Category Archives: Loom & looms & small loom weaving

March 21, 2014 · 3:49 pm

Tapestry Diary for Woven Women show – 2

This week, I began a series of small woven figures for my Woven Women show (see previous post LINK).

I joined the Tapestry Diary Weave Along on Ravelry, and I am so pleased that I did.

This is the progression of the first piece, so far:

I warped up my 8 inch Mirrix so I can weave one diary entry on the front of the loom and one on the back.

A Tapestry Diary is a kind of daily journal that, of course, reflects what is happening what is happening in the weaver’s life at that moment….

I’ve been longing for springtime, so it was natural that flowers would appear immediately.

Using my mother’s stash of embroidery floss and yarn has been powerful for me.

Even though she is no longer with us, it is very tender to be working with something that she loved so much.

Each day, I’ve been uploading a pic of my progress in my diary- I find this rather daunting, as the ‘not good enough’ gremlins leap up and bite so uncomfortably! ugh….

I had some concerns about weaving with super slippery rayon embroidery floss, but it was fine…. although, I’ll need to do some serious sewing in on the wrong side.

That’s a bit of tatting that I stitched to the hem of the dress.

I always have a tatting shuttle in my pocket for ‘incidental moments’- it’s wonderfully contemplative, meditative and also so portable that I can take it with me everywhere.

I tat long strips of edging that I then include in my tapestries.

The face is applique’d on – I designed and wove a series of faces in a narrow band, using my double hole rigid heddle loom.

The arms are wrapped wires- I haven’t quite finished the wrapping, which is okay, as I won’t get to finish this piece until I weave the next one that is on the other side of the loom.

Being part of the Weave Along is such a pleasure- the international community of weavers that has formed around this weave along is a generous and supportive group.

I have no way of knowing how the Tapestry Diaries will unfold, but I will be posting as they do.

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Filed under Loom & looms & small loom weaving, tapestry, weaving & handwoven, Woven Women tapestries and woven works

Tagged as hand weaving, hand woven, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Ravelry, Tapestry Diary, tapestry diary weave along, weave, Weave along

March 17, 2014 · 6:41 pm

Copper pipe stand for copper pipe tapestry loom

After my husband and I made a set of pivoting clamps for my copper pipe tapestry looms, see this post: LINK

I thought…. oh, would it ever be great if we could make a stand for the looms.

I’ve been using a music stand as an easel, which works great for my little 8 inch Mirrix loom, but it was just not good for the larger copper pipe looms.

Luckily, last fall, I bought a length of 3/4 inch copper tubing at a garage sale- what a deal!

I paid $2(!) for 14 ft of copper tubing! (The people used to run a ‘You Pick’ farm but were selling up all their irrigation equipment, including this unused chunk of copper tubing! wowsa).

I was convinced that we could uncoil it and use it to make a stand.

Jim was not at all convinced!

He insisted that we buy steel conduit, because it was stronger. And straighter. And it hadn’t been coiled up by an over eager giant.

I hated it.

I stuck to my guns, and kept saying that yes, yes, the wonky curves in the tubing will be fiiiiiiiiine!!!!!

Jim was still not convinced.

But, together, we bodgered together a slightly wonky, somewhat Dr Seuss-y stand for my copper pipe looms and

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

We made 2 ‘U’ shapes…. basing the measurement for the inside tube on the width of my looms (we made 3 copper pipe looms that are the same width- at some point I’ll explain why) plus the height I wanted the stand to be.

Then, we made the larger ‘U’ shape to fit around the first ‘U’, so it can fold flat.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay www.crone-findlay.com

I wanted long pivot bolts so I can hang scissors and bobbin baskets and bags off the sides of the loom.

And, yep, the ‘stops’ are boot laces. Humble, but functional!

Yes, it’s a little wonky, but I LOVE it! It’s so much more ergonomically friendly to weave at it now than on the music stand.

And, now I don’t have to set up the saw horses to warp the copper pipe looms.

The loom can be easily rotated in the stand. Bliss.

This photo shows how we put a longer bolt into the pivot clamp so that it can easily pass through the 2 copper pipes of the stand.

I wanted a long bolt because I hang bags for bobbins and yarn, as well as scissors, from it for convenience.

I put a wooden bead between the stand and the pivot clamp (as well as washers) to space it out from the wing nuts of the clamps.

By tightening the bolt on the outside of the pivot, against the stand, it puts enough pressure on the loom to keep it from spinning while you are weaving.

I sit with the lower edge of the loom in my lap, which keeps it from spinning, but, eventually, when I have woven to the top, I can see that I will have to change that position.

Will post about that when I get there!

And, it is very easy to release one loom and transfer another loom onto the stand. 🙂

I am such a happy camper.

Okay, back to my weaving. 🙂

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Filed under Loom & looms & small loom weaving, tapestry, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as copper pipe, copper pipe loom stand, copper pipe tapestry loom, copper tubing, home made loom stand, loom stand, tapestry loom stand

March 17, 2014 · 1:05 pm

Tapestry Diary for Woven Women show- 1

Even though I haven’t been posting about my solo show of tapestries and woven works (Woven Women) that is opening in August 2014 (eep…. tick tock, tick tock…. eep), I have been working away on new pieces for it.

I noticed that the Tapestry weaving group on Ravelry (the facebook of the fibre arts world) is having a weave along in which people are weaving ‘Tapestry Diaries’.

That means that they are weaving daily, weekly or monthly, on pieces that reflect their lives in those given moments.

I have wanted to do this for several years, but just have never started one…. until, the other day, I had an ‘Aha!’ moment.

I have been contemplating a series of small woven figures- I’ve woven the faces for them, but haven’t started the bodies.

It struck me that weaving the bodies for these figures would work beautifully as a Tapestry Diary.

I got all excited about doing this, and then took the plunge and asked the moderator if I could join, even if I am late to the party.

She graciously said that I could, and so I am!

I love that the online community creates ‘Virtual Guilds’ with members from all over the planet inspiring and encouraging each other. It’s just awesome.

I decided to warp up my 8 inch Mirrix tapestry loom to get started, but I can see that I may want to warp up my 16 inch Mirrix for this, too.

Some people choose to weave very specific shapes in their tapestry diaries, like little squares or rectangles, that are quite uniform in size.

I have decided that my shape is going to be one that I have loved working with over the decades.

It’s an hourglass motif that has shown up in embroidery, weaving, stitchery, stone and metal work for thousands of years.

It’s sometimes called. ‘The Shepherdess’ motif.

I did a bunch of drawings, until I was happy with a very simple, basic shape that I think will give me lots of options for experimenting with color and pattern. Of course, I have no idea how they will turn out. 🙂

I chose to weave these figures in a fairly narrow configuration- only 3 inches wide, set at 8 ends per inch.

Here’s my loom warped up, heddled, and with the first little bit woven.

I inherited my mother’s stash of embroidery floss and threads, and will be using them in this series.

Thanks, Mom….. hope you like what I am doing with your treasures……

Another new friend for Tottie Tomato

Tottie Tomato looked outside the studio window and saw someone tobogganing on the snowbanks….

She astonished Tottie by fluttering up into the tree….. and Tottie realized that the fluttery little person was a fairy!

The fairy looked awfully familiar…..

Tottie Tomato saw that she was shivering- it was so cold!

So, she invited the Winter Fairy in for a cup of tea….

Tottie Tomato had been watching the progress of the Winter Fairy coming to life, so she was surprised to see her outside!

Winter Fairy said that she felt that, once she had her wings, she really ought to see what Winter was all about.

Sledding was fun – but chilly.

The Winter Fairy told Tottie Tomato that she prefers to experience winter from the warm side of the window, so she has decided to take up permanent residence in the studio and perhaps wait until springtime before venturing outside again.

Tottie Tomato is looking forward to many pleasant cups of tea with the Winter Fairy.

She plans on showing her around the studio and introducing her to all manner of lovely folks.

Tottie Tomato is very happy that I took part in the Zoom Loom Doll Weave Along on Ravelry- otherwise, the Winter Fairy would never have joined us here in the studio!

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Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Tottie Tomato Loves, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as doll making, hand weaving, hand woven, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Ravelry, Tottie Tomato, Weave along, woven doll, woven fairy doll, Zoom Loom

March 5, 2014 · 5:50 pm

Pivoting clamp for pipe style tapestry loom

The Archie Brennan copper pipe looms are easy-ish to build and wonderful to weave on.

Here’s a link to the instructions that we used to build mine: LINK

It struck me that warping the pipe loom would be so much easier if I could pivot and spin the loom.

I saw a video on Youtube that showed a woman rotating her loom to warp it and that got my gears clicking.

And, so, I designed a set of pivoting clamps for the pipe loom, and now warping the pipe loom is just BLISS!!!!!

Here’s the video tutorial for them in action:

By the way, the finished size of my clamps is:

I am pleased as can be with them!

Note: The clamps can easily be moved on or off looms that are already warped, so switching looms on and off a stand is easy peasy.

To see the stand that we built, please go to

https://tottietalkscrafts.com/2014/03/17/copper-pipe-stand-for-copper-pipe-tapestry-loom/

Happy weaving!

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Tagged as #noreencrone-findlay, #tapestryweaving, Archie Brennan copper pipe, Archie Brennan Pipe loom, frame loom, hand woven, handwoven, hints and tips for weaving, Noreen Crone-Findlay, pipe loom clamps, pivot clamps for tapestry loom, tapestry loom, video tutorial, weaving

March 1, 2014 · 12:20 pm

Zoom Loom Weave Along Winter Doll in progress

Tottie Tomato is getting anxious….

When are all these piles of little squares and rectangles and triangles going to turn into a doll?

Soon!

There’s another week in the Winter Weave Along on Ravelry, so there’s lots of time….

I hope! 😀

How to weave a triangle on the Zoom Loom

I have been experimenting with the Schacht Zoom Loom, and figuring out how to weave more shapes with it than just the square it was designed to weave.

In previous blog posts, I’ve shown how to weave small squares Link and rectangles Link.

I also posted some hints about how to embroider on the squares that you weave on the Zoom loom: Link

One of the most important shapes to be able to weave when designing with small looms is the the triangle.

And, so, I’ve figured out how to weave perfect triangles on the Zoom Loom.

It was actually quite tricky to do that figuring, but it was worth it, and I made a video tutorial on how to do it:

Happy Weaving!

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Filed under Loom & looms & small loom weaving, tutorial & how to, video tutorial, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as hand woven, how to weave a triangle on the Zoom Loom, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Schacht Zoom Loom, small loom weaving, triangle, weaving techniques, Zoom Loom

February 19, 2014 · 10:49 am

How to weave a rectangle on the Zoom Loom

I am always intrigued by figuring out ways of maximizing the potential of small looms.

Just because a loom is square, why should it be limited to weaving just squares?

Rectangles are important in the design process, too!

And, so, I figured it out… and here’s a new video tutorial showing how to weave a rectangle on the Zoom Loom.

There are times when you need to have rectangles and narrow strips to finish a design, and now, you can weave them on your Zoom loom.

This makes the loom even more versatile :o)

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Filed under Loom & looms & small loom weaving, tutorial & how to, video tutorial, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as hand woven, how to weave a rectangle, Noreen Crone-Findlay, small loom weaving, video tutorial, weave a rectangle on the Zoom loom, weaving techniques, woven, Zoom Loom

February 17, 2014 · 11:35 am

Tips for embroidering on woven Zoom Loom or pin style looms

In my previous post, I showed how to weave a tiny square on the Zoom Loom.

That’s because there’s a fun ‘Weave along’ on the Zoom loom group on Ravelry- all about weaving dolls on the Zoom loom.

I’ve just embroidered the face for my ‘Winter’ doll

I thought that I would make a little video, offering a few tips about embroidering on the squares that you weave on the Zoom Loom.

These tips also work on any other pin style loom or potholder loom, or many of the small looms that are available nowadays.

5 Comments

Filed under doll & dolls & dollmaking & doll making, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, video tutorial, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as 4 seasons dolls, embroidery on small looms, hints and tips, how to embroider on the Zoom Loom, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Ravelry weave along, video tutorial, weaving a doll, woven doll, woven dolls, Zoom Loom by Schacht looms

February 12, 2014 · 3:27 pm

How to weave a tiny square on the Zoom Loom

There is an ongoing Weave Along on the Zoom Loom group on Ravelry.

Here’s the link:
http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/zoom-loom-club/2841435/1-25#13

I love weaving dolls, so I was hooked on the idea of weaving one doll for each of the seasons, using the Zoom Loom from Schacht.

I sketched my thoughts about the ‘Winter’ doll, and always in all the sketches- pockets showed up.

It was essential that my Zoomie doll have pockets. After all… Winter= Cold= Gotta have pockets!

So, I had to figure out a way of weaving tiny squares on the Zoom Loom (it’s the Zoom Loom weave along, so no cheating by crocheting or knitting the pockets).