How to Creatively Weave Fabric

Weaving is a technique that takes yarn of different colors and textures, and weaves them creatively.

Weaving fabric uses different colored and textured yarn to make something unique and stylish. There are many different creative weaving techniques, ranging from those for the beginner, involving few items of additional equipment, to advanced styles using a professional loom. The result is a woven rectangle of material that the weaver can incorporate into art or fashion wear, or a free standing fabric in itself. Many styles of weaving can use scrap materials to create a simple loom.

Things You'll Need

• Corrugated cardboard
• 24-by-16 inch piece of fabric
• Pins
• Lightweight fusible interfacing
• 20 to 30 pieces of 1 or 2 yards of yarn
• No. 16 tapestry needle
• Press cloth
• Iron
• Smooth cardboard
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Yarn
• Fork

Instructions

Pin Loom

1. Cut two pieces of cardboard to 11-by-14 inches. Ensure that one piece has the corrugation running vertically and the other horizontally.

2. Fold the fabric in half, making it 12-by-16 inches. Sew a seam along three of the edges, leaving one 12-inch side open. Reverse the fabric and insert the cardboard pieces. Sew the last side shut.

3. Place a piece of fusible interfacing face up on the board. Hold the fusible interfacing in place with a row of pins, spaced 1/3 inch apart and laid flat on both the 14-inch sides.

4. Tie a pearl cotton knot on the first pin. Pass the thread back and forth, across the consecutive upper and lower pins, ending with a knot on the last pin.

Using a Pin Loom

1. Thread a piece of yarn through the tapestry needle and use it to weave a curve across the loom. Secure the ends of the yarn with pins.

2. Weave other pieces of yarn across the loom in any pattern you like. Thick yarns and ribbons should pass across the loom only once, but others can go back and forth. Push the pieces of yarn together to tighten the woven pattern.

3. Choose a yarn that stands out and weave it back and forth to fill a space next to the original curve. Weave other yarns in different directions from the curve, to keep the pattern interesting. Ensure that you fill all the areas of the loom.

4. Remove the pins holding the ends of the yarn in place. Cover the fabric with a press cloth, on the side of the fusible interfacing, and steam press with an iron. Take out the remaining pins and press the fabric on both sides, under the press cloth.

Making a Cardboard Loom

1. Make two marks on the cardboard at the width you wish to make your weaving. Draw a line every 1/4 inch between these two marks.

2. Draw a horizontal line 1/2 inch from the edge of the cardboard. Cut slits into the cardboard at the 1/4 inch marks until this line.

3. Cut the cardboard to the length you wish to making the weaving. Repeat the marking and cutting of slits on the other side of the cardboard.

4. Pass yarn back and forth across the loom, wrapping it around the back of the slits to hold it in place. Leave 3 inches of thread loose at either end.

Weaving With a Cardboard Loom

1. Thread the yarn with a needle and weave it over and under the yarn of the loom. Weave the next line of yarn in the opposite way to the first. For example, if you weaved the first under and then over, weave the second over and then under. Continue this with as many lines as you wish.

2. Push the weaving to the top with a fork. Change color of yarn when you wish, taping the loose ends of the threads to one side.

3. Thread each of the loose ends in turn through the needle and sew it through the bottom of the weaving. Cut the remaining thread.

4. Pull the loops attached to the loom gently, until they reach 1 inch. Cut the yarn from the loom and tie the ends with a double knot.

References

• Threads: Create Intricate Fabric With Pin Weaving
• Craft Stylish: How to Weave on a Cardboard Loom