In My Weaving Bag || Essential Weaving Supplies

I would love to know where you keep your weaving supplies. Does anyone have a devoted room or studio? I hope to one day have one. I do have a dresser full of weaving stuff, which is pretty neat. (actually the dresser isn’t neat at all. I try to organize it, but it doesn’t last long). Even with this dresser, I still keep my essential weaving tools in a bag that I’ll move around with me as I weave. Isn’t the freedom of a lap loom the best? I can weave on the couch or in my bed, it’s pretty sweet.

Because some of you are new to weaving, I decided to share my weaving tool essentials that I carry around in my bag and also give you some honest feedback on each.  And just so you know, this post contains affiliate links, which means if you click the link and make a purchase you’ll get cool stuff and you’ll be supporting The Weaving Loom at no additional cost to you, win-win!

1| Warp thread

I always have warp thread with me, even if my loom is all warped up I like to have warp thread with me because I sometimes will add it to a weave as a strong hidden support row or even as a fringe to some weaves. Did you see my post on how to add faux warp fringe to a weave? It can also add some texture if you weave it along with another thread that has a higher weight. My favorite warp thread can be found here.

2| Bent tip needle

This is my go to tool for weaving shapes and small areas of a weave. The bent tip allows me to easily pick up the warp threads and work the weft between. I’m never without this tool…unless it falls somewhere when I’m not paying attention, like a couch cushion. I do have more then one because of this, but so far I’ve been able to find them quickly enough if I lose them. Find the bent tip needle I use here.

3| Straight long needle

Those who have been around for a while know how excited I was when I found this needle. I really do love my bent tip needle, but when you’re weaving a large area it doesn’t cut it. This long, straight needle is THE BEST! It easily works the weft across numerous warp threads and saves me a lot of time when weaving. I will forever use this straight needle with my bent tip, they are the perfect pair. The straight needle I use can be found here.

4| Tapestry beater

I like this tool, it comes in handy from time to time. But if I were to be honest I use it maybe 50% of the time. I mostly use my hands to pull the weft threads down the warp, but when I have a large area woven, the tapestry beater does help. It is especially useful if I have a really tight weft too, like thick yarn that isn’t easily pushed down the warp threads. If you want a tool like this, here is the one I use. But you can also use a large fork or comb to do the same thing!

5| Yarn

Haha, of course I have yarn in my weaving bag! I like to keep all the yarn of my current weave in my weaving bag so that I can use it easily without searching. This also helps me with the design process. As you may know, I’ve talked about how I weave with a general idea of a finished weave in mind and make changes as I go. There have been many times when I will be in the middle of a weave and will pull out some yarn I had thought I would use, hold it up to my current work and then change my mind about using it, because it no longer fits with where the weave is going.

I know everyone weaves differently, so I would love to hear what tools you use and could not weave without. Is anyone else get about 50% use out of a tapestry beater? Or do you absolutely use yours all the time? Also what is your weaving setup? And you a weaving nomad inside your home, like me? Or do you have a dedicated weaving space?

Happy Weaving!

Kate

 

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