WEAVING ON A HOME-MADE LOOM
[Illustration]
IT is easier than sewing or knitting or crocheting, and comes so natural
to many of us that one would almost think we should know how to weave
without being taught. Why, even some of the birds do a kind of weaving
in their pretty, irregular fashion, and it was probably from the birds
and other small, wild creatures that the earliest human mothers took
their lessons in weaving, and learned to make the mats for their babies
to sleep on and baskets for carrying their food. No one knows how long
ago these first baskets and mats were woven, but in the beginning
weaving was done without looms. Afterward rude frames were tied together
and hung from the limbs of trees, then softer and more flexible material
was used and finer fabrics were woven. To this day almost the same kind
of looms are used by the Indians in our far Western country, many miles
away from the roar and clatter of machinery, and on them are woven the
wonderfully beautiful Navajo blankets for which Eastern people are
willing to pay such large sums.
If it is natural to weave, it should also be natural to make one's own
loom, and
The Pin Loom
is simple in both the making and the working, with material usually
close at hand. The necessary wood you will find at the nearest
carpenter-shop, if not in your own home, and for the rest, a paper of
strong, large-size pins, a yard of colored cord, and one ordinary
carpet-tack are all that is needed.
Make the frame for the loom of a smooth piece of soft pine-board,
fifteen inches long by nine inches wide (Fig. 12). Make the heddles of
two flat sticks, nine inches long, half an inch wide, and one-eighth of
an inch thick (Figs. 13 and 14). From another flat stick of the same
thickness, nine inches long by one inch wide, make the shuttle (Fig.
15).
[Illustration: Fig. 12.--The frame for the loom.]
[Illustration: Fig. 13.--Heddle.]
[Illustration: Fig. 14.--Heddle.]
With a pencil and ruler draw two straight lines across the board, the
first one inch and a half from the top edge, the other two inches and a
half from the bottom edge. This will make the lines just eleven inches
apart. On these lines, beginning one inch from the side edge of the
board, make a row of dots exactly one-quarter of an inch apart,
twenty-nine dots on each line, as in Fig. 12. At each corner of the
board, one inch above the upper line and one inch below the lower line,
draw a short line, and on each short line, three-quarters of an inch
from the side edge, make one dot.
[Illustration: Fig. 15.--The shuttle.]
With a small tack-hammer drive a pin in each of the twenty-nine dots on
each long line, and in each single dot on the four short lines (Fig.
12). When driving in the pins let them all slant evenly outward, the
ones on the top lines slanting toward the upper edge of the board, those
on the lower lines slanting toward the bottom edge, as in Fig. 16. Now
lay your board aside where nothing will be placed on top of it, and make
your heddles.
[Illustration: Fig. 16.--Let the pins slant outward.]
The Heddles
are for lifting the threads of the warp so that the shuttle may be
passed through. One heddle is left perfectly plain, like Fig. 13. The
other is cut in notches on one edge like Fig. 14.
[Illustration: Fig. 17.--The marked-off notches in heddle.]
Along the entire length of one of the sticks rule a line dividing it
exactly in the middle (Fig. 17). On this line, beginning three-quarters
of an inch from the end of the stick, mark off spaces one-quarter of an
inch apart, making thirty-one dots. At the upper edge of the stick mark
off the same number of spaces exactly opposite those on the line. Then
draw straight lines connecting the upper and lower dots, extending the
first and last lines entirely across the stick (Fig. 17.) At a point on
the upper edge, exactly in the middle between the first two lines,
start a slanting line and bring it down to meet the second line where it
touches the long line. Between the second and third lines draw another
slanting line to meet the first at the bottom, forming a V. Leave the
third line, and make another V at the fourth, and so go the length of
the heddle, drawing a V at every other short line. At the top between
the V's make smaller V's, as in Fig. 17. With a sharp knife cut out
these notches, bringing the large ones quite down to the middle line
(Fig. 17). On the end lines just below the middle line bore a hole with
a small gimlet or a hat-pin heated red-hot at Letter A in Fig. 17.
Indeed the notches, too, may be made with a hat-pin by laying the
red-hot end across the edge of the stick at the top of the line, and
pressing it down while rubbing it back and forth. If you are unused to
handling a knife, burning the notches will be the easier way. You can
shape and trim them off afterward with the knife.
[Illustration: The complete pin loom.]
Of the third flat stick make
The Shuttle.
Curve the corners at each end as in Fig. 15. Sharpen one end down to a
thin edge and in the other end cut an eye two inches long and
one-quarter of an inch wide (Fig. 15). Cut your yard of colored cord in
half, pass the end of one piece through one of the holes in the notched
heddle, the end of the other piece through the hole in the opposite end
of the heddle, and tie each end of the cords to one of the pins at the
four corners of the board, drawing the cords taut. This will fasten the
heddle in its place across the loom (Fig. 12).
Near the bottom of the board, directly below the last pin at the right
on the long line, drive the carpet-tack to serve as a cleat for
fastening the end of the warp. All that now remains to be done is
To Adjust the Warp,
and your loom will be ready for weaving. The threads which extend up and
down, or from the top to the bottom of the loom, are called the warp.
Soft, rather coarse knitting-cotton makes a good warp for almost
anything woven on a small loom.
[Illustration: Fig. 18.--Adjusting the warp.]
Tie the end of the warp securely to the first pin on the long line at
the upper left-hand corner of the loom (Fig. 18). Bring the string down
and around the first two pins on the lower line, up again and around the
second and third pins on the upper line, and then down and around the
third and fourth pins on the lower line. Up again, down again, crossing
two pins each time, back and forth until the last pin on the lower line
has been reached. Wrap the warp around this pin several times, and then
around the tack, tying it here so that it cannot slip. The warp must lie
flat on the board where it passes around the pins, and in stringing up
it must be drawn rather tight, though not with sufficient force to pull
the pins out of place.
[Illustration: Fig. 19.--Putting in the second heddle.]
Turn the heddle on edge, the notches up, and slip the threads of the
warp into the notches, one thread in each notch. This, you will see,
divides the warp into upper and lower threads, and forms what is called
the shed. While the threads are separated take the other heddle and darn
it in and out above the first heddle, taking up the lower threads and
bringing the heddle over the upper ones as in Fig. 19.
The Woof
is the thread which crosses the warp and usually covers it entirely. The
material to use for woof will depend upon what you are going to make.
Germantown wool is used for the woof of the miniature Navajo blanket
shown in the illustration. The warp is knitting-cotton.
[Illustration: A Miniature Navajo Blanket.]
This is
The Way to Weave a Navajo
blanket; simpler things you can easily make after this first lesson: Of
Germantown wool you will need three colors, which are the colors most
frequently used by the Indians--red (scarlet), white, and black, about
half a hank of each. Take five yards of white wool, fold one end over a
two-yard length, fold again, and push the double end through the eye of
the shuttle (Fig. 20).
[Illustration: Fig. 20.--The threaded shuttle.]
Tie the long end of the wool to the first pin at the lower left-hand
corner of the loom, on the long line, making a tight knot and pushing it
down close to the board (Fig. 21).
[Illustration: Fig. 21.--Starting the woof.]
With the notched heddle on edge push the shuttle through the shed--that
is, between the upper and lower threads of the warp. Draw it out on the
other side, then turn the heddle down, notched edge toward you, and
stand the plain heddle on edge. This will lift the lower threads of the
warp above the others and make them the upper ones. Push the shuttle
back through the shed, lay the plain heddle flat, and stand up the
notched heddle. Weaving from the left, the notched heddle always stands,
while the plain one lies flat. Weaving from the right, the plain heddle
stands, and the notched one is turned down.
Do not draw the woof tight across the warp. When you have passed the
shuttle through, leave the thread like Fig. 21, and then push it down
firmly with your finger-tips until it lies close to the pins.
A Coarse Comb
with no fine teeth is very good to use for packing the woof, and takes
the place of what is called the lay. While the woof is looped out like
Fig. 21, comb it down toward you with the comb, and it will fit in
evenly between the threads of the warp. As the woof of the Navajo
blanket must be very tightly packed, use first the comb and then your
fingers to push it down and make it compact.
Weave back and forth until all the wool in the shuttle is used. If the
end of the woof extends beyond the last thread of the warp on either
side, turn it back and weave it under and over several threads, and
start a new piece with the end just lapping the old. The ends of the
woof must never be allowed to extend beyond the warp at the sides. It is
not necessary to tie the new piece of woof; the tight packing will hold
it in place.
In this case the new woof must be of the red wool. Weave it across
twice, or once over and back, making a very narrow red stripe, then cut
it off and thread the shuttle with white. Weave the white twice across,
then change to black and weave a stripe one-quarter of an inch wide.
Above the black weave another narrow white stripe and another narrow red
one. Put a long thread of white wool in the shuttle, and weave a white
stripe one inch wide. You will have to thread the shuttle twice for
this, as too long a thread will make so large a bunch that it will be
difficult to pass it through the shed. After the white stripe weave
another black, white, and red stripe like the first, then another
inch-wide white stripe. Once more weave a black, a white, and a red
stripe. Begin with the narrow black, follow with the narrow white, and
then weave a wider red stripe, taking the thread four times across.
After the red the narrow white, and then the narrow black stripe.
This last stripe is the lower border of
The Central Pattern
of the blanket, where your weaving will become more difficult, and at
the same time more interesting.
[Illustration: Figs. 22 and 23.--Weaving the centre stripe.]
Thread the shuttle with a long piece of red wool and weave it once
across from the left, turn back and weave through five threads of the
warp, draw the shuttle out and weave back again to the edge; again weave
through the five threads, then back as shown at B in Fig. 22. Turn here
and do not take up the last thread of the warp; pass the shuttle under
three threads, turn on the next thread, and bring it back under four
threads (C, Fig. 22), once more under the three threads, turning on the
next as before, but passing back under two threads only. Turn on the
next thread (D), and pass under three. Back under two threads (E), turn
as before on the next thread under two, turn, back under two (F), turn,
under one, turn on the next, under two (G), turn, under one, turn on the
next, back under two, and unthread the shuttle, leaving the woof
hanging.
Begin with a new piece of red wool, follow the same direction, and weave
another red point on the next five threads, then a third one which will
take in the last warp-thread on the left. You will notice in the diagram
that the woof always turns twice on the same thread of warp.
When the three red points are finished fill in the spaces between with
black (Fig. 23), then continue to weave the black up into points as you
did the red, making two whole and two half black diamonds. Leave the
woof quite loose when you make a turn in weaving, and the space left
between the red and black will fill up in packing.
Take up the end of the red wool left at the top of the first red point,
and weave in the space between the half and first black diamond, then
break off. Take the next red end and fill in between the two whole
diamonds, then the next, and fill in between the whole and the last half
diamond. This will give you a pattern of black diamonds on a red ground.
Weave the last of the red woof once across, then break off and weave a
black, white, and red stripe like the one forming the lower border of
the pattern. Finish the blanket with the wide white stripes and narrow
colored ones like those first woven.
To take the work from the loom, cut the threads between the pins at the
top of the loom, and with quick but gentle jerks pull it off the lower
row of pins. Tie together the first and third loose ends of the warp
close to the edge of the blanket, then the second and fourth threads,
and so on across, then cut the ends off rather close to the knots.
The little Navajo blanket woven in this way will closely resemble the
real Indian blanket in texture, pattern, and colors.
Blankets for Dolls' Beds
may also be woven of fine white wool and finished with a pretty pink or
blue border at each end. A wash-cloth, soft and pleasant to the touch,
you can weave in half an hour with candle-wick for woof. This should not
be packed tightly, but woven with rather a loose mesh. Then there are
cunning little rag rugs to be made for the dolls' house, with colored
rags for the woof. But so many materials may be woven on your home-made
loom, that it will be a pleasure for you to discover them for yourself.