As the video below shows you can create some amazing works of art with a loom and beads.
I’m a bit torn at what my big project will be with my Mirrix: 16″ Big Sister Loom. I’d love to do something with beads, but then I think about tapestry. Perhaps I’ll combine them both into one design? We’ll see…
Guess what? My daughter has really taken to beadweaving, since I love working with beads, I’m thrilled that we seem to share the same passion for the same craft. Time will tell if she keeps up with her new crafting love. I hope she does. Earlier today, she made a really lovely bracelet for her grandmother. She’ll be gifting it to her for her birthday tomorrow. I gave her a few pointers, which she took, and before I knew it she was asking me advice on how to weave in the ends.
I knew when I purchased my 32″ Kromski Harp, it was simply the gateway to other looms. The fact I’m receiving another so early was unexpected…
Say hello to the Mirrix Loom-16 inch Big Sister with shed. This loom is made in the United States and I should receive it tomorrow. Just look at it, even if it wasn’t functional it would be lovely in your home!
But it’s more than a beautiful work of art. It’s a loom after all and it can be used to make beaded and tapestry pieces. I plan to use it for both. So why can’t I use my Kromski? The tension on my Kromski is fine for cloth, but it’s definitely not tight enough to do some of my beadwork designs.
Thinking back, my first experience with weaving was potholders made on a rinky dink plastic loom when I was a child. My first serious loom was a beaded loom that I’d purchased in my twenties. I loved that loom, but after making a few items with that I moved on to making numerous off the loom beaded pieces. The reason was simple, I’d outgrown the small beaded loom that I had, and instead of making an upgrade I just started working off loom. It’s high time I return back to a loom for my beads, don’t you think?
No additional purchases needed
The loom is about the only thing I needed to purchase and at a price of $292.99 that’s a good thing, wouldn’t you agree? I still have a lot gorgeous beads, findings, and an assortment of jewelry tools to get the creative juices flowing. I look forward to migrating to a large loom for some of my big beading projects.
We spent a lot of time in the family room chatting while being absorbed in our own creative world. One of the gifts I gave to my daughter was a beading loom, after showing her how to use it she immediately started working on a bracelet. I purchased her glass beads to accompany the loom and even gave her one box filled with some of my favorite glass beads. The loom I purchased, is the same type I’d bought for myself in my early twenties. I told her this loom was the gateway to much fancier looms if the beading bug bit her. It seems as it has since she spent hours yesterday familiarizing herself with the loom and weaving a lovely bracelet.
While she was working on her beaded bracelet, I finished my loom woven dishcloth and was able to make two washcloths from the same warp!
Woven dishcloth
Today marked another first, I sewed my own woven cloth!
Cotton woven washcloths and dishcloth; Threads still need to be trimmed before these are tucked away.
Securing my woven fabric with a sewn hem
Once the fabric is woven it needs to be secured. How did I do that? Well… I secured the edges of the dishcloth and two washcloths with a zigzag stitch; I used my Brother PC-420 sewing machine. From my online search, I’ve see a lot of fringes used on items made with the rigid heddle loom. Cute… but I’m not a big fan of fringes. That’s why I secured my woven fabric with a sewn hem. I have three more washcloths on the loom. I’ll be pulling out my Serger machine; Brother 1034D and will secure the edges with a rolled hem.
Last week, I didn’t keep my commitment of two washcloths/dishcloths per week, but I’m making up for it this week. By the end of the week, I should have woven five washcloths.
Warping my project: I had to toss this since I used the wrong heddle
Of course, I’m still making mistakes but that’s part of the process. See above picture. For example, a few days ago I used the wrong heddle (10-dent) to weave worsted cotton yarn. That did not go well at all since the fiber kept sticking into the heddle slots. I ended up tossing the entire project. I spent over an hour warping that project, and while I could have kept the fiber to stuff amigurumi I simply tossed it all in the trash.
The very next day, I corrected my error and used the same fiber, but this time with a 7.5-dent heddle. I successfully warped my loom without any issue!
Successfully warped loom
Warping the loom, can at times, feel like the longest part of the journey.
Partially woven dishcloth
I don’t look at it negatively since it’s all part of the process, and it’s a necessary step if I want to turn fiber into lovely woven cloth.
Didn’t I tell you that I’d fix my loom weaving issues?
Weaving on my 32″ Kromski Harp; weaving is coming along nicely
And now this is playing in my head…
I thought I told you that I won’t stop
I thought I told you that I won’t stop
I thought I told you that I won’t stop
I thought I told you that I won’t stop
Eh eh, eh eh
I thought I told you that I won’t stop
I thought I told you that I won’t stop
eh eh, eh eh
I thought I told you that I won’t stop
I thought I told you that I won’t stop
Check it out
Yesterday, while my daughter had her play date, I pulled out my 32″ harp rigid heddle loom and started weaving… correctly. The reason why I had the big pile of unwoven yarn (a few days ago) was because I was moving the heddle from the up to the neutral position. I should have pulled the heddle to the down position.Since I kept the heddle in netural position, that meant the yarn wasn’t being crossed and so no weaving was going on. I knew this on the day of the weaving fail, but I just did not have time to fix the issue. It was late and I really needed to get to bed.
I will say the first day was a teachable moment, for my daughter. She saw the warp fail and she also could see how I was handling the situation. I did not give up. I told her tomorrow was another day and I’d fix the issue then. She thinks I did a really great job for my first piece. I think so to. I’ll definitely keep my first woven project so I can come back to it later after I’ve been weaving for some time. I know I’ll see improvements.
Last evening I was finally able to play with my 32″ Kromski Harp Rigid Heddle loom. I selected yarn that I didn’t mind using for practice.
Success!!!
I grabbed the laptop and set it on the table beside me. I rewatched the video below and started warping the loom. If you look in the above picture you’ll see my daughters legs in the background. In fact, she’s still wearing her school uniform. My first try warping the loom had to be redone since I did not start the warp in the center, Ooopss! The next time I warped I did it correctly.
My mind was filled with ideas of the “awesome thing” I’d make with the cloth that I’d warped onto the loom. The only step left was to start weaving.
Yesterday, my 32″ Kromski Harp Rigid Heddle Loom arrived by UPS, two days ahead of schedule. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I purchased my Rigid Heddle Loom from The Woolery. Since they did not have the size I wanted in stock, it was shipped directly to me from New Voyager Trading, the North American distributor.
The Kromski loom is made is made in Poland, by a small Polish family that has the same name. There was a brochure showing a picture of the family that makes these lovely looms; they also make spinning wheels and a few other fiber related appliances. I’ll have to include a photo in a later post.
32 Kromski Harp Rigid Heddle Loom ; everything was neatly packaged
I must say that I was very impressed at how everything was so neatly packaged. I guess whomever packed this could give that Amazon packer some tips, right?
And while I’d read (during my research) that some people seemed to have issues with the assembly instructions, I did not have that issue. I thought the instructions were straightforward and some of the items were marked to help you clearly match the parts that should be connected. I have no idea if this is something new they’ve done (numbering certain items) or if this was there all along? I will say that I’ve always been good with putting things together. My father would often ask me to assemble things that stumped him.
It didn’t take long to set up the loom and although I’ve been itching to get started with this new craft, I’ve been extremely busy (meeting last evening and my daughter’s Christmas program was this evening)
and so I folded the loom (it’s collapsible) and have set it aside. Hopefully, I’ll be able to start weaving before the weekend.
Acts of kindness…
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
I try to go out of my way to be kind to others. I must say it’s nice to be on the receiving end now and again…
This was my first time purchasing from this store and they made it remarkable. I really appreciate the extra details that you did and while you could have remained “anonymous” since I made my purchase online. You sent me additional emails to keep me in the loop throughout and after my online shopping experience. You even included a personal note in my invoice. That made me smile, thanks so much!
I’m not new to Ravelry but I am new to the Loom weaving forum. The wonderful ladies on the Rigid Heddle Loom forum have been so friendly and have responded to my newbie posts! They are also helpful with each others questions. I’m a new member to that particular forum, but I really enjoy popping in when I have a few minutes to increase my knowledge of rigid heddle weaving and be inspired by some of the amaqzing handwoven items I’ve seen.
