How to Do Inkle Loom Weaving
The inkle loom is a great loom to start with for a beginning weaver. You don't need a separate warping board, as the loom itself is the warping board. You don't need expensive shuttles; a simple butterfly or belt shuttle will do fine. Despite the inkle loom's simplicity, you can make a great many colorful projects, such as belts, hatbands, small bags, trim for other garments, guitar straps, purse straps and other pieces to embellish your clothing with.
Instructions
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Tie a string from the front peg on the loom to the tallest back peg. Measure the distance to this string from the heddle bar at the bottom front. Cut a piece of string about 15 inches long. Tie it into a loop and attach it to the heddle bar. Adjust the length of this loop until it is the same as the distance from the heddle bar to the string. Make 30 heddles in this way and attach them all to the heddle bar.
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Decide on a length for your belt. Six feet is a good length that allows for fringe. Use the string to figure out how many pegs you need to wind around to create a circular warp 6 feet long. Begin winding the warp around these pegs, along two paths. Tie the first thread to the front peg with a temporary knot. Wind from the front peg to the upper back peg, then back to a front peg, then to the lower back peg and so on, returning to the front peg. Cut the yarn and tie on another color. Wind this color the same way, except take this warp end through the first heddle and up over the highest peg in front, then to the back peg and so on. You will alternate winding these two paths as you wind the rest of the warp threads, until you have 60 warp ends. Tie the last end to the first end, not to the front peg. The warp has to be able to move counterclockwise as you weave.
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Rotate the entire warp counterclockwise on the loom so that the ties are between the first peg and the heddle bar. This will enable you to have a nice fringe at the end of the belt.
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Make a weft butterfly or wind a small bobbin or shuttle with the weft yarn. To make the first shed, push down on the warps behind the heddles. Pass the weft through in front of the heddles. For the next shed, push these same warp threads up above the heddles, making the opposite shed, and pass the weft yarn through. Continue weaving in this manner. When the weaving reaches the heddles, you will need to rotate the warp.
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Rotate the warp again counterclockwise in the same manner as you did at the beginning, until the fell of the cloth is in the right place to begin weaving again. Continue weaving, beating each shot into place with your hand or the edge of the belt shuttle. Pull the weft through with the same amount of tightness on each shot in order to keep the width of the belt even. For a warp-faced belt, the weft should be almost completely covered, visible only at the edges.
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Weave until the knots have traveled all the way around to the top of the loom and are about 9 inches away from the fell. Cut through the warp on either side of the knots and remove the belt from the loom. Knot the fringe close to the fell, or braid the fringe and knot it.
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References
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
