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    Weaving on a Little Loom
    Weaving on a Little Loom
    Weaving on a Little Loom
    Ebook352 pages1 hour

    Weaving on a Little Loom

    By Fiona Daly

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    About this ebook

    Weaving on a Little Loom teaches readers everything they need to know to start small-frame loom weaving, an easy and inexpensive craft that can be done at home. From setting up the loom to finishing a project, this book covers both basic and more advanced techniques, with an introduction to creating patterns such as basket and bird's eye weaves, rib, twill, and herringbone. With clear instruction and beautiful illustrative photographs, step-by-step tutorials guide you through designing and creating five contemporary woven projects—including table placemats, wall hangings, and a tote bag—all made with natural, environmentally friendly materials.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPrinceton Architectural Press
    Release dateOct 16, 2018
    ISBN9781616897796
    Weaving on a Little Loom
    Author

    Fiona Daly

    Fiona Daly is a textile designer-maker and handweaver. She creates textiles using natural, undyed local wool for her housewares collection and teaches workshops worldwide. She lives in London, England.

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      Book preview

      Weaving on a Little Loom - Fiona Daly

      Credits

      MEET FIONA

      Hello! My name is Fiona Daly and I’m a textile designer-maker, and weaver. Currently based in a humble studio in South London, I specialize in creating a range of soft furnishings and accessories made with natural British wools in my bespoke woven designs. I sell my work through contemporary craft fairs and my online shop, selling a variety of products—from cushions to throws to lampshades and shawls. I also run a program of weaving workshops on frame and table looms from my studio and at various pop-up locations.

      My love of constructed textiles began at an early age, influenced by my grandmother, who worked as a lacemaker and ran her own craft shop in the West of Ireland. It was a natural progression that I went on to study Textile Design at the National College of Art and Design, Ireland. During these highly creative stimulating years, I also had the opportunity to study in Bergen, Norway, where my appreciation of traditional crafts and natural materials grew. After graduating, I honed my weaving skills while working for a handweaver in the West of Ireland.

      Since then, my weaving journey has evolved many strands. Through being awarded a residency in a weaving center in the Shetland Islands, I greatly developed my woven design skills and I was introduced to the most amazing material, Shetland wool. During my years in Edinburgh, I was involved in a multi-disciplinary craft workshop, where I began teaching weaving courses and fell in love with it! It was also here that I had the wholly enriching experience of working in the weaving workshop of a Rudolf Steiner-inspired organization. During this time I came to acquire the most beautiful weaving loom—a George Wood dobby loom, a traditional, manual loom with highly complex capabilities where the pattern can be manually programmed by hammering tiny wooden pegs into holes on lags and chains. This has allowed me to push my design skills further and stretch my technical knowledge of weave. Throughout all of this, my love of natural materials, in particular of wool and of particular sheep breeds, continues to grow, along with my interest in sustainable, environmentally friendly textiles.

      While weaving can be inherently complex and technical, it provides a fantastic framework for creative expression. One of the reasons I love weaving so much is that it engages both the left and the right sides of the brain. As weaving has developed over thousands of years, one could spend a lifetime studying it and still there would be more to learn. Yet, it can be paired back to a basic principle. Weaving is not a process to be mastered overnight; it requires a lot of patience and practice to understand its magnificent capabilities. The world of weaving is so diverse and complex, with such a variety of looms available, and with such an array of large, expensive equipment, it would be easy to be put off this craft. However, with its origins as a primitive craft, I have realized that it is possible to create beautiful, distinguished weaving with only the most basic of equipment and the most sparse of toolkits. This book aims to guide the novice weaver embarking on this exciting craft!

      In this book, you will be introduced to the basics of frame loom weaving—the simplest of weaving looms and therefore, the perfect one to begin weaving with—through a series of technique tutorials, together with complete project guides. Do not be discouraged if, at first, your weaving is loose with gaping holes, lacks uniform edges, is squint, or if little skips appear in the pattern. Learn to love these imperfections that represent your weaving journey, and know that their decrease maps your progression as a budding weaver. It takes time to master the tension and beat of woven threads and experience to fully appreciate the handle of your chosen material. Relish in the knowledge that you are continuing a traditional craft that has been in continuous practice for almost 10,000 years and is intrinsic to the heritage of cultures the world over.

      You will become a master of your own patience and notice how the process of weaving calms and slows things right down. You will tune everything else out and solely concentrate on counting numbers, over and under, while feeling the most beautiful of natural materials feed through your hands. Weaving by hand can be labor intensive and slow—a true slow textile—but the rewards are unrivaled. Not only will you come away with a handcrafted woven product, but you will have the satisfaction of the enjoyment gained from the time spent in the making process—it is quite the rewarding accomplishment!

      CHAPTER 1

      WELCOME TO WEAVING

      THE HISTORY OF WEAVING

      Weaving is a form of constructed textile. Most people are familiar with knitting, which consists of knotted loops made of one continuous strand and worked on two needles. The structure of weaving is different: weaving consists of two sets of interlacing components that are perpendicular to each other. In the weaving of textiles, these components are called threads.

      The vertical set of threads that runs the length of the fabric is called the warp. The horizontal threads that run the width of the fabric are called the weft. In the simplest interlacement of these sets of threads, the weft weaves over the first warp thread and under the next, and so on to the end of the row or pick. The next weft weaves under and over, and so on. Warp threads need to be held taut so that they can be woven in the most efficient way. This requires a structure or device—a loom. This is any type of device, regardless of how basic or complex it may be, that holds warp threads in tension. Weaving can range from being very simple to extremely complex in terms of the looms, yarns, and interlacement of the threads, to produce a range of patterns of increasing intricacy.

      Warp and Weft: This diagram illustrates the simple interlacement of over-one, under-one of plain weave.

      What is Weaving: This diagram illustrates the weaving process, showing warp, weft, shed, fell, pick, and woven cloth. All of these terms are explained in the glossary (pages 140–141).

      Weaving cloth is the second oldest form of textile-making in the world. This machine room (top) in the Boott Cotton Mills Museum in Lowell, USA, is identical to the working conditions in the late 19th century.

      Machine weaving is a complex process. This yarn warping machine (above) shows eight different-colored warp threads being woven at the same time.

      Weaving cloth is the second oldest form of textile-making in the world, dating back almost 10,000 years. However, the process of weaving actually predates the weaving of threads to make cloth. In fact, mankind developed weaving while still wearing animal skins! Indeed, primitive weaving first developed through the weaving of natural, local, and available materials such as willow and reeds. These were woven in the round to make baskets. Basketry found in Guitarrero Cave, in Peru, dates from 8,000 BC.

      Woven-cloth construction developed later, once yarn spinning had been invented. Yarns could be woven into cloths that were softer and finer than anything that had gone before. This created the need for a device that could tension one set of threads so that they could be woven with another. It is thought that civilization developed independently in six different parts of the world, and it is most probable that the loom evolved independently for different logistical reasons, too.

      A history of weaving is not complete without mentioning Ancient Peru. The study of Peruvian textiles is fascinating for the modern-day weaver. Their skill in weaving is unparalleled and, over thousands of years, they have developed many techniques with amazing skill and creativity. It is no wonder that Peruvian textiles are a constant source of inspiration for weavers all over the world.

      In more recent times, the British Industrial Revolution of the mid-18th century was sparked by advances in the textile industry, primarily the development of the weaving loom, the flying shuttle, spinning and carding machines, and, finally, the power loom. Such inventions changed weaving forever, as machines replaced the hand-weaving skills of workers in mills. In response, through the Arts and Crafts Movement of the 19th century, William Morris sought to revive these hand skills and so prevent them dying out.

      Weaving is practiced worldwide. Ikat is woven (left) ready to sell in Indonesia and a Peruvian woman (above) weaves colorful alpaca wool.

      Perhaps this is somewhere near where we are today in the world of weaving. People are not weaving out of a necessity to make cloth, but rather as a choice; as a pastime and a return to the handmade, learning traditional skills

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