Welcome to Mirrix’s 17th Weave-Along!
We are very excited to revisit our popular Tapestry/Bead Cuff Bracelet.
Remember, participants are encouraged to ask questions and engage with other members of the weave-along via email and social media sites including the Mirrix Facebook Page, Mirrix Facebook Group and Mirrix Ravelry Page.
By signing up, you have agreed to post on one of our social media pages or email us at least once during the weave-along with updates on your progress, questions or even just a picture of your work.
Email Dates:
Today: (set-up & warping)
June 21st: (weaving, adding beads and tapestry techniques)
June 28th: (finishing)
Ends July 5th
What you Need to Begin:
–Any size Mirrix Loom with a shedding device. (Alternately you could needle weave this if your loom does not have a shedding device, but we will not be showing how to do that.)
-A Tapestry/Bead Cuff Bracelet Kit (if you do not have a kit, click to see the supplies included)
-A ten-dent spring
–Heddles
-A good pair of scissors
-A measuring tape
-A sewing needle
-A bead mat (or a piece of heavy cloth on which to put your beads)
-A piece of string or ribbon to balance your warping bar if you have a loom larger than the 8″ Lani Loom (more on this below)
-Phillips head screwdriver (depending on the model of loom you have)
A Few Definitions:
Warp
The thread or yarn that is put on the loom to serve as the base for your weaving. Think of it as your canvas.
Weft
What you weave into the warp.
Warp Coil (or spring)
The spring at the top (and optional for the bottom) of your loom that separates the warp threads.
Warp Sett
The space between warp threads
Shed
The space between a lowered and raised set of warps through which you pass your weft or your beads in order to weave them into the warp threads.
Shedding Device
A mechanism that serves to create the shed by raising and lowering alternate warp threads.
Selvages
The sides of your piece.
Heddle
A heddle attaches your shedding device to your warp threads. Used only when weaving tapestry and bead weaving WITH the shedding device, heddles can be either ordered pre-made or you can make them yourself!
Set-Up & Warping
We have included here pictures and basic instructions going over the warping process for this bracelet, but if you have never warped before we recommend checking out our warping for tapestry .pdf and our warping for tapestry video first to get more details on the process.
Here we are using a 12″ Little Guy Loom. Because this is a thin piece relative to the width of the loom we are going to warp on one side of the loom instead of in the center. The reason we do this is to balance the warping bar. If we were to weave a thin piece in the center of the loom, once the loom is warped the warping bar (the thin bar you tie your warp onto) will be unbalanced. By warping on one side of the loom and then balancing the warping bar with a piece of string, cord or ribbon the other side (or warping another piece on the other side of the loom) we guarantee that our warping bar is balanced. If you have an 8″ Loom you can weave this piece in the center of your loom, but we recommend weaving on one side or the other if you are using a larger loom.
We will be using a 10-dent warp coil for this piece. This warp coil (sometimes just called a spring) will space your warp threads correctly for this piece. To figure out which warp coil is your ten-dent coil, put the coil on the tray on the top of the loom, measure an inch and count how many spaces (called dents) are in an inch. The ten-dent coil should have ten dents in one inch. If you do not have a 10-dent coil, you can modify a 12-dent coil to act as a 10-dent coil. Be aware that if you do this you may not be able to use the 12-dent coil as a 12-dent coil any longer. You can find instructions on how to do that here (plus more information on warp coils).
Ready to start? Place your loom on a flat work surface, fold out the leg or legs (depending on which loom you have) and ready your supplies!
First, place your 10-dent warp coil in the tray on top of your loom by looping the hook ends of the coil around the brass pieces on either side of the tray.
Now, set the height of your loom by turning the wing-nuts on each side. You want at least 2″ of threaded rod showing. Measure each side bar to make sure they are even and the same height.
Next, face your clips backwards on the loom and place your warping bar between them, securing them in the holes in the wooden clips and pressing the clips slightly inward to securely hold the bar.
Now, take your C-Lon Cord (the thicker thread) and tie it in a double knot to the warping bar. Remember, the place where you tie it will be the left (or right) side of your weaving, so think about where you want to place your weaving. Here, we have started our piece on the far left of the loom.
Begin to warp by bringing your warp around the loom in the correct pattern. Remember to follow the warping instructions in our warping .pdf and video if you do not have experience warping. We will just briefly go over warping here and it will not be detailed enough instructions to follow if you have never warped before.
warping for tapestry .pdf
warping for tapestry video
Here are a few tips to remember when warping:
1.) Never let go of your warp. It is important to keep even tension while warping, but it does not have to be tight as you will tighten your warp threads later on.
2.) You can start warping in any direction (first going up over the loom or down under it), but the concept is always the same: Bring your warp around the loom until you hit the warping bar. When you hit the warping bar, loop around it and go back in the direction you just came from. Continue around the loom until you hit the warping bar again. Then, loop around the warping bar and continue back in the direction you came from. Continue this pattern.
3.) Check occasionally to see if you’ve accidentally warped through the center of the loom. Your warp threads should always be going around the loom and should never cross through the center.
4.) Make sure your wooden clips are even horizontally. To tighten them to the loom, simply turn the plastic screw at the end of the clips.
We started by going down the back and under the loom, then up the front.
We placed our warp thread in one dent at the top of the loom.
We then brought our warp thread over the top of the loom, down the back, looped around the warping bar and started back in the direction we came from (towards the top of the loom).
When we brought the warp thread over the top of the loom from the back, we placed our warp in the next dent over.
We then continued down the front of the loom, under the bottom beam, up the back and looped around the warping bar. Then we came back the way we came (this time, down the back of the loom and under the bottom beam from the back). We then continued in this pattern.
When you’ve warped 15 warps across (count your warp threads by counting the number of threads that are in the warp coil on the top of the loom), tie off securely onto the warping bar. Remember that tight tension is not important, but even tension is.
You will also now want to tie your string, cord or ribbon to the other side of the loom and the warping bar if you need to balance your warping bar.
At this point, take your spring bar (the thin stainless steel bar) and place it in your warp coil at the top of the loom on top of your warp threads. This will keep your warp threads in the warp coil.
Next, swing out your wooden clips to release the warping bar.
Grab hold of either side of the warping bar and move it down about an inch and a half from the top of the bottom beam of the loom. Here you may want to tighten your tension slightly and make sure all your warp threads are even and not crossed on both the top and bottom of the loom.
Now you are ready to install the shedding device!
Swing your wooden clips so they are facing towards you.
Place your shedding device into the indentations in the wooden clips. The hole on the shedding device (where the handle will go) should go on the left side if you are left-handed and the right side if you are right-handed.
Position the shedding device so one side with a thin metal bar is facing upwards. Loosen the nut that holds the bar in place with the Allen wrench included with your loom and move it to the left or right to your weaving.
Now, begin placing heddles on every other warp thread and loop them onto the bar on the shedding device.
Click here to see a video of putting a heddle on the loom
When you have put on seven heddles (one on every other warp thread), secure the bar you just put heddles on (again, using the Allen wrench). Make sure that it is flush with the brass pieces on either end of the shedding device so they do not hit the wooden clips when you rotate the shedding device.
At this point, make sure you have secured the shedding device to the loom by moving the brass pieces on the wooden clips over the shedding device. You may need to use a Phillips head screwdriver to keep these in place depending on the model of loom you have.
Now, rotate the shedding device toward the loom so the other bar is facing upwards.
Again, loosen the bar (the one on the opposite side of the shedding device from the one you just put heddles on) and put heddles on every warp thread that does not have a heddle on it (again, this will be every other heddle).
When you are finished, secure the bar again. Then, place your handle through the hole on the end of the shedding device and secure it.
Tighten your tension using the wing-nuts. You are now ready to weave!
Check out the video below to see how to change sheds using the shedding device. When the handle is in one position, you are in one shed (lifting half the warp threads) and when the handle is in the other position your are in the other shed (lifting the other half of the warp threads). Using the shedding device eliminates the need for weaving in and out of warp threads. With it, you will simply place your fiber or beads in the space between the lowered and raised warp threads, change the shed and do the same thing going in the other direction.
Beginning to Weave
First, you will weave in a piece of thread to act as a base for your piece. Take piece of the C-Lon Cord you used as warp, move your shedding device to open the shed in one direction and bring the thread through the open shed. Loop around the side bar (this should be on the threaded rod), change the shed and bring your thread through the piece again. Tie off with the other end of the thread around the other side bar. At this point make sure the warp threads at the bottom of your piece and those at the top of your piece are even and the piece is the same width throughout.
Next, you will weave a header. Take a length of the C-Lon Cord you used as warp (about a wingspan’s length).
Put your shedding device in one position. You always want to make sure the tail of your threads face the back of the loom. Depending on the shed you are in and whether the last warp thread is raised or lowered, you may have to make what is called a pigtail to have your thread face the back of the loom. To do that, take your thread that is facing forward and loop it around the edge warp thread so it faces backward.
Now simply bring your thread through the space in between the raised and lowered warp threads. Then, change your shed (by moving the position of the shedding device) and bring your thread back the other way. Continue doing this. Be careful not to pull too tightly when you move your weft across, but also do not leave any space between where the weft turns and the warp.
Weave this header for about ten passes. End your thread in the middle of the piece and tuck it behind the warp threads.
Now you’re ready to start weaving next week! How did warping go? Let us know via email and social media sites including the Mirrix Facebook Page, Mirrix Facebook Group and Mirrix Ravelry Page.