When weavers are transitioning from beginner to intermediate and ask me what weaving techniques they can try to develop their skills, I often recommend trying draft patterns.
Draft patterns are a planned way of weaving across warp threads so that a pattern emerges when viewed across multiple woven rows. So, the finished result is a flat surface that has a strong visual impact. You often will see these woven on floor looms and table looms, but it’s also possible to make these patterns on lap looms!
When making a draft pattern, I like to draw up my sequence on grid paper. This helps me with each row and makes sure I won’t lose my place. The hardest part about weaving a draft pattern is that in the beginning the pattern isn’t always obvious, so it often feels like you’re doing it wrong. I’ve often found weaving a pattern like this hard because of that. It’s like I’m so focused on making the overall pattern that I get frustrated with each step not looking like anything at first. But to deal with this issue, I’ll just make myself focus on the pattern for each row and not think about the overall pattern. If I do this I find it much less confusing and the overall pattern I’m trying to weave starts to emerge after I have a few rows done.
One of the reasons why I love weaving on a lap loom is that it gives you a lot of flexibility. I love to pair a patch of draft pattern weaving next to something much more textural, like fluffy roving or woven loops. When I combine these two techniques I find that at first the draft pattern is not noticeable, but then becomes very apparent the more the viewer looks at the weave. It adds another level of interest.
If you want to try some draft patterns, I have blog posts on a lot of them. For beginners, I recommend trying the twill or chevron weaves. These are very basic draft patterns that are easy to follow:
If you’re looking for something more complicated, I have some more fun draft patterns:
And of course, I added a new draft patterns to part of my Weave Along || Flowering Details
Have you tried draft patterns yet? What did you think of them? Did you also find them hard at first like I did?
Happy Weaving!
Kate
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