Category Archives: Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa looms

March 7, 2018 · 6:01 pm

Fabula Figure Tapestries

Last year, I wove a series of tapestries that I call, ‘The Fabula Figures’.

Fabula means ‘story’ in Latin… and each of the Fabula Figures is about the power of story.

The one in the photo below is called ‘Fabula Figure: The Storyteller’ and is about 44 inches tall.

She’s one of the later figures in the series.

I had woven a few prototypes for the series before January of 2017, but I really committed to the series on January 1 of 2017, and I haven’t stopped weaving them.

10 of the Fabula Figure tapestries are part of the ‘Faconner’ show that I wrote about in the previous blog post.

Here’s a little video of the Fabula Figures that I wove from January 1 – September 30, 2017:

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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Filed under band loom, Dewberry Ridge looms, hexagon loom, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa looms, tapestry, Three Sisters Looms, weaving & handwoven, Woven Women tapestries and woven works

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

April 4, 2017 · 5:29 pm

Tapestry on the 3 Sisters looms

I made a video that shows how to weave square, triangle and diagonal motifs on the Thumbelina, Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa looms.

But… it was 2 hours long! Whoa! That’s just too long.

So, I thought: I wonder if I can figure out how to ‘fast forward’ it?

And, I did!

But, I think that I got a little enthusiastic with the fast forward function- LOL!

I turned a 2 hour video into a 2 MINUTE video!

Prepare for take off… buckle your seat belt…. here we go!

Um…. next time, I might not speed things up ~quite~ so much!

Happy weaving!

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Filed under Dewberry Ridge looms, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa looms, tapestry, Three Sisters Looms, Thumbelina Loom, tutorial & how to, video tutorial, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as #tapestryweaving, Dewberry Ridge Looms, hand weaving, hand woven, handwoven, how to weave, Noreen Crone-Findlay, small loom weaving, tapestries, tapestry, tapestry weaving, Thumbelina Loom, video tutorial, weave, weaves, weaving, weaving techniques

March 24, 2017 · 3:30 pm

Tapestry Techniques- Part 2 woven on the Mollie Whuppie loom

I have posted a new video tutorial that is the second in a series of how to weave tapestry on the Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa looms.

I designed the Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa looms and Dewberry Ridge makes them. They’re wonderful!

This video shows how to
1- Start the weaving at the curved edge while weaving side to side.
2- How to fill the curved space that will form by using eccentric weaving (weaving that doesn’t go all the way from side to side).
3- How to weave dots of color.
4- How to use hatching to make a pattern- in this case, a circle shape in the middle of the weaving is made by alternating 2 colors of yarn.
5- How to finish the straight edge at the end of the weaving.

Here’s the video:

To see how to set up the Mollie Whuppie loom please go to my previous post, which will take you to the first video in this series: LINK

To buy the Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa looms, please go to:
www.dewberryridge.com

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Filed under Dewberry Ridge looms, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa looms, tapestry, Three Sisters Looms, tutorial & how to, video tutorial, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as Dewberry Ridge Looms, hand weaving, handwoven, how to weave, Noreen Crone-Findlay, small loom weaving, tapestry, tapestry weaving, textiles, video tutorial, weave, weaves, weaving, weaving techniques, woven

March 21, 2017 · 11:40 am

Tapestry Techniques on the Vasilisa and Mollie Whuppie Looms- Part 1

Video tutorial by Noreen Crone-Findlay showing some tapestry weaving techniques for the Vasilisa loom.
The following techniques are covered in this ‘how to’ video tute:
1- How to warp the Vasilisa (and Mollie Whuppie) loom
2- How to secure the lower edge
3- How to prepare for weaving by making a cartoon, and the protective layers of cardboard and plastic for the cartoon, then weaving in the shed stick
4- How to weave vertical lines using the ‘pick and pick’ technique
5- How to change colors to turn the vertical lines into checkerboard pattern
6- How to weave a circle motif in contrasting colors, showing how to weave up to the circle motif to create the supporting structure for it.
7- How to weave the circle in pick and pick technique
8- How to complete weaving the background
9- How to finish the upper edge
10- How to stitch the gaps closed

The Vasilisa loom is used in this video, but the techniques shown work just as well on the Mollie Whuppie and Thumbelina looms.

The Vasilisa, Mollie Whuppie and Thumbelina looms were designed by Noreen Crone-Findlay and are built by and available from Dewberry Ridge Looms.
THREE SISTERS LI'L WEAVERS

This is the first in a series of videos showing techniques for weaving tapestry on the 3 Sisters (Thumbelina, Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa) Looms.

Happy weaving!

And, here’s the video

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Filed under Dewberry Ridge looms, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa looms, tapestry, Three Sisters Looms, tutorial & how to, video tutorial, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as Dewberry Ridge Looms, hand weaving, hand woven, handwoven, how to weave, Noreen Crone-Findlay, small loom weaving, tapestry, tapestry weaving, video tutorial, weave, weaves, weaving techniques

February 7, 2017 · 4:54 pm

Octopus to weave on the Mollie Whuppie, Vasilisa & Thumbelina looms

Octopi are amazingly clever and rather charming creatures.

I’ve had so much fun designing a woven Octopus family to weave on the Three Sisters Looms that I designed and Gary and Donna McFarland of Dewberry Ridge looms is building and selling LINK.

The largest Octopus was woven on the Vasilisa loom: LINK

It’s about 13 1/2 inches tall.

The medium size Octopus was woven on the Mollie Whuppie Loom: LINK

And, the littlest Octopus was woven on the Thumbelina loom: LINK

All three are great for babies- as long as you don’t use beads or buttons, but embroider the eyes instead.

I just read a report that babies love holding onto the tentacles of toy cephalopods, because they find it comforting. Apparently, the tentacles feel like the umbilical cord, and most babies play with the umbilicus before they are born.

Fascinating!

The smallest octopus lives quite happily on a lapel or collar or pinned to a hat, scarf or bag when you stitch a pin to it’s back.

The loop on top of their heads is great for hanging them up on push pins or curtain rods for room decor.

The loop also is perfect to hang the octopus from the baby’s crib, cot or stroller.

The pattern, with step by step instructions is available in my etsy shop: LINK

Happy Octopus weaving! Enjoy those cephalopods!

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Filed under Dewberry Ridge looms, gifts & easy to make gifts & presents, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa looms, Thumbelina Loom, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as Dewberry Ridge Looms, hand weaving, hand woven, hand woven toys, handwoven, how to weave, Mollie Whuppie loom, Noreen Crone-Findlay, octopus, small loom weaving, Thumbelina Loom, Vasilisa loom, woven, woven octopus toys, woven toy

February 6, 2017 · 3:29 pm

Introducing the Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa looms

The enchanting little Thumbelina loom now has 2 big sisters!

I have designed 2 gorgeous new little looms and Dewberry Ridge looms are building and selling them.

I am just thrilled with them!

The Three Sisters are: LINK

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Tiny Thumbelina: LINK

And her sister: Mollie Whuppie: LINK

3-sisters-sizes-3-c 3-sisters-sizes-5-c

And, the biggest sister: Vasilisa: LINK

3-sisters-sizes-2-c

3-sisters-sizes-4-c

What can you weave on Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa?

Well, everything that you can weave on Thumbelina, but on a larger scale.

I’ve written an instruction booklet that shows how to weave techinques so you can weave:

Tapestry pouches:

mollie-vasilisa-c-tapestry-pouch-1

Tapestry dolls:

mollie-vasilisa-c-doll-1

mollie-vasilisa-c-tapestry-matroushka-1

Freeform tapestry ‘Weavies’:

mollie-vasilisa-c-tapestry-freeform-1

Baskets:

mollie-vasilisa-c-basket-2

Statement necklaces:

mollie-vasilisa-c-tapestry-necklace-1

Prayer Flags:

Banners and bunting:

And, the Mollie Whuppie loom has a secret power!

She can mend socks!

You can’t make socks on the Mollie Whuppie loom, but the patches that you weave are totally perfect for fixing the worn out heels of precious hand knit socks.

mollie-vasilisa-c-sock-patch