Years ago, I tried card weaving. I bought a book, and some tablet weaving cards and wove a few bands.
I wasn’t in love with it,
so I gave the book and cards away.
Last year, my best friend, who is also a weaver,
offered me a little pile of
tablet weaving cards
that she wasn’t using anymore.
I thought…. hmmmm…. why not?
I brought them home
and hung them on a ring
on one of the carts in the studio.
They’ve been calling out to me, but I have been resisting them.
Then, last week, when I was noodling through Ruth MacGregor’s website, I saw that she had written a booklet …read more

Woven cloth tapes, ribbons and narrow bands are so common and so easy to get that we don’t even think about them.                                      It hasn’t always been that way, though.
For centuries, tapes and ribbons were essential for so many reasons:
They were used for a lot more things than they are now-
Woven tapes were essential to hold clothing up, hold clothing together, hold shoes onto feet,as well as being used around the house and workshop in a miriad of other ways.
Fancier woven tapes and ribbons were used to trim and embellish all kinds of textiles, from clothing and fashion accessories to curtain …read more

Whew…. want to watch something awe inspiring and humbling?
Click on YouTube on Kente Cloth weavers….
There are a series of mind blowing videos of Kente cloth weavers at work. Mastery in motion, and I MEAN ‘in motion’!
Dazzling…..

My daughter, Chloë, has just posted the most heartmelting entry on her blog. (click the link below to see her pics)
She has written about what it has been like for her to do the sewing of the memorial textiles (called antependia) that we have co-created in memory of her Nana, my precious mother in law….. we both found it to be very stirring to put huge effort into creating a loving memorial to a marvelous woman who was central in our lives.
Here’s her entry: Chloë  and the memorial textiles
Here’s what I wrote about this process:
1] Starting the weaving 
2] a not …read more

I’ve been immersed in weaving bands that are going to be part of a memorial for a woman I adored- my late mother-in-law. She was an amazing and delightful woman who was a joy and one of the dearest friends and greatest influences in my life.

I’ve written about it before – memorial textiles 
For the last few days, I have been deeply immersed in finishing up the bands so my daughter can take them and stitch them to the ‘antependia’ (sacred textiles).
There’s nothing like knowing that if you don’t get your part of the project done, then the project doesn’t get …read more

 
Chloë wrote today about her part of the Memorial textiles that we are working on in celebration of the life of her grandmother/my beloved mother-in-law.
Chloë’s doing a fabulous job on them, and it’s a HUGE project, all driven by love.
Jim took some pics of me working on my part…. the weaving of the narrow bands that are trimming the banners and altar cloth and side table runners:

When I was first approached about weaving this memorial for my precious mum-in-law, I envisioned something much bigger.

I got WILDLY inspired and came up with a really exciting concept.  It’s a huge and exuberant …read more

Awhile back, I posted about being asked by the Memorial committee at our church if I’d be interested in weaving banners and runners in memory of my darling mother in law.
It’s taken awhile to get all the details sorted and everything approved, but now things are on fast forward.
Turns out what the committee wanted was to replace the worn out  navy blue velvet  with new velvet ones, to have me weave decorative edging.
Sewing velvet is one of my least favorite things on earth, so my wonderful daughter has taken on that part. (Bless her heart!)
She’s doing all the sewing by …read more

Yesterday, my daughter in law emailed me from work.
Would it be hard to learn to weave the strap for a camera case for her sister?
Not at all!
So, last night, after supper, we got the loom  warped, and she sat right down and wove her  first band:

She did a gorgeous job! She’s a born weaver.
Am I proud of her?
Of course.   )

I’ve just finished writing a series of posts about small looms that I love.
Here’s the list of loom links organized by the cost of the looms:
$0 – Looms made from recycled stuff
Under $5 – Plastic Potholder Looms
Under $15- Peggetty Loom Book
Under $20- Harrisville Potholder Loom
Harrisville Peg Loom

Under $25 – Harrisville Backstrap Loom
Under $30 – Schacht Mini Loom
Weavette Looms
Under $40- Wishing Windows Loom
Under $50 – Schacht School Loom (Frame)
Under $100 – Inkle Loom
Historical Vesterheim Museum Cradle Loom
Over $100 – Rigid Heddle looms
To see some of the guzbillions of projects that I have …read more

Another wonderful little band loom that is a modern, beautifully made, inexpensive version of an ancient loom is Harrisville Looms Backstrap Loom

the shuttle in the photo is one that my son in law made for me. A very nice little wooden one comes with the loom.
The loom comes with an excellent instruction booklet.
It’s wonderfully portable and lightweight. It fits in a small bag or large pocket.
The one thing that is  a little tricky for people to get used to is that the tension on the loom is supplied by the weaver’s body.
Also…. It can be a touch frustrating to get …read more