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How to learn to weave.
BEGINNERWEAVING LESSONS
BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO WEAVING
If you are new to weaving and need help getting started, then you’re in the right place!
Hi, I’m Kate. I’m the person behind this blog. Back when I started trying to weave, there weren’t many resources available. I put a lot of time into researching old books and experimenting and wanted to share what I had learned. Weaving is such a fun and meaningful art form that I wanted it to be available to others to enjoy too. I started The Weaving Loom as a way to share weaving techniques that I have learned through my experiences.
This blog post is a round-up of a lot of the topics I’ve covered over the years. Especially the topics that are important to beginner’s.https://faf04b4561bd3e04a8dea9b03bb6df55.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Terminology
Let’s start from the beginning!
- A Loom is the structure that you use to give your weave support and tension as you work. There are a few different types of looms and my blog focuses on how to use a lap loom.
- The warp thread is the thread that is strung over the loom vertically, and holds the tension while you weave. This is the backbone of your weave.
- The weft thread is the thread that you weave between, around, and all over the warp threads. It creates your patterns and design in the weave.
These are the most important terms for understanding weaving, but I have pictures and a few more weaving terms here.
Lap Looms
Of course you’ll need a loom to start weaving. If you already have a lap loom, then great! Any of my tutorials can work on any lap loom. If you’re having trouble understanding how to do something on your specific loom then feel free to reach out to me and I’ll help the best I can (Kate@theweavingloom.com). If you don’t yet have a loom, then no problem. I have two ways to make your own loom:
- Make a frame into a loom – doing this gave me a huge 23” x 30” loom!
- Make a loom out of cardboard – really easy and can be made from cardboard you already have around the house.
- I also have some great frame looms for beginner’s in my shop
Weaving Tools
When starting out it is hard to know what tools you do and don’t need, and trust me you don’t need much. I’ve written on some of the basic weaving tools and some alternatives that might be in your home right now. I’m also including some of the yarn supplies I love.
- What is a Tapestry Beater and how does it work?
- The Tapestry Needle
- The Benefits of a Shed Stick
- My favorite warp thread
- My favorite hand-spun/hand-dyed yarn shop Amanda J French and yarn shop Hedgehog Fibres
Warping a loom (starting)
Now you’re really getting somewhere. I have a few posts on how to warp different looms. There are many different looking lap looms, but in my experience they warp up in one of two ways:
- How to Warp a Frame Loom
- How to Warp a Notched/Tabbed/Peg Loom
Weaving Techniques
This is the fun part of weaving! All the beauty and creativity go here, this is where you make your magic. I have posted on a bunch on weaving techniques and have already made a round-up of just the techniques here.
I also have a free beginner’s pattern that I send out when you sign up for my weekly newsletter and I made a Weave Along of fun lacy patterns, that you can follow along here.
And I hope you won’t need this, but incase you do, here’s my Top 7 Weaving Issues & Fixes
Finishing your weave (taking off the loom)
Now that you created something beautiful and unique to you, it’s time to take it off the loom so you can share it with the world. I have posted a lot of different ways to finish your weaves, whether you’re cutting your weave off the loom or using your warp loops to hang.
- How to Finish a Weave
- The Perfect Way to Tuck End Threads
- 6 Ways to Hang a Weave
- Don’t forget what you can hang your weaves from
Whoa, that’s a lot of info! Hopefully you’ve made it to the bottom of this post. This will definitely get you started on your weaving journey!! So now I would love to hear your story, how did you first discover the art of weaving? Have you woven before or is this your first time starting? I love to hear how others have found this art form that I love
Learn to Weave: 5 Tips from Anita, Tom, and Friends!
In his video, Tom teaches you everything you need to get started, from the basics of project planning and warping through finishing your cloth, and his friendly teaching style makes it clear and simple.
tom knisely learn to weave
Do you remember learning to cook? Maybe your mom or grandma taught you, or you learned in a class at school. Or maybe you learned from the many fantastic cooking shows on TV. The nice thing about cooking is that we are surrounded by other people who know how to do it, so if we have a problem, it’s easy to find help. When you learn to weave, that is not always the case. For example, the only weaver in my family was a great-aunt in Norway, who was long gone when I started to weave.
When took my first class at The Weaver’s School, I fell in love with weaving, deeply and forever, and it all seemed so easy and made so much sense. Then I came home to my full-time job and full-time family with small children. By the time I got to my loom again, I could hardly remember where to start, and there was no one to ask. (I didn’t even know about guilds.) But start I did, buying yarn, warping, and weaving fabric for a baby blanket.
I made every mistake possible on that project. First, I bought some clearance yarn, a weird, nubby wool/synthetic blend from the bargain shelf at Robin and Russ, reasoning that it would be washable, perfect for a baby blanket. I had no clue that the stretchy yarn was unsuitable for warp and that the nubs would catch on the reed. Then, because the yarn was such an incredible deal and I had so much of it, I warped up enough for two blankets because then I could have a handwoven blanket ready for the next baby. Such a deal! But then the weaving began, the tension problems set in, the warps broke, one after another, and I grew to detest that cloth. I became expert at repairing broken warps, but several yards in, I decided that finishing that warp would put me off weaving forever. I cut it off the loom, and the fabric is still in the back of a closet somewhere, waiting until I have the patience to work in the repaired ends and come up with a use for it. (For the record, I did give the baby a nice handknitted sweater.)
Tom Knisely in Learn to Weave
What I really needed after my first weaving class was advice on how to get started weaving by myself: simple projects for practice, a basic warping reference that I could go back to again and again, demos on how to solve common problems, and basic knowledge about tools and materials. That’s why I was thrilled to work with master weaver Tom Knisely last year on a video that provides just that,
Learn to Weave: Making Good Cloth on a Multi-shaft LoomADVERTISEMENT. Whether you’ve been to a weaving class before or are striking out on your own, Tom teaches you everything you need to get started, from the basics of project planning and warping through finishing your cloth, and his friendly teaching style makes it clear and simple.
Learn to Weave: 5 Tips from Anita
To help you with your first project, here are some tips that I’ve learned from my own experience and from many years of working with Tom and other master weavers in the Handwoven community:
1. Start small.
Put a couple of yards of warp on your loom and weave a nice scarf. You’ll get immediate satisfaction, and you can concentrate on the process more than the project.
2. Start simple.
Choose a twill or other simple pattern so you can practice threading repeats and checking them.
3. Use friendly yarn.
Experienced weavers have a “palette” of standard yarns on their shelves, and there’s a reason for that. Standard sizes such as 10/2 and 8/2 cotton and worsted weight wools make desirable weights of cloth and behave well on the loom. Spend the money to get full cones of good yarn that can become part of your own “weaver’s palette.” (Cheap yarn is not cheap if it causes problems or doesn’t get you good results.)
4. Stop, look, correct.
If you see something going wrong in your project—selvedge problems, tension problems, a mistake in the threading, etc.—stop and correct it. Everyone, and I mean everyone , no matter how experienced, runs into problems sometimes. It’s best to correct them at the beginning if possible, so check your weaving after the first inch. If the fell is uneven, check the tension and retie any loose warp bundles. If you have a threading error, fix it right away. It’s better to take some extra time than to struggle with a project all the way through the weaving.
5. Rinse and repeat.
Water brings out the beauty of your weaving. As master weaver Laura Fry says, “It’s not finished until it’s wet-finished.” So after you finish the hems or fringes on your first piece, agitate it by hand just until the fibers relax into their new grid. (If it’s wool, be careful not to felt. If it’s cotton, you can machine wash it.) Then quickly begin another project, trying a new yarn or a new draft.
Learn to Weave: Making Good Cloth on a Multi-shaft Loom
Confident, successful weaving comes with practice, and you can learn a lot from fast, simple projects. So, if you’re starting to weave, take a class, find a guild, buy a good video like Tom’s, or all of the above, and then get thee to the loom!