For many people the idea of buying a loom, then weaving on it sounds complicated and confusing. Something perhaps best left to professionals and textile artists? This is how I felt whenever I contemplated the practical use of heddles, warp and weft and many other weaving terms. However this week I found myself surrounded by opportunity. We had decided to offer customers the chance to buy 5 of our Mini Looms for the price of 4. This extra interest lead me to having a go, and to see how fool proof these starter looms really are.
Understanding the Warp
The Mini Loom is small and compact, whilst still having enough strength to cope with the kind of tensions that weaving creates. I was pleased to discover that the loom comes already warped. This is the yarn which is tied onto the loom for weaving under and over to create the cloth.
Although the loom is not warped across the full width, the amount did allow me to get started right away. The front beam and the back beam have slots cut along their length approximately 50mm apart so that the lengths of warp can be tied on securely. The beams are attached to the frame with butterfly nuts which when loosened allows them to rotate. This means that the warp threads can be longer than the length of the frame and wound onto the back beam until they are secured at the correct tension.
Starting to Weave on the Mini Loom
Inside the box were also 2 stick shuttles, and a comb for beating down the woven yarn. I decided to use doubled yarn for my weaving. It gives a great multi-coloured effect and I felt the thickness of the two yarns would mean faster progress. I loaded up my shuttle by winding yarn onto it and began to weave.
At first I was confused as to how to separate alternate warp threads and assumed I would be at it for hours. However, I discovered that the simple rocking motion of the heddle smoothly lifts and lowers alternate warp threads to let me to pass the shuttle through the now open shed (space between the warp threads). My weaving started to build quickly and easily, under and over, beating the yarn down. I believe that even when using the finest yarn you would see rapid growth in a very short time.
The edges (or the selvedge) of my weaving is a little wavy. This is because I pulled the weft through too tightly. A trick to control the tension is to push the shuttle through the warp at a slight angle, making the length of yarn a little longer between the edges. This technique helps to maintain the equal space between the warp threads. Practice makes perfect.
Reloading the Shuttle and Changing Yarn Colour
Changing colour in weaving turned out not to be as hard as I expected. It just takes some nimble fingers and patience to get a seamless colour swap.
Weave the last row of your colour up to a point where you have around 6-8cm of yarn left. Ensure you stop at a point where the yarn should be going under the warp thread. Leave this hanging out the back of your weaving. Select a new colour/thickness/type of yarn and wind it onto your shuttle. Leaving a tail the same length as the end of the last colour, begin weaving from where you left off. Ensure that you continue onward going over and under the alternative warp threads of the previous row of colour. Dont make the mistake I did with my first yarn change or you will end up with a row of double stitches! Continue to weave for several more rows until you have a strong, compact weaving that will not slip around on the warp threads.
Winding On
As my weaving grew, and the length of the warp shortened, it began to get difficult to move the heddle smoothly to create a shed for the shuttle. Luckily, this versatile little loom has a solution to that very problem, rolling on. I loosened the front beam (this is the front edge nearest to your body when weaving) and the back beam. Both the beams were then rolled forward equal amounts before re-tightening the butterfly nuts. During this action, a section of my weaving was rolled out of the way onto the front beam (see below). At the same time a length of warp was released from the back beam creating lots more space to weave freely.
What to do with Yarn Ends in your Weaving
This next step can be done during or after finishing weaving. This is how to hide the end and start of the change in colour without knots and to help prevent holes.
Thread the yarn end onto a tapestry needle and locate the very last warp thread that this yarn is woven around. Using your needle, thread the yarn end through at least 4-5 rows of the same coloured weaving, see below.
The yarn ends should now be hidden in your weaving and held in place without the need to tie it. Caution, a very non-compacted weaving will result in the yarn being held very loosely. This can lead to your weaving unravelling, so make sure to use that comb beater!
Do the same for the end of the other colour, again ensuring you thread it into the area of the same colour. Carefully trim any excess yarn that remains. You should end up with a seamless change in yarns/colour with no ugly bumps or knots in your weaving. Not too bad for a newbie!
Text and images by Liam Farlow