The Weaving Loom The Modern Lap Loom Weaver's Resource

The more you do something, the more you learn, and weaving is no exception. I definitely made my fair share of mistakes when I first started weaving (and still do!). I recently got a question from a really nice reader. She sent me a picture of her weave she had a question on and I saw that she had some spots where her warp was overexposed. She was nice enough to let me share with all of you the issue so that others can learn from it, if they too run into this.

So here is a picture of her piece and as you can see where I have the arrows, these spots have overexposed warp threads. To avoid this while weaving the weft should have been brought over at one more row to cover more of the warp. However if you get all the way finished with your weave and you just noticed you have overexposed warp areas, here is a cheat way to fix it.

I put together a mock-up of the issue, where you can see there are some gaps of overexposed warp. To fix the overexposed areas take about 6 inches of the same yarn, that should have been woven one more row. For my example I’m going to use a yarn that is a lighter blue and also a dark blue yarn that matches. This way you’ll better be able to follow what I’m doing with the lighter yarn, yet see how well the same color blends in.

Flip your weave over so that you’re looking at the back. Wrap your fixing thread around the front of the over exposed warp thread so that you have both yarn tails in the back of your weave as shown. Now take those two yarn tails and pull them through the backs of at least 2 warps. You will be pulling your new thread behind your already woven thread of the same color.

Flip your weave back to the front, you might need to do some minor adjusting if your weft threads got out of place from adding these fix threads. But as you can see here is what the piece looks like fixed. The light blue is very visible because of the color difference, however note that you can’t see the yarn tails of the light blue because they are woven behind the dark blue weft. The dark blue weft fix is nearly invisible. If you didn’t know there was a fixed area, then you probably wouldn’t notice it at all, pretty simple right? And no need to pull apart your whole weave.

Have you ever finished your whole weave and then realized there was a mistake in it? Did you end up figuring out a cheat fix like me, or did you un-do your weave?

If you want to see what I’m currently working on, check out my instagram!

Also if you’re having an issue with gaps in your weave, check out my post on how to fix those here.

Happy Weaving!

Kate

Weaving Wishlist

Weaving Wishlist || Patons Wool Roving

I like to buy local and handmade whenever possible, but I came across this cool yarn a while back in my local craft store and wanted to share with you all. It’s called Patons Classic Wool Roving (affiliate link). This yarn is 100% wool and comes in a few different colors.

So normally wool roving is really thick, but this has been pulled with a very, very slight twist so it’s still roving but it’s kind of thin, at least as far as roving goes. What I like about this yarn is it has a crazy amount of texture. I actually used it in my weft facing weave example because it is thicker then a worsted weight yarn.

If you wanted, you could combine a few strands of this wool roving to create a thicker roving look. I’ve used this by itself and also paired it with a cotton yarn, which created a really interesting texture.

Do you prefer to buy handmade weaving supplies, or do you find yourself at stores like Joann more often? I would love to hear about any wishlist worthy items you have come across.

Here are some more of my weaving wishlist items:

Happy Weaving!

Kate

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, you’ll help support The Weaving Loom, and you’ll receive some amazing stuff, too. Whohoo!

Weaving Techniques

Weaving Techniques || Weft Facing Weave

I often talk about how I use a worsted or DK weight yarn to weave with so that I can push the rows down tight and mostly cover my warp, but recently I tried the weft facing weave and this really works to hide the warp threads, even for thicker yarns. And this weave is super simple, in fact you’ll laugh at how simple it is.

The pattern for the weft facing weave is to bring the weft over two warp threads and under one. Then repeat two over one under, etc. See simple. The neat thing about this weave is that it floats the weft over the warp threads and the more you push your rows down together, the more the warps are hidden.

The above picture shows the difference between the plain weave and the weft facing weave. I woven the top rows in the plain weave, the middle rows in the weft facing weave, and then the bottom rows in the plain weave again. As you can see the warp is totally hidden in the middle rows. Well not so much at the very bottom and top of the weft facing weave because these rows don’t have pressure on them so they are spreading out. But if you were to weave with this weft facing in a full weave the warp threads would be covered nicely.

Here is a closer shot of the threads and you can see that middle section is covering much more of the warps compared to the bottom and top sections in the same yarn. It also gives your weave a little more texture, because as I pointed out before your weft is floating over your warp threads more and giving your weave a more bubbly look.

What do you think of this weft facing weave? Do you think you might try it in one of your weaves?

Happy Weaving!

Kate

Uncategorized

Weave Experiments || My Most Challenging Weave

If you already have seen my post on how to fix a weave that is wavy once you cut it off the loom, then you have seen this weave before and you understand that it was a challenging weave for me. But the waviness after taking my weave off the loom, is only half the story.

When I first started this weave, I had a very specific idea in my head and I worked towards creating that idea. My thought was mainly focused around colors. I felt that it would look really cool to have a bright pink with some dark blue in it surrounded by neutrals. As I wove this I noticed that the pink parts were looking really flat, so I tried adding in some other colors like an orange and a red to go along with the pink. And that didn’t really work for me either. Really great tapestry artists know how to mix colors, and I’m not there yet, but how else do you get there then by trying and trying again. Well anyway, I made myself work on it until I completed this whole weave, which of course I don’t have a picture of. This is probably because by the time I got to the end of my weaving I really hated it. I tried to like it, but it was just so dang ugly and very far from what I had envisioned in my mind.

So what to do next? Well, I knew that I liked the dark blue part so that was staying, but what about all that pink. At first I thought maybe I could keep most of the pink and just add to it, so I pulled out some of the pink weft and then just randomly started adding shapes and colors that I felt looked nice. But as I went I kept pulling out more and more of the pink. I definitely wanted to add a neutral color to tone down the weave and give it some space. I wanted to add some colors that would contrast my pink in a nice way, so I added the neon blue and yellow. I also added a dark neutral variegated and light neutral variegated yarn in the mix to add some visual interest, but help tone down the neon colors at the same time.

This weave went from a definite picture in my head, to a I’m just going to make random shapes and colors until I’m happy. And oddly enough once I was finished, this weave turned out to be my favorite weave yet. I guess because I struggled with it so much and it worked out so well in the end is why this weave means a lot to me now.

I wanted to share this story with you because it brings up a really good lesson, sometimes you just have to trust your gut. I’ve made plenty of weaves that I didn’t quite like once I finished them, but after a little bit of time they grew on me and I ended up liking them a lot. This was not one of those times. Sometimes you might find, like I did, that you just don’t like your weave and that you just have to change it. And I think it’s important to give yourself permission to make mistakes and to let yourself make changes, even if you get ALL the way to the end like I did. Creating something that you don’t like or just isn’t working can feel so heavy and give you a creative block. The act of taking apart what you made can open up your imagination again and free you to try a different idea. Even if you take it all apart and just start completely fresh, it’s very liberating.

Have you ever made something you weren’t very happy with? Did you remake it or did you just scrap it completely and move on? I’d love to hear your stories.

Happy Weaving!

Kate

Beginner Weaving Lessons

What should I use for my warp when weaving?

Can I just start this post with saying that you guys ask the best questions! Please feel free to drop me an email or comment below if you have something on your mind about weaving. I may not know the answer, but I love to research and test things out. I believe there are no bad questions, so even if it’s something you think everyone knows but you, just ask.

Alright, so I recently received a really good question about what threads should be used for warping a lap loom. Since I already discussed yarn weight for your weft here, it also makes sense to talk about your warp threads. My answer to this question would be, you really can use almost anything, but what you use will affect how you weave and how your weave looks.

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you probably know that I favor using a cotton yarn for my warp. I’m excited to be able to sell my favorite cotton warp in my shop!

So why the cotton carpet warp? Well, it is spun super tightly, so it is thin and very strong. It has very little stretch to it, so I can warp up my loom pretty tightly, which helps me have an even tension in my weaves. Because of how tightly spun it is, it has very little friction with my weft threads which also makes weaving easier. If I want to move a shape that I’m weaving up or down my warp it is really easy. Also the strength of the carpet warp allows me to make a crazy amount of loops that will continue to hold their form even after being cut off the loom.

Ok enough about this carpet warp, do other cotton threads make a good warp? My answer is yes, and the reason being that even a more normal spun cotton thread has strength to it and little stretch. This picture shows an example of two normal spun cotton (as opposed to a more loosely spun bulky cotton). In the picture above, I have the thread resting on the left side and on the right side I’m giving it a good pull. If you look, both sides of the thread are about the same size in width. So what does this mean? Well it demonstrates that if you were to warp up your loom, the odds are the thread will have a certain amount of pull on it (the right side). Later when you cut the weave from the loom, the threads will go back to their resting state (the left side). So this shows that with a cotton thread your weave should stay in the same shape as when it was on the loom (that is assuming what you’re doing with your weft doesn’t affect the shape once cut from the loom). My favorite brand of cotton yarn is Lily Sugar’n Cream(affiliate link), which is what I used in my normal spun cotton warp example.

In these pictures above, I made two small samplers, one using my favorite cotton carpet warp and the other using a worsted weight cotton yarn. As you can see the carpet warp is much thinner then the worsted weight and also has a smoother surface, which allows for less friction between the warp and the weft threads. With that being said, having them side by side you can see they both weave up similarly. The worsted weight will have more visual impact as it will show more between the wefts, which might be the look you’re after.

So now you might be thinking, can I warp with wool or other animal fibers? My answer is yes of course! And as always I encourage everyone to experiment with their weaving, so if you want to warp with something other than cotton, do it! Just keep in mind that some fibers such as wool have a lot of stretch, or bounce to them. In this picture above, I did the same resting and pulling example to two different wool threads and if you compare the widths of both sides, you can see there is a lot of stretch. So what does this mean? Well if you were to warp up your loom with wool and pull it tight, you’re probably going to get some shrinkage once your weave is off the loom. It may also get wavy depending on what you did with your weft. I haven’t warped with wool before, but what I would suggest if you wanted to warp with wool or another stretchy yarn, is to warp your loom loosely with this thread. Obviously you don’t want it so loose that it’s a spaghetti mess, but don’t pull it too tight across the loom. By not pulling it too tightly, the yarn won’t be stretched much beyond it’s resting form.

A great example of someone who pulls off a tricky warp thread is the textile artist Elodie Mra. One of my favorites of hers is a weave she did all in what I believe is mohair, which you can see here. How crazy awesome is that to have your warp be mohair??!!

I would love to hear what you have used for warp threads. Do you also like to use cotton? Or have you tried warping with wool or something different?

Happy Weaving!

Kate

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, you’ll help support The Weaving Loom, and you’ll receive some amazing stuff, too. Whohoo!

Weaving Wishlist

Weaving Wishlist || Have Company Tapestry Needles

When starting out, it’s sometimes hard to know where to find good resources for weaving supplies, so when I come across some good finds I will share what is on my wishlist.

Last week I was talking about how I can’t weave without a tapestry needle. And since I use them all the time in my weaving I decided to treat myself to some of the beautiful tapestry needles from Have Company.

If you haven’t heard of Have Company before, you need to check it out! It is a small business that has a whole lot of handmade goodness like art, home goods, much more then just weaving tools. It also has a podcast and artist residency.

Ever since seeing it, I just had to get the wooden tapestry needle, and let me tell you, it is even more lovely in person. Plus the size of it is excellent, especially if you’re creating a large weave.

I also had to get myself the bent tip tapestry needles. These are a pack of three different sized metal tapestry needles. As I talked about in my tapestry needle post, I find the bent tip to be extremely helpful when grabbing my warp threads.

Is there a weaving item you’re going to treat yourself to? Like a new loom, or some hand-spun yarn? Maybe a wooden tapestry needle? I would love to hear about any wishlist worthy items you have come across.

To read about what else is on my weaving wishlist, click here.

Happy Weaving!

Kate

This post was not sponsored, I’m just a super happy customer 🙂

Weaving Techniques

Weaving Techniques || A New Way to Hang Your Weave

Last week I showed you how I finished my weaving with the hem stitch, which isn’t the way I was finishing my weaves normally. So I started thinking maybe I should try hanging my weave in a different way too. To see how I normally finish my weaves, click here.

I decided for this weave, since I have more stability from finishing with the hem stitch, I would use my warp threads to hang my weave.

First I cut my weave off the loom and then flipped it over to the back side and placed my dowel rod over my warp ends. I then began to bring each warp grouping (2 per hem stitch) over the dowel rod and then through three weft stitch rows. I did this all the way across my weave until all warp ends were over the dowel rod.

My next step was to check the front of my weave to make sure that none of the warp ends were showing through. And guess what? I did have some warp ends that I passed over the front of a weft that I shouldn’t have (in the picture above you can see two white warps where they shouldn’t be). To fix this I just pulled those warp ends out of the weave and then passed them through the back weft rows more carefully making sure not to also grab the front weft rows, which fixed the problem. I highly recommend checking the front of your weave anytime you’re weaving ends in since you don’t want them accidentally showing through the front of your weave.

Once I made an adjustment to that one set of warp threads and was happy that the front of my weave wasn’t disturbed anywhere else, I began tying my warp tails together to anchor them. To do this I just formed a simple knot so that two sets of warp ends were tied together. I then trimmed the warp ends off so that they were smaller and it’s done.

Here is the picture of the front of the weave hung up. The back is somewhat messy, but the front looks very nice. What do you think of this finishing technique? Do you finish your weaves in this way or a different way?

Happy Weaving!

Kate

Weaving Tools

Weaving Tools || The Tapestry Needle

For today’s weaving tool, I’m talking about the tapestry needle. As I’ve said before some tools may not be completely necessary, however they do make weaving easier and quicker. I’ve also found that one weaver might rely heavily on a certain weaving tool that another weaver never uses, so these tools also are dependent on your style and what makes you most comfortable.

For me, the tapestry needle is everything! If I was told I could only use one tool with my loom, it would be the tapestry needle hands down. I use this every time I weave, so it’s a really important one for me.

The tapestry needle can be used to weave in loose yarn ends to finish your weave and can be used to weave different shapes and colors into your piece.

So as you may have guessed the tapestry needles works similar to a sew needle, but instead of piercing fabric, you use the tip of the tapestry needle to weave yarn behind and in front of the warp thread. The ideal use of the tapestry needle is for small areas of weaving due to the fact that if you were to cover a large area you will need to pull a long yarn tail through your weave. There are other weaving tools that are better for working over large areas that I will cover in the next few weeks.

You can also purchase tapestry needles in different materials and sizes. I was previously using a plastic needle, but that broke on me so I don’t recommend those. Currently I’m using a metal needle that is smaller because I usually weave smaller pieces. But you can also get a tapestry needle that is large if you’re going to weave larger pieces. Oh, I also like my tapestry needle to be bent at that end. I have found this really helps me catch the warp threads and allows me to weave quicker then if the end was straight, but that is a personal preference. I do also have a long and straight tapestry needle that I use with this bent needle. I feel like they make a great pair!

So now that I have professed my undying love for the tapestry needle, I’m curious, is anyone out there weaving on a lap loom without one? I understand the big floor looms use shuttles and such, because it would be crazy to work all that warp with a tapestry needle. But for us lap loom-ers is anyone not using the tapestry needle? And if so what is your go to tool?

If you’ve missed it, in my weaving tools series, I also wrote about the tapestry beater and the shed stick so far.

Happy Weaving!
Kate

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, you’ll help support The Weaving Loom at no additional cost.

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Long Tapestry Needle

Bent Tapestry Needle

Weaving Techniques

Weaving Techniques || The Hem Stitch

I was recently asked about how to make a nice finish on your weave without tying off your warp ends (more on finishing here). This is an especially important question if you’re working with a notched loom that leaves you with nice warp loops to hang your weave from, but this can be used as a finish technique if you’re cutting your weave off a frame loom too.

Let’s say you’ve decided to hang your weave without tying off your warp ends. A possible issue that comes up is your weft may slip up the warp and make your finish look a little sloppy. Here is an example of what I’m talking about:It’s not the end of the world, but for those who would like a cleaner finish without tying all those ends, you can use a hem stitch to secure your weave and still keep your warp loops to hang from.

To start the hem stitch, you should have at least one plain woven row of weft. I recommend weaving your whole project and then adding a plain woven row with a tail long enough to do the hem stitch across your weave. This way your warp threads will be a consistent tightness across your weave, whereas if you started with the hem stitch your warp threads would be pulled in too tightly. Just make sure to leave yourself enough room to add a row and the hem stitch.Starting the hem stitch

Have at least one woven row of plain weave.
Bring the yarn tail under and around at least 2 warp threads (it can be more if you are using a large number of warp ends per inch).
Bring your yarn tail through the loop you just made and pull tight so that the warp threads are brought together.

Making the hem stitch across your weave

Bring the yarn from your loop around the warp threads behind and then through the back of your weave next to the warp threads you just “tied”. I recommend bringing your thread through the top of at least 2 weft rows, as I did in the picture, but you can bring it through more weft rows if you want to accentuate the look of the hem stitch.

^^ This is the same step as the middle picture previous, it shows how the weft loops around the warps then is brought under and up through the top of the 2 weft rows

Now that you have pulled your weft from behind to the front of your weave, continue by wrapping the weft around the front of the next 2 warp threads and circle all the way around so that your thread ends on the front of the warp threads where you started, creating a loop.
Repeat the pattern of bringing your yarn from the loop around the warp threads behind and then through the back of your weave next to the warp threads you just “tied”. Remember to keep a tight tension.

Finishing the hem stitch

Loop around your last 2 warp threads as you have been previously
This time pull your thread through the loop you just created and pull tight so that a simple knot is formed.
Bring your thread to the back of your tapestry and weave in your yarn end

Now you’re done!

I tried the hem stitch when I first started weaving, but then just continued tying my warp threads off to secure my weaves, but after trying the hem stitch again, I think I might continue with this since it seems a little quicker then tying all those warp threads. And if you’re a little confused, here is a picture with my poor excuse of illustrated arrows to show how the hem stitch thread is moving around the warp and plain woven rows. Hopefully this won’t confuse people more (yikes!)

If you’re already tried the hem stitch, do you have a preference between tying off your warps or doing a hem stitch? Do you find one to be a nicer finish then the other?

I’ve added some links at the top of the blog to make it more convenient for all you great readers (whoop-whoop!!). There is a link to my shop, so you can treat yourself to something pretty. A quick link resource page that contains all my weaving technique posts. And last, but not least, a link to all the video tutorials I have made. I hope you enjoy!

Happy Weaving!

Kate

Uncategorized Weaving Tools

Weaving Tools || Benefits of the shed stick

Hi friends! I’m continuing my posts on different weaving tools. Today I’m going to talk about the shed stick, or weaving sword. As I’ve said before some tools may not be completely necessary, however they do make weaving easier and quicker. I’ve also found that one weaver might rely heavily on a certain weaving tool that another weaver never uses, so these tools also are dependent on your style and what makes you most comfortable.

For those who are not aware, the shed in a weave is the gap that occurs when you separate your warp threads into upper and lower. Creating a shed helps speed up weaving because it allows you to easily pass your weft thread between the warp threads. There are many different ways to create a shed in your warp threads, but the one item I find helpful for lap looms is using a shed stick to do this.

A shed stick is a flat piece of wood that you would weave between your warp threads, as if you were creating a plain weave. Once your shed stick is woven across your warp, you then turn the stick so that it is vertical. This action separates the warps into an upper and lower grouping, creating the shed between your warp threads. With the shed created you pass your weft thread through. Then you would lay your shed stick back in the horizontal position to “close” your warp threads. On the return pass you would then just weave your weft across as normal. Then open the shed again on the way back, by turning your shed stick vertical. This is the down side to the shed stick, it really only creates a shed for one way, unless you want to keep alternating how you have it woven through. However, with the shed stick woven just one way, it still helps you save some time.

An alternative to purchasing a shed stick is using a flat ruler. I like to use a metal rule I own when I need to create a shed in my weaves because it is very flat and I can easily weave it between the warps. I also recommend if you are going to use a ruler or other flat object as a shed stick, make sure the ends are not sharp, because turning it vertical against your warp threads could damage them.

Personally I have found that if I’m doing a lot of plain weave rows across my weave, then I will use the shed stick. However, if I’m making a lot of small shapes then I don’t really use it. But as I said before it’s good to try it out and see how you feel about the tool and if it helps you or not.

If you missed it, I have also done a write up on the tapestry beater.

Happy Weaving!

Kate

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, you’ll help support The Weaving Loom, and you’ll receive some amazing stuff, too. Whohoo!

Older Posts

Newer Posts

Weave This || Off-Center Circle Weave Part 2

Weave This || Off-Center Circle Weave

How to off-center warp a circular loom

Free Circular Weave Pattern – Permafrost Weave

Starting (warping) a circular loom

Prepping your weave to hang nicely

Weave This || Weaving without a loom part 3

Can you make changes to areas already woven?

Weave This || Weaving Without a Loom Part 2

Weave This || Weaving without a Loom

Weave Trouble Shooting || Overexposed Warp

Weaving Wishlist || Patons Wool Roving

Weaving Techniques || Weft Facing Weave

Weave Experiments || My Most Challenging Weave

What should I use for my warp when weaving?

Weaving Wishlist || Have Company Tapestry Needles

Weaving Techniques || A New Way to Hang Your Weave

Weaving Tools || The Tapestry Needle

Weaving Techniques || The Hem Stitch

Weaving Tools || Benefits of the shed stick

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