My Students
September 7, 14, 21, 22 and October 2, 2018 Jan - “Introduction to Weaving”
Jan Novack wanted to learn how to weave. I arranged for her to take classes from me on most Fridays. She joined our Las Vegas Fiber Arts Guild and rented one of our Guild’s 8 shaft 15 ¾” Le Clerc Voyager table looms. I showed her samples of what she would learn in class. She was very excited to start.
I gave her a loose leaf notebook with all of the patterns in it. I told her that she would warp (thread) the loom with 4 different colors of 5/2 pearl cotton. Each color would represent a different draft (threading) and therefore a different pattern. By the time the class would be over she would have a sampler with 60 different patterns.
I had different colors of yarn laid out on the table. I told her to pick out 4 cones of yarn to start with. I then taught her how to make a butterfly with each of the colors. The butterfly is a yarn sample glued into her loose leaf notebook to remind her of the different colors that she is using throughout the weaving process.
When her class is over and she wants to weave a particular pattern all she has to do is look in her loose leaf notebook at the color of her butterfly in her threading draft and then look for the color of the butterfly in the finished woven pattern made using her weft yarn and then she’ll have all the information that she will need to duplicate the weave that she wants.
Below are the step-by-step pictures that I took of Jan during class with explanations below each picture. Jan was a fantastic student and I enjoyed having her as a student. I told her that anytime she has weaving questions just let me know and I’m here to help her.
Winding the butterfly.
Each colored butterfly will represent a different warp pattern.
Jan is winding her first warp color on my warping board.
Winding the warp takes patience and concentration.
Great job - Color number 2 is being wound on the warping board.
A little more to wind for color 2.
Colors 1 and 2 are completed.
The brown yarn is used as a counter for every 20 warp ends. The yellow warp is color number 3.
Jan is getting ready to wind color number 4 which is her last color for this sampler.
Beautiful colors and great job winding all 4 colors of her warp.
The cross is tied with 5 yellow stands of yarn and the blue yarn keeps everything in place when taking the warp off the warping board.
Close-up of the warp on the warping board.
The chain has been made and it is ready to be opened up and wound onto the back of the loom.
The lease sticks are put into the cross, laid onto the back side of the loom and then tied on each side so they stay in place.
Great job. All set for the next step.
Straightening out the warp on the lease sticks.
The raddle is placed onto the back beam of the loom to evenly separate the warp before it is wound onto the warp beam.
Side view showing the cross in the lease sticks and the warp in the raddle.
Jan is carefully placing the warp onto a wooden dowel which will be tied onto the metal dowel that is attached to the loom.
At the bottom of the loom you can see the wooden dowel attached to the metal dowel on the loom which is holding the warp.
Jan is carefully smoothing out the warp on the front of the loom while I, Maurine, am slowly winding the warp onto the warp beam and placing craft paper in between the warp.
Jan at the front of the loom getting ready to cut her warp nice and even before threading it through the heddles.
Back view of her warp on the loom. Looks fantastic.
When the warp is wound onto the warping board there are loops on both ends of the warp. Once the warp is wound onto the back of the loom the front loops are cut.
And now they have to be trimmed evenly.
Threading the warp carefully through the heddles according to the pattern for each color.
After checking each group of warp a loop is made showing that the threading is correct.
Jan is carefully threading color number 2 through the heddles.
Rear view of loom. Each warp is selected in the order that it comes from the lease sticks. A heddle is waiting to be threaded.
Color # 2 is all threaded through the heddles.
Looking great.
Jan is threading color # 3 through the heddles.
Color # 3 is all threaded. Jan checked her threading and is now making a loop of her set to know it is all completed.
Last color is being threaded.
Back view of color # 4.
Congratulations. Jan's warp is all threaded through the heddles which will form the the various patterns that she will weave.
Front view. Great job.
The reed is attached to the front of the loom. The reed determines how many warps there are to the inch and will be threaded next.
Back view of the warped loom.
The reed spaces the warp evenly-Jan's reed is on the loom and she is getting ready to pull 2 warps through each of the dents or spaces with her reed hook.
Close-up of Jan grabbing her two warp ends and pulling them through the dents in the reed.
Warps are being pulled through the reed.
You can see the heddles threaded from the back of the loom.
The warp is going through the heddles and right through the back of the reed to the front of the loom.
Beautiful job. Three out of four colors of warp are threaded through the reed and tied loosely on the front of the loom.
Back of the loom.
A very happy student.
Jan is tying her warp onto front bar of the loom.
Almost done.
The shed is open. This is where she will put her shuttle with her bobbin of yarn in order to weave.
Since the shed is perfect she was able to pull out her lease sticks. The lease sticks enabled her to select the correct warp threads to put through the heddles for her 4 different patterns.
Jan has woven several rows of waste yarn to close up gaps from when she tied her warp onto the front of the loom. It will be taken out after her weaving is washed and finished.
Weaving has started.
Great progress is made - Close-up.
You can see the completed front of this loom.
A wonderful and creative student.
Wonderful close-up.
Show and Tell. Jan is holding a wonderful scarf that belonged to her husband from his travels in Central America before she met him.
Jan is winding her weft on a bobbin using my bobbin winder.
Bobbin is all wound.
Jan is getting ready to put her shuttle through the shed on the loom.
Jan is putting the shuttle through the shed.
Progress is made.
Close-up.
White weft is woven.
Close-up.
Pink weft is added. Look at the different weaves on the loom.
Brown weft is added.
Gold is added.
View from the back of the loom.
Look at the beautiful sampler still on the loom.
Jan holding her sampler.
Close-up of Jan holding her sampler.
A happy weaver. Jan has finished her sampler and is cutting it off the loom.
Jan is un-tying her warp from the front of the loom.
Jan and her finished sampler - Side 1.
Side 1 of her fantastic sampler.
Jan and her finished sampler - Side 2.
Side 2 of her wonderful sampler.