It’s the question we expect to hear. “How long did it take you to weave that?” “…Well, hours and hours, basically.” After almost three hours of threading, I am nearly to the halfway point. How can I convey all the necessary work of dressing the loom? Or, the time it takes to practice a new skill at the loom? Or, the finishing work of twisting fringe, hand hemming, or cutting and sewing?
With any hand-crafted article, there is more than meets the eye. Why do we want to know how long it took to make it? Are we trying to measure value, or understand the maker’s process? Or, is it simply a statement of incredulity about something we didn’t know was possible?
We have a Maker. He fashioned our physical selves; we see that. He also made us with heart and soul. He starts the weaving process before we are born, and takes as long as he needs for the finishing. The Lord, our Maker, includes the necessary development of our character, and the intricacy of our personality, and our dreams and hopes. We are more than meets the eye. How long does it take to make a person? A lifetime.
May you enjoy the process.
Love,
Karen
This is an often-asked question. When someone want to commission, I include descriptions of all steps with estimated time spent so they better understand. I admire your ability to thread in a quiet environment as I seem to need background noise.
The older I get, the more I understand your comment about taking a lifetime to make a human. We are constantly changing; a forever work-in-progress.
Can’t wait to see what you’ll be making with the linen!
Hi Beth, I think it’s the question I hear most often. I’ve never thought of writing a description of the steps and estimated times for customers. That’s a great idea.
I need quiet if I have to count more than 4 because I’m very distractible. Haha. I started out trying to listen to a podcast and had to redo the first 20 threads.
Yes, a forever work-in-progress!
Happy weaving,
Karen
A textile artist I met one time answered the question this way: “This piece took my entire life. Everything in my life that came before this piece contributed to its creation.”
Hi Julia, What a great answer for this common question! So true.
All the best,
Karen
Julia’s comment is a version of the famous saying by Picasso when someone was incredulous about the going price of his art work. Rings so true!
As a beginning weaver (only 2 years), I struggle mightily with warping. I always seem to have tangled threads. I am careful. I thread heddles with no music, no distractions. Just silence. I have clipped heddles, marked them with colorful counting stitch loops, used painter’s blue masking tape–all in an effort to get it right. Sadly, it never is. I always end up with floaters.
Hi Cat, I’ve read Picasso’s quote before. ‘Tis a common thought among makers and artists.
The learning journey can be steep at times, but it does get easier the more you practice. If you thread texsolv heddles you might find this video helpful that I made a couple years ago, if you haven’t already seen it. link – Threading Heddles
Happy persistent weaving!
Karen
I am writing a book and one of my characters is a weaver. I know nothing about weaving and would like to know the answer to this question. How long does it tale to make a small throw rug? Just approximately is ok. I just have no clue. Thank you so much.
Hi Deborah, It can take a few hours to dress the loom to get it ready to weave, so it’s more efficient to dress the loom for several rugs at a time. Dressing the loom entails winding the warp threads to measure them, and then step-by-step putting the threads on the loom in order, threading each thread through the eye of a heddle, and then sleying the threads through dents (slots) of the weaving reed. After tying the threads on to the front, and tying up the treadles to connect them to the shafts, the weaver is ready to weave. For a rag rug, the actual weaving time for a small rug might be 3-4 hours. If it’s a weft-faced wool rug, it will take four times as long as that to weave it. After a rug is cut from the loom it still requires finishing, such as tying all the ends into knots and then hemming, or twisting the ends into fringe.
I hope that gives you a good idea of the time it takes to weave a small rug.
All the best,
Karen