Three weeks of volunteering later, and the warping process is finally over! As always, I am so thankful to Fern for her patience in teaching me, and also for letting me tackle this process instead of doing it herself at a much faster speed. This week, we were able to wind the warp on to the back beam, and we are hoping to start weaving next week!
- Appropriate loom
- Appropriate warp
- Appropriate size corrugated cardboard roll / packing paper
Tutorial by Fern at Fern’s School of Craft
Alternative: Tutorial by Paivi at All Fiber Arts
Before volunteering with Fern, I had zero idea how much work it is to prepare a loom for weaving. Suffice to say, I will not be making that mistake again. Don’t get me wrong, I loved every second of the process, I just thought it would be faster. Take winding the warp for example. In my mind, all you would have to do is crank the handle and voilà. It turns out you have to fan out the threads to ensure that there are no tangles, and you also have to keep the warp under tension. I really liked rippling the threads to fan out the warp; it felt soothing to see the mess disappear.
It’s also important to have your paper / cardboard ready for this step, as it helps to keep the layers of the warp separate and flat as it is wound on to the back beam. I think that you can also achieve this impact with sticks, but the paper seems easier to me as a complete beginner. You also want to keep a careful eye to make sure the entirety of the warp is staying on the paper, so it’s just another thing to think about as you turn the handle to wind it up.
Despite the fact that this little warping series has already taken me three weeks, I actually skipped a few stages at the beginning since the warp chain had already been made for me. I am hoping that in the future, I’ll have a chance to do the whole thing from start to finish, as it seems like such a neat skill to me. There are a plethora of fascinating things to learn in this world, and I can’t wait to continue diving deeper into weaving
Until next time, happy crafting!