Reinventing the Loom:
A Simple Frame for Experiments |
Marla Mallett |
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I often encourage collectors of
Middle Eastern rugs and other tribal
textiles to experiment with a few of the simplest weaving techniques. Handling some yarns
and interlacing or wrapping them yourself is guaranteed to help you understand the
structures better, and increase your enjoyment of the textiles. Also, it's fun. Often when
I am puzzled by a woven detail, I reach for a simple frame loom that I keep warped and
handy. By trying out unfamiliar techniques, I make sure that I understand them correctly.
A big, fancy loom is not necessary for that.
Here, we will "reinvent" basic loom mechanics from scratch -- step by step.
Then, with my manual, WOVEN STRUCTURES, at hand, you can try whatever basic
techniques you wish.
I suggest that in the beginning you weave a narrow
"sampler," trying several techniques and experimenting with
various weights of yarn and warp spacing. After that you can use
the most satisfactory methods and materials to produce an actual
finished piece.
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A Picture Frame Loom
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Here's a list of the parts you
will need:
1. First, a frame. Easiest of all is to rummage through your attic,
basement or garage to see if you can find a sturdy old picture frame. Remove the
glass, and Presto! You have a loom. Thirty to forty inches in the greatest
dimension is ideal, but other sizes will work too. It does not need to be wide for
experiments. If the wood has rough spots, give them a swipe or two with sandpaper.
Alternately, you can build a simple wooden frame of 1 by 2-inch boards. You need not miter
the corners -- instead, the frame is stronger if crosswise end pieces are simply nailed,
screwed or bolted to the front of the long side pieces. When you think about the
size, keep in mind that your weaving cannot be the full length of the frame. 12 to 15
extra inches of warp are needed for opening a shed.
2. A wooden slat for a shed stick.
Wood lath is a perfect size: 1½ inch wide by ¼ inch thick, and as long as your
frame is wide. Drill a hole near each end.
3. A extra wooden slat or two may be useful for tension control.
These should be about the same size as the shed stick, but holes are not necessary.
4. A wooden slat with one end shaped in a flat, tapered point, if possible, for a pick-up
stick or weaving sword. Same size as the pieces above. You can
saw out the basic shape of a point, then taper the side edges of this point with a rasp,
and finally sand it smooth. It is not essential that you have this piece to get
started.
5. A wooden dowel for a heddle bar. A thickness of ½ inch is
good. Cut notches or grooves near each end.
6. A common table fork for a beater; also scissors, and twine. |
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Yarns
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At your neighborhood weaving, needlework or
craft supply shop, look for sturdy wool yarn that is tightly spun and plied to use for
warp yarns. Rug, tapestry or knitting wools are OK for wefts, but I suggest you
avoid fluffy yarns. You will need perhaps two or three colors for wefts, and none should
be heavier than your warps. A still thinner wool weft yarn will also be useful --
preferably in a neutral color or one similar to your warp color. You will also need
some twine for heddles.
[Note: Because wool is so resilient, it makes a better warp for use on a small frame loom
than cotton or linen.]
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1.
Warping Your Loom
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Tie your warp yarn around
the bottom
end of the frame and then wrap that yarn around and around the frame lengthwise. Try not
to stop until you are finished, so the tension is even. End by tying on
to the bottom end of the frame. The yarns should be fairly taut,
with just a bit of flexibility. Where they round the frame, place them about ¼ inch
apart. Your weaving can be whatever width you wish, although a 5 or 6-inch width is
probably good for an experimental sampler.
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2.
Twining
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For this first weaving, I
suggest that you combine the two layers of yarns by pulling them together at the lower
front end of the frame with a row of twining.
Cut a separate length of sturdy yarn at least 3 times the width of your warp. Place the
center of this twining yarn at the left side of the warp, with one end below the first
warp yarn, and the other on top. Enclose this first warp by twisting the two yarn
ends together. Tighten, then repeat, enclosing the second warp, then the third,
etc. Enclose yarns alternately from the top and bottom layers. Always twist the
twining yarns in the same direction. You will probably need to do a little
"adjusting" until you get the hang of twisting the yarns evenly. You can pull
the warp yarns sideways, one after another, to tighten and even up this first row of
twining if necessary. After you have twined all the way across the warp, take whatever
time is necessary to space everything evenly on the frame. The warps should be close
together, but not touching -- perhaps about 8 per inch. You can adjust the spacing by
twining with a thicker or thinner yarn. Finish the twined row with an overhand knot.
You have now already learned one of the world's oldest and most basic textile construction
techniques. The photo shows an ancient Peruvian fabric (a mummy wrapping) made
entirely with widely spaced rows of twining. This is a tedious way to make a fabric,
indeed, but it is an excellent way to secure and space your warp yarns evenly.
Before we go on, you might want to try twining with two colors. Just knot a light and dark
yarn together, and start with the knot at the edge. After one row of this two-color
twining, try reversing the direction of twist in the next row, to produce a decorative
chevron effect, as in the lower part of the drawing. This is countered twining.
You could try enclosing two warps between twists if you wish. This is two-span
twining, and is what you see in the Peruvian fabric. You could twine with
several yarns together and span still larger groups.
Some weavers have done fancy patterning by changing span lengths or changing the way they
have twisted yarns. The textile on the cover of Woven Structures shows a complex
twined Moroccan fabric. |
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3. A Shed Stick
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Since you now have a taut, even warp, you
could do several kinds of simple constructions with no further loom refinements. To
make a plain weave, you could just interlace weft yarns by hand, one by one, over
and under the warps; then pack them into place; then interlace over and under the opposite
warps. This is SLOW though! |
You should quickly discover
that your frame loom produces a natural shed that separates the warps into two
groups, since your warp yarns are held apart where they encircle the far end of the
frame. Insert a wooden lath (the one with holes drilled near the ends) through this
slight opening, and you have a shed stick -- a basic loom part. |
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By turning this slat on its side, you can
widen the space between alternate warps, making a shed through which you can
easily insert your weft. To keep this shed stick from slipping out, thread a piece of
twine through each hole, then encircle a side of the frame, tying each to form a very
loose loop. The slat must be free to move easily back and forth. |
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4.
Weft-Faced Plain Weave
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Now you're ready to
weave! Get comfortable, with one end of the frame in your lap and the far end
propped on a convenient table. Pull the shed stick toward the center of the frame, and
turn it on edge. Put your first weft yarn through the wide open shed.
Here's the MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE LESSON: We need to give the weft some extra
slack, so that when it is packed into place it can take a sinuous path, snaking up and
down, over and under the warps. One way to do this is by "bubbling" the
weft -- by placing it in an arc, then pressing it down part way in scallops. Just a
couple of scallops will probably be enough on your narrow warp. Then you can press
the weft into place with your beater -- your handy table fork. There are other ways of
inserting and packing wefts, but this is an easy way to start. (I prefer to start
where the weft is joined, and use a rocking motion with the fork to consistently coax a
little extra weft into place, but this takes some practice.)
By providing this extra yarn length -- or weft ease -- you allow the wefts to
cover the warps completely, making a weft-faced weave that is typical of all
kilims and the ground weave in a majority of Middle Eastern tribal
pile rugs. Rugs woven
without enough weft ease often tell us that the weavers were beginners, or were weavers
without a lengthy tradition behind them, as such a structure is not compact. Inserting the
wefts without enough ease can also cause a weaving to "draw in," and become
narrower. Inserting wefts inconsistently results in a crooked weaving.
For the second weft, you will have to interlace the alternate warps by hand. There is
no way to use two shed sticks together. If you don't believe me, try inserting one
either in front of or behind that first slat! Instead, to produce a plain weave you must
alternate, first using the shed you can produce with the shed stick, and second,
interlacing by hand. If you have made a pointed pick-up stick you can use it
to select or "pick up" the proper warps to lift for your second shed, then turn
this stick on edge to open a clear shed for your weft. Be sure to "bubble"
each weft before packing it into place. You of course have to remove this pick-up stick
before you can open the next shed. Well.........after you've done this for a while,
I'm sure you will agree that it's a laborious way to make a fabric! Primitive
peoples everywhere produced plain- weave fabrics this way, however, before inventing
HEDDLES! |
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5. Hallelujah!
Heddles! and a Heddle Bar!
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Heddles are one of the greatest inventions
of all time! All around the world, ingenious weavers came up with the same idea,
revolutionizing weaving technology. All other loom refinements pale in comparison.
By attaching string loops around those warp yarns that lie UNDER the shed stick, you can
lift them -- once your shed stick is flattened and pushed back out of the way. By
putting a series of such loops on a rod, you can lift all of the selected warps together!
Most tribal weavers use a continuous string to make a series of heddle loops. Since
these can slip and slide and become a tangled, uneven mess, I'll describe my favorite
foolproof method for klutzy weavers.
First, make a series of identical separate string loops. I like to pound two nails
(without heads) into a board about 7 inches (18 cm) apart, and tie my heddle loops around them. If you
have a total of 60 warps, you will need 30 heddles. You can use them over and over again
for future weavings. |
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Now, back at your loom, with your pointed
pick-up stick, pick up all of the warps that lie UNDER your shed stick. Do this IN
FRONT of the shed stick. This means BETWEEN the shed stick and the area in which you
weave. If you haven't made a pick-up stick, use one of your extra slats, or a ruler.
Even a knitting needle will work. The warps you have picked up are the ones you will
enclose with heddles. |
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Slip one end
of your first heddle under the first raised warp. Then put both looped ends over your heddle bar
-- your notched dowel. Then do the same with the next, and the next. When
finished, take a separate string and tie around one notched end of the dowel, then bring
it along the rod to the other end, and tie it around that notched end. This will keep
all of the heddles safely on the dowel. Now, with separate short strings, tie onto
each end of the dowel and make loose loops around the loom frame, as you did with your
shed stick. Tie these so that they form long, loose loops. |
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THAT'S IT !!! Like magic, you can now
open TWO different SHEDS on your loom. To weave, you first pull the shed stick
forward and turn it on edge, insert your weft, bubble it, and pack it down; then for the
next shot, you flatten the shed stick and push it to the back, out of the way, and pull
the heddle bar upward to open your second shed. Do this half way between the shed
stick and the fell (front edge) of the cloth. Insert your pick-up stick in the
space you have opened and turn it on edge to hold the shed open while you insert a weft.
All around the world, this is the basic loom mechanism used by primitive weavers. No
matter how loom frames are constructed, the shed-making operations are essentially the
same. Nomad weavers who stake front and back beams to the ground, instead of using
rigid frames, still create their sheds with heddle bars and shed sticks.
[Note: Most Asian rug weavers actually fix their heddle bar shed in an open
position, and only move their shed stick. I've explained that method in Woven
Structures Update 2, Anne Rowe Review, but it is not practical for a small
frame loom.]
In place of a shed stick, some weavers have used a second heddle bar. To do fancier weaves,
like twill, more heddle bars are needed to lift various combinations of warps. For most of
the basic Middle Eastern tribal weaves, however, only two alternating sheds are
required. These weaves are referred to by Western artisans as
"non-loom-controlled techniques." |
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You might want to wind some weft yarn around
a simple stick shuttle, although for a small weaving I find that is too much trouble. Like
most rug or tapestry weavers, I prefer to make a small "butterfly" with my weft
yarns... winding them in a figure eight around my thumb and first
finger, then binding them around the
middle. In use, the first yarn end can be pulled from the center of the small finger
skein. Or you can just make a small wad of yarn that is easy to put through the
sheds. A ball does not work well, as it is too thick, and is also hard to handle. |
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6. Techniques to Try
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Now you're on
your own. First, try to produce a nice weft-faced weave. If the wefts do
not cover the warps, then you may need THINNER weft yarns (NOT
thicker!!!), or you may need to space your warps a little farther apart.
To do this, try twining with a slightly heavier yarn. When you
are doing a plain weave, you can easily make crosswise stripes of
course, but then try alternating two colors to see how weavers
produce their pick-and-pick
weaves with small vertical columns of color. You will have to twist the
two weft yarns together at the selvage. Don't forget to bubble the
wefts.
Then try some TAPESTRY techniques (Chapter 6 in Woven Structures).
Slit tapestry is easiest, and you can try weaving separate
sections: first with short vertical divisions between colored areas,
then diagonals. But, again, don't forget to bubble the wefts! You
can try weaving in one narrow, small area, and then curve wefts around
it. You might try some dovetailing -- sharing warps
between pattern areas. Then try interlocking wefts.
SOUMAK wrapping is easy on a frame loom, (Chapter 5) and you can try
both countered
and non-countered variations. I suggest that you use a thinner
yarn for ground wefts between your rows of wrapping. Try any
variations that have might have puzzled you -- reverse soumak,
for example. Try weftless soumak, a variation used by early
weavers who had not yet discovered heddles. You will see that it is a
much less stable structure.
KNOTTED PILE is easy (Chapter 2). Try each kind of knot with a short
length of yarn first, and then try to figure out how you would tie it
with a yarn end if that yarn was still attached to a ball. Asian weavers
do it that way: tie and cut, tie and cut. Westerners usually work
with a butterfly and continuous yarn, cutting a row of pile loops
afterwards. Symmetrical knots may be the easiest at
first. Experiment to see if using a single yarn makes thick enough pile;
you might need two yarns together. Or maybe even more if your yarns are
fine. Use a fine yarn for your ground weave between rows of knots,
bubbling the weft for best results. It will be easiest to leave your
pile fairly long, and use several ground wefts between rows of knots, as
does a gabbeh or tulu weaver.
If you try some BROCADING, be sure to realize that your ground weft
yarns need to be much thinner than your patterning yarns (Chapter 8).
Tribal weavers usually just interlace each yarn separately with their
fingers, but you can use the pick-up stick to select yarns for the
pattern if you wish. The same is true for COMPLEMENTARY-WEFT weaves.
The manual, WOVEN STRUCTURES, should
help you to experiment with these basic structures. For
more information, and an order form, click
here. |
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7. A Further Loom
Refinement
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Several years ago, one of my
clever weaving students devised an ingenious addition for our simple frame looms.
William Murray (in back, in the photo) rigged up a heddle bar on the underneath side of
his frame, then attached a long cord and a treadle! John Dickey is using such an
arrangement in the photo.
This speeds up the weaving considerably, and makes a simple frame quite convenient for
tapestries and other small weavings. A shed stick is still used for one shed, and
alternates with the treadle- operated heddle-bar shed. One could, of course, make a second
heddle bar and treadle to substitute for the shed stick, but the advantages of this would
be less dramatic.
With your frame warped as I have described above, you can simply turn it over to work from
the back, and try attaching a long cord and treadle to the heddle bar. Ease the shed
stick to the top side of the frame. |
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8.
Warp-End Finishes Anyone?
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| Several of the
warp-end finishes included in our End Finishes Project database (Woven
Structures Update - 4) are difficult to understand without trying them out. Here
is an easy way to start: Find a piece of heavy, but loosely woven fabric. Turn
under and stitch a thick hem along one edge. Then with a heavy yarn needle, stitch
lengths of yarn through that hem to simulate 10 or 12-inch rug fringe. Presto! A
Warp-End Finish sampler. If the yarns are not secure, you may need
to stitch twice through the fabric with each length. Now go to the End Finishes pages and with the diagrams you should be able to
duplicate the structures. Among the easiest to begin with are half-hitch
finishes. |
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Questions or Problems?
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| If the warp on your frame loom becomes loose
and saggy, you can insert an extra slat or two under the warp at the top end, and lash
these slats to the frame. It's an easy and effective solution. |
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The most difficult achievement for new
weavers is a good weave balance, and it is hard to offer
advice on this without seeing your yarns. So be patient and
experiment a bit with putting warp yarns closer together, farther apart,
etc. If you have problems, e-mail me, and I'll try my best to
help.
More information and how to order WOVEN STRUCTURES |
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