How to Make a Tapestry Weft Butterfly

Woven tapestries are often made on small looms.

Tapestry weaving is created on a loom. The sizes and designs of looms vary widely, as do the techniques used to set up and use them. Certain problems are dealt with by all weavers, however, and these generate techniques and solutions that are used by most weavers on most loom types and styles. In this way weavers from different areas of the world can come together and find common ground to discuss their craft with other weavers. Learning how to create a weft butterfly is one of those common techniques.

Things You'll Need

• Loom
• Tightly spun wool yarn
• Scissors
• Lath board
• Saw
• Drill
• Board
• Finish nails
• Hammer
• Dowel
• Weft cord

Instructions

1. Warp your loom using a sturdy wool yarn that is tightly spun. A loom can be as simple as a picture frame with the glass removed. The warp threads are the foundation threads typically positioned from top to bottom on the loom. These threads need to be sturdy to make the tapestry durable and strong.

2. Twine your warp threads along the bottom of your loom. Twining is a simple technique that lines up the height of the warp threads to an even level. If your loom is a picture frame and you wrapped warp threads around the frame in one direction, the thickness of the frame is keeping the two levels of warp threads apart. Twining brings the threads even in the middle of the thickness of the frame.

3. Cut a thread three times the width of the loom frame. Take the thread under the farthest left warp thread on the bottom of the loom. Bring the ends of the thread together. Take your left thread to the right and the right thread to the left to cross them over each other. Bring the end of the right thread down between the first and second left threads on the top part of the frame. Take the end under the farthest left thread on the underside of the frame and bring it back up through the first and second left threads on the top part of the frame. Take your left thread to the right and the right thread to the left to cross them over each other. Pull the threads snug. This will lift the lower thread and lower the upper thread so that they are even with each other. Continue this across the loom. This will also help make your warp threads even. Tie off your twining on the right side.

4. Cut a piece of lath board 1 inch wider than the total width of your warp threads. Drill a hole 1/4 inch from each end. Slide the shed board between the upper and lower warp threads at the top of your frame. Your twining will only affect the lower part of the loom. Cut two pieces of thread three times as long as the distance from the end of the shed board to the outer side of the frame. Thread one thread through the shed board hole and around the closest side of the frame and tie the thread ends together. Repeat for the second side. Make a loose loop that will allow the shed board to stay connected to the loom but also to be able to move up the loom easily. If you tip the shed board up on its thin side, you will see that it separates every other warp thread for easy weaving.

5. Cut a dowel the length of the shed board. You will use this to make a heddle. A heddle will allow you to lift the opposing warp threads to make it easy to weave one row at a time all at once. Drill a hole 1/4 inch from each end of the dowel. Take a piece of scrap wood 12 inches long. Nail two finish nails 7 inches apart so they stick out of the wood by 1 inch. Wrap heddle cord around the two nails and tie the cord in a knot. You will need one heddle cord for half of your total warp threads.

6. Slide your shed stick flat side down to the top of the loom. Use a knitting needle to press down the top warp thread and pick up the bottom warp threads in order across the loom. These are the threads you will attach to the heddles. Take a tied heddle loop and pass the loop end under the lifted thread and slide both loop ends onto the dowel. Start at the farthest left bottom warp thread. Continue attaching a heddle to each bottom warp thread being held up by your knitting needle. Cut a cord 4 inches longer than the width of the shed board. Thread the end of the cord down through the left hole in the dowel and tie a large knot so that the cord will not pull out of the hole. Repeat for the other end of the dowel. This cord is both a handle to lift the heddles and a way to hold the heddles on the dowel.

7. Cut the lath the same length as the shed stick. This is a pick-up stick. When you pull up on the heddles, insert the pick-up stick and turn it on edge to create your shed. The shed is a wider opening along the complete width of the loom for passing weft cord for your weaving. Now you can create a shed for the top and bottom warp threads and are ready to weave your weft, except that your weft yarn is usually quite long. Wrap your weft yarn around your thumb and first finger about 4 inches apart. Make a figure-eight pattern. Cut a 6 inch piece of yarn and wrap it around the center of your weft yarn three or four times and tie a knot. This creates a finger skein and allows you to pass the weft yarn through the shed of the loom, allowing the weft yarn to release from the skein. A ball of yarn will not work. This skein is called a tapestry weft butterfly.

Tips & Warnings

• The words cord and thread have been used interchangeably in this article since your warp thread may be labeled a cord in some stores. Your weft will be a yarn.

References

• Marla Mallett: Reinventing the Loom: A Simple Frame for Experiments