Category Archives: Loom & looms & small loom weaving

November 29, 2012 · 9:22 pm

Easels and other useful supports for small looms

Several weeks ago, we went to the very last garage sale of the season (brrrr).

While we were there, Jim pointed at a tripod and asked if it would work to support a loom.

I was delighted! YES!!!

I twiddled around with a protractor, a compass, and paper, and made a template to make a shelf for it.

Then I cut 3 notches in a board, and Voila! a perfect shelf to hold my looms.

I can raise or lower the tripod to any height, and tip and tilt it to any angle.

It’s really lightweight, but very sturdily built. What a find!

To say that I am thrilled with it is a huge understatement!

Another wonderful garage sale find was this lovely table top easel:

It works great for small looms, and also for holding books and patterns:

Music stands (only the really sturdy ones) are also great for holding books and patterns, and also for holding small looms, too.

Another really useful support for small looms is a laptop pillow desk….

I really like that I can smoosh it around to make it sit at the perfect angle for comfortably weaving in my lap.

The flat part of mine is leather, so it’s a touch slippery.

I put a small piece of suede on the surface, which keeps the loom from skittering around.

Also, it works in the car, to support the loom comfortably while I weave and Jim drives 🙂

It’s amazing how many weaving treasures you can find at garage sales.

That’s what keeps me going back to them…. 🙂

6 Comments

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

Tagged as easel, small loom weaving, tripod

October 14, 2012 · 11:48 am

Update on progress in tapestries Oct 2012

Yesterday, I took a tapestry off my 16 inch Mirrix loom- it’s nowhere near being finished as I am going to be doing embroidery on it.

I thought that I would give an update on the tapestries that I am weaving for my solo show next summer.

So, even though NONE of these pieces are anywhere close to being done, here’s a quick little glimpse at the works in progress:

And yes, I did plaster copyright notices all over them, as I have found that images have a way of getting away from you, so I want people to be able to follow them home!

The large tapestry is about a meter long – when you use extenders on the 16 inch loom, you can weave very long pieces.

On the music stand are 2 tapestries that I am just getting started on.

The 12 inch tapestry has gobbled up all my ‘s’ hooks, so I need to go buy some more.

I warped up my 5 inch Mini in a totally outside the box way….. totally outside the Scrabble box, that is!

I bought a couple of extra Scrabble games from the thrift shop so I could use the letters for my titles of my video tutorials.

I plunked the tile holders into a drawer and occasionally, I wonder what I will do with them.

Well… the other day, when I was puzzling over how I could warp the Mini when all my ‘s’ hooks are in use elsewhere, I had a flash of inspiration-

I duct taped 2 of them together to make a cap to go over the Mini’s knobs at the top of the loom!

This is the back of the loom, showing how I warped it continuously, going over the ‘Scrabble Cap’.

It works brilliantly!

I don’t like showing a piece before I have made some progress on it.

In November, I’ll do another update, and hopefully, I’ll have lots more to show you! 🙂

Weaving Baskets on Small Looms

I love weaving baskets on small looms.

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:

This basket was woven with paper ribbon and embellished with buttons that I made from arbutus twigs and coconut shells.

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:

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….

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.

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.

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.

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.

The pattern can be ordered from: LINK

Another set of baskets that I designed has recently been released on the Lion Brand website.

I designed some rectangular baskets, embellished with dragonflies, for the Martha Stewart loom.

dragonfly basket designed by Noreen Crone-Findlay

There are 2 different sizes, and the pattern is free. LINK

Happy weaving, and may your life have baskets full of joy! 🙂

6 Comments

Filed under eco crafts & green projects, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Peg and Stick Loom weaving, peg looms and weaving sticks, tutorial & how to, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as handwoven baskets, how to, how to weave baskets, lion brand yarns, Martha Stewart loom, Noreen Crone-Findlay, paper ribbon, patterns, stick weaving loom, weaving stick loom

September 26, 2012 · 1:45 pm

Embroidering Leno Lace

I am passionate about lace and lace making.

I love to tat, crochet and knit lace.

And, recently, I have been experimenting with weaving lace.

Well… weaving leno lace and then embroidering it…..

This was my first attempt, and to be honest, it’s wonky and woobley and ‘real weavers’ would consider it to be a messy failure.

But, I really learned a lot while I was working on it- and am intrigued and intend to keep working with this technique.

By the way, this was woven on my 16 inch Mirrix loom, with loom extenders attached.

When I was warping up for my second embroidered Leno lace scarf, I made a video about the things I figured out while warping with loom extenders:

I got so overwhelmed with all the work for the Soumak Weave Along that I didn’t have time to do much more with the embroidered leno lace.

I needed my 16 inch loom for a tapestry, so I wove off the blue scarf to get it off the loom, and will be doing the embroidery with the scarf being off loom.

I am pleased with the progress I have made with the embroidery, and look forward to doing more of this technique.

I love scarves and wear them year round.

Leno lace scarves are light enough to be comfortable even in the summer, especially in the evening.

I haven’t had a chance to wash and block this one yet, so it’s not as nice as it will be.

I am planning on working a twisted cord with beads on it for the fringes.

Leno lace is so wonderful and has so much design potential that I intend to continue experimenting with it!

6 Comments

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

Tagged as clothing, embroidering Leno lace, fashion, Leno Lace, Mirrix loom, Noreen Crone-Findlay, weaving lace, woven lace

September 22, 2012 · 10:32 pm

Soumak Pouch Weave Along Part 7- Finishing techniques

And, so, the Soumak Pouch Weave Along draws to a close with a very long video on finishing techniques.

Here are the chapters in the final installment:

1- Steam, Press and block the finished weaving

2- Overcast the straight edge of the inside front of the pouch

3- Making the point for the tip of the pouch

4- How to do the chain stitch embroidery

5- Cut out a lining

6- How to stitch the lining to the pouch invisibly

7- Stitch the side seams

8- Sew on the snaps

9- Stitching the edging cords to the pouch – in the video, I show how to add things like large beads at the ends and center of the cord, as well as the swivel clip hook. I also show how to stitch size 8 seed beads to the edging to embellish it. You don’t have to add these extra flourishes, but I thought that it made sense to show you how to do it so you ~could~ do it, if you want to.

It’s the embellishments that make the pouch the truly individual statement of your creativity!

And, here’s the video:

1 Comment

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

Tagged as diy, how to stitch a lining to a bag, how to weave, Mirrix looms, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Soumak Pouch, WAL, Weave along

September 19, 2012 · 12:05 am

Soumak-Pouch-Weave-Along-Part-6-Edging-Cords

Part Six of the Soumak Pouch Weave Along is all about the edging cords for the pouches.

You can use purchased braid like the Kreinik cord on the edges of this pouch:

The edging is 3/8 ” trim: # 170 Natural Pewter
http://www.kreinik.com/kshop/product.php?productid=17023&cat=0&page=1

Or you can make your own edging cord:

Starting at the left hand side, the cords are:

Square cord spool knitted with 2 colors on 4 pegs,

Cord Spool knitted with 3 pegs

Kumihimo cords – the directions for how to braid the round cords come with the Kumihimo kit from Mirrix

Tubular Peyote stitch cord- instructions are available in beading books and when you google ‘tubular peyote stitch’.

And last, but certainly NOT least, and definitely the fastest, easiest cord of all to make is the Simple Twisted cord, using the method that I have developed, using a spool and a crochet hook.

You will need a cord that is about 15 inches (37.5 cm) long to go around the sides and upper edge of your pouch.

The instructions for how to attach them to your pouch will be in the final installment of the Weave Along: Finishing Techniques.

Here are some videos that I have made to help you make your decorative edging cords:

How to spool knit a cord with just 3 of the 4 pegs on the spool knitter:

How to spool knit a square cord with 2 colors on a 4 peg spool knitter:

How to make a twisted cord with a spool and crochet hook:

Hope your pouches are coming along nicely! 🙂

1 Comment

Filed under jewelry, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, spool knitter & spoolknitter & spool knitting & spool knitting, tapestry, tutorial & how to

Tagged as how to make a twisted cord, how to make decorative cords, how to spool knit square cords, Mirrix looms, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Soumak Pouch, Soumak pouch weave along

September 16, 2012 · 12:08 am

Soumak Pouch Weave Along- Part 5- Black and white checkerboard motifs

Part 5 of the Soumak Pouch Weave Along is a step by step series of photos that I took while we were on holidays at the end of August.

I adapted the pattern to have checkerboard borders and wove the Soumak pouch on my Mirrix Mini (5 inches wide… perfect traveling loom).

Here’s how the pattern looks with the black and white checked borders:

If I had wanted to make the pouch wider, I could have added ‘s’ hooks to the side and just added the checked squares to the pattern.

Adding 2 more ‘s’ hooks at the top and bottom on both sides would have added one inch (2.5 cm) to the width of the pouch.

I wanted the squares to be symmetrical off a central square, so I had to do some fancy footwork with working out the size of the squares.

Here’s what I decided: Here’s the graph for the lower border of the pouch:

Each square represents one strand of warp:

And now… to the step by step photos: Photographed in Jasper Alberta Canada

And, here is the finished pouch: Woven in Lamb’s Pride yarn from the Mirrix kit:

The embroidery is worked with Kreinik threads.

There is an amethyst bead on the center of the back of the pouch.

Happy Weaving! 🙂

3 Comments

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

Tagged as handweaving, how to tutorial, Mirrix Weave Along # 8, Noreen Crone-Findlay, soumak, weaving techniques, woven pouch

September 11, 2012 · 10:13 pm

Soumak Pouch Weave Along Part 4 Weaving Techniques

The video for Part 4 of the Soumak Pouch Weave Along is a really big one because it’s the ‘how to’s’ for the actual weaving of the pouch.

Here’s what’s covered in this video:

How to weave the 4:2 Soumak border
How to weave the 2:1 body of the pouch
How to add more weft yarn when you run out
How to add new colors
How to change colors and make perfect joins between the color blocks
How to step colors sideways in an outward direction
How to step colors sideways in an inward direction
How to work horizontal stripes
How to do the ‘Topsy Turvey Trick’ with the Mini loom
How to remove the weaving from the Mini
Please note that the pouches are woven with 1 strand of the yarn from the Mirrix Kit, or 2 strands held together, of the Lion Brand Bonbon yarn

When I went through the video after the final rendering, I smacked my hand to my forehead a couple of times as my directional challenges clearly pop up in the video- arghhhhhhhhh………. several times, I call the left hand side of the loom, the ~right~ hand side. arghhhhhhh

And, at one point, I called the weft, ‘warp’…………. oh sigh…………. so please forgive me for the errors.

Luckily, pretty quickly, I do say the ~correct~ thing. But still……….. arghhhhhhhhhhhh………….

And, no, I am not willing to re-shoot the video….. there are days and days and days of shooting, and so I am not going back to do it again.

Said in the nicest possible way, with really the minimum of snarls and snaps. 😀

Anyhow…. I hope that you will have a WONDERFUL time weaving your pouches!

Without further ado, here’s the video: (bugs and all- and dogs barking and rain raining and thunder thundering…. the dogs were freaked out by the lighting and thunder, so they were indulging in a LOT of vocalizing about the bad bad sky!)

6 Comments

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

Tagged as how to, how to weave soumak, Mirrix looms, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Soumak pouch weave along, video tutorial, Weave along, weaving techniques

September 9, 2012 · 1:19 am

Soumak Pouch Weave Along – Part 3 – Warping the Looms

Today’s installment of the Soumak Pouch Weave Along is a video tutorial about warping the looms for the ‘no warp ends’ technique that will be the foundation of the Soumak Pouches.

There are a number of hints and tips that I have found that make warping for the pouches much quicker and easier.

The video shows how to warp the 8 inch and 12 inch Mirrix looms, using ‘s’ hooks.

The Mini (5 inch loom) is warped using the ‘no warp ends’ kit from Mirrix.

The looms are almost gift wrapped after warping!

Really? Yes 🙂

I have found that using ribbons to tie around the ‘s’ hooks on the lower edge of the 8 inch, 12 inch or larger Mirrix looms keeps the weft yarn from getting snagged on the hooks while weaving.

And, the Mini wears little babushkas or headscarves!

Yep. I tie bias tape or ribbon around the ends to cover the paper clips and keep them from snagging on clothing and to protect them.

I know it may seem odd, but it makes the weaving go more smoothly.

And, having the weaving be a joy is really important 🙂

Here’s the video that shows how the warping is done for the Weave Along: