All through the Covid pandemic, I have been working on designing and fine tuning a large new Teneriffe Lace loom that is my response to the situation that we are all in.
I wanted to create a loom that would be a way of celebrating love, compassion, kindness, resiliency, hope and friendship. The image that came up for me was of hearts and flowers.
So, I have designed a large Teneriffe Lace loom that is meant to be woven on with thicker yarns or threads than ‘normal’ and to be much larger than ‘normal’.
Here’s a video introduction to the loom. NOTE: The list of the ‘how to’ videos is further down this post.
At the beginning of March 2020, a very kind lady sent me a pair of ‘Polka’ Teneriffe looms to say thank you for all the hard work that I put into writing the ‘Potholder Loom Weaving’ book.
I was delighted with them- but didn’t like the way the foundation strand was put onto them.
So, I figured out a different way of continuously chaining on the foundation chain.
I also figured out a way of warping the loom continuously, and then had to work out the logistics of weaving the heart and flower motifs, and, also, how to get the motifs off the loom in a workable way.
I wove hundreds of samples and made dozens of variations on the looms.
Lots of them became firewood 🙂
BUT eventually I arrived at the configuration that I love.
Gary McFarland is the mastermind behind the CNC machine at Dewberry Ridge Looms and he has added his finesse to the final version of the loom.
One of my most favorite things to do at Christmas time is to make ‘the ornament of the year’ to give to family and friends. I usually end up making a LOT of them and it’s totally delightful.
This year, I have been weaving up a ton of tiny Snowmen- I designed them last year and made a video so other people can make them too.
One of my favorite projects in my new book, Innovative Frame Loom Weaving, is an extremely useful tool.
It’s a woven Needle Book that holds sewing needles.
Pin cushions are good for pins, but needles can get buried in them too easily.
Needle books hold sewing, darning and other craft needles safely and handily.
This video shows variations on the Needle book that I designed for the frame loom, including ones woven on the potholder loom and Weave It style pin loom.
And, also, a relative asked for a brooch that she could stick pins and needles in while mending, so there’s one of those in the video, too!
If you would like to embellish your hand woven (or knitted or crocheted) fabric with embroidery, but aren’t quite sure how to do it, then I have some suggestions for you.
I have made a video showing one of the ways that I have figured out how to embroider on hand woven fabric- this technique will work just as well on crocheted or knitted fabric. Here’s the link to the video:
Here’s how to embroider on pin loom weaving:
Here’s how to embroider on hand wovens using the tambour chain stitch crochet technique:
Here’s how to stitch lucet cord to the edges of a handwoven piece:
Here’s how to make loop embellishments with lucet cord:
For links to video on how to upcycle cloth tea bags into Teabag Yarn, and how to weave triangles with it, please go to: LINK
I love finding fun and unique ways to upcycle things, and so I have had so much fun turning cloth tea bags into yarn and weaving with it, to make tutus for the Merrie Sunshine and Mermaid Minnie Moonbeam dolls.
For the main page about Merrie Sunshine and Minnie Moonbeam dolls, please go to: LINK
Here is the video that shows how to make the Upcycled Tea Bag Tutu: