How to Put Yarn on a Loom

Getting the warp on evenly is easier when you work back to front.

Getting the warp on your loom under even tension is the first requirement, if you want to have a pleasurable weaving experience. Many weavers go about this process in an inefficient manner, which almost guarantees to cause trouble during the weaving process itself. By using the methods developed by European cottage industry weavers, you can get the warp on more quickly and with more perfect and even tension, so the work of actual weaving can go well.

Things You'll Need

• Loom
• Yarn
• Warping board
• Shoestrings
• Lease sticks
• Sley hook
• Threading hook

Instructions

1. Wind your warp on the warping board, making a figure-8 cross at one end. Tie the cross off with shoe strings. Tie the warp at each end and, at 1-yard intervals, with the shoe strings. Take the warp off the warping board and bring it to the loom.

2. Pre-sley the warp in the reed by pulling one loop through every-other dent, if you wind one end at a time; if you wind two ends at a time, pull it through every fourth dent in the reed. Put a shoe string through the loops as you pull them through the reed. Hang the reed in the beater. Put the apron rod from the back beam through the loop that had the shoestring in it. Move the lease sticks to the space behind the reed, between the reed and the back beam.

3. Have an assistant hold the warp in two hands, as if driving a horse and holding the reins. The assistant should pull a bit, to tension the warp as evenly as possible. Wind the warp onto the back beam, inserting sticks as spacers every fourth turn or so. (You can also use paper to space the warp if you prefer.) Avoid combing through the warp with your fingers. If there are loose threads in the beginning, jerk on the warp to straighten them out.

4. Cut the warp in front of the reed when it reaches the reed. Remove the beater with the reed. Hang the harnesses in the loom. Thread the heddles on the harnesses in the order specified in your threading draft. Hang the beater with the reed back in the loom. Sley the reed at the desired sett (number of warp ends per inch).

5. Bring the apron rod attached to the cloth beam by strings over the breast beam and toward the reed. Tie a bundle of warp ends about 1 inch wide to this apron rod. Tighten the tension on the warp one notch. Tie another bundle to the apron rod at the other end, and tighten one notch. Continue to tie and tighten across the width of the warp until the warp is all tied in. Now you are ready to weave.

Tips & Warnings

• You can use a raddle on the back beam, instead of the reed, to space the warp as you wind it on. If you don't have an assistant to hold your warp under tension, lay the warp on a clean, smooth floor in front of the loom. Place a towel under the end of the warp. Lay three or four bricks on top of the warp. The bricks create the tension, and the towel allows the warp to slide easily over the floor as you wind.

References

• "Winding a Warp and Using a Paddle"; Osterkamp; 2005