Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

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Supplemental Fringe Tutorial

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A supplemental fringe is simply some additional fringing that you as the weaver may decide to add in to a finished piece.

The supplemental fringe (that’s what I call it – I just mean that it’s extra fringe in addition to the original) can be brought in after the woven piece is off the loom. It’s fast and easy to secure to your weaving.

But you may be wondering – in what kind of situations would a supplemental fringe be used? And why would I want to add extra fringe when there is one already existing?

Well, sometimes when you finish a project, you might just feel like it needs a little something extra. You might feel that your existing fringe is a little sparse or even just a little bit dull.

If you’re stuck for how to pick colours for the supplementary fringe one idea would be to have a look at the colours that are in the actual piece. Are there any that stand out to you? And really pop? You could coordinate the colours from your piece with your supplemental fringe?

Or you could pick up a yarn that you just really like and you think would look great alongside existing fringe. No rules here!

It can be helpful to be able to practice the technique first on a sample piece (I used a sampler from the Pick Up Perfection online class) if you happen to have one just so that you can ensure you get the most pleasing results, it helps because it will show you things like what different yarn thicknesses and colours look like, how many repeats you want to do and also allows you to practice the knotting.

What you will need to incorporate a supplementary fringe:

  • Yarn (I used Noro Ito, there is such a fantastic colour range)
  • Woven piece to add the fringe to
  • Crochet hook (size is not too important, it just needs to be able to go through your weaving and pick up the supplementary yarn
  • A book or similar to use as a fringe template
  • Scissors

Once you decided how long your want your supplemental fringe pieces to be, you can use a book as a template to quickly and easily wind off your pieces. Make them twice as long as the actual fringe length you need because we’re going to be doubling them over when attaching.

I chose to place my supplemental fringe every 4 warp threads of the existing fringe. Your choice may be completely different, it just depends on what you want to do.

I also chose to go in with the crochet hook 2 weft threads deep – again this is optional but I feel that having 2 weft threads makes for a sturdier edge for my extra fringe.

Grab your first fringe loop and hold it with the hook.

Pull the fringe loop through the 2 weft rows. Continue to pull through until you have a loop large enough to fit your fingers into, but not so large that the tail ends are pulled though.

About this sized loop is good.

Now you can grab the tail ends of the supplemental fringe and pull them through the loop you’ve made.

Tighten the knot up close to the woven edge and you’re done! Repeat across the rest of the weaving at your chosen intervals.

All that’s left to do is to trim your supplemental fringe, which can be longer, shorter or just the same length as your existing fringe.

There are lots of variations and possibilities with this idea. See the plaited (braided) fringe in the photo above? Well, if that interests you I suggest you watch my video tutorial for all the details on how to work that:

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my disclosure policy.

2 Hacks for Clear Sheds on a rigid heddle loom

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Threads that tend to stick to one another when you change sheds can be so frustrating!

Some yarns are prone to doing this more than others, and it also commonly occurs when you’re weaving with more than one heddle or are using additional aids (like pick up sticks and heddle rods) to create extra shafts on your rigid heddle loom.

For more information on threads that are notoriously sticky, visit this post.

*This post contains affiliate links. For further information, please see my disclosure policy.

Why is it a big deal if not every thread is exactly where it should be?

Well, it’s going to mess up your pattern. Your weaving pattern is created by the interlacement of threads – the weft going over some warp threads and under others. Now, if the weft ends up going over one or more threads that it should be travelling under, and vice versa, then you have a problem.

Floats will be created where they are not meant to be and this will show as a mistake in your pattern. If you have already checked that your threading and weaving sequences are correct, you don’t have crossed threads or anything else weird going on, the problem is very likely to be caused by unclear sheds and sticking threads.

Before looking at using clearing methods, ensure you have adequate warp tension. If your tension is too loose, threads may sag and interfere with your sheds. If your threads are loose on just some sections, you may need to try some wedging techniques to help your warp tension to be more consistent.

There are 2 main methods I use to ensure a clear shed when sticky threads are proving to be an issue.

The first method involves the use of a pick up stick, extra stick shuttle or even a paint stirring stick will do the trick! Basically, a flat, smooth stick.

Before inserting the stick into the shed, ensure that all of your threads are in their correct places. The easiest way to do this is to understand where all threads should be at all times according to your threading and heddle/weaving sequence. For example, in this picture my first heddle is up and my pick up stick is forward. For the way that I threaded, this means that all the hole threads on heddle one should be up, and all the threads on top of the pick up stick will also be up. The rest of the threads will be down, forming the bottom layer of the shed.

Once you understand where all the threads should be and you are sure they are correct, you can insert your pick up stick into the shed. Be sure to insert close to your heddle, where the shed space is at it’s widest.

Once the stick is in the shed, hold it on either side.

Pull the stick towards you, and towards the fell (edge) of your weaving and bounce it off the woven edge.

This action is firm and decisive, but doesn’t have to be a super hard whack. If there were any threads that were sagging or tending to want to stick together, this will shock them back into place.

If you prefer to see a video of this technique in action, you can view that here-

Now let’s have a look at the second shed clearing technique I mentioned.

This technique is so simple and easy. No extra tools are needed, just your trusty hands and fingers. I call this “strumming the warp”, but it doesn’t have anything to do with playing the guitar!

Again, the first step is to ascertain whether the problem lies with your threading, sequence or tension.

Next up, place your heddles/rods/sticks in the correct position for the shed you want to weave. Once again, I’m using the front heddle up, pick up stick forward combination as this combination frequently has sticking threads.

Place both hands, from either side of the warp, into the shed so that your fingers roughly meet around the middle of the warp.

Tilt your fingers slightly upwards as you pull your hands apart and out of the shed. You want your fingertips to “strum” the threads on the way out.

This is such a great technique for snapping threads into place with no ill effects on your warp. Give it a try!

If you would like to see this technique in action, check out this video:

You may have noticed the beautiful piece of weaving I have on the loom in these examples. You can find the PDF pattern for The Ripple Scarf in my Etsy shop. It’s a wonderfully luxurious scarf for rigid heddle weavers, you will love it!

I hope this article has been helpful to you, be sure to leave comments or questions down below, I love to hear from you.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

How to fix snags in your weaving!

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That awful moment when your lovingly hand woven piece catches on something sharp and pulls, leaving an unsightly loop.

I’m sure we’ve all been there and collectively cringed when this has happened.

Thankfully, the fix is a quick and easy one, once you know how.

*This post contains affiliate links. For further information, please see my disclosure policy.

If you are interested in the fabric I’m working with here, it is a sample from my Plaid Double Width Ebooklet.

All you need is the snagged piece of cloth and a tapestry needle. My favourite tapestry needles are the Bent Tip Needles by Clover.

The first thing to do is to have a look at the loop so that you can determine which row of your weft has been affected. We want to work on this row to redistribute the slack that occurred when the weft was snagged. Have a look at the way the weft row is running. This will tell you the direction in which you need to work.

Here you can clearly see the loop and the way in which it runs through the cloth (horizontally, not vertically).

Using the tapestry needle, go to one of the weft stitches either side of the loop. It doesn’t matter which side at this point, as we’re going to be alternating.

Pull up gently on the weft stitch so that some of the slack goes out of the loop and into this stitch.

Now go to the opposite side of the main loop and repeat with the stitch next to it on this side. The aim here is not to pull up big loops, but just to begin to ease and decrease that main loop. The weft stitches you are working on will become looser as you do this – that is normal and expected.

Once you have redistributed some of the slack among the other stitches (I started by doing 3 stitches either side of the main loop) it is time to get a bit rough on the fabric.

Holding onto the fabric either side of the main loop, pull it outwards, away from the loop. It is very helpful to use a “snapping” action for this. The idea is to shock the fabric and re-tension it in order to settle the weft back into the pattern it belongs in.

After snapping the fabric several times, you may see that the weft loop is now laying flat. If this is the case, your work here is done! However, if any of your wefts are still raised (either the loop itself or the weft threads around the loop) then more attention is required.

Simply go back in with your tapestry needle and gently repeat the process, including the fabric snapping afterwards.

By this time your wefts should all be happily settled back into place and laying flat. Ideally, it is now hard to see that there ever was a weft loop. I am pointing to my original loop in the photo above.

If you want to see this whole process in the form of a video, please enjoy watching this one:

I hope this tutorial was really helpful to you! Thank you for visiting me today and until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Christmas Trees Weaving Tutorial on a Rigid Heddle Loom

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With Christmas just around the corner, my head has begun swimming with festive ideas!

Christmas, as the song goes, “is the most wonderful time of the year” – at least I think so, I love to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

I also love the atmosphere, the colours, the change in mood to one of joy and relaxation. The excitement of finding the right Christmas tree and the wonderful scent of pine filling the house is a real highlight for our family.

You may have previously seen my Winter Trees Tutorial but I thought it was high time we do a good and proper Christmas Tree Tutorial.

*This post contains affiliate links. For further information, please view my disclosure policy.

This tutorial is inspired by the Russian Branoe technique and involves picking up threads with a pick up stick in front of the heddle on a closed shed. We then use a “pattern weft” to build up pattern as we weave through the rows. It’s a lot of fun and you can make some super cool characters and pictures.

The threading for the loom set up is just plain weave, and all patterning is done by picking up warp threads. There is no need for specialist knowledge, just a bit of patience!

You can choose to weave plain Christmas trees, or there is an option to “decorate” your tree at the end of the tutorial.

I used my rigid heddle loom to weave this on, but all you really need is a loom that is capable of tensioning a warp and opening 2 sheds. A frame loom would work, it would just be a bit more work for the weaver

If you find this technique interesting, I have plenty of other resources and tutorials for you to delve into:

Baubles and Candles

Little Trees

Exploring Branoe (Online weaving class)

Gift Boxes

Reindeer

Snowmen

You will find all the materials and instructions for the Christmas Trees in this downloadable, printable PDF. I recommend that you use this PDF in conjunction with the instructional Youtube video for best results. Click on “download” at the bottom of the file.

Christmas-trees-PDFDownload

The free video tutorial is available to view here-

I hope that this tutorial and pattern brings some Christmas cheer into your homes and lives!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Supplementary Weft Tutorial

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What is a supplementary weft?

It is simply a weft that is introduced to your weaving, in addition to your regular weft yarn, usually on a plain weave background.

This supplementary weft is often known as a “pattern weft”, which makes sense because it often creates a pattern (think overshot).

A supplementary weft will usually be thicker yarn than the plain weave or tabby yarn, which is normally the same thickness as the warp yarn.

*This post contains affiliate links. For further information, please see my disclosure policy.

This technique is a great way to use a handspun or novelty yarn to really highlight the beauty of the yarn and is also an excellent way to use up leftovers.

A pick up stick is usually used with a supplementary weft – this helps to make a pattern through the use of weft floats.

Using supplementary wefts is a really versatile way to showcase pretty yarn and weave a truly unique piece. I love to design on the loom, trying out different pick ups and different yarns, it’s so much fun and it suits my creative preferences to not have to plan ahead too much.

To weave a sample like I have in the tutorial, you will need the following materials:

  • A 7.5 dent heddle (of course, you can adapt this by using a different sized heddle with a different yarn weight)
  • A stick shuttle or several (use one that is the right size for your loom)
  • A pick up stick (again, use the size that is suitable for your loom or the width of warp you have on)
  • Scissors

Yarn Requirements:

I’m not giving exact yarn amounts, obviously you need more yarn for your warp and tabby (plain weave) than you do for the supplementary weft, but just experiment with what you have.

For my warp I used Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8ply (this is a dk weight wool) in Navy. I used this same yarn for the majority of my tabby.

For supplementary wefts I used Noro, handspun and some of my hand dyed wool and cotton – most of these were around a dk to aran weight.

Sampler size suggestion:

When I warp for a sampler like this one, I like to warp around 8-10 inches in width and at least 30″ in length (total length of warp). For my 7.5 dent heddle this was 47 ends.

Weaving and Pick Up Sequences:

You will find all the information you need to follow the video sampler in this downloadable, printable PDF.

Supplementary-weft-youtube-tutorialDownload

There are three ways to use this tutorial. You can either:

  1. Warp your loom and then follow my examples exactly according to the video and PDF.
  2. Warp your loom and follow some of my examples to gain confidence, then try some of your own designs.
  3. Use my designs as inspiration but go your own way by using the techniques and ideas to create your own unique fabric.

Whatever you decide to do with this tutorial, don’t forget to relax and have fun – that’s what it’s all about!

The 45 minute video tutorial is available here-

As always, comments and questions are very welcome in the section below.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

How to organise string heddle bundles

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String heddles are commonly made of texsolv nowadays, making them very strong and simple to use.

String heddles will generally arrive tied in neat bundles when you purchase them brand new. These bundles are very orderly and can just be slipped right on to your shafts. They can then be cut apart and ready for use

But there are times when your string heddles may be less than organised. I call this “string heddle spaghetti!” Having your string heddles in a pile and out of order is not ideal (not to mention a bit of a time waster) but there is a simple way to get them organised into lovely neat bundles once more.

*This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Once you know how to make these bundles, you can continue to use the technique to ensure that your string heddles are always in order and ready to use.

I recently purchased some used string heddles, and many of them arrived packed into a bag singly and without order. Time to make some bundles!

I use my warping stand (if you’re interested in making your own, check out this tutorial). A raddle also works really well if you have one. Two warping pegs, clamped to a table would also work. Even a box with 2 chopsticks is a suitable alternative!

You also need some twisty ties. If they are a different colour to your string heddles, that improves visibility, but if they are the same colour, don’t worry, you can still use them.

If your string heddles are already separated, grab one and have a look at it. There should be 2 large loops on either side that you can hold on to. There should be the eye of the heddle in the middle of these loops. When you hold the loops, you want the whole string heddle to lay flat – no twists!

Keeping the string heddle flat, place one of the looped ends over the left peg (or raddle nail or chopstick).

Place the loop at the other end over the right hand peg. If you have a central peg like I do, it doesn’t matter which side of it the eye of the heddle rests against. It is best however, to have it rest on the same side of the central peg for each heddle, to keep the laid out order the same.

Drop the loops so that the string heddle rests on the base of your pegs.

Grab your next string heddle and repeat the same action of holding the loops and placing them on the pegs. Pretty simple? 👍 I like to keep going until I’ve laid out around 100 heddles.

When you have enough to make a bundle, take a twisty tie and take one side of the larger loops on one end of the bundle. Because of the way the heddles are laid out, you will easily be able to see the separated sections.

Take the tie and twist it around this section, twisting the ends of the tie together to secure it.

Take another tie and do the opposite side of the same loop, securing it in the exact same way. Do the same for the loop at the other end of the bundle so that you have 4 ties total.

Slip your bundle off the pegs and it’s ready to use!

If you would like a video tutorial on how to make bundles, check out the one below:

I hope this tutorial was useful to you, please leave your questions or comments down below.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

1/5 Warp Floats on a Rigid Heddle Loom

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A weaving float is not always viewed as something desirable. But that is usually when it’s unintended or unplanned. Floats can actually be utilised in many ways, particularly for texture and pattern weaving.

So, what is a float? Well, if you think about it, weaving is made up of floats. The plain weave structure or interlacement occurs when the threads go over/under/over/under each other. We wouldn’t generally think of this interlacement as being comprised of floats, but that’s what it is, just really short floats.

*This post contains affiliate links. For further information, please see my disclosure policy.

A float can be described as any thread travelling over another. Most of the time when we refer to floats, we are talking about a thread travelling over more than one other, often a group.

A float can occur either horizontally or vertically. A horizontal float is known as a weft float. A vertical float is known as a warp floats. Today’s tutorial is specifically for warp floats.

In case you need a visual reference on the difference between a warp and a weft float, The Heart Scarf Project uses weft floats (note that the grey weft floats are horizontal).

Weft floats

Today’s tutorial is specifically for rigid heddle weavers.

What you will need:

  • Yarn that is appropriate for the project you’re weaving and the heddle size you’re using. In this tutorial, I am playing around with a sampler and used a dk weight rainbow dyed cotton in the warp and a dk weight navy wool weft. My heddle size was 7.5dpi.

We begin by placing the heddle in the DOWN position so that all slot threads are raised. It is the slot threads that we want to pick up, not the hole threads. You can consider the hole threads as already picked up, by being held in the holes.

If you have not used a pick up stick before, don’t worry, they are very easy to get started with by following some very basic rules. If you want to gain some familiarity with how you might use a pick up stick, check out this video before going through the rest of the tutorial:

If you specifically would like to see what a 1/1 pick up looks like (which is what I use for this tutorial), I demonstrate it in this video at around the 10 minute mark 😉

Once your pick up stick is in place you are ready to start weaving the sequence. Your shuttle should be filled with your weft yarn. In my case, I’m using a solid, dark weft to contrast with the colourful warp.

Place the heddle in the DOWN position, throw your shuttle, then beat.

Change to the UP shed and slide your pick up stick forward to sit behind the heddle. There is no need to turn your pick up stick on edge, and in any case it would be very difficult to do so with the up shed being so firm. You can see the pick up stick right against the back of the heddle in the above picture.

Throw your shuttle and beat. Slide the pick up stick to the back of the loom.

Change to the DOWN shed. When you enter the shed with stick shuttle this time, you will need to manually go around the warp edge thread – it won’t catch on it’s own. This is really common when you move away from plain weave. If you need more information on the concept of manually going around the edges, I have a detailed article here.

Throw your shuttle and beat.

Change to the UP shed. Bring the pick up stick forward and lay it flat at the back of the heddle once more. Throw the shuttle and beat. Slide the pick up stick back.

Change to the DOWN shed. Again, you will need to catch the edge warp as you enter the shed. Throw shuttle and beat.

By now you will notice the vertical floats forming and getting longer. Really long floats are not practical, as they will catch on things, so it’s time to halt the float in it’s tracks with a tie down thread.

Change to the UP position. No pick up stick this time! Throw the shuttle and beat.

That is one complete weaving sequence. If you want to continue weaving the pattern, you go back to the beginning and work through the steps again.

If you would like the pick up and weaving sequence in a printable format, please click on the download button.

15-warp-floats-Download

If you would like to see this tutorial in video format, I have you covered!

If you want to explore floats further, I have a lot resources to help (too many to list here!) that you can find here on my blog or Youtube channel.

I also want to recommend Jane Patrick’s The Weaver’s Idea Book. It has a HUGE section on weaving warp and weft floats that you will find very instructive and inspiring.

I hope this was helpful to you, be sure to leave any questions or comments down below!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving

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How to use floating selvedges

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In my last post I talked about what floating selvedges are, how they can benefit your weaving and included a photo tutorial for how to install them.

Today, we’re going to have a look at how you actually use floating selvedges in the weaving process.

It’s very simple, but there are a few little rules and things to remember:

  • “Over, under”. This is going to be on repeat in your mind as you weave with your floating selvedges in place. The photo tutorial will show you how this works.
  • You will need to adjust your weights as you weave and advance the warp. This is because your floating selvedge (FS) threads will roll on to your front cloth beam along with the warp threads as you advance.
  • The weft should always wrap around the FS on each side. This also relates to the “over, under” action and will be clear for you to see when you’re weaving.
  • The yarn that you use for your FS can be the same yarn as either the warp or weft. Most of the time, I will use the exact same yarn for the FS as I’m intending to weave with (weft). But, if I have frequent colour changes and more than a few colours in the weft, I will use the warp yarn to set up my FS.

In this tutorial, I’m imagining that you have already set up your floating selvedges and you’re ready to start weaving. If you haven’t done that yet and need a step by step tutorial, please view this post first.

*This post contains affiliate links. For further information, please see my disclosure policy.

This tutorial is specifically for rigid heddle weavers, but I also have a video tutorial for table/floor loom weavers.

I am starting with my shuttle on the left and my heddle is up. (It doesn’t matter which side your shuttle is on or which shed you’re in, but I wanted to be specific so that the photos make sense!)

When I enter my shuttle from the left, my shuttle (and therefore my weft yarn) goes OVER the floating selvedge. As my shuttle exits the shed on the right, it goes UNDER the floating selvedge. Beat.

Now I change my heddle to the down position. As my shuttle enters the shed from the right, it will go OVER the floating selvedge. As it exits the shed on the left, it will go UNDER the FS. Remember, OVER, UNDER. Beat.

Here is how your shuttle should look for that second pick (weft row).

Back to the up position for the third pick. The shuttle will go OVER the FS on the left and come out UNDER on the right.

It’s important to note that using floating selvedges does not change the way we weave. We still need to arrange and tension our weft picks to ensure neat edges. If you are not familiar with my pinching technique, I have a free video tutorial that will make a huge difference to your edges:

If you are having trouble remembering whether you are supposed to be taking the shuttle over or under the FS in your next shed, you only need to look at how your last weft pick is sitting.

For example, you can see clearly in this photo that the last weft pick is sitting UNDER the floating selvedge. This tells me that, to ensure the weft yarn wraps around that FS edge, I will need to take it OVER the FS as the shuttle re-enters the shed.

When your heddle is in the up shed, you can see that the floating selvedge also sits up a little with the warp. The easy way to weave is to just depress the FS with the tip of the shuttle as you enter the new shed.

See how the weft yarn wraps around the FS as it you enter the shed?

As you weave, the FS becomes a part of the fabric and provides a straight edge. The floating selvedges are not removed when you finish weaving, like you would remove fishing line if using the Lifeline Technique, they are truly a part of the piece and that is why we match the yarns when we set up our FS in the beginning.

Continue to tension and angle your weft as you weave. I think you will be very pleased with the results!

If you would like to see me weaving on the table loom using floating selvedges, please view this free video tutorial:

I hope you found this tutorial valuable.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

What are floating selvedges?

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If you’ve been weaving for a little while now it’s very likely that you’ve come across the term “floating selvedge”.

What is a floating selvedge?

Floating selvedges (FS) are used on either side of a warp and are replacement threads for the original edge warp threads. This may lead you to wonder why you would want or need to replace your edge threads?

When weaving a simple plain weave, the interlacement of weft and warp doesn’t change. You alternate between the two plain weave sheds and the weft thread always naturally wraps around the outer most warp threads.

*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

But when you are weaving something other than plain weave, you will often find that the weft skips the outer warp thread – either in every shed or, more likely just in certain sheds. If you don’t do anything to combat this problem, the result will be messy edges and a cloth that lacks integrity at the selvedges.

Now, there is a manual method you can use to prevent this from happening, but I find it easy to install floating selvedges and I also love the neat edge finish this gives me.

How does the floating selvedge work?

A floating selvedge will provide you with an unchanging edge thread, unlike your natural edge thread that may change according to the pattern, or the way you have threaded your loom. The path of the weft thread is determined by your action with the shuttle when you begin weaving, ensuring that every edge warp thread (now your floating selvedge) is wrapped with weft yarn.

When we install floating selvedges, they are usually not a part of the original warp. They are always threaded into an empty slot next to the last naturally occurring warp thread. This makes them independent of your warp and pattern, and means that we can adapt them to our own purposes.

Although floating selvedges are not necessarily a part of the original warp, they do become a part of the finished woven piece – they are not removed afterwards.

For this reason, it’s important to choose a colour that will blend well with the project. If I am weaving my piece with just one, solid coloured weft, I will choose that same yarn and colour for my floating selvedges.

If I am going to be changing the weft colour multiple times within that one piece, I will choose the same yarn and colour as my warp.

The idea is that, once your piece is off the loom and finished, you won’t be able to tell that there was a floating selvedge introduced (other than the fact that your edges will look really nice!)

Can you use a floating selvedge on any loom?

Pretty much. I use them mostly on my floor loom and table loom, and on my rigid heddle loom if I’m weaving something other than plain weave.

Today’s tutorial is specifically for the rigid heddle loom. Scroll to the end of this post to find a video tutorial specifically for table loom floating selvedges.

I like to install my floating selvedges when the warp is all tied on and I’m almost ready to weave.

The photos from this tutorial are taken from my member’s only Floating Selvedges on a Rigid Heddle Loom class.

I most often use the same yarn for my floating selvedges as I use for my weft. So, in the example above, I will be using a white weft.

I don’t do this every time though. If I am weaving a project where I intend to have multiple and frequent weft colour changes, I will use the same yarn that I used for warp for my floating selvedges.

Step 1. is to measure out a length of yarn that is similar to the length of your warp. A little more is fine, a little less is not so great, as then you may have to install the floating selvedges again in the same project. It’s doable, but preferable to have a little more than you need so you don’t run out.

Cut your length of yarn and tie one end in a secure, double knot to the front apron rod on one side of the warp. It makes no difference whether you do the right or left side first.

Drape the tied yarn over the top of the heddle. It doesn’t really matter what position the heddle is in at this point, but it make sense to have it in the neutral or resting position.

Find the next slot, next to your outer most edge warp thread that is empty. This is the slot you will thread your yarn through. Having the floating selvedges in a slot makes them a “free agent” that we can then manipulate in the weaving process to ensure that our edges are always wrapped with a weft thread.

Pull the thread right through the slot and over the back beam and leave it hanging.

Now repeat the exact same steps on the opposite side of the warp.

Now you have two threads in slots on either side of your warp and they are ready to be weighted. If you don’t weight them, they won’t work, they need to be under tension!

Make a slip knot in the hanging thread. You can do this half way down, or further towards the floor, the main thing is that the weights are not resting on the floor, you want them to dangle and place tension on the thread.

Place an “S” hook or something similar through the loop of the slip knot and allow it to hang. You can tighten up the slip knot to prevent your hook from jumping out of the loop. I have a bunch of S hooks, they are so handy for tensioning broken or loose threads and I always use them on my floating selvedges.

Do the same for the other floating selvedge thread, and you’re ready to start weaving!

As a side note – this method is not the only way to install floating selvedges. Some weavers prefer to allow for the additional two threads when calculating the warp, and then roll the FS on with the rest of the warp. They would then thread the FS threads through an empty slot rather than threading as part of the pattern.

If you’re interested in knowing more about floating selvedges and viewing a tutorial for installing them on a table loom, please view this video:

In the next post I will have a tutorial for how to actually use the floating selvedges when weaving, so look out for that one.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Studio Sign with Cricut Maker 3 Tutorial

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Ever since I moved into my very first studio this year, I’ve wanted to put up an official studio sign. I thought about purchasing one online, but couldn’t decide on one that I liked.

So when Cricut Australia contacted me recently and asked me to partner with them, my first thought was “Awesome! I can make a studio sign!”

If you have never heard of Cricut before, (pronounced “cricket”) you are missing out! I admit that I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect when my Cricut Maker 3 arrived and even felt a bit intimidated by the thought of learning new technology, but I have been very pleasantly surprised.

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The machine has been very easy to learn and I’m excited by how much more I can explore. Cricut also included a rotary cutting tool that fits into the machine so that I can experiment with cutting out shapes with my hand woven fabric. I can’t wait to do that!

Here are some of the things I’m loving about this machine:

  • The design possibilities are awesome. In addition to the availability of the app, Design Space, which has hundreds of images and fonts, you can also upload your own designs.
  • The Cricut Maker 3 doesn’t just cut paper and vinyl. It can cut fabric, leather, balsa wood – a total of over 300 materials can be used.
  • The Adaptive Tool System matches the cutting direction and pressure to match the material you’re cutting. Tools can be changed according to what you want to do.
  • Design Space is compatible with iOS, Android, Windows and Mac (I use it with my MacBook Pro).

My husband and I worked together on this project so it was double the fun – I love any excuse to work together!

My idea for the studio sign was to repurpose everything to make it a low to no cost project. Thanks to finding materials around our property and of course to Cricut for sending me the Maker 3 plus tools and materials, I am happy to report that the final result was a NO cost project!

We found some planks of wood that had been stacked on top of a low shed. Absolutely perfect, as I wanted to use naturally distressed wood and these planks fit the bill perfectly. We also used some waste wood as the braces at the back of the sign. My husband already had an old sheet of MDF (medium density fibre board), and that was used for the front of the sign.

The cut pieces of distressed wood measured around 18 x 4″ each, with a depth of just over 1.5″.

We loved the rustic look of the timber, so we left it rough without sanding, but we did need to remove the rusty nails!

My husband nailed on two short and narrow pieces of wood (also found on our property) as a brace to hold the two main pieces together. These measure about 7.5 x 1.5″ with a depth of around 1.25″.

Then we took some MDF (plywood would also work) that we had lying around to use as a front plaque on the wood frame. This was an important step, as the Cricut vinyl I wanted to apply to the front of the sign needed a smooth surface to adhere to.

My husband eyeballed the MDF to match the size of the wooden backing. He drew up some quick measurements, then cut the piece, which ended up measuring around 13.5 x 5.5″. He also cut the corners off using our scrollsaw. Then he gave it a good sand with a fine sandpaper to smooth rough edges.

We painted the MDF plaque with some old paint we found in one of our sheds. It just happened to be a great colour that would set off the gold vinyl lettering perfectly! We let this paint dry completely before the next step.

The plaque was then nailed to the wooden backing.

The rest was up to me! I measured the plaque in order to get accurate measurements for my vinyl lettering.

I went into the Cricut Design Space to get my text organised. This is really simple to do using the Design Space app. I simply typed in the text (“Studio”), chose the font, then adjusted the measurements to suit my plaque.😊

My laptop is paired with the Cricut Maker 3 using Bluetooth, which works really well with no need for cables.

Following the prompts from the Design Space app, I lay in the material I’m wanting to cut, in this case Smart vinyl in Champagne. The Smart materials from Cricut don’t require a cutting mat, it simply feeds into the machine, cuts out the design, then feeds out again.

The next step is to peel away the excess vinyl from the design using the handy weeding tool (the hook) to pull up any vinyl still stuck to the backing.

The Transfer Tape is placed over the top of the design. This allows you to peel up your design and place it precisely where you want it to go.

I positioned the design onto the plaque, smoothed it down and removed the transfer tape. All that was left to do was to hang my beautiful new sign outside my studio. I love the way it looks, and it makes my studio feel really official.

I had so much fun making this sign that I couldn’t stop at just one! In Design Space there are so many great images to choose from, so I wanted to take advantage of some of those.

I got my girls involved so that we could work together to make some signs relevant to their own hobbies and spaces.

For my 14 year old horse lover, it was a no brainer to make a sign for her tack room.

My youngest daughter is chicken crazy and the caretaker of our chicken coops.

These signs were all no cost projects for us, thanks to Cricut Australia and New Zealand, and thanks to repurposed materials.

What I’m really looking forward to now is checking out the Cricut rotary cutter tool with some of my handwoven fabric. Stay tuned for that!

If you would like to see the full free video tutorial for how I made the studio sign, click on the video below:

The Cricut Maker 3 can be found at Spotlight or Harvey Norman in Australia. In New Zealand, suppliers are Spotlight and Warehouse Stationary.

You can also find Cricut here-

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cricut_anz/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cricutanz/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCffy4UQ9lfgQPDlyEUCgWPA

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!