You can use canvas stretcher strips, or bars, to create a sturdy but simple frame loom. Designed for stretching canvas in preparation for oil painting, these strips are available at art supply shops and many websites. The directions below are for a frame with 32" sides, but you could easily make one smaller or larger.
For some weaving projects, such as the Carry-All, you’ll need to hammer in nails along the top and bottom to space the warp, but for the Twined Parachute-Cord Mat, spacers are not necessary. The strips shown here have a tongue-and-groove system at each corner.
You Will Need
4 canvas stretcher strips, each 32" long
Rubber mallet or hammer
Four 2" × 3⁄8" flat corner braces and 16 screws to match
Screwdriver
Hammer and finishing nails (optional)
Instructions
1.Slide the strips together at each corner, and give the pieces a few taps with a rubber mallet or hammer to secure them.
2.To provide stability, screw a flat corner brace on the back of the frame at each corner. Take care to use screws that are short enough not to protrude through the wood.
3.If your project requires nails along the top and bottom of the frame to space the warp threads, use finishing nails, set in a zigzag fashion to avoid splitting the wood. For the Carry-All, the warp threads are spaced 1⁄2" apart; you may need a different spacing, depending on what you are weaving. The 28" opening of this frame required 116 nails. (If you add nails for projects like the Carry-All, you can still use the loom for projects like the Twined Parachute-Cord Mat that do not require nails; simply work around the nails in that case.)
How to Make a Heddle Cradle
Rigid-heddle looms have notches to support the heddle and keep it upright while you are threading it. To stabilize a rigid heddle without such support, you can make this simple tool.
You Will Need
2 grip clips (used for holding brooms and other tools against a wall)
1 piece of wood measuring 8" × 12" (or about 2" longer than your heddle)
Screwdriver
Instructions
Affix the grip clips about 8" part, centered widthwise, on the wood. Position the clips so that they face each other, making it easy to slip the heddle into them.
How to Make a Band Lock
A band lock is used to secure one end of the warp when using the backstrap weaving technique. It’s important that the wood pieces you use for this tool are smooth and not at all warped, so that they hold all of the warp threads without allowing them to slip. The 12" length shown here is adequate for an 8"-wide scarf; if you wish to weave something wider, use a piece of wood long enough to accommodate the width.
machine screw and wing nut
You Will Need
Sandpaper
2 pieces of 1"× 1" wood, 12" long
Ruler
Pencil or pen
Drill with 1⁄4" bit
2 machine screws, 2" × 1⁄4", with wing nuts to fit
Instructions
1.Lightly sand the two pieces of wood and lay them on a worktable, one on top of the other, with the ends aligned.
2.Measure and mark drill holes 1" from each end and centered widthwise.
3.Using a 1⁄4" drill bit, drill through both pieces of wood.
4.Insert the machine screws through both pieces of wood, and use the wing nuts to tighten them down.
How to Measure a Warp
For many of the projects in this book, the warp is stretched directly on the loom, frame, or an object. Although you need to know approximately how much yarn you’ll use in total, the separate lengths do not need to be individually cut prior to warping the loom. The yarn is stretched either around the loom or back and forth around notches or pegs that help create tension on the individual threads.
For some types of looms, like multi-harness floor looms as well as for a few projects in this book (including the Leno Scarf and Card-Woven Bookmarks), however, all the warp threads must be measured and aligned before placing them on the loom. On these looms, if your warp is too short, you will run out of warp threads before you finish the project. And if your warp is too long, there will be extra thread left at the end of the project, which is wasteful and can be expensive. So for these types of looms, you need to know the necessary length and how much will be lost to “loom waste” caused by tying the threads to the loom and evening out the tension and spacing. You also have to allow for shrinkage and take-up, meaning how much length is lost in the final project by the warp threads traveling over and under the weft threads.
It is important to keep the warp threads in the correct order as you wind the warp. To do so, wind the warp around warping pegs or use a warping board, as described below.
You Will Need
3 warping pegs and 3 clamps
2 dowels or slats to preserve the cross. Known as “lease sticks,” these should be slightly wider than the width of your project, with a hole drilled through them at each end so you can tie them together.
Warp yarn
String for the choke ties and to fasten the lease sticks together
Instructions
1.Determine the length of the finished project, including any fringe or hems. You need to add some extra length for shrinkage, as well as for the ends of the warp that are unweavable. This extra length is known as “loom waste.”
2.Position three warping pegs as follows: place two at a distance equal to the length you’ve determined your warp should be in step 1; place the third in between those two, about 15" from one of the pegs. This third peg will help you create what is called the cross: you carry the warp yarn over one side of this middle peg when traveling from one end peg to the other, and carry the warp yarn under the other side of the middle peg when returning to the first end peg, thus creating a figure 8. You will insert the lease sticks through this cross, so that when you are threading, you can lift the warp threads off in the order you wound them on without tangling.
4.Place your ball or cone of warp yarn on the floor below the end peg nearer the middle peg and tie the warp yarn to this end peg.
5.Take the warp yarn over the middle peg and around the peg at the other end. As you come back to the first end, take the warp under the middle peg and then to the end peg. With this path complete, you have wound on the first two warp threads.
6.Continue this figure-8 path until you have wound on the number of threads you need for your warp.
7.Before removing the measured warp from the pegs, use a 6" length of string to tie a tight knot around the loop at the end of the warp away from the cross. If you have a long warp (2 yards or more), make additional ties, called choke ties, at 18" intervals along the warp. These ties should be tight, as their purpose is to keep the warp ends from slipping. Use additional 6" lengths of string to make four loose ties at the cross: one on each side of the two pegs where the warp separates around the peg.
8.Cut the loop at the end of the warp nearer the cross, lift the warp off the pegs, and lay it out on your work table.
9.If you are threading your warp through a heddle, as for the Leno Scarf project, run lease sticks through each side of the cross to preserve it (where your ties are). Tie the lease sticks together as shown. It is now safe to remove the ties at the cross and spread the warp evenly between the sticks.
10.Proceed according to project directions.
Six Knots for Weavers
Weavers need to use many knots in many different situations. Here are some of the most useful — and easiest to learn! The project instructions suggest which to use for what purpose.
Overhand Knot
This simple knot is useful for joining two ends quickly and securely. Although it serves the same purpose as the sliding knot, it is larger and not as easily hidden, and therefore should be used only where it won’t show in the finished weaving.
Instructions
1.Position two (or more) lengths of yarn parallel to each other with their tail ends aligned. Make a loop, taking the tail ends from the right and laying them over the working yarn on the left.
2.Reach through the loop and draw the ends through.
3.Pull the ends tight to form the knot.
Square Knot
This is an extremely common and useful knot. It holds quite securely, and it is also easy to untie, if necessary, by pulling up on one of the ends and sliding the knot off the other end.
Instructions
1.Working with two strands of yarn, cross and wrap the left-hand end over the right.
2.Cross and wrap the right-hand end over the left.
3.Pull the ends together to tighten.
Half-Hitch Knots
A half-hitch knot may be made around another strand of yarn or around a structure such as a loom frame or dowels from which a warp is suspended in backstrap weaving.
Leaving at least a 4" tail, wrap the end of the yarn around the structure or yarn that you are attaching it to. Tie a knot by taking the tail end over the working yarn from right to left (a). From the back, take the tail through the loop formed by the wrap (b).
Half-Hitch Knot, a
Half-Hitch Knot, b
To make a double half-hitch knot, tighten the first half-hitch and again take the tail end over the working yarn from right to left (c). From the back, take the tail through the new loop (d).
Double Half-Hitch Knot, c
Double Half-Hitch Knot, d
Sliding Knot
This knot is useful for joining new lengths of yarn that you need to hide on the back of a piece.
Instructions
1.Overlap the old and new ends by about 4". Using the new tail, tie one half of a square knot around the old tail.
2.Tie the old tail around the new tail in the same way (a). Pull on each yarn to draw the knots together (b). Trim the ends.
Step 2a
Step 2b
Slip Knot
This knot is very useful for getting projects started. It holds the yarn in place but can easily be undone by pulling on the short tail.
Instructions
1.Make a loop with the yarn with the long end coming from the left, then make a clockwise circle with the short end staying on top of the long end.
2.With the index finger and thumb of your dominant hand, reach down through the opening in the loop and grab the short tail just after it goes over the loop. The short tail will wrap around the yarn by going over the loop and then coming from under it.
3.Hold the long piece of yarn and the end of the short tail in your nondominant hand and pull the yarn from the short tail up through the loop so the loop traps the ends of both lengths of yarn.
Weaver’s Knot
This is a strong knot that does not come undone easily and has a slim profile. It is good to use when the join needs to be invisible.
Instructions
1.With the working yarn, make an open loop with the short end underneath. Then make a narrow loop with the new yarn.
2.Poke the new yarn loop up through the working yarn loop. Feed the short tail of the working yarn through the new yarn loop.
3.Holding all of the yarn and tails securely, pull to tighten the knot. Trim the tail.
Commonly Used Materials
Needles
Needles come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. Here are some of the common ones we use in this book.
Sewing needle
Blunt-tip embroidery needle
Sharp embroidery needle
Short blunt-tip tapestry needle
Bent-tip tapestry needle
Long blunt-tip tapestry needle
Sashiko needle
5" long needle for using with pin looms
Yarn Sizes
Sometimes very similar yarn goes by different names, depending on what craft you are practicing. These images (shown at actual size) will help you identify the size of yarn referenced for each project.
