Tag Archives: loom

January 14, 2015 · 10:22 pm

Upcycling a little box into a band loom

I absolutely love weaving Scandinavian style woven bands, using different styles of rigid heddles.

A few weeks ago, as we were cleaning and clearing in preparation for our big move, we found some sweet little drawers that my father in law had made many decades ago.

He had reclaimed some tiny little wooden butter boxes and made wee drawers for his workshop with them:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay www.tottietalkscrafts.com

And, since then, the idea for building a tiny, oh so portable band weaving box loom has been gestating in my mind….

After much trial and error, I have built the little loom, and absolutely adore it!

I have made a small video that shows what I did to build this little charmer:

This is the ratchet and pawl that I designed for my loom.

I made them from a scrap of marine plywood, which allowed me to curve the pawl.

I am going to make the next one from a piece of purpleheart that we’ve been saving, so I am going to make the pawl straight, to make it stronger and not risk breaking it by cutting a curve against the grain.

If you are interested in learning more about weaving Scandinavian style narrow bands, definitely seek out the work of the marvelous weaver extraordinaire, Susan Foulkes:

http://durhamweaver64.blogspot.co.uk/

And, if you’d like to see some of the ways that I use narrow bands please click:

https://tottietalkscrafts.com/2014/08/08/woven-women-small-bird-sang-and-all-was-forgiven/

Note: I have upgraded the little box loom…. it’s even better!

Here’s a link to how the little band loom has evolved: LINK

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Filed under band loom, eco crafts & green projects, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, tutorial & how to, video tutorial, weaving & handwoven, woodwork

Tagged as hand weaving, hand woven, how to build a box loom, how to make a band loom, loom, narrow band weaving, Noreen Crone-Findlay, reclaiming, recycling, Scandinavian style, upcycled box loom, upcycling, video tutorial, vintage butter box, woodworking

June 5, 2014 · 7:54 pm

Folding stand for my Mirrix tapestry loom

I am pleased as can be- I’ve just built myself a spiffy new folding stand for my Mirrix tapestry loom.

I’ve done several variations on this loom stand – I began by designing a folding stand for my copper pipe looms LINK

And, then, used the same concept to make a very upcycled version from cardboard tubes and broomsticks LINK

For this version, I used conduit pipes and neat corner thingies to make it, and it has worked out a fair treat!

Here’s the video that I made as I was building it:

The key to the success of the folding loom stand is a pivoting clamp- here’s the link to how I did that: LINK

I’ve signed up for Rebecca Mezoff’s online tapestry class LINK, and am looking forward to getting my Mirrix warped up and weaving on it.

🙂 I love my new stand! 🙂

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

Tagged as folding loom stand, how to make a folding loom stand, loom, loom stand, Mirrix, pivoting clamp for loom, stand for Mirrix loom, tapestry, tapestry weaving, video tutorial

April 17, 2014 · 9:34 am

How to build an upcycled loom and stand from recycled stuff

For the last month or so, I have been building and weaving up a storm.

I am part of a project in Edmonton, Alberta, called, Green Windows City, that has partnered 13 artists with small shops in the arts district.

The artists are creating installations built from upcycled or recycled stuff, and are creating magic!

Today is installation day, so I will take photos after I complete my installation and post them.

One of the really fun things that I have done is to design and build a tapestry loom (although it can be used for other things than tapestry) and stand from trash.

I built the loom from a picture frame and the stand for the loom using heavy cardboard tubes thrown away by the fabric store, an old broomstick and a few nuts and bolts.

It has ingenious ways of tensioning the warp strands, and opening the sheds for ease of weaving.

All it all, it is a wonderfully functional loom and stand that is almost no cost.

To my delight, I have found it to be a loom that I love and will be using for years.

I liked it so much that I have built a second one to be weaving on while this one is busy being in the installation.

I made a video showing how to make the loom and stand, and how to warp it (including the warping device that I messed up on and then replaced LOL)

Here’s the video- it’s a cheap and cheerful way of creating a really great little tapestry loom.

I love it, and hope you will, too!