Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

Tutorials

How to Use Pick-Up Sticks

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Pick-up sticks can be a game-changer for rigid heddle weaving. These simple tools expand your loom’s capabilities, allowing you to create intricate patterns beyond plain weave. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to elevate your skills, this guide will help you understand how to use pick-up sticks effectively.

A rigid heddle loom has 2 shafts, essentially the hole threads and the slot threads. These 2 shafts allow you to work plain weave, which is a perfectly lovely weave structure on it’s own, but most weavers will begin with plain weave and then want to increase their own skills and their loom’s capabilities.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click a link and purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

This is where pick up sticks enter and shine. Basically, they are simple, flat and smooth lengths of wood. You pick up warp threads and operate the stick/s from behind the heddle/reed. Your pick up sticks need to be longer than the width of your project, or they won’t hold the picked up threads. For my 24″ rigid heddle loom I use 24″ pick up sticks. I can use these same sticks whether my project is narrow or full loom width.

Incorporate one pick up stick and you can weave on 3 shafts. Incorporate two pick up sticks and you can weave on 4 shafts. And you can keep going from there, although you will probably want to learn about installing heddle rods to increase time efficiency. I happen to have a video showing you how to do that:

If that is a bit much for you at the moment, you can run with the knowledge that pick up sticks allow you to weave pretty patterns!

One of the rules of picking up warp threads with a stick is that your heddle needs to be in the “down” position. The threads we want to pick up must be slot threads, as the hole threads are already committed and are therefore inflexible.

Trying to pick up hole threads would be like trying to pick up the same threads twice! The slot threads are normally our shaft 2 threads and when we place the heddle in down position, they are raised.

Because we push our pick up stick/s to the back when not in use and they lay flat between the warp threads, they do not hinder you from being able to still operate shaft 2, as well as an additional shaft when the stick is engaged.

But I don’t think that you need to understand any of the above in order to use one or two pick up sticks, I certainly didn’t know what I was doing when I started with them. I just played around and liked what I saw and you can do the same!

Even if you are using a written pattern, you still don’t need a lot of understanding to follow them. If you see the instructions “1 up, 1 down” for your pick up, it simply means 1 warp thread will sit on top of the pick up stick, the next will sit underneath it and this will repeat across the warp.

Pick up sampler

The instructions for the actual weaving will be a little different, but easy to follow. Here is a simple weaving sequence as an example:

  1. Up (heddle up)
  2. Down (heddle down)
  3. Up, pick up stick (heddle up and slide pick up stick behind the heddle, leaving flat).

If you want to see pick up sticks and examples of pick up patterns demonstrated, watch my free Youtube video:

If you’re interested in exploring pick up in the form of a project, I can help! My Kitchen Cloths on a rigid heddle loom project is available as an online class.

In my Etsy shop, you will find my Lux Hand Towels pattern, which also uses pick up.

Lux Hand Towels

Oh, and let’s not forget the free pattern you receive when you sign up to my email list, the Moroccan Dream Scarf, which is easy enough for beginner pick up stick adventurists and can look so varied, depending on the yarn and colours you decide on.

The Moroccan Dream Scarf

I have some really cool pick up patterns for free, along with a video tutorial in this post.

I’m quite sure that you will be interested in taking a look at my Pick Up Stick Playlist on Youtube:

I also have a comprehensive course, Pick Up Perfection, available for purchase. If you have a membership to the Online Weaving School, this class is included for free.

I hope this has helped you to understand how pick up sticks can be utilised in your weaving. If this post has been useful to you or if you have any questions, please leave me a comment, I love to hear from you 😊

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

What is the sett in weaving?

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Perhaps one of the most confusing terms to newer weavers is the sett.

What is the sett and why does it matter?

Well, I’ve made a video explaining the basics and narrowing it down in an easy to understand format, so please take a few moments to watch that.


You will usually see the sett referred to as “ends per inch” or “epi”. When obtaining a measurement or calculation to determine your sett, you are figuring out the spacing between your warp threads.

The spacing is important because it affects the end result of your weaving. For example, if I have some really thick yarn that I’m using as warp, and I space it (or sett it) too closely together, I may end up with a fabric that is more like cardboard! If that is the effect you are going for, great – but if not, you need to understand why it happened.

*This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and purchase, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

So, let’s take a look at how you can determine sett. Once again, I have a video that demonstrates the simple process. All you need is some yarn and an inch ruler!

The beauty of this inch ruler wrap test is that it works with whatever yarn you have. Some weaving threads have a recommended sett when you buy them, but you may not remember or have lost the information. No problem, you can figure it out for yourself.

If you are a rigid heddle weaver and have a good collection of different sized heddles/reeds it is very easy to transfer your calculated sett to the loom – you just choose the heddle/reed that is close or exactly the same as your figure.

Let’s have a look at an example. The yarn I used in the video is an Australian 8 ply (light worsted/ dk). When I wrapped it for an inch, I found that I could wrap the yarn 14 times. Dividing this figure in half gives me the correct sett for a balance plain weave. 14 divided by 2 = 7. My sett would be 7. I don’t have a 7 dent heddle/reed, so I would choose my 7.5 dent. An 8 dent would also be fine.

So, for every weave structure, I divide my wraps in half?

No.

The rules change when the weave structure changes. Plain weave is a balanced interlacement of warp and weft threads. One over, one under, one over and so on. But when it comes to twill, the weft yarn travels differently. It has to travel over more warp threads, so it has further to go. Therefore, when determining sett for twill, we use a different tactic.

Twill is generally sett 2/3 closer than plain weave. For those of us who are not strong on mathematics (hello!) it can be easiest to follow a simple formula. Instead of dividing our wraps per inch in half, we multiply by 0.67.

Let’s use our earlier example with the same yarn to figure out a sett for twill instead of plain weave. Remember that we wrapped the yarn for an inch and got 14 wraps? We take that 14 and multiply it by 0.67. 14 X 0.67 = 9.38. Now I need to make a decision – there is no heddle/reed with a 9.38 dent! So, I choose the closest, which would be a 10 dent.

Are these figures sett in stone? (Pun intended!)
No, they don’t have to be! You can make decisions based on your project as well. Lets say I’m using an 8/2 cotton that would normally be sett between 18 and 24 ends per inch. I want to weave some kitchen towels in plain weave. Experience tells me that a suitable sett would be 20epi, I would double my ends in a 10 dent heddle/reed. Or I could use 2 x 10 dent heddles to double the sett. Experience also tells me that if I use single and not doubled threads as weft, that will be a very pleasing result for the type of towels I prefer.
 
BUT, if I want to use that same 8/2 cotton for weaving a tote bag I need to put my thinking cap on. Knowing that my towel calculations give me a lovely soft but durable fabric, I’m thinking for a tote bag I’m going to want a sturdier fabric. After some consideration and perhaps working a sample, I may decide that my bag fabric will be sett at 24 epi and my weft will be doubled this time.
 
 

Sampling is always an excellent idea. It will leave you with no doubts about your project, or it may strike you with the realisation that you need to research and perhaps sample further.

You will get to a point (as all experienced weavers do eventually) of knowing your favourite yarns, projects and the sett you need to use. For a great deal of my projects these days, I don’t calculate the sett formally, it just becomes intuitive. If I buy a new yarn that I’ve never used or undertake a weave structure I haven’t tried, then I will go back to basics and calculate more carefully.

I hope this article has helped you to wrap (oops, there goes another pun!) your head around the whole idea of sett and why it is necessary in weaving.

If you feel you want to know more or are interested in delving further in, I have a great short class What do all the Numbers Mean and how do they apply to a Rigid Heddle Loom?

This class goes into the numbers that you see on your weaving thread cones and what they actually mean. It includes two printable yarn charts. One is specifically for weaving yarns and the other for knitting yarns.

Each chart gives you a list of common sizes of yarn and recommended setts, name conversions where necessary, recommended heddle/reed sizes and suggested related projects. It’s well worth a look and is the type of class you can refer back to again and again.

I also have the Weaver’s Toolkit Ebooklet available. This is a 22 page ebook for rigid heddle weavers. It includes many helpful resources like yarn conversion charts, sett explanations and recommendations, weaving yarn sizes and so much more. You can read more about the booklet in this post or you can purchase it from my Etsy shop.

Well, that’s all for today friends, until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Hand Woven Tapestry Necklace

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I completed 4 towels on my floor loom for the April #weaveforme challenge, but considering they were for a class as well, I did feel like I had cheated just a little.

*This post contains some affiliate links, which means that if you click and purchase, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

So, I decided that I needed another project that was exclusively for me. I’ve been keen to start another project on my tapestry loom and thought it could be fun to weave a necklace or two. This is entirely different from my usual, often very practical projects.

I had a few hiccups to begin with. I wanted to use up some Appleton’s Crewel Embroidery Wool in a lovely range of colours that I had leftover from a crewel project long ago. This is a very thin and light wool.

I warped at 18epi with the same Ashford Tapestry Warp thread I have been using for all my tapestry work. Warping all went according to plan and I was ready to weave.

When I started weaving, however, I did not like what I saw! The wool is so thin that even though I beat down very hard, the warp thread still showed. It looked ugly! Now I had to put my thinking cap on and make some decisions. If I used a thicker weft, I was concerned that the 18epi would end up being too close. I wondered if I would be able to change the spring at the top of the loom that spaces the warp, in order to change the epi.

The Appleton wool. This was after beating really hard!

I loosened off the tension and went for it. I took off the 18epi spring and placed a 12epi spring on instead. Then I carefully rearranged all of those warp threads into their new spaces. This presented me with a new problem. My warp, now that the threads were space further apart was way too wide for the necklace project I wanted to weave!

Out came the thinking cap again (it received more use than normal on this particular day). I found that if I divided the warp in half, that would be just the right width for a necklace. Plus, that would allow me to weave 2 necklace panels simultaneously. Bingo!

The warp divided in half.

On one panel (left in the photo above) I used hatching with 2 contrasting wools – one solid black and the other a hand dyed variegated of similar weights.

The second panel used a worsted weight wool in dark purple and the same hand dyed as the other. The purple yarn was quite a bit heavier than the hand dyed, I dealt with that problem by doing extra rows on the middle panel to build it up at the same rate as the dark purple. These rectangular shapes are not joined, I used this technique because I wanted clean lines.

I was able to weave both panels at once, which worked out really well. My original intention was to continue to weave additional panels for extra necklaces, but I really wanted to complete the April challenge before too much of May had passed, plus I had other projects mounting up that needed to be started, so I decided to finish up and just do the two.

Finishing the fringes and making into a necklace.

I decided to use hemstitching and a tapestry braiding finish (I’ll have a video tutorial for that soon) to finish the fringes. At the bottom of the hemstitched hatched panel, I wove the fringe back into the work. I took the fringe at the top, placed my faux leather necklace on top, and began weaving the fringes individually back into the work, looping the fringe threads around and encasing the necklace band as I went.

I wasn’t sure if this would secure the panel onto the band with enough strength, but now that I’m finished it is surprisingly hardy and doesn’t move.

The fringe looped over the necklace and woven back in to the fabric.


Once all the fringes were woven in securely, I snipped them off close to the fabric. The back of the necklace doesn’t show, but if I was worried about it, I could have sewn on a piece of felt the same size as the panel to cover the back.

I have not yet finished the other panel, but I’m so glad to have completed another project for the April #weaveforme challenge. The challenge was so popular that I would love to run it again next year. What do you think?

If you would prefer to watch this post and see a bit of a demonstration of the actual weaving, here you go!

And, if you have an interest in learning more about tapestry weaving on a rigid heddle loom, I have a class that will teach you all the basics and get you on your way.

I hope you all enjoyed following along with this project and reading and watching about it.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

How to hand hem your hand wovens

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Hand hemming. It just sounds good, doesn’t it? It takes you back to the days when time was spent stitching with a needle and thread. Quiet, meditative, and artfully skilled.

I’ll be the first to admit that most of my hand woven pieces are hemmed on my sewing machine, due to a lack of time and a love of convenience. But, I do enjoy stitching with a needle and thread at least occasionally, and it does provide a different finish to a machine stitch.

*This post contains some affiliate links, which means if you click on the link and purchase, I receive a very small commission at no extra cost to you.

If you are more interested in hemming your hand wovens on a sewing machine, this post has got you covered. The initial steps are the same, whether you are hemming by hand or machine.

Begin by laying out your washed or wet finished and dried piece. Fold in the corners (“dog ears”) and iron down on the cotton setting of your iron.

Next you begin to fold down the edge that was previously serged or zigzag stitched and press with the iron.

Now we make another fold, a little bigger than the last and press that down as well. Place pins along the fold to help hold it in place during the stitching process.

If you need more details on these steps, this post is more step by step.

Now we are ready to stitch. Use a needle (not a tapestry, you need a sharp point for this task) and a length of good quality sewing thread (I always use Gutermann Sew All Thread) and knot the end of the thread. Slightly lift the edge corner of one of your hems. In this space you will begin your thread and lodge your know to make it invisible.

Take your needle into the base cloth and pull through to lodge the knot. Fold the hem back in place so that the thread is wedged between the hem and the base cloth.

Take the needle into the fold of the hem, close to the corner and close to the edge of the fold. Pull the thread through.

Now, take the needle back to the base cloth, horizontal to the fold. Pick up one or two threads, very close to the fold of the hem, but not on it. This is the fabric underneath the hem. Pull through.

Now, take the thread vertically through the fold of the hem once again. Pull through, and return to the base cloth to repeat these steps.

Once you are proficient at this, you may want to eliminate one step of the process by combining the two stitches into one action. It is best if you watch the video to learn to do that, it is much easier to show and tell!

Finish up by knotting the thread and burying it into the cloth, using your needle. Cut off any loose ends. Give your hem/s a quick press and they’re good to go!

So, what is your preference? Hand hemming or machine? Let me know by leaving a comment!

Do you like the towel I’m hemming in the photos? It is one of 4 towels from my Floor Loom Weaving sequel class. It’s almost finished, won’t be long now! Make sure you’re on my email list to receive notification of when it goes live.

I hope you enjoyed today’s tutorial and until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Going around the edges

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There are times when you are weaving something other than plain weave, you enter into the shed, weave the pick, but then realise the yarn has not wrapped around the outer edge warp thread.

If you continue to weave, your edges will be wonky and they will be unstable.

Fortunately, there is a quick and easy fix to this problem!

You could add floating selvedges and ensure that you go around them between each woven pick.

OR

You can go around the edge thread manually, which is really, really simple.
Usually, if you’re weaving a repeating pattern, the problem will occur on the same side, in the same shed. For me, on this particular pattern, it was the down shed.

By simply entering the shed by first going over the edge thread, you fix the problem. The weft yarn wraps around the edge warp thread, and all is right with the world again.

In these photos I am weaving my brand new Etsy pattern, the Rainbow Lap Blanket. I designed this pattern for little loom weavers who crave to weave something large and also for those who are in a cold part of the world and wish to snuggle up with something bright and warm. I hope you love it as much as I do! 


Oh, before I forget, there is a companion video to this blog post, just in case you need to see how it all works!




Until next time… 

Happy Weaving!

How to make a warping stand

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DIY Warping Stand: How We Made an Affordable and Sturdy One at Home

I had been wanting a warping stand for a long time, but the store-bought versions were just too expensive. Thankfully, my husband stepped in! After I showed him a few pictures and explained how it works, he offered to make one—and he did an amazing job.

When I shared the finished stand on social media, the response was overwhelming. So many of you asked how to make one yourselves. I’m happy to share that my husband not only created a set of free plans and measurements, but we also filmed a full YouTube tutorial to walk you through the process.

🧰 Good news: You don’t need fancy tools or woodworking experience to make this warping stand. With a little effort and some basic supplies, you’ll have a strong, functional tool that will last for years.

 

How to use a warping stand

Using a warping stand is super simple and will make your warping experience so much easier!

Simply place your yarn cone over one of the dowel pieces:

Pull up the yarn end to thread through the eye hook directly above the dowel:

Place the warping stand on the floor, ready to use 😊

🛠 Tools and Materials Needed

Here’s a list of the tools and materials we used to make the DIY warping stand:

  • Electric drill – (these ones are great!)

  • Drill measuring rod (usually included with your drill)

  • Wood boring bits – 13mm and 10mm sizes

  • Rubber or non-slip matting – A small piece to stabilize the base

  • 6 x eye screws – 23mm long, 2mm diameter

  • 8 x 10-gauge screws – 45mm long (we used square head screws)

  • Square drive drill bit No. 2 – (came with our screws)

  • Pre-drill bit – Same size as your screw body

  • Handsaw

  • PVA wood glue – Just a small amount

  • Ruler or measuring tape

  • Sandpaper – Medium and fine grit

  • HB pencil – For marking your cuts

  • ——————————————————————————————-

Why I Love My DIY Warping Stand

  • Affordable – Costs a fraction of store-bought versions

  • Customizable – Make it the perfect size for your space

  • Sturdy & Reliable – Built to last, even with regular use

  • Beginner-Friendly – No fancy tools or woodworking skills needed

  • No More Rolling Cones of Yarn! – I used to get really annoyed when my yarn cone would not stay put. I rigged up a cardboard box with a chopstick as a temporary holder, which worked ok but was bulky, dust gathering and the chopstick hole would get bigger with use.

✨ Bonus Tips

  • If you don’t have a handsaw, many hardware stores will cut the wood to size for you, you just have to ask and give them the specifications.

  • Use clamps while gluing for extra strength.

  • Sand well to avoid yarn snags during warping.

  • You can use a wood finish if you prefer. This will protect the wood, making your stand last even longer. Beeswax, wood oil or varnish are all suitable.
 
 

🪵 Wood Measurements & Materials (Premium Pine)

We used premium pine for this project because it’s lightweight, affordable, and easy to work with. Here’s a breakdown of the wood pieces:

Part Quantity Dimensions (cm) Dimensions (inches)
Base piece 1 30 L x 19 W x 3 D 11.8″ x 7.3″ x 1.2″
Side pieces 2 34 L x 4.3 W x 1.9 D 13.3″ x 1.6″ x 0.75″
Top piece 1 Same as side pieces —
Thick dowels 3 17.7 L x 1.27 Ø 7″ x 0.5″
Thin dowels 3 17.7 L x 0.95 Ø 7″ x 0.37″

📏 Note: The measurements don’t have to be exact. As my husband says, small variations are totally fine—just aim for consistency and functionality.

 
 

📐 Reference Diagrams

We’ve included hand-drawn diagrams to help guide you alongside the video tutorial. These are meant to support your build visually in case anything gets confusing while following the video.

🎥 Don’t skip the video! This blog post is intended to complement the full video tutorial, not replace it. Be sure to use both for the best results.

 

💰 How Much Does It Cost?

One of the best things about this DIY warping stand project is how inexpensive it is compared to a store-bought warping stand. Please note that prices change over time due to inflation so these original figures may differ to current figures:

  • If you already have some tools (like we did), the total cost for materials was between $25–$40 AUD

  • If you already have the wood, screws, and bits, it could be a completely free project!

That’s a huge saving when commercial stands often cost over $100!

Don’t forget to check out the video tutorial:

❤️ We Hope This Helps!

We truly hope this project helps you get a functional, custom-made DIY warping stand at a fraction of the cost. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out in the comments below 👇

🙏 Was this post helpful? We gratefully accept donations if you’d like to support more free tutorials like this.

Leave a tip 😀
Until next time…
Happy Weaving!
 
*This post contains affiliate links. For further information please see my disclosure policy.

What is Clasped Weft? A step by step tutorial.

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Just when you think you’ve tried everything in weaving, you come across something different, like Clasped Weft.
Clasped weft can be a great “next step” for newer weavers with a few plain weave projects completed and who are ready for something a bit more adventurous.
The cool thing about weaving clasped weft is that, similar to Colour and Weave, most of the work is in using colours to make your weaving look fancy, when in actual fact it is quite simple.
The clasped weft technique uses 2, 3 or 4 interlocking weft colours. Using 2 colours to begin with is the easiest and least complicated approach. If you have done any tapestry, you may already be familiar with the interlocking technique.
*This post contains affiliate links. for more information, see my disclosure policy.

We mainly use a plain weave structure (though clasped weft can actually be used in other structures, such as twill). It is a perfect technique for a rigid heddle loom, because, although it’s simple, it looks special and has big impact.


Before we go through the tutorial steps, let’s look at some (rather poorly drawn, sorry about that!) diagrams to get a clearer idea of how this works. The drawings are over simplified, as I haven’t drawn in the warp and weft interlacement, but I have drawn in the edge warp threads:

Clasped weft with 2 weft colours.

Clasped weft with 3 colours.

Clasped weft with 4 colours.

Now let’s go through the tutorial steps so that you can get clear on how clasped weft is actually woven. Today, we are just focusing on working the two weft colour technique, as I believe this is the best place to begin if you’re not familiar with clasped weft or haven’t attempted it before.
Begin with two contrasting weft yarns of the same weight. I have used one with a dark navy colour and another that is variegated with bright colours.
See the tips section below for more on why variegated works perfectly.
My warp and weft yarns were all light worsted/dk/ Australian 8 ply weight. Wool, acrylic or cotton are all fine.
One weft yarn is loaded onto a stick shuttle, in my case this was the dark navy. The other colour is left in a ball or on the cone. My variegated colour was in a skein and so I wound it into a yarn cake with my ball winder.
A yarn cake (also known as a centre pull ball) is particularly good to work with for clasped weft, because it sits nice and flat on the floor and won’t roll away. The yarn also feeds off the yarn cake seamlessly, which makes the whole process that little bit easier. If you have a ball, you may want to sit it in a box or basket on the floor to contain it.
Place the ball of yarn on the floor at your left. It doesn’t matter if you place it on the right or left, but for the purpose of this tutorial it’s on the left.
Because the ball (let’s call it the contrast yarn) is on the left, we enter the shed with the stick shuttle on the right. Again, it doesn’t matter whether you are in the up or down shed, but I am beginning in the down shed.
Take your stick shuttle across from the right hand side to the left as though you’re going to weave a regular plain weave pick.
When your shuttle reaches the left hand side, pick up the contrast yarn and place it over the top of the stick shuttle.

Take the shuttle the rest of the way through the shed at the left – as you would for your normal plain weave pick.

On the right hand side (where your shuttle entered), tidy up and prepare your weft yarn as though you’re going to beat the pick in. If you’re not familiar with how to do this, watch my free video on How to Weave Neat Edges.  DON’T BEAT.

Take the shuttle straight back into the same shed. Don’t change sheds, and don’t beat! Take the shuttle through, back to the right where you first entered the shed.
As you return the shuttle to the right, you will find that the navy yarn is linked or clasped with the contrast yarn. This means that the contrast yarn is pulled into the shed. Now you get to decide how far you will pull the contrast yarn into the shed. A little? A lot? Your choice, depending on the effect you want to achieve.
Hold both yarns under tension on either side to manipulate where you want the two yarns to go.
When you’re happy with the yarn positioning, beat the picks into place. You will notice that both yarns are now doubled in the shed.
Change to the next shed (in my case I had been working in the down shed, so I go on to change to the up shed).
Continue weaving in the exact same manner in the new shed and repeat until you’ve finished weaving.
Isn’t your head just swimming with all the possibilities of this wonderful technique?
Clasped weft can be extremely planned or extremely random. It looks wonderful both ways and is just so much fun to weave.
Here are a few recommendations for best results:
1. Use contrasting weft colours.
Light and dark will make the weaving pop. 
2. Use the same weight yarn for both warp and weft.
You will get better results and avoid the not so pretty lumps and bumps that can occur at interlocking points.
3. Variegated yarn is perfect for this.
For the 2 colour clasped weft technique, a variegated yarn with a contrasting yarn looks really cool! (See photos below and above).

              4. Using the same colour as the warp for one of your weft colours works great.

Too much colour can confuse the contrast of the clasped weft lines. In the tutorial, I used the same navy yarn for warp and weft no.1. I then used a contrast yarn for weft no.2.

If you like the look of clasped weft as much as I do, I have some great news for you! I have 3 free Youtube video tutorials that will teach you each of these techniques. Start with video 1 so that you can practice the technique, before moving on to the others. 

Clasped Weft with 2 colours
Clasped Weft with 3 colours
Clasped Weft with 4 colours
I mentioned that the clasped weft technique can also be used for other weave structures. This can create really interesting and impressive special effects. One of my Etsy patterns, The Cityscape Scarf is a perfect example of a clasped weft combined with a twill.
Try it out and let me know what you think. Leave me a comment here or under any of the Youtube videos, I love to hear from you!
Until next time…
Happy Weaving!

Spring Table Runner Free Rigid Heddle Project!

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Winter is fast approaching us here in Australia, but for those in the Northern Hemisphere, you are looking forward to the mildness and beauty of Spring. It’s a wonderful time to be freshening up household linens and table decor with new hand wovens!
 
*This post contains affiliate links
 
The Spring Table Runner project was initially run as a weave along, but can of course be undertaken at any time. I chose light and pastel colours to give that spring feel and also embroidered a delicate spray of flowers on either end of the runner to really make it feel like Spring.

 
The table runner is woven with lovely thick and soft cotton for easy care. The design is worked by using colour in the warp and weft, plus some simple pick up for additional interest.
 
You can download the free, printable PDF for the Spring Table Runner right here-  
Spring-Table-RunnerPDFDownload

What you will need to complete this project:

*A rigid heddle loom, 20″ or wider

*A 7.5 dent reed/heddle

* 2 x stick shuttles, at least as long as the width of your project

*A pick up stick, longer than the width of your project

*A double ended reed and heddle hook or a separate threading hook and reed hook

I know that many of you do not have access to the same yarns that I do. Let’s have a look at some suitable yarns you could use to complete this project:

For the 10 ply/ worsted/aran weight:

Bendigo Woollen Mills Cotton 10 ply

Lily Sugar n Cream cotton

Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton

Knit Picks Dishie Worsted cotton

Hobby Lobby I Love This Cotton

For the 8 ply/ light worsted/dk weight:

Bendigo Woollen Mills Cotton 8ply

Cestari Old Dominion 100% cotton

Maurice Brassard 8/8 cotton

Yarnsub.com is also an excellent resource for finding a variety of yarns with similar characteristics to what I used. It is a simple site to use, but if you’re unsure, here is an example:

On the homepage, enter into the search box the yarn than you wish to substitute. Here I’ve entered “Bendigo Woollen Mills 8ply cotton”.

Hit “enter” on your keyboard or click on the little spy glass. Choose the correct yarn from the list below. In this case, I will click the top yarn.

When you see this page, start scrolling down for all of the listed possible matches or near matches. This particular search gave 50 results!! You will see after each suggested yarn there is a percentage match – that will tell you how well the suggested substitute matches your original search. It’s brilliant!

You can of course substitute colours depending on availability and individual tastes. One of my favourite runners that I’ve seen is this one, woven by Juliet.

A very different colour scheme is used here, but still feels very Spring like and is absolutely beautiful!

The entire playlist of videos for the class can be found here-

The video series plus PDF can also be viewed at my Online Weaving School, if you prefer.

I really hope that this Spring Table Runner brings a little freshness to your table and joy into your home!

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them under this post, I would love to hear from you.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Weaving for Christmas

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My favourite time of the year is coming and what better way to celebrate the festivities than by weaving for family, friends and your home!


I have quite a few free video tutorials to get those creative juices flowing:
                                                Christmas Table Runner
 
Christmas Bunting

I hope these inspire you to add some beautiful hand woven

Christmas cheer to your home or someone else’s!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

🎄 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Double heddle weaving

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Recently on my Weaving Lessons channel, we explored some of the possibilities of weaving with two heddles on a rigid heddle loom. It’s these sort of techniques that really open up the imagination of what can be achieved on this humble loom. We covered sett, patterning, twill, double layer and tube weaving. Fascinating stuff! 

I love to polish off a series with a project or two, to enable students to see the new techniques in action and apply them practically.

I’m not telling what the project is (yet), but if this warp is anything to go by, it’s going to be a beauty! This pure new wool is “Bloom” from Bendigo Woollen Mills and is just a delight to look at, a beautiful intricacy of colours.

I’ll be back once the videos for this project are posted, stay tuned!