Tag Archives: rigid heddle weaving

July 1, 2016 · 3:38 pm

Woven Women- Essence

For the last few months, I have been working on a very large mixed media tapestry in my series of ‘Woven Women’.

This one is called: ‘Essence’.

Woven Woman (Essence) by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c)

She’s over 6 feet tall, and has about 2 feet of warp strands hanging below the lower edge, so she’s about 8 feet tall in total.

I used many different looms to weave her…. beginning with my ‘Story Loom’ (designed by Susan Barret Merrill of

Weaving a Life LINK)

“Essence” on the Story Loom (c) Noreen Crone-Findlay

I also used: A rigid heddle loom, a narrow band weaving loom, peg loom, weaving sticks, Star Loom, tatting and wire work.

I posted links to 3 videos that I made about various looms and techniques I used in weaving ‘Woven Woman: Essence” here: LINK

And, made a video so you can see her a little more clearly:

Happy Weaving, and here’s to Essence, however it reveals itself (or in this case: Herself).

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Filed under Loom & looms & small loom weaving, Peg and Stick Loom weaving, tapestry, weaving & handwoven, Woven Women tapestries and woven works

Tagged as hexagon loom, peg loom, rigid heddle weaving, Star loom, Story loom, weaving sticks, woven women tapestries and mixed media weaving by Noreen Crone-Findlay, Woven Women tapestry

October 21, 2015 · 8:28 am

Woven Women: Stardust Woman

For many months, I have been working on a new Woven Woman that is based on Rumi’s poem:

‘We came whirling out of nothingness

Scattering stars like dust…..

The stars made a circle

and in the middle

we danced’

I wove the words on the magical narrow band loom that my son and I created- LINK

using a double slotted rigid heddle.

To weave the letters, I graphed out my hand writing and experimented until the letters wove up in a pleasing manner, both technically, and aesthetically.

I also used the dragonfly and star looms that I designed for Dewberry Ridge looms – LINK

And, I included some tatting, too.

I made the face and hands from 1/2 inch plywood and the backdrop from 1/4 inch plywood.

She’s a departure from the direction I have been going with my Woven Women, so I really questioned myself about her.

She spent quite a long time on the dining room table as I moved her component parts from here to there.

And now, completed, she measures 11 inches wide and from the top of the arch to the tassel at her hem is more than 60 inches.

But, I feel really drawn to weave words right now, so I will continue to do more….

The next Woven Woman is on the loom already. 🙂

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Tagged as 'Woven Women' by Noreen Crone-Findlay, double slotted rigid heddle weaving, dragonfly loom Dewberry Ridge, hand weaving, hand woven, handwoven, mixed media woven works, narrow band loom weaving, Noreen Crone-Findlay, poetry, rigid heddle weaving, Rumi, small loom weaving, Star loom Dewberry Ridge, tatting, textiles, weaving words, Woven Women tapestries by Noreen Crone-Findlay

July 31, 2015 · 12:05 pm

Quirky wonderful loom

My son, Angus Findlay, and I have just co-created a loom and stand that I absolutely love.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay www.tottietalkscrafts.com

Last January, I asked Angus to build me a box that I could turn into a loom.

I made the ratchets and pawls from purpleheart wood, cut the ends and sides into the shapes I wanted, made the warp and cloth beams and started painting it.

I loved it, but found it a bit too big to hold in my lap while weaving, and I didn’t have the perfect table to sit it on and weave comfortably.

So, I asked Angus to take some funky old legs that I had bought at a garage sale, and build a stand for the loom.

Woo hoo! I love it! I am enchanted by Angus’ design and how he built such a whimsical and quirky (and VERY solid and sturdy) loom stand.

He intuitively made it just the perfect height for me.

I brought it home and started playing with embellishments.

I cut out some of my favorite wooden shapes to glue on it, and then painted 3 coats of gesso to prime it.

Then, I slowly began the layering on of paint:

Painting was a long slow process, as I applied layers of acrylic paints in thin washes to build up the color shifts.

The screen behind the loom shows how I use this layering technique on other pieces, too.

I was quite surprised when the loom started to lead me in this direction, as I had had a totally different concept

in mind before I started painting.

But, I believe in listening to the piece and allowing it to tell me how it wants to be.

The ‘Dancing Girl’ and ‘Resting Rabbit’ motifs are a theme that I have used for more than 40 years.

They’re just me.

I made the metal image of the Dreaming Lady of Malta with sheet metal, using the repousse technique of pressing and shaping the metal from the back.

Because I work with my dreams and use them as one of the main sources in my art and artisanship, I felt that placing an image of the Beautiful Dreamer was a great metaphor.

and on the stand, I attached another repousse image that I had made at the same time as making the Dreaming Lady.

This is Xchtel, the Mayan Goddess of weaving, with her companion Rabbit.

So, the metaphor and message of these two images is:

Dream weaver. Weaver of Dreams…..

It is just pure bliss to weave on this loom.

Words cannot convey the delight.

I LOVE how my beloved son, and dear friend, Angus, and I created a loom that is so completely US.

I feel blessed.

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

Tagged as Angus Findlay, band loom, hand made loom, hand weaving, hand woven, handwoven, loom stand, narrow band weaving, Noreen Crone-Findlay, rigid heddle weaving, textiles, weaving, wooden loom

December 16, 2008 · 6:20 am

What’s on your loom for Christmas?

christmas-08-weaving-3

It wouldn’t be a proper Christmas without at least a little weaving!

My daughter and I are co-creating a present for her husband.

I warped up my Cricket (love that loom!) and am weaving up the bands that she is going to use to make him a pair of suspenders.

I wove about 20 feet of really nice bands…. I’ll show you pics when she’s got the suspenders done….

christmas-08-weaving-2

By the way, my husband made me that shuttle one year for my birthday. Isn’t it gorgeous?

He also built me my inkle loom, which I am working with to weave bands that say different things for different members of the family:

christmas-08-weaving-1

That’s for my son’s camera bag…. hope he likes it.

I love doing pickup techniques on the inkle. It’s slow, but satisfying!

So, what’s on your loom for Christmas?

Happy Weaving!

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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Tagged as Christmas presents, handwoven, rigid heddle weaving, small loom weaving

November 19, 2008 · 5:10 am

Another healing/prayer shawl made with the mitered loop method

Last week, I wrote about weaving healing and prayer shawls on my Cricket Loom, using a method that I have developed (the mitered loop shawl). Here’s the link to the tutorial

This is one of the shawls that I have just woven for my daughter. The colors didn’t show up at all well… sigh. It’s much prettier in person! Much more turquoise-y.

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

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Tagged as hand weaving, handwoven, healing shawl, prayer shawl, rigid heddle weaving, Schacht Cricket Loom, small loom weaving

November 11, 2008 · 7:38 pm

Weaving a healing or prayer shawl on the Cricket loom

Recently, my sister-in-law had an abscess in her brain, which is devastating and life threatening.

Her friends and family rallied around her and have formed a loving caregiving team.

I decided that as part of my caregiving, I would weave healing and prayer shawls for her and some of her closest friends.

So, I warped up the Cricket Loom from Schacht (I love this loom…. it’s beautifully engineered and weaves like a dream. It’s small enough to be portable – you can weave in the car, and big enough to handle full size projects.)

Here’s the Cricket warped up for one of the healing / prayer shawls:

I put approximately 150 inches of warp onto the loom, which is pushing the limit, but there’s a reason for that.

I used Caron Simply Soft combined with some tweed weaving thread from my stash for the warp, and the tweed thread for the weft.

I used 2 strands of yarn in each of the slots and holes. I put the tweed yarn only in the holes and the mixture of yarns in the slots.

After I wove the long strip of fabric, I folded it, and stitched the ends together like this:

This forms a long loop. Trim the excess warp strands to a few inches. If you use a sewing machine, use a zig zag stitch. If you do it by hand, work a Philipine edge first to secure the warp strands

Now, fold the ends into points: