![]() Plus it's pretty big to move about and store. For example the 32" rigid heddle loom seems to be popular for new weavers as their first loom but then they can feel intimidated by the size of it when they go to use it. We do find a lot of people think that bigger is better but this isn't always the case. They're a great size to start with and easy to store too. I really like the smaller sizes of looms such as the 15" Schacht Cricket and the 16" Ashford SampleIt as they are a nice and compact size and easily fit on your lap when you've got your feet up in front of the tv. The following photos give you an idea of the different sizes of the loom (other loom sizes are available) and the mug is to give you an idea of scale. You don't need to weave across the whole width of the loom at any time so on a 24" loom you can still weave a 10" wide fabric and then weave a 20" wide fabric another time. Looms larger than 25" can be daunting for beginners, unless you definitely know you are going to weave on these widths a lot then we suggest you're better sticking to something smaller. ![]() Smaller looms than this are great if you're just wanting to weave scarves, strips of fabric or just something small to transport and work well. We generally recommend a loom between 15"(38cm) to 25"(64cm) are good size to start with. This really depends on what you want to make. So you could furnish your whole house and make all your own clothes with one loom. ![]() Your handwoven cloth can be stitched to other handwoven cloth and even cut up to create more intricate patterns. You can then make anything from a scarf, table runner, bag, cushions, blankets, jumper, trousers, jackets or anything else from it really. Warp beam - This is where the warp yarns are wound around before they have been made into cloth.Ĭloth beam - This is where the handwoven cloth is wound around.Ĭloth is what you make on a loom and the advantage of a rigid heddle loom is that you can make a couple of metres of cloth easily on these looms. Shed - This is the gap between the upper and lower warp yarns and is where you pass your shuttle through with the weft yarns. Shuttle - The shuttle is the tool that the weft yarn is wound around and is then used to pass the weft yarn through the warp threads to help link the warp and weft threads together. The heddle also spreads out the yarn and you can get different heddles for different yarn thicknesses. This basically mechanises the over under over under process you would have down with a needle and thread when weaving on cardboard at school. When the heddle is in a down position the slot yarns are up and the eye yarns are down. When the heddle is lifted into an up position the eye warp yarns move to the top and the slot warp yarns are at the bottom. The warp yarns are alternately threaded through a slot or an eye in the heddle. The name Rigid Heddle for this type of loom comes from the main part of the reed that is usually made from plastic and has vertical slots and eyes cut in to it - this is the heddle. Reed - This is what the warp yarns are passed through as they go from the back to the front of the loom. This is the yarn that goes from left to right and back again as you weave. Weft - This is the yarn that you put in-between the warp yarns, usually using a shuttle. Warp - This is the yarn that you will measure and put onto your loom first and goes from the back to the front of the loom and through the heddle. It's always good to start with the basics before going onto anything else. ![]() What does warp, weft, reed, heddles, and all this other stuff mean? What we'll do is go through all of this to help you understand it all and hopefully help you to choose the loom for you. How wide do you want to weave? Do you want it to fold for travelling? Do you want two heddles (and why do you want two heddles)? How easy is it to use? What yarn do you need? How much will it cost? What do all these words like warp, weft, heddles, etc. Well, don't worry as in this blog post we're going to talk through what we recommend to new weavers when they are looking to get their first rigid heddle loom.Ĭhoosing a loom is daunting as there are so many options. So you've decided you've wanted to give weaving go and you think that a rigid heddle loom is for you but there's so many choices out there that you might not know which loom to choose. Getting the right loom for a beginner weaver
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |