This was a serious fail. This was an early project, too, and you know, learning stuff is tough. I found the pattern in a Japanese Saori book. It was very simple — really just a sewn rectangle — so neither weaving nor sewing seemed to present a challenge.

ISBN978-4-907038-03-8
(English version)
The book is great, clever and inspirational. My poor project was none of these things!
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Once you begin to use your loom regularly, you’ll probably discover that you need various ways of storing your tools, and the bits and pieces you reach for each time you sit down to work.
Here are a few ways I keep my own weaving tools organized.
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Once I knew they existed, I couldn’t help myself, and I bought one. A triangle loom! Who knew?

It came unassembled, but putting it together was simple — just connect the corners and off you go! Read more…
I recently purchased a lap loom and stand from Harrisville. I wanted a medium-sized lap loom to play around with, and I wanted the stand so that I could comfortably work without having to keep a death grip on the loom.

This sort-of worked out.
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Although this was one of the first few experiments I made in handwoven clothing construction, and it definitely shows its beginner bones, it’s one of my favorite projects.
ISBN4-99009761-0
Try Kinokunyia — they ship in
North America!
This is design 12 in the treasure-trove that is SOARI, a volume chock-full of styles created and woven by a women’s collective in Japan.
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Quite a while ago, I made a bag for a little loom for a dear relative who wanted to play around with weaving.

It was quick and easy to make up, and allowed for simple storage for a project that was only going to be picked up occasionally.
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I haven’t proven to be much of a natural at getting a good feel for selvedges, so it’s been important that I take the path to Carnegie Hall approach to learning. (Practice, practice, practice!)

But I like a little variety in my projects, so when I determined that I’d make a batch of mufflers, I decided that I wanted to experiment with texture and differing thicknesses of yarns. I bought a variable reed for my Cricket.
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It looked like a totally impractical top, but why should that be an impediment?

The Burda top, from the December 2020 magazine (12-2020-127) is basically a sweatshirt-like garment with a looooong attached scarf. What’s not to like? If there’s one thing I can produce, it’s looooong fabric!
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I had a hard time learning to make even selvedges, and started with cotton threads. I still don’t feel very confident about selvedges, but realized early on that the only way to learn how they feel, and how to produce them well, was to practice, practice, practice.

Wool, and wool-like, fibers, are a lot more forgiving, but practicing with the far more unyielding cotton was invaluable!
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Sooo . . . evening after evening I’ve kept my fingers busy repairing the small pulls our felines diligently create on their favorite blanket. And then, one morning, I woke up to this:

Somebody really went to town during the night.
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