE:
1: SET UP THE LOOM so it is 11 inches/27.5 cm) from the lower set of pegs to the upper set. Lock it into the ‘Sandy Stand’.
Fold the ends of the backing board to the back and slide it in place on the loom.
2: WARP THE LOOM: Following the instructions for the Woven Dancer on page 30 of ‘Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom’, with 1 strand of #4 Medium weight (Worsted or Sport weight) yarn white and 1 strand grey held together as if they are a single strand:
Skip 6 pegs at each side of the loom and warp the loom, following the instructions in the book closely.
3: WEAVING:
LEGS:
Leaving only an inch or of a tail end rather than the long tail end listed in the instructions in the book, weave the legs with 2 strands of black yarn held together as if they are a single strand, and packing the weaving down closely to completely cover the warp strands. Follow the instructions in the book for weaving the legs, but noting that you will be beating the weft yarn in more densely than in the book.
SWEATER:
With 2 strands of light blue yarn held together as if they are a single strand, weave up to the neck. Beat the weft so it completely covers the warp strands.
DO NOT pull in the waistline as it is drawn in the book. Weave the sweater straight up to the shoulders.
Wrap the neck with the blue yarn and weave in the ends.
SLEEVES:
Weave the sleeves following the instructions for the arms, but, once again, beat the weft so it completely covers the warp strands.
FACE:
With skin tone yarn, weave the face, weaving under 1/over 1 and over 1/under 1.
MOUSTACHE:
Stitch loosely over the shed stick with 1 strand of white yarn and 1 strand grey yarn held together as if they are a single strand at least 3 times. Take the ends to the back of the head.
EYEBROWS:
Take 2 slightly tighter stitches over the shed stick for each eyebrow.
EYES:
Stitch 2 small black ‘e’ size beads on for eyes.
HAIRLINE:
Lock the top of the head in place by stitching around each warp strand at the top of the forehead.
Lift Einstein off the loom.
NOSE:
Stitch 2 vertical stitches with skin tone yarn.
SHOES:
With Brown yarn follow the instructions for the feet on page 36. Weave the yarn ends into the legs.
HANDS:
Weave in the single strand at the side of each hand into the arm so that it is the same size as the loop of the hand.
With skin tone yarn make hands the same way as the feet. Weave the yarn ends into the arms.
HAIR:
Stitch loops of hair yarn around the edges of the face and on the back of the head.
Use felting needles to finalize the loops into the ‘dandelion’ shape of his classic signature hairstyle.
FINISHING:
1: Steam the woven figure on the wrong side with a steam iron, being sure to not touch the iron to the weaving.
Finger press the arms down and the hair into place.
Weave in the ends.
Trim any ends.
2: Sew a plastic or metal ring to the back of the head for hanging the banner.
“Imagine” Banner Weave Along: PART FOUR: How to make the cardboard backing board for the freeform weaving
To see all the links for the ‘How To’ posts for the “Imagine” Banner Weave along, please go to L I N K S
To order the loom, book and extras kit for the Weave Along from Mirrix, please go to K I T
FREE FORM WEAVING: HOMAGE TO ALBERT EINSTEIN:
Albert Einstein is woven (with a few extrapolations and a slight adjustment to the waistline) following the instructions for the Woven Dancer on page 30 of “Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom”.
In order to hold the pattern onto the loom, a backing board is needed.
INSTRUCTIONS:
HOW TO MAKE THE CARDBOARD BACKING BOARD FOR THE SAFFRON LOOM:
1: With the corrugations running the length of the piece: Cut 2 pieces of corrugated cardboard that are 13 inches/32.5 cm long by 5 1/2 inches/13.75 cm wide.
2: Tape or glue the 2 pieces of cardboard together.
3: Score a line with a ballpoint pen or knitting needle 1 inch/2.5 cm from each end.
4: Cut a notch out of the center of each end piece that is 1 inch/2.5 cm by 1 inch/2.5 cm.
5: Trace the pattern for the largest Woven Dancer onto plain paper or graph paper and center it on the backing board.
6: Tape it in place, then tape a piece of clear plastic, either from recycled plastic or a plastic page protector over the pattern.
“Imagine” Banner Weave Along: PART THREE: How to weave the triangles
To see all the links for the ‘How To’ posts for the “Imagine” Banner Weave along, please go to L I N K S
To order the loom, book and extras kit for the Weave Along from Mirrix, please go to K I T
HOW TO WEAVE THE TRIANGLES:
Make 2.
1: SET UP THE LOOM so it is 2 1/2 inches (approximately 6.25 cm) from the lower set of pegs to the upper set. Lock it into the ‘Sandy Stand’.
2: WARP THE LOOM: Following the instructions for warping the Triangle on page 82 of ‘Innovative Weaving on the Frame Loom’, leave 6 sets of pegs at both sides open so just the center 10 pegs are used: Begin at the right hand side.
With 2 strands of white yarn held together as if it is one strand, and 2 strands of pale blue yarn as if it is a single strand, put on 5 loops of white warp strands and then, 5 loops of blue yarn. Cut and tie a knot in the middle.
Diagonal:
Take the blue yarn around the lower left hand peg beside the warp strands up to and around the peg that is adjacent to the warp strands at the top right hand peg
Weave the end of the blue yarn around the lower left hand pegs, back and forth to secure it, then snip the end off.
3: WEAVE:
Follow the instructions in the book to weave the triangle, using a crochet hook. Repeat for the second triangle.
4: FINISHING THE TRIANGLES:
If necessary, pull up on the diagonal yarn end to pull the triangle into shape.
Steam the triangles on the wrong side with a steam iron, being sure to not touch the iron to the weaving.
Finger press the triangles to shape them into pleasing triangles.
Weave in the ends.
Trim any ends.
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