The solid Silver Beech hard wood is lacquered for long-lasting good looks. Each shaft can be lifted simply and quickly and is independent enabling a wide variety of patterns to be woven. Levers are within easy reach for comfortable weaving. The overhead beater, with automatic bounce back, gives a wonderful shed and even beating. The four shaft looms fold flat, even with your weaving in place, making them ideal for taking to workshops or guild meetings. Frame looms are easy to build yourself and are excellent to learn on.Popular because they are portable, easy to use and so versatile, the Ashford table looms are in demand with both beginner and experienced weavers. We hope you enjoyed this brief overview! If we haven't scared you off and you're interested in learning to weave, there are some ways that you can get started without a lot of fancy equipment (or frustration). Collections of threads passed through the reed are tied onto the front of the loom to create this tension.įinally, the part we've all been waiting for! It takes a long time and a lot of patience to set up a loom, but the results are well worth it. To be able to weave smoothly, the warp must be held under a tight and even tension. After each warp thread is brought through a heddle, it is drawn through a corresponding slat in the reed. If you've ever seen people weaving, the beater is what is used to pound weft threads into the woven cloth. The reed is a long metal strip with small, vertical slats that is attached to the loom's beater. These elements work in combination to determine the pattern in the finished cloth. The heddles sit within metal frames called harnesses, which rise (or lower) during weaving. Weavers have developed a lot of different techniques to make this process easier, especially when working by yourself.Īfter the warp is securely wound onto the back beam, each thread is brought through a metal or string eyelet called a heddle. This can be a little tricky- the key thing to pay attention to is an even tension across all threads. Once the warp has been created, it needs to be wound onto the back beam of the loom. Here we have a basic overview of the process, illustrated with a fun rainbow warp! 1| Making the Warpįirst, all the warp threads for the project are measured and counted out on a warping board. Although each person has their own methods and tricks, the main process remains the same. This way we can work out any problems on a small scale, and make decisions about texture and color without wasting extra time and materials.Īny handweaver will tell you that preparing a loom for weaving takes a lot of planning. This is where the fun really starts! When creating a new blanket, we weave small sample pieces by hand on table looms before sending final patterns to our production looms downstairs. In contrast, our blanket styles are made of simple weaves that can easily be replicated on a small hand loom. To read a little more about these weaves, check out our FAQ section here. Because of their complexity, we jump straight from conceptualizing on the computer to sampling on the production loom. Terry and matelassé are "compound weaves," meaning that they have a complex structure. How we go about the design process ultimately depends on which weave we're working with, and what our end product is going to be.įor both terry and matelassé styles, a design is first created on the computer and then test woven on one of our large jacquard looms. Our mill currently has looms set up for 3 different types of weaves: matelassé weaves, terry weaves, and general blanket weaves (also called dobby weaves). This process is incredibly labor intensive, but it's also exciting and rewarding. Before any of our products can be manufactured and sold, they have to be designed and sampled.
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