Tag Archives: weaving technique

August 3, 2012 · 1:04 pm

Mirrix Loom Weave Along Soumak Pouch- 1- Warp and Weft

In September, I will be leading a Weave Along, using Mirrix Looms.

I will be posting the pattern, video tutorials, instructions and step by step photos for the Weave Along here on Tottie Talks Crafts.

The project is a Business Card Pouch, which also works well as a cellphone pouch, woven in Soumak, embellished with corded edges and chain stitch embroidery.

I have designed it to be welcoming to entry level weavers, but also, with options that will appeal (I hope) to more advanced weavers, too.

Because it can take awhile to get orders cleared and shipped, I am posting some suggested warp and weft yarns, as well as the links for ordering them now.

Hopefully, your yarns will arrive before September first.

Here are a few photos of some of the Business Card pouches that I have woven so far:

This is the first Business card pouch that I wove, using:

Harrisville Warp LINK

and: Wool weft: Harrisville Variety Yarn Pack: Brights LINK

I wove the second pouch with the Harrisville warp and for weft:

Harrisville Variety Yarn Pack Jewels LINK

I quite like both p0uches, but …. OOPS!

They are slightly too small for their intended purpose! EEGADS! Business cards don’t fit in them!

So, I went back to the drawing board, and altered the pattern.

By then, gorgeous yarn had arrived from Lion Brand yarns: LINK TO BONBON YARN

The photo doesn’t convey the scale of the balls of Bonbon…

They are tiny, perfect little balls of loveliness. Each of them is 2 1/2 inches (6cm) tall.

The cotton is simply gorgeous to weave with. I love it.

I wove these Pouches in Bonbon cottons, with Metallic chain stitch embroidery:

I used the ‘Nature’ colorway for the pouch in the photo above, and ‘Beach for the pouch in the photo below:

The Metallic yarns come in six packs, as does the cotton. I used yarns from both colorways: Party and Celebrate, for these pouches.

My daughter in law suggested that I add a swivel snap hook to the upper corner of the pouch.

I thought that it was a great suggestion, and so I have added it.

The swivel clip allows you to clip it to your bag, or the belt loop of blue jeans.

If your cellphone is one of the larger ones, you may need to upsize your pouch if you would rather use it as a cellphone pouch instead of a business card pouch.

I used Lion Cotton for the warp for these two pouches, because I wanted to use yarns that you can order at the same time to make this all easier for you:

I wasn’t sure if it would work for the projects, but it does just fine.

I don’t think that I would use it for tapestry warp for a really large project, because it has a cheerful slightly bouncy nature.

Warp for tapestry really does need to be made of sterner stuff 😀 None of that youthful springiness!

Speaking of warp- a couple of my Ravelry friends have asked if carpet warp would be okay for the Weave Along, and yes, indeed, it will work fine.

I am going to weave some of the pouches on carpet warp, and also on the green linen that’s on that ginormous spool.

In my next post, I will show you the equipment, materials and tools that you will need to gather up for the Weave Along.

Here’s the link to a post that has all the blog post links, to keep everything quick and easy to refer to : LINK

You are invited to post comments on the blog posts here on Tottie Talks Crafts.

CHECK LIST FOR WARP AND WEFT:

– warp

-weft

-optional contrast yarn for chain stitch embellishment

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

Tagged as Business card pouches, embellishment, hand weaving, hand woven, handwoven, how to weave, Mirrix looms, Noreen Crone-Findlay, soumak weave, textiles, Weave along, weaving technique

February 28, 2012 · 12:58 pm

Video tutorial-How to shape fabric by pulling the warp strands

Yesterday, I posted a blog entry about a shrug that I sewed from my handwoven fabric. (LINK)

And, then, was asked- ‘Yes, but what does it mean when you say: Pull warp strands?’

So, I have made a video tutorial, showing how to pull warp strands to shape ruffles, like the lower edge of the shrug,

or the upper edge of the ‘Woven Woman: Butterfly Transformation” LINK (to see the full piece)

Or, you can pull and ease the warp strands into a more graduated curve, like the yoke of this tunic:

Here’s a closer look:

And here’s the video:

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Filed under inkle, Loom & looms & small loom weaving, tutorial & how to, weaving & handwoven, Woven Women tapestries and woven works

Tagged as Accessories, band weaving, dress, dressmaking, fabric link, fiber art, hand weaving, hand woven, handwoven fabric, how to shape handwoven fabric by pulling warp strands, inkle weaving, narrow bands, prayer link, sewing, video tutorial, warp, warp strands, weaves, weaving technique, youtube

January 10, 2012 · 4:47 pm

Now the corrected video for weaving on double hole rigid heddle loom

I am so excited- I have just learned more exciting things about weaving with the double hole rigid heddle loom!

The other day, I posted a video about how thrilled I was because I had finally figured out how to weave with the double hole or 2 holed rigid heddle loom. Link to previous blog post

I had extrapolated from how I wove pickup on the inkle loom, and was, to put it bluntly, wrong wrong wrong about so much of what I was doing.

A lady on the Braids and Bands list LINK on yahoo very politely, graciously and gently let me know that there was a much better way to weave with the double hole rigid heddle.

She told me that the Latvian way is to NOT drop the background strands, but to keep them in the weaving- and ONLY drop the pattern threads when they are not called for in the pattern.

That way, they would form tabby weaving, with no long floats (Happy dancing!) with the pattern threads showing up beautifully in reverse on the back of the band! H A P P Y HAPPY DANCING!

Look at the difference! the bit of band on the left was my first way, and the bit of band on the left is the right way!

Who wouldn’t want their bands to be sturdier, and reversible?

AND here’s MORE good stuff:

I also decided to get over my attachment to the weaving stick, and to keep my hot little hands out of the weaving, and to weave it like a traditional weaver (I almost added the ‘put on the big weaver panties, but didn’t, oh wait, I just did….) and weave the band ONLY with my shuttle.

Well, of course, that speeds things up and I am now clipping along like Daisytrains, merrily weaving MUCH nicer bands!

Not perfect, but oh soooooooooooo much better!

I have deleted the first video, and have made another, showing my next stage of the journey.

Once, when I was a child, I must have said something very stupid, because my father raised his eyebrow, fixed me with a baleful gaze and pronounced that Abraham Lincoln had declared that it was better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt.

ouch.

Well, I think that Abraham Lincoln and my father weren’t ~always~ right about remaining silent.

If I hadn’t had the courage to speak up and be willing to be found wrong about what I was doing with this, I would STILL be doing it wrong.

So, I say: Be willing to be thought a fool.

Speak up and ask.

There are kind people out there who are willing to show you a different way of doing something, and that way may make a world of difference in a skill that you are learning.

BUT… you’ll never know if you don’t have the guts to say:” This is what I am working on – got any suggestions?”

Besides, when you have big ‘aha’ moments in your learning curve, it can really be useful to other people!

So, that being said: Here’s the latest installment in my voyage of discovery with the 2 hole rigid heddle loom!

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

Tagged as 2 hole rigid heddle loom, double hole rigid heddle weaving, hand woven, narrow band, rigid heddle weaving, weaving, weaving bands, weaving technique

January 3, 2012 · 3:20 pm

Video tutorial for NOT chained finish for woven squares

My favorite method to weave on looms that have pegs or nails, like the Potholder loom, or Lil Weaver looms from Dewberry Ridge (LINK), is to weave with the continuous Potholder loom weaving method.

Usually, when you weave a square on the potholder loom, or other small loom, using the potholder loom method, you will need to chain the edge to finish it.

BUT… that can really affect the finished size of tiny squares, when working on the little 2 or 3 1/2 or 4 inch size looms.

So! I have come up with a way of finishing the edges of the squares, while you weave them. Voila! No need to chain the edge!

Why would anyone want to weave on such tiny looms?

Well… they are so portable, you can take them anywhere,

AND… because weaving miniatures is so much fun :o)

Wee-woven-monster-and-kitty (c) Norteen Crone-Findlay

The Wee Woven monster in the photo above was woven using the Kitty pattern from my book: WEAVAGARUMI LINK

You can see the difference in size- The Weavagarumi Kitty is woven on the potholder loom (also from Dewberry Ridge POTHOLDER LOOM link )

and the Wee Woven Monster is woven on the 2 inch Lil Weaver. Fun!

Here’s the youtube video with the tutorial on how to make some ‘edge magic’!

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

Tagged as Dewberry Ridge Looms, finishing techniques, hand weaving, hand woven, hints and tips, how to, how to weave a not chained continuous finished edge, Lil Weaver, plushies, small loom weaving, video tutorial, Weavagarumi, weaving technique, woven toys, yarnm

December 5, 2011 · 12:23 pm

New video tutorial on how to weave smooth edges with 2 colors on Martha Stewart loom

I was asked a very good question last week.

A lady on Ravelry was having a hard time with wonky edges on the Martha Stewart loom, when she wove with more than one color. How to fix this?

2 color weaving on Martha Stewart loom by Noreen Crone-Findlay (c

By the way in the photo above, I couldn’t resist including the yummy cupcake my daughter made for her little one’s birthday – I don’t recommend eating while weaving! 😀
Here’s the link to the video tutorial that shows the nifty trick that I have figured out for making lovely edges when weaving on small looms.
And yes, this technique works great for potholder looms, too!