Tag Archives: Noreen Crone-Findlay

April 18, 2013 · 4:23 pm

DIY How to turn a computer desk into a loom stand with treadles

A couple of months ago, I bought the neatest loom on Kijiji.

It’s a 2 harness Leclerc table loom, with a weaving width of 20 inches.

It’s a joy to weave on, but my tendons were grousing about the side levers and my back was honking at me.

I figured that there had to be a cheap and cheerful way to build a stand with treadles for it….

and VOILA!!!!! (happy dance)

I have just figured out how to do it! Wheeeeeeeee!

Several years ago, we bought a metal Ikea computer desk at the thrift store.

I didn’t like having half of the top attached at an angle.

So my beloved DH, Jim and I drilled some holes, took the angled section off and re-attached it so it was nice and flat.

I had passed the desk along to my daughter and her husband, and when they gave it back to me last week, I was inspired.

First, to make the desk a comfortable height for weaving, I cut 3 inches off the legs with a pipe cutter- whew!

That was HARD work!

I mulled over how to attach the loom to the top of the desk, as it was just a hare’s breath away from fitting properly.

I took the top apart and played with the sections to see if I could come up with a workable solution- and then- woohoo!

I discovered that the chanels for a sliding mouse pad section that were supposed to be on the under side of the desk top, fitted the crosspiece of the loom perfectly! Jubilation!

I zip tied the sides of the loom to the desk and was happy as a clam…..

except…. for the pesky owees of the tendons grizzling about the side levels, and my back spazzing out on me.

Hmmmmm…..

Inspiration! add lamms and treadles!

I started by cutting a support piece at the side, and bolting it to the side of the stand.

I used 2 angle brackets as the support for the lamms (with a little block to fill in excess space).

Then, I drilled holes in the lamms for cords to the levers and to the treadles.

I tied the lamms to the levers and was verrrrrrrry pleased! Things were moving along quite nicely!

There had to be a way of supporting and securing the treadles, so I used a board from an old pallet, and drilled 2 holes for the legs. Poifeck.

I had a 6 inch length of threaded 1/4 inch steel rod, which I ran through the treadles (which I had cut out of scrap lumber).

The treadles were too wide at first, so I cut dippsy doodles into them to make them fit better.

The most frustrating part of the whole process was finding nuts that would go onto the threaded rod. Grrrrrrrrr!

I finally ended up filing the ends of the rod, as I just couldn’t get anything to thread onto the rod. Once I did that, zip! on went 2 nuts, happy as can be.

I screwed the whole treadle mechanism to the crossboard on the floor, and tied the treadles to the lamms…..

and held my breath…… what if it didn’t work? eep….. that would have been 3 hours down the tubes….

BUT! Joy! and whee and halleujah! It works like a dream!

So, if you would like to have a floor loom, but don’t have the ca$h, watch for a table loom on the various online places, and convert a desk into a stand for it.

You’ll need to have some basic carpentry skills, and I couldn’t have managed drilling the holes through the sides of the treadles without a drill press, but I bet you could do it if you had to.

Here’s the video that I made about how to convert a computer desk into a loom stand with treadles:

Here are some notes to keep in mind if you would like to adapt my project for your table loom:

Things to look for in a desk or table that you want to use for a loom stand:
1: Being able to bolt or screw the lamm support piece along the left hand side of the table/desk legs is essential.
2: Being able to shorten the legs to drop the height of the table to a comfortable ergonomic height is also essential.
3: Being able to attach the loom to the table is one more essential. (Clamps? Zip ties? A channel like the one on mine was a piece of beautiful serendipity)

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Filed under eco crafts & green projects, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as diy, eco project, green project, hand woven, how to hack an old Ikea desk into a loom stand, how to turn a computer desk into a loom stand, Leclerc table loom, loom stand, Noreen Crone-Findlay, treadles, video tutorial, weaving

March 29, 2013 · 10:12 am

A new woven shirt to celebrate springtime

Springtime has been hopelessly late here in Alberta, so I decided to go ahead and celebrate it anyhow, by making myself a new shirt.

I wove the fabric last year:

I wove the fabric on my Saori loom:

This became a sleeve:

I used my ‘standard’ shirt pattern, Simplicity 2741 LINK

And shortened the sleeves, as I have short arms.

BUT… I blythely cut it out and sewed it up in, ahem, my husband’s size, oops…. so it is too big for me.

Ah well, I guess that’s better than being too small, isn’t it? 🙂

I did all kinds of clasped weft and inlay on body of the shirt.

These are techniques that are used a lot in Saori weaving.

Saori is weaving based on the philosophy of creative self discovery through free form weaving.

See Saori Japan LINK

At times, when I was weaving the little squares, I had up to 8 extra shuttles in the row.

Doing inlaid sections slows down the weaving process, but it is really worth it.

Here’s the other sleeve:

I used inkle woven bands for the collar and cuffs.

I am not going to put buttons on it, as I don’t think that I would ever wear it buttoned up.

So, this is my celebration of Spring…. hope you are celebrating merrily, too!

Happy Springtime! 🙂

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

Tagged as clasped weft, handwoven shirt, inlay weaving, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Saori weaving, weaving techniques, woven garments, woven shirt

February 20, 2013 · 8:52 pm

Finished my eBook on Woven Jewelry (Happy Dancing)

Do you hear that skippetty thump thump?

That’s me, happy dancing!

I’ve been working on a new eBook for more than 6 months and I have FINALLY finished it!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEE! and Squeeeeeeeeeeeeee! 😀

What’s it about?

Jewelry Woven on weaving sticks: LINK TO MY WEBSITE to see lotsa pics and order it, too 🙂

I’ve designed a slew of wonderful necklaces, bracelets and pins that are just sooooooooooo neat!

Some of them, like this bracelet, are woven with t shirt yarn, so woots!

You can be super eco friendly and upcycle and recycle at the same time as weaving and wearing fab jewelry!

Speaking of being eco-friendly, I show you how to make funky, cheap and cheerful embellishments and nifty closures for necklaces and bracelets:

You can use all kinds of yarns, cords, threads, fabric strips, paper ribbon- you name it….

I love weaving jewelry, and hope that you will, too!

So scoot on over to my website, and see more pics and order the book, and start weaving!

Happy weaving! 🙂

8 Comments

Filed under eco crafts & green projects, jewelry, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Peg and Stick Loom weaving, peg looms and weaving sticks, weaving & handwoven

Tagged as fashion, how to weave jewelry, Noreen Crone-Findlay, paper ribbon, small loom weaving, stick loom weaving, style, weaving stick loom, woven jewelry

February 17, 2013 · 5:54 pm

Woven Women – Blythe Spirit

This week’s tapestry is a love song to my beloved cousin who died from a brain tumor.

She was a total sweetheart and I miss her so much.

She was a gifted photographer, and I based this tapestry on a self portrait that she took of herself not long before she died.

I’ve named it, ‘Blythe Spirit’, because that’s what she is….. a lovely soul!

6 Comments

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

Tagged as arts, creativity, Noreen Crone-Findlay, tapestry, woven images, Woven Women tapestries

February 15, 2013 · 7:50 pm

How to weave a hexagon using continuous warping and weaving techniques on the Lily Speed O Weave loom

A couple of years ago, when I was working on the designs for The Lily Speed O Weave design book LINK,

I figured out how to weave a hexagon on the loom, using continuous weaving methods.

The method is slightly tricky (it took me a LOT of experimenting to figure it out!) and has one disadvantage….

You have to use quite bulky yarn or else the hexagon is really loopy and open meshy (aka ‘sleazy’).

I decided that this made it not worthwhile to share the technique, as the knotting technique that was traditional for the Lily Speed O Weave loom allowed you to use absolutely any weight of yarn or thread.

Besides, I had figured out a way of speeding up and streamlining the knotting process, so I decided to just go with that.

But, a few days ago, a lady on Ravelry asked if anyone knew how to weave continuously on the hex loom and wasn’t into the knotting technique.

So, I figured…. okay…. I’ll make a video showing how to do this….

The secret to weaving continuously on the Lily Speed O weave looms?

Mashing up triangle loom weaving techniques with the continuous weaving technique of the potholder loom.

AND>>>> There’s a VERY important switcheroo that you have to make, mid-stream, as it were. 🙂

Once you have mastered the technique, it’s REALLY quick and easy to weave up hexagons on the Lily Speed O Weave loom!

And, here’s the video to show you how to do it:

Happy Hexagons! 🙂

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

Tagged as bulky yarn, hand weaving, handwoven, hexagon motifs, hexagonal loom, hexagons, how to weave a hexagon, Lily loom, Lily Speed-O-Weave loom, Noreen Crone-Findlay, potholder loom, small loom weaving, video tutorial, weaving loom

January 25, 2013 · 12:07 pm

Woven Women- Out of the Mist

My mother passed away recently, and one of the ways that I have been processing my grief is to take it to my looms and weave about it.

Because I am deeply focused on weaving tapestries and woven pieces for my solo show, ‘Woven Women’, it was natural that this weaving would take the form of a Woven Woman.

My mother suffered from a form of dementia, I have been feeling is how sweet it is for her to be released from that dreadful fog of confusion……..

And, so, I have woven a piece on my Saori loom with supplemental embellishment with my stick weaving loom, that I call:

“Out of the Mist”. She’s approximately 30 inches tall by about 10 inches wide at the widest point:

‘Out of the Mist’ by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

One of my close friends gave me a seashell instead of a card, and it felt natural to have it become part of this piece.

I made a Kumihimo cord and tied a Celtic everlasting knot, which is stitched to her forehead, but barely visible under her cowl.

Weaving this tribute brought me great peace and comfort, and I think that my Mom would like it a lot.

Yes, I think that she does…

62 Comments

Filed under Peg and Stick Loom weaving, peg looms and weaving sticks, weaving & handwoven, Woven Women tapestries and woven works

Tagged as 'Woven Women' by Noreen Crone-Findlay, death, grief, grieving, hand weaving, hand woven, healing, healing through weaving, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Saori weaving, weaving, weaving loom

December 7, 2012 · 11:45 am

Dreaming of color and weaving the vest

Last Sunday morning, I had an inspiring dream.

I dreamt that I was invited to visit the workroom of a friend who passed on awhile ago.

She and I had written back and forth for several years before her death.

I still hold her dear in my heart, even though we never got to meet, face to face, in this world.

Anyhow, in the dream, I was invited into 2 gorgeous little rooms that were full, floor to ceiling, with antique drawers and shelves, full of exquisite handmade lace and yarn, and thread and weaving and embroidery.

It gave me a whole new view of heaven! 😀

I was particularly moved by the colors of one jacket and 2 bags that were woven with a range of reds and blues and then embroidered with yellow silk thread.

For the rest of this week, I have been glued to my loom, and then my sewing machine, weaving a vest that was inspired by the dream.

It has been such an interesting voyage of discovery, as it took me places that I didn’t expect to go, and it had it’s own rules and requirements.

Here it is:

I wove it on my Saori loom, blending the yarns on the bobbin, and adding and picking up strands of weft as I wove.

I knew that I was going to be shaping the vest by pulling on warp strands to add the curves that would build the vest, so I worked at making the shapes of the clasped weft be conducive to the warp pulling process.

I had thought that I would use the narrow band to add another ruffle to the outside edge, but I decided instead, to use it to weave the back of the vest.

This is one of the things I love about Saori weaving- being able to do freeform work that takes off in a different direction than I had originally planned!

I like to shape the garment after I have woven it, so I do my warp pulling after the weaving is off the loom, and don’t do any shaping on the loom.

The butterfly was woven while it was still on the loom.

I had thought that I would embroider lots of dragonflies onto the vest.

I didn’t embroider the dragonflies while it was on the loom, as I wasn’t sure where I would be placing the pulled warp sections, and didn’t want the embroidery to be distorted or to interfere with the pulling process.

I had woven the butterfly a couple of weeks ago, and set it aside, as the piece that it had originally been part of felt like it was a ‘fail’.

How wrong I was! The butterfly and another section of the ‘fail’, fitted into the back of the vest just perfectly.

I thought that I would tat some dragonflies and stitch them on, but they just didn’t work.

It’s a wonderfully comfortable vest, and every time I wear it, I will think of a dear friend, and how she still inspires me!

So, my friends, here’s to life, to color, to love, and to the creative process!

May you weave sweet, colorful dreams! 😀

And, here is a video on how to shape fabric by pulling warp strands:

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

Tagged as butterfly motifs, clothing, color in weaving, creativity, dream, dreams, Noreen Crone-Findlay, Saori weaving, style, woven vest

December 3, 2012 · 2:30 pm

Dragonfly wrap

Even though the world outside my studio is deeply blanketed in snow:

There are flowers blooming in the studio:

And, now, Dragonflies, with their lovely healing energy, are dancing in my studio!

I have just finished embroidering dragonflies and spirals on a prayer shawl that I wove on my 4 harness loom, inspired by Saori weaving:

It’s 13 inches wide and 101 inches long, so can be wrapped in all kinds of different ways:

Here are views of some of the dragonflies:

I used chenille, cotton, silk and rayon in the dragonfly wrap/prayer shawl.

Usually, I do the embroidery while the shawl is still on the loom, but this time, I chose to do the embroidery afterwards, as I needed to see the placement of the spirals and dragonflies on the piece as a whole.

Dragonflies always fill me with a sense of awe and wonder.

It makes perfect sense to me that people who are engaged in healing often feel that the dragonfly has special significance to them.

They certainly do to me! 🙂

9 Comments

Filed under weaving & handwoven

Tagged as dragonflies, dragonfly shawl, dragonfly wrap, embroidered dragonflies, handwoven shawl, healing energy, Noreen Crone-Findlay, prayer shawl

October 14, 2012 · 11:48 am

Update on progress in tapestries Oct 2012

Yesterday, I took a tapestry off my 16 inch Mirrix loom- it’s nowhere near being finished as I am going to be doing embroidery on it.

I thought that I would give an update on the tapestries that I am weaving for my solo show next summer.

So, even though NONE of these pieces are anywhere close to being done, here’s a quick little glimpse at the works in progress:

And yes, I did plaster copyright notices all over them, as I have found that images have a way of getting away from you, so I want people to be able to follow them home!

The large tapestry is about a meter long – when you use extenders on the 16 inch loom, you can weave very long pieces.

On the music stand are 2 tapestries that I am just getting started on.

The 12 inch tapestry has gobbled up all my ‘s’ hooks, so I need to go buy some more.

I warped up my 5 inch Mini in a totally outside the box way….. totally outside the Scrabble box, that is!

I bought a couple of extra Scrabble games from the thrift shop so I could use the letters for my titles of my video tutorials.

I plunked the tile holders into a drawer and occasionally, I wonder what I will do with them.

Well… the other day, when I was puzzling over how I could warp the Mini when all my ‘s’ hooks are in use elsewhere, I had a flash of inspiration-

I duct taped 2 of them together to make a cap to go over the Mini’s knobs at the top of the loom!

This is the back of the loom, showing how I warped it continuously, going over the ‘Scrabble Cap’.

It works brilliantly!

I don’t like showing a piece before I have made some progress on it.

In November, I’ll do another update, and hopefully, I’ll have lots more to show you! 🙂

Weaving Baskets on Small Looms

I love weaving baskets on small looms.

I have just released a new pattern that has step by step photos showing how to weave these gorgeous baskets, using the easiest little loom ever made, the weaving stick loom:

This basket was woven with paper ribbon and embellished with buttons that I made from arbutus twigs and coconut shells.

The heart shaped basket has a plywood heart base (the template for the heart is included in the pattern).

Here, the heart basket is woven with art yarn:

Workshop participants who were learning how to weave the baskets asked me:

What can we use these baskets for?

Anything that fits in them that you want to keep organized! Beads, hair clips, packages of smallness, buttons, thread, bobbins, yarn….

The large oval basket in the photo above was woven with strips of torn fabric, so it’s a great eco option.

The yo yo flowers that embellish it’s side are made from scraps of upcycled fabric. (The instructions on how to make the yo yo circles are also included in the pattern).

This basket is great for holding fruit or heaps of little green tomatoes while they ripen, or anything else your heart desires.

Because it’s made of cloth, if it gets soiled, it can just be rinsed clean.

The green round basket is woven in the same way as the pink and blue one in the photo below, but I pulled up on the warp strands of the upper edges of the green one to curve it in.

So you can see that a small change makes a huge difference in the look of the basket.

I did the same thing to curve the top edge of the black oval shaped basket that is woven in exactly the same way as the paper ribbon basket.

The yarn that you use (combine several strands to get neat effects) and how you embellish the basket will guarantee that each basket that you make is totally unique.

The pattern can be ordered from: LINK

Another set of baskets that I designed has recently been released on the Lion Brand website.

I designed some rectangular baskets, embellished with dragonflies, for the Martha Stewart loom.