People have been asking for links to the ‘3 Sisters’ Looms- The Thumbelina, Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa looms that I designed and Gary and Donna McFarland of Dewberry Ridge Looms build so beautifully.
I adore these looms…. especially the Thumbelina!
Here’s the link to purchase the looms from Dewberry Ridge Looms : LINK
And, here’s where I first introduced the looms: LINK
Videos: URLS FOR TAPESTRY TECHNIQUES:
Tapestry on the Vasilisa Mollie Whuppie and Thumbelina looms:
Note: The techniques are all the same for all 3 looms:
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:
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
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:
Tapestry dolls:
Freeform tapestry ‘Weavies’:
Baskets:
Statement necklaces:
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.
Here’s a little video that explains the origins of Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa’s names and shows the projects:
I love Mollie Whuppie and Vasilisa, and hope that you will, too!
I’ll be showing you more with them, in upcoming posts.
In Woven Star Baby- Part 1, I showed you how to shape the body, and make the Star Baby’s face.
Here’s how to finish the Star Baby:
ARMS:
Weave the yarn ends into the cord up to the middle.
Place the arms behind the body and stitch to the back.
LEGS:
Weave the yarn ends into the cord up to the middle.
Fold the cord in half and insert into the lower edge of the body.
Stitch the body closed.
STITCH THE STAR TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD:
Using the needle and thread, stitch the head to the star.
FINISHING:
If the Starbaby is going to be a hanging ornament, leave strands of yarn at the top point of the star and tie a knot about an inch/2.5 cm from the star point. Trim.
If the Starbaby is going to be a pin, stitch a pin to the back of the star.
Weave in all ends.
I added a little heart sticker to the chest. You can cut one or punch one out of paper and glue it on if you don’t have heart stickers.
Sweet Dreams and Happy Weaving! ❤
Please note:
This is Noreen Crone-Findlay’s original design and is copyright protected. It is not to be sold or used without permission. Thank you 🙂
This is a tiny video that I made to introduce the Star Babies:
Many years ago, I had a wonderful dream about the Northern Lights.
I dreamt that thousands of shooting stars were streaming down the Northern Lights (aka Aurora Borealis), but when I looked closer, I saw that the shooting stars were actually Star Babies 🙂
They were laughing, tumbling and frolicing in delight.
It was a wonderful dream, and ever since then, I have designed and made variations on the theme of ‘Star Baby’.
Here’s my woven Star Baby:
STAR BABY TO WEAVE ON THE DEWBERRY RIDGE STAR AND THUMBELINA LOOMS
Here’s one that I have designed to be made with flowers woven on the Thumbelina loom.
I used autumn colors, but you can make it with colors that match any season.
Feel free to use as many flowers and leaves as you would like.
I made the wreath by tying the vines shed by a weeping birch tree. I gathered them up, and shaped them into a circle, then wrapped the circle with thread to hold it together. I added a twisted wire hanger at the top.
Just over a week ago, my lovely husband and I went to a gorgeous symphony concert at Convocation Hall at the University in Edmonton AB.
When I got home, I thought… hmmm…. I have friends who take their little carved wooden dolls on outings with them- and I haven’t been remembering to do that….. (I carve little wooden dolls that I call my ‘Story Door Dolls’- they are inspired by Hitty Dolls.)
And, I also thought…. I am working on a bunch of new ideas for my Thumbelina loom, as well as doing the Inktober challenge (hopefully arriving at drawings that will work for tiny tapestries to be woven on Thumbelina)
So, it made sense to me to find a very small tin or box that my Thumbelina, some yarn, a little yarn snipper and a wooden doll would fit in so they could travel about with me.
The winner of the ‘Who gets to go with me on this weekend’s fun events’ was Siobhan, the tiny mermaid:
I carved her last year, and she does love a good adventure, but hasn’t gotten out much lately, so she’s pleased.
Here’s Siobhan and Thumbelina in their little traveling tin.
(I would love to have a tiny suitcase that they could travel in!)
We were at the Edmonton Symphony orchestra Mozart concert this past weekend, and during a pre-concert lecture, I sneaked Thumbelina and Siobhan out, and did a little bit of weaving.
Siobhan wanted to take a peek at the orchestra when they started to file in and sit down:
But she was quite alarmed by the noise of all the instruments tuning up, so she opted to dive back into the tin and listen to the concert (it was divine!) from the safety and comfort of her wooly little nest with her friend, Thumbelina.
Besides, it was time to turn my phone off, and bask in the glory of Mozart!
The next day, Siobhan was delighted that she and Thumbelina got to go out to lunch…
She thought that that was just delightful!
But, now the other wooden dolls are feeling rather jealous that Siobhan had all the fun while they stayed home…
oh dear…. I guess I will have to remember to take them on adventures, too.
