Category Archives: weaving & handwoven

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.

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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 5, 2014 · 2:55 pm

New woven vests February 2014

Vests are one of my most favorite garments to design, weave and wear.

I have just finished two new vests that both have something that I believe to be essential: Pockets 🙂

I didn’t use a pattern to make the vests, but I was inspired by design #51 for a jacket, in the Saori weaving book that has a black cover.

I don’t know the actual name of the book, as it’s all in Japanese, but if you contact your local Saori dealer, I am sure that they will be able to sell you the book. The Saori books are all fabulous beyond words, and are all treasures!

I wove the fabric for the red vest on my Saori Piccolo loom, which is a joy to weave on. The fabric for the turquoise vest was woven on my 4 harness table loom.

The warp for the red vest was 10 inches wide and the warp for the turquoise vest was 17 inches wide.

They were both woven at 10 epi.

They both work well worn open, or pinned shut with a brooch, or tied with a belt or sash.

When I was weaving the fabric for this vest, I was playing with the fibonacci sequence, and also playing with numbers in other ways… in a way, I was coding messages of love, good health, happiness and abundance into the fabric as I wove it!

Weaving is so meditative, and it’s fun to deliberately figure out ways of ‘weaving happiness’ into my fabric 🙂

I love shawl collars, as they make me feel so cozy:

And those oh so important pockets! I wove the fabric for the pockets on my 4 harness loom.

I used a wool cotton blend for the weft when I wove the band at the top of the pocket so it would shrink and pull in to shape the pocket.

There are so many neat ways to shape garments, and using threads that you know will shrink is a ‘secret tip’ that works well for getting sections of your weaving to pull in and gather after the fabric is washed.

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

I’m trying very hard to not get too attached to these vests, as I am going to be offering them for sale at the maker’s faire that I am participating in this weekend… (On the Spot Maker’s Faire at the Boyle St Plaza in Edmonton AB on Feb 8 & 9).

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

Tagged as hand weaving, hand woven, hand woven garment, hand woven vest, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Saori, Saori Piccolo, Saori weaving, textiles, vests, woven clothing, woven vests

January 21, 2014 · 3:27 pm

The Woven Women Singing Mermaid opens her eyes

My wee grandson does not like it when I make a doll or weave a tapestry that has closed eyes, or no face.

He frowns and says to me: “She can’t see me! Open her eyes!”

I think I have internalized his demand to ‘Open her eyes!’, because the other morning, I woke up, after dreaming about my large Singing Mermaid tapestry, and heard, you guessed it: Open her eyes!

And so, The Singing Mermaid from my Woven Women series- see here LINK for previous post about her:

has opened her eyes – with the help of my felting needles and some fleece:

The colors are looking slightly odd, but in real life, they are quite pleasing.

The Jasper Community Habitat for the Arts Gallery that will be hosting my ‘Woven Women’ show of tapestry and woven works is not on schedule with the construction.

So, the show will now be running from August 1, to Sept 9, 2014 in Jasper AB.

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Filed under tapestry, weaving & handwoven, Woven Women tapestries and woven works

Tagged as hand weaving, handwoven, mermaid tapestry, Mermaid's song, Noreen Crone-Findlay, singing mermaid, textile art, textiles, weave, weaving, woven mermaid, Woven Women tapestries and woven works by Noreen Crone-Findlay

January 20, 2014 · 3:14 pm

Occupied by Octopi and Einstein

People keep asking me to design and weave baby toys……….. so…….

Every day of the last week, I have been obsessively weaving one octopus after another. Why?

Well, because I’ve been contemplating how to weave toys that are appealing to and for babies.

My checklist for the baby toys:

Bright colors

No beads or buttons, only embroidered embellishments

Lots of opportunities to hold onto the toy, and to hang it up from strollers if wanted, and to connect other toys to it.

The answer: OCTOPUS!

Tah dah!

An occupation of octopuzzzzzzzzzz in my studio!

Tottie Tomato is somewhat confused by my sudden obsession with oceanic friends.

She sought out a little advice from her friend, Albert Einstein.

He reassured Tottie Tomato that all the mermaids in the studio will be sure to keep the octopuzzzzzzzzzzzz under control.

Besides, they are only in residence temporarily, until they are adopted, and, it’s a well known fact that octopuzzzzzzz don’t eat little Tomato people. 🙂

PS: if you are feeling inspired to weave an octopus or two, too, I used my pattern in WEAVAGARUMI

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

Tagged as Albert Einstein, hand woven toys, handwoven baby toys, Noreen Crone-Findlay, octopus toys, Tottie Tomato, Weavagarumi, weaving for babies, woven baby toys, woven octopus

January 9, 2014 · 5:32 pm

New woven toys

I have a passion for weaving toys that are not just for children, but also to light up the heart of adults, too.

Over the last year, I have been designing and weaving all manner of woven wonderfuls for my booth in all the heaps of artisan’s markets and maker’s faires that I have been doing.

Which is why I have been rather remiss in blogging – it’s all about the weaving, these days 🙂

It’s been a pleasure to let my imagination run wild and create one of a kind pieces without worrying about having to make sure that I can repeat the process to make patterns.

Not to imply that I don’t like designing and making patterns- I really do!

BUT…. it’s delicious to simply let my hands fly and listen to what emerges…. and to respond to what WANTS to emerge! In which case, I have had to build a series of new little looms to keep up with those ‘wanting weavies’. 🙂

Here are a few of my latest pieces:

I never get tired of weaving homages to Albert Einstein 🙂

Everyone in our family really likes gargoyles, so I had to weave one (and I feel the need to weave more! LOL)

And, we all quite like frogs- in fact, the joyous uproar of frog song in springtime is one of our favorite things!

This fellow seems very affable to me….

This Debonaire Ginger Cat is actually based on one of my patterns that is available on my website LINK or on my etsy shop.

And, for that matter, the pattern for dragons woven on the potholder loom is also available on my website:

And now, back to ‘one of a kinds’ – This is Dumpling Darling:

Ahhhhhhhh, babies….. I love to weave babies of all descriptions, like baby piglets:

and baby hippos:

Oh, yes, a monster or two….

And, sometimes, a fairy toadstool wants me to weave it….

At Christmas, I wove a capybara for my son in law:

and a fox:

So, now you see why my blogging hasn’t been up to scratch in 2013…. 🙂 Too busy weaving….

But…. I do plan on being more active with my blog in 2014….

I have a lot of photos of pieces for my Woven Women show that I haven’t posted, so I need to get back to posting those. All in good time 🙂

I’ve been better at posting pictures to facebook, so if you would like to follow me on facebook, the link is:

facebook.com/NoreenCroneFindlayDesigns

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

Tagged as Noreen Crone-Findlay, potholder loom, woven Albert Einstein, woven capybara, woven cat, woven doll, woven dragon, woven fairy mushroom, woven fox, woven frog, woven gargoyle, woven hippo, woven hippopotamus, woven kitty, woven monster, woven toys

October 9, 2013 · 12:16 pm

Woven Women: Mother Holdfast

The last year and a half or so has been quite a roller coaster ride with worry/anguish/anxiety over our daughter’s health issues. I cannot even put into words what we’ve gone through, so I won’t….

But, things have resolved, and she’s come through surgery and now radiation, with flying colors, so we are all relieved beyond belief.

In the midst of dealing with our daughter’s healing process, our daughter in law suffered a miscarriage, which threw us into more grieving. Things were mighty, mighty rough.

I felt like I had to keep a very tight lid on the volcano of emotions- the worry, fear, uncertainty, sorrow, anguish, grief- you know – all that stuff that roils up when your beloved children are having a hard time.

Plus, we were all working our socks off all summer while dealing with all of this, and it just was so intense that it meant that I simply had to hold a very very tight focus, emotionally.

And, now that we have come through this harrowing passage, I am slowly releasing all that pent up stuff…

For me, the most healing way of doing that is in making art….

This is the direct result of the beginning of the process of transforming my volcano of emotion into a positive expression of beauty, while using all that energy in a directed way.

My husband and I took a break for a weekend at the beginning of September, and went to the west coast to visit sisters.

We came home with our suitcases full of driftwood, sea glass and seaweed- some of my most favorite raw materials, ever.

Three of the pieces of driftwood in particular called out to me.

So did a dried up kelp root, called, a ‘holdfast’, that one of my sisters gave to me- she has treasured it for a long time, and so it’s very precious.

The metaphor of ‘holdfast’, of roots holding a great kelp tree anchored in the ocean spoke so deeply to me as a symbol of what I, as the mother of young women and their loved ones in a time of troubles, was called to do in holding the energy for my family.

So, the name: Mother Holdfast rings true for me.

Here is the holdfast, being held fast in ‘Mother Holdfast’s hands…. which I made from wire.

One of the pieces of driftwood became the head of ‘Mother Holdfast’:

Another piece of driftwood became her shoulders, and the third one became part of her upper arm:

As soon as I drew, then burned the face onto the ‘head’ piece of driftwood, Mother Holdfast let me know exactly what colors and textures she wanted me to weave.

So, I warped up and wove at a feverish, furious pace…..

And, then, I started layering, stitching, layering more, weaving more….

Until Mother Holdfast was complete….

She is TALL! She is almost 6 feet 6 inches tall….

As well as my woven fabrics and inkle bands, I have also stitched and woven in antique and vintage lace fragments, tatting (tatting goes with me everywhere, and keeps me sane when I am having to wait or watch or…), smaller fragments of driftwood and seaweed, and spool knitted wire cords that I filled with sea glass.

Here’s the lower part of her dress: