Today in the studio I finally did something with the bits and pieces of leftover yarn I've been collecting for a while. I decided to try my hand at weaving.The nice thing about weaving is you don't really need to have any special skills and it can be done with random bits of yarn and fabric.
Traditionally weaving is made on a loom, and there are many varieties out there. You can easily make one with a piece of cardboard and some string, but I happened to have a latch hook mat lying around from an abandoned project one of my kids was working on. I thought it would be the perfect loom for my weaving.
Here are the supplies I used:
- a latch hook mat ( you can get them in the sewing section at any craft store)
- a stick a few inches longer than the width of my latch hook mat -- a dowel rod will work, but I chose to find a stick outside, to add to the texture and unique feel of the final piece
- chunky yarn in a variety of textures/colors, in medium to thick weight
- scissors
- string/yarn for hanging
The process is actually pretty simple. I like texture and lots of knotting and natural messiness so I used that in my weaving as well.
First I cut the latch hook mat down to the size that I wanted. I went with smaller than I originally planned, because weaving takes a lot of time!
To start, I took a piece of yarn and tied it to one end at the top of the latch hook mat.
Then I poked the yarn in and out of each square in the mat, over and under to create the woven look. Sometimes I skipped every other hole, and sometimes I added extra knots to create texture or surprising details.
It certainly doesn't need to be perfect (I think its so much better when its not perfect and when you let the materials surprise you), and you can go back and add more yarn to spots that look like they need more texture or filling.
when I had about two inches left, I created a loop by folding the mat over and used some extra yarn to tie it in place. If I do this again, I would start with the two inches at the top, and probably create the loop before I do anything else. Like I said, this was my first weaving project!
I snipped a few of the hanging yarn pieces (turns out it was a bit too messy, even for me!) then I took my stick and threaded it through the loop. I added yarn to each side to hang it, and voila!
I also got my kids involved. They were very excited about the idea of weaving, though they did get a bit frustrated with the small holes. For them, next time, I will create a cardboard loom that will be easier for them to use. 