Cheap and Cheerful alternatives for tapestry bobbins

Tapestry bobbins have a  mystique around them and  they can be expensive.
But, what do you do if you need a lot of tapestry bobbins and have a limited budget?
Well... you improvise.

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First you analyse, then you upcycle!

After all... a tapestry bobbin is a yarn delivery device. 
What does it need to do?
It needs to hold yarn in a way that allows you to pass it through a fairly small shed.
It should have a tip that will allow you to tap your weft yarn into place.
It needs to be able to hang from the tapestry while it's parked.
So.... there are things that will work quite nicely for you as you feed your piggybank, but weave your tapestries in the meantime.
I make my own quirky, but perfect for me tapestry bobbins from upcycled wood: Link to post

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Recently, I noticed that one of my fave bobbins looks a lot like a little spoon...
and of course, that started me thinking...
would a little coffee spoon work as a tapestry bobbin?
It seemed rather outrageous....

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So, I took a little orphaned silver coffee spoon that had been in a box of sandbox toys that I bought for my grandson at a garage sale, and hammered the poor thing flat.
It works BEAUTIFULLY as a tapestry bobbin! 

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This made me think.... hmmm.... metal spoon.... hmmmm.... ~metal bobbins~.... hmmmmmm....
So, what about a 4 inch nail with a bead on the end?  Would that work?
Yup. Wash it well first, and if the tip is snaggy, sand it smooth or file with a nail file.
You could paint it if you want, or coat it with a clear gel just to ensure that it won't discolor your yarn.
Stuff a bit of tissue into the opening of the bead to secure it.

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I learned about using bamboo forks as bobbins on Ravelry.
I like them!
But, I have found that they work much better if you stick a bead on the end.
Squish the tines of the fork into the bead center and you're set to weave.

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I love tatting, and used to carve tatting shuttles.
I've discovered that my Little Bird shuttles work beautifully as tapestry bobbins.  Whodathunkit?  :)
So, be creative and think outside the box when you are contemplating tapestry bobbins.
I mean, really... spoons and forks?
Yes!
If you are willing to experiment, you'll find all kinds of things that will work really well in your weaving!
Here's a video that I made about cheap and cheerful alternatives for tapestry bobbins:

Noreen

Sketching Swatching and Sampling are such valuable weaving tools

I am working hard on a new tapestry. It’s inching along, as tapestry does, when you are in focused mode.
BUT… I found myself feeling really stuck when I finished one section, and couldn’t move forward onto the next section.
So, I fell back on my ultimate design tool.
I got out my sketchbooks and aquarelles (watercolor pencils), and did the thing that my drawing master back in my art school days drilled into me: Sketch, sketch, sketch!

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He also drilled into his students that it is essential to carry your sketchbook or notebook with you ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE, and to sketch every single day.
AND, even more important: Don’t worry about making ‘good’ sketches.
Just catch thoughts, dreams, words, and other fleeting moments on the paper and let them build a vocabulary for you.
The part of the tapestry that had me flummoxed is a child’s costume.
I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it, until I worked my way through a bunch of really rough, ‘thinking on paper’ sketches.
That took me through the roadblock to the ‘AHA’….
And I knew that I needed to move onto sampling and swatching.

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I set up my 8 inch Lani Mirrix loom with a ‘no warp ends’ warp, using ‘S’ hooks… in the video, I show some pointers about this setup.
As a professional designer, I cannot underestimate the importance of swatches and  sampling.
I am always amazed by knitters and crocheters who skip this foundation aspect of the creative process!
So much is revealed in the swatching and sampling stages of creation.
AND… something else that is a huge bonus- so often, the sampling and swatching will reveal that there is something new to explore!
(Which of course, leads back to the sketching…) !
Even though the feeling stuck part of working on this tapestry really stank while I was in it, I ended up feeling really grateful for being forced to move back to basic problem solving techniques.
Why? Because I am now inspired to explore soumak weaving, which I have not done before.
I am fascinated and intrigued…. there will be more about this!
In the mean time, here’s the video about sketching, sampling and swatching.
And, even though I don’t normally like to show pieces while they are in progress, I did do a little ‘reveal’ of the new tapestry.

How to wind butterflies and make upcycled wooden tapestry bobbins

Some people love weaving with yarn butterflies.
And some people (like me) don't. 
I love wooden tapestry bobbins and I love making each one a unique piece- and I especially like using upcycled wood to make them.
So, for those of you who like yarn butterflies, here's a video tutorial on how to make yarn butterflies:

And, here's how I make my one of a kind tapestry bobbins, which wouldn't suit everyone, but I love them and find them to be a pleasure to use:
Start with a piece of cast off wood. In this case, a wooden plaque (don't use chipboard or mdf ! This needs to be hardwood)

a thrown away plaque from a garage sale

Flip it over, and draw in the rough lines for the first cuts:

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next, saw them into rough shape:

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Working on getting more definition and shaping:

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All the wooden offcuts are going to be burned in the wood burning stove in the studio in the winter- nothing's wasted!

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When the rough saw shaping is done:

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I move over to the belt sander:

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and I do a whole bunch of sanding (very carefully)

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Did I mention that this is a really slow, meditative process? Yup.
Go slowly... and pay attention....
Then, it's off to work with a bunch of different small sanding drums:

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and files:

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And more sanding:

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and then, I draw faces on each one, and get out my wood burning tool and draw and burn faces and the year on each one:

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Here's a closer look:

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I just listen to what each bobbin wants, and then I draw on their faces. Some of them crack me up.

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Like the 'Get to the Point' guy... 3rd from the left....  I know, I am easily amused....
And, here they are, all wrapped up and ready to weave!

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I hope that the photos will all open for you!
So, happy butterflies, and happy bobbin-ing!
Happy weaving! :)

Which would you choose?

It seems a habit to collect more patterns than I can bead. I like this one. Oh but wait, what about that one in those colours? Hmm I can't do that one, I don't have the colours to hand. This seems a habit on occasion! And it's reared its' head again. There are two projects that I would really like to loom on the Mirrix. The problem is which one to get on there first! Both are very important and close to my heart.

First is a black & white portrait of my Husbands' late parents. This is LONG overdue (thank you for being patient Husband!). I first planned to loom two portraits and have them in a spinning frame. Then I remembered a great photo of them together, that would work even better. I graphed it sometime last year - is it really that long?? - and I'm ashamed to say its not been loomed yet.

The other is a large purse of two wedding photos - my parents on one side and my late maternal grandparents on the other. Yes you read that right :) The idea came to me when I graphed the photo of my parents. I didn't want anything plain the other side, so first tried a photo of my late grandmother. Then I remembered seeing their wedding photo in a memorial booklet! Perfect! I think my mum would really love it. By the way it's a surprise! She'll only find out about it when I give it to her :)

So you see the problem I have. Now, if I stopped procrastinating and cleared my large loom I could actually work on the at the same time....I think that may be the best course of action. Most of the colours in each one are the same so I'd order them all together.

I think I'll start buying them slowly while I finish off what's on the large loom. Then I can start on them. Now, you can help me by deciding which one should go on the Mirrix. The portrait is 152 wide and the purse 152 wide! The loom should be able to hold 162 warps. So, please take a vote and help me decide :) In the meantime I've warped for another tapestry weaving attempt. This is wider. Hopefully I can actually use it.

On that note I bid you a good night. The looming dreams have gone down a lot now :oD

Working with handspun painted yarn in tapestry

My daughter-in-law spins gorgeous yarn. Which makes me very happy.
Because, sometimes a skein or two finds its way into my studio.
Recently, she spun Merino and silk and dyed it turquoise and purple, separated by short sneezes of sunshine yellow.

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I love it, and have been puzzling over how to use it in one of my new tapestries in a way that keeps the integrity of the colorway, while working across the entire width of the tapestry. Weaving narrow bands of it in vertical columns would not be a problem with maintaining the colors as units... but... horizontally- ah, well... that's another cup of soup entirely.

I didn't want to have the colors end up in little splats of one color arguing with another.
That meant working in short segments, weaving small blocks of each color.

I could have woven little squares of each color, with little slits that would need to be stitched or interlocked. Myech...
I sat down with my trusty little pencil and thought about this conundrum....
and came up with this:

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If I started at the left hand edge, and wove a little triangle with one length of turquoise, then, I could use the little bursts of yellow to tell me when to nip down, and start a slanting wedge of purple.
This completely worked for me! I wouldn't have any joins to deal with, and I could work each little section of color in order, so the colorway of the yarn stays intact.
It's a happy solution to an interesting problem!
Tapestry weaving is full of nifty little voyages of discovery :)

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My first little purple patch was not so perfect, but by the time I had woven across to the right hand side I was pleased with it.
Here's the video:

A quick and easy way to make string heddles for your Mirrix loom

At the beginning of May,  a 'new-to-me' loom , a large  Mirrix tapestry loom, arrived in my studio. (Courtesy of my son and daughter in law who picked her up in the city 4 hours away, that used to be her home- the previous owner didn't want to ship her).

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I immediately sat down and made a whole lot of heddles for her, as she didn't come with them.
And then, I warped her up- ooooooooohhhhhhhhhh, I love how easily she warps! Bliss!
As I was warping her up and starting to weave,  I thought.... 'Hmmmm.... there must be a group for Mirrix weavers on Ravelry'
(Ravelry= the facebook of the yarn world)
I looked, and sure enough! There is a Mirrix group.... which I joined, pronto.
And the first thing I saw was that Claudia (the inventor of the magical Mirrix looms) and Elena, her talented daughter, had posted that they were accepting applications for their annual 'Social Networking for a Mirrix Loom' campaign. Link
Well... I had decided within hours of starting to weave on my 'Joni' loom that I wanted to fill my studio with Mirrix looms.
So, I sent off an application....
Um... I wanted to fill the studio with ~Smaller~ Mirrix looms!
MEANWHILE>>>> The Joni is one big Mamma, and even though I am tall, my arms are short, so I found that I was having shoulder pain.
My  clever daughter in law subtly sneaked the information out of me that I was longing for the treadle kit for the Mirrix loom. Then, she orchestrated the family buying me the treadle kit for Mother's Day! What a sweetheart!
To say that I was thrilled was an understatement!
THEN!  on the 18th of May, was just tickled pink to hear from Elena that they had picked me as one of their team for the 4 months of the 'Social Networking' campaign. Whee!  What a couple of thrilling days!
And, now... I am starting to keep my part of the bargain, which is to chronicle my experiences with the Mirrix loom(s).
So, since I began my Mirrix adventures with making string heddles, I am going to show you my quick and easy way of making the string heddles for the Mirrix looms (or inkle or frame looms, too).

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And, here is the video:

Happy Weaving!

A New Project: Woven Headbands

When I was little I loved hair things. Scrunchies, clips, ties, I was obsessed. At one point I even had my mom (Ms. Claudia Chase, you may have heard of her) slaving away sewing scrunchies for me. My all time favorite hair accessory, though, were headbands. One of my favorites was a black headband with Native American beading glued on. The beads were plastic and in primary colors and it started to fall apart soon after I began wearing it, but I thought it was the perfect companion to any outfit. (I was choosing my own clothes at a relatively young and had only one rule that I picked up from either my mother or my grandmother: Don't wear pink and red together. Everything else was fair game.)

I still wear handbands sometimes, but haven't found one I really love in quite some time.

That's about to change. I've decided to take the "tapestry/bead cuff bracelet" concept and apply it to headbands. (Take a moment and imagine, I've included a picture of a tapestry/bead cuff bracelet)

I've ordered some headband blanks (plastic, let me know if you know where I can get thick metal one in bulk) and have started a weaving that's a little more than an inch thick. I'll keep writing through the phases of this project!

Elena
www.mirrixlooms.com

A Challenge: Pick Up That Loom

This week has been a hectic one for me. Between a mini ski (snowboard) vacation, work and a house guest, my husband and I have been struggling to stay on top of things. The laundry is beginning to pile up and so is the work.

As I frantically got ready this morning, digging in the pile of clothes that has grown since Sunday, I spotted my looms that have been relegated to the back of the closet to make space in our oh-so-teeny apartment. I looked at them longingly. I have an idea for a mixed-media project that I've been dying to start but just haven't had the time.

It occurred to me in that moment that perhaps I needed to make some time. We all have a finite amount of time in our days and it's easy to take those fun things (like weaving or curling up with a novel) and push them aside to make time for everything else in our busy lives.

This weekend, between cleaning the house and working and driving around the city doing errands, I am going to make time to sit and weave and only think about that.

Have you been too busy to take your Mirrix out of the box? Are you letting it sit in the corner waiting for a less busy day? Have you been meaning to finish that beautiful weaving but just haven't had the chance? This weekend, I challenge you to take a few minutes for yourself and let the creativity flow. I'll be right there with you.

Photo by Jonathan Webb

Mirrix Project: Cat Collar (dog collars could be done in a similar manner)

My cat doesn't like collars. Since she's an indoor kitty, we usually let her go without one. Sometimes, though, like on trips to the vet, she needs identification. Her current collar was a $4 number I bought when she was a kitten (it still fits, she's furry but little).

The other day it came to me. I should make her a new collar! I would use the hardware from her old collar and just weave a new one. Easy!

Follow my collar-making experience here!

Tala. Waiting for her new collar. 

The little one in the middle is the new collar.

Mirrix Looms: An Escape From The Screen

Mirrix Looms: An Escape From The Screen

After listening to an interview on NPR about the effects technology has on the brain, I started thinking about my own life and my own consumption of technology. My morning went like this: Woke up to the alarm on my Blackberry. Groggily turned on the coffee machine and plopped down on the couch with the news on and my iPad in front of me. My husband went straight to his laptop.  The phone rang. At 6:45 am. He answered. I started up my iMac. He removed his iPod from the dock and kissed me goodbye. I called in for my morning Skype meeting and my day (in front of the computer) began.

I assume I fall somewhere in the technology-heavy side of the population but I’m sure many people have similar mornings. And evenings. And afternoons. The interview that brought this up discussed a retreat (sans cell phone reception) of several scientists studying the effects of technology on the brain. The goal was to go on vacation and see the device-less time “through a neurological lens”.  Plainly put, the scientists’ general conclusion was that people need time when they are not stimulated by technology to process information. In studies done with mice, after learning new things, it took a removal from stimulating situations for new neurons to grow. It can be similarly concluded that humans need time away from devices, including enjoyable stimulation like games, to process things they have learned.

There are many different ways to get that non-stimulated time… lying in bed, meditating, going for a run (perhaps without that iPod?) or, even better, weaving! I always knew it was good for you. Just a few minutes a day in front of your loom (or, yes, most art projects) gives you just a little more time without technology a without (often fruitless) multitasking. Which, it seems, isn’t doing our brains much good.

The moral is: You know weaving makes you feel good (if you don’t, I suggest a Mirrix Loom to help you change your mind) but it looks it’s good for you too. Take some time today away from the computer (yes, I know you’re there, you’re reading a blog) and sit somewhere nice and quiet with your loom and some beads or some yarn and just weave. You’ll be better for it. 

The Heart Project: Step Two

I've decided to make a series of small hearts. Partly to practice my heart-making and partly because I didn't warp a very thick piece. (Bad planning on my part.) Here is my progress so far:

The first heart is lacking a tip. The second is much better. I expect each heart to get better as I continue. 

I need to take out a bit of the top of the second heart here because it got too pointed, but otherwise I'm pretty happy with it!

The Heart Project: Step One

I'm starting with a small heart. Depending on my schedule, I may make this into a series. Here is my loom warped.

When I woke up this morning, Tala had made a mess of the wool I am using. She looks so innocent, but she can't resist a ball of yarn. What cat can?

I started out by drawing a heart on paper and then traced it directly onto my warps. You can see I messed up in purple and tried again in red. Hard to see, but it gives me an idea of where I should be. 

"The Heart Project"

As some of you may know, Mirrix is a family business. I (Elena, Marketing Director) am Claudia (founder, CEO)'s daughter. Claudia (also known as mom) began weaving tapestry in 1984 when she was pregnant with me and needed an outlet that didn't include ice cream and pickles. Ever since I can remember, mom wove. Our living room was always crammed with floor looms and baskets of yarn. It seemed normal, at the time. I remember once at a friend's house we came across a skien of yarn. I scoffed at the quality. I was probably 7. Anyway, another result of my mother's weaving was the art that adorned our house. It could be split into three categories: 1) Paintings and drawings done by my aunt Polly. 2) Framed prints of (what I then thought were) weird things like an abstract naked woman that I was horribly embarrassed by 3) Weavings. Lots of weavings. The picture above is a heart (see now we're getting to the point) that Claudia made eons ago. It has been in my bedroom (actually, now it is in the living room) since I was born, dragged from house to house (we moved a lot) like my old stuffed lion (Ly). This weaving has become a part of me. Seriously. It is right next to me right now under a beautiful painting by my aunt (turns out my place is decorated pretty much just like my house was growing up). 

On August 30th, Claudia has a birthday! On September 11th, she's coming to Seattle to visit me. My goal, by then, is to weave her a heart. My version, of course, and on a Mirrix. I will take pictures and write as I weave, taking you through the process. 

Check back!