Floor Loom

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Fringe Twisting

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Fringe Twisting

Fringe twisting is just one more step in finishing your weaving. And just like every other thing in the weaving process, you need to think about your fringe before the project ever gets on the loom. Let’s look at fringe generally first.

Why twist? The most important reason is because it looks nice and stays looking nice. An untwisted fringe looks great when it is freshly trimmed and pressed. After that the yarns begin to unravel, shred, tangle and, let’s face it, start looking a bit ratty. If you are making something for baby, a blanket for example, long thin threads can wrap around little fingers and cut off circulation.

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Hemming

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Hemming

A good hem starts on the loom. I think about my hem before I ever start weaving. I want both hems to took the same so the first thing I think about is colour. If my weft is all one colour, it’s easy, my hems will be the same colour. If I’m using multiple colours, I need to choose a colour. If I’ve used a border colour that will become my hem colour. Otherwise, I use the darkest colour, or white no particular, reason, just because.

Dressing the Loom

For a non-weaver this may seem a bit technical. I want you to be able to understand the process of weaving for two reasons: 1. So you can appreciate it more when you see it; and 2. So you can shake your head at me and laugh when you read my next blog post! If you are a weaver this is going to sound over simplified but hopefully you can use this to educate your non-weaving friends or customers about the hidden work of weaving.

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My Craft Room

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My Craft Room

I dream of a ‘ real’ craft room. I think all crafters do. I dream of a big airy space filled with giant windows and sunshine. And sky lights! My dream room has a big center work table, my 32” rigid heddle, room for a 60” 8 shaft loom, a wall of shelves to keep all my skeins and cones and fibres for spinning in view and easy reach. A corner for spinning and a corner for planning, drinking tea and dreaming.

Clothes from Scratch

Once upon a time I used to cook everything from scratch. And from scratch I mean from seed, or egg or goat. We grew all our own veggies, most of our fruit and meat, all our own milk, made cheese, yogurt and canned dozens of jars of jam, apple sauce, salsa, peaches, pears, pickles... I don't do that anymore. Now I make clothing from scratch. Or at least I try to.