You will not often find a bare loom here. But every loom has its phases. The “Big Loom” (Glimåkra Standard 120cm) is in the empty phase right now. I finished weaving the coarse linen twill with rya knots. Now, I wait for the 16/2 linen that I ordered for the next project. Big Loom, don’t worry; you’ll be dressed again soon.
Rya pieces ready to make into interesting shaggy pillows.Affectionately known as “The Big Loom.” Seldom seen undressed. Glimåkra Standard Countermarch Loom 120cm / 47 inches weaving width.
The “Baby Loom” (Glimåkra Ideal 100cm) is in the weaving phase. It has plenty of warp on it, so I am still happily throwing a shuttle. I should get two more towels from this warp.
Color stripes of brown and gold break up the red in this towel on the goose-eye warp.
I want to start weaving a band to match the towels on the “Baby Loom,” for the towels’ hanging tabs. That means I need to put more attention on finishing up the current warp on the “Band Loom“ (Glimåkra two-treadle), so I can start the new warp. This is the hurry-up-and-finish phase.
Band loom is situated for weaving in short bursts. I often stop and weave for a few minutes on the way to the “Big Loom” or the “Baby Loom.” Three sisters look on from the stairway wall. (One of those girls is a younger me. Can you guess which one?)
May you make the most of the phase you are in.
Happy Weaving, Karen
(The discount coupon on my About Page is good for another week. Thank you!)
Finish the finishing, please. I always have a pile of handwovens that need finishing. Don’t you? The finishing smorgasbord includes repairing skipped threads (unintentional floats), securing ends, fringe treatments, hemming, wet finishing, pressing, adding hanging tabs, embellishments, and more. You know you are finally finished when your handiwork is being used and enjoyed.
1. Twisted fringe on bamboo huck lace small tablecloth. This cloth covered an heirloom table, becoming the altar, at Melody’s wedding. (This short piece was at the end of the warp after weaving two shawls.) You can see the shawls HERE, and twisting the fringe HERE.
Twisted fringe gives an elegant finishing touch to this small huck lace table covering.
2. Added hanging tabs to handtowels. Installed Ikea rod with basket and hooks to hang handwoven handtowels in the powder room. (When you need tabs for towels, it helps to have a collection of inkle and band loombands.) You can see the most recent towels HERE – I kept one of the eight for myself; the rest became gifts.
Ikea basket and hooks hold assortment of handwoven towels for guests to use in the powder room.
3. Untangled the fringe of alpaca/tencel throw. (A wet finishing nightmare I don’t care to repeat.) You can see what it looked like before washing HERE.
Each strand of fringe was carefully separated one-by-one after leaving the alpaca/tencel throw in the washing machine a few minutes too long. Untangling took longer than tying the lattice fringe. Hours and hours.
4. Hand-stitched rolled hem on Swedish lace tablecloth. (I may use this as a curtain for my weaving studio window, hung on rings with clips, on a rod.) HERE are the long curtain panels that hang on windows in my home.
Swedish lace panel can be used as a tablecloth, or a curtain, or even a light, summery shawl. The hand-stitched rolled hem gives a delicate touch to this elegant piece.Swedish lace is shown to its best advantage when light is allowed to shine through the cloth. The pressed rolled hem adds a classy touch.
5. Hemmed small sample piece to carry around with me when I have a cup of coffee. (I grab this re-usable “scrap” instead of a paper napkin or paper towel. It also doubles as a coaster wherever I happen to sit down.) The original M’s and O’s towels are HERE; and HERE you can see what I mean about carrying my coffee cup around with me.
Scrap of handwoven fabric, from a cottolin warp of handtowels, follows my favorite coffee cup around.
6. Replaced nylon cord on handwoven Roman shades with a cord I wove on my band loom. (The “temporary” nylon cord stayed more than a year. We now enjoy seeing this on our kitchen door every day, finally fully finished.) The only place I have a picture of the original nylon cord, and of the fabric on the loom for the Roman shades is in my Projects on Weavolution HERE. (I’m not sure if you can see it without logging in to the site.)
Linen and cotton threads that match the handwoven Roman shades were used to weave the pull cord. Cord woven on Glimakra two-treadle band loom.Handwoven Roman shades finally have a matching pull cord. When the shades are lowered at night, the two-block twill structure is seen covering the whole kitchen door window. Woven on 8-shaft Glimakra Standard loom.Opening the shades to start the day and welcome you. Please come in!
May you reduce your finishing pile (I know you have one).
My band loom has been sitting idle for a few weeks. Instead of continuing to walk wistfully by, I decided to do something about it. On a whim, I pulled colors of cottolin thread off the shelf. Within an hour the band loom was dressed and I was happily weaving. Finally! Why did I wait so long to put a warp on this loom? Do you ever avoid something, and then later realize the task is easier than you thought it would be?
Two-treadle Glimakra band loom with cottolin (cotton/linen) warp. Green thread on the hand-carved shuttle makes little green weft dots on the brown selvedge threads.
I used my warping reel to wind the five-yard warp. After tying the lease cross, and adding a few choke ties to secure the warp, I took it to the band loom and wound it on. Easy! Sitting at the band loom, sending the little shuttle back and forth, beating with the band knife to the rhythm of the treadles… it’s music; and it’s serene. Voicing our needs to our maker is something we think we do not have time for. We avoid this one simple connection that makes a difference.
Heartfelt prayer is our vital connection with God. He hears our prayer of need. Let us not fool ourselves to think it takes too much time or effort for this connection. The reward is too great to miss.
Whatever you do, choose good tools. Scissors are probably the most frequently used small tools in my weaving room and sewing space, so it makes sense to use quality scissors. I started with Gingher many years ago, and have never been disappointed in their performance, so there are several in my collection.
Painted red leather sheath, found on one of my trips to the Philippines, protects this pair of five-inch Gingher Sewing Scissors. These scissors live in a holder on the table where I wind all my quills.
I have a variety of scissors, and each has their own special place to call home. A few sit in custom felt sheaths. To make the sheaths, I wove a variegated wool band on my inkle loom, which I then machine washed and dried vigorously to cause the wool to felt. I then cut and stitched each little sheath to size.
Five-inch Gingher Sewing Scissors that live in the loom bench basket by my Glimakra Standard. I clip threads as I go, so these must be in easy reach. The felt sheath doubles as a pin cushion.
And, as your mother always told you, never ever use the fabric scissors to cut paper. There are paper scissors for that.
Eight-inch Gingher Dressmaker’s Shears for cutting fabric, and only fabric. Cutting the warp off the loom counts as cutting fabric.Pretty little scissors that live on my sewing/cutting table. These are used for clipping sewing threads and for some finishing work.Famore 4.5″ Rainbow Colored Snips also live on my sewing/cutting table. They come with me to the sewing machine for quick and easy snipping of threads.Travel thread cutter lives in the bag with my travel tapestry loom. The handwoven band, worn around my neck, keeps the Clover cutter at my fingertips.Gingher Thread Snip is the most recent addition to my cutting collection. It lives on my Glimakra Ideal loom, hanging on the corner of the front beam. While weaving, I wear the inkle-woven band around my neck, so the snips are always at hand.It must be bedtime for the scissors, snippers, and cutters!
Thanksgiving. What is a family gathering without food? We have our traditions, like turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie. We also have some recently discovered favorites, like pomegranate seeds and pecan pie. Even for a reluctant cook like me, the hustle and bustle of preparing the Thanksgiving meal with more-than-usual pairs of hands in the kitchen is heart-warming. Making memories with love is a thread that weaves the fabric of our family together. I am grateful.
Steaming dinner rolls, just out of the oven, are wrapped in a handwoven cotton towel. Thanks to my daughter, Melody, and her cooking timeline, we knew just when to put the rolls in the oven. The towel is simple plain weave that takes on elegance in this color-and-weave effect using thick and thin threads.Antique family bowl with pomegranate seeds, on classic cottolin hand towel in point twill, with turned rosepath ribbon at the side.Brined and Roasted Turkey, prepared by my daughter-in-law, Lindsay, was one of the best we have ever eaten. Eight-shaft two block twill Tencel scarf completes the presentation.Decorative band woven on my band loom playfully dresses up the reinforced weft table runner, which is made with narrow strips of cotton fabric for weft. Frozen Cranberry Salad is a traditional favorite for our family.My other daughter-in-law, Marie, created the braided edge for this pecan pie. Superb! The eight-shaft two block twill cloth matches the Roman shades that hang from my kitchen door, made from the same warp.
