Craft Ideas

Make A Loom Out Of A Simple Cardboard Weave

In many parts of the world, people make their cloth by weaving on a hand loom. This way of making cloth is thousands of years old.  It is still used by craftsmen everywhere who want to make something especially fine.  Weave a coaster, place mat, doll blanket or rug, scarf, belt, or all hanging.

Here’s how to make your loom, first you will need medium-weight cardboard and yarn. Tools needed are a ruler, pencil, scissors and paper punch. Now decide how wide and how long you want your woven material to be. Draw a rectangle on cardboard 1 inch wider and 2 inches longer than the finished material. Cut out the rectangle. Draw a line across the width 1 inch from each end.

Make an odd number of marks along the top and bottom edges, 1/4 inch apart. Cut notches at the marks.  Punch a hole near the top left corner and bottom right corner.  On cardboard, draw a rectangle 1/2 inch wide and 4 inches long. Cut it out, making one end rounded. Then punch a hole near the other end.  This is your shuttle.

Tie one end of a piece of yarn to the top hole of the loom. Wind the yarn up and down between the notches. There are two ways of doing this.  The first method is easier, but it wastes yarn, since the yarn on the back is later cut off and discarded.

Tie the yarn at the bottom hole. This yarn forms the warp threads of your material.

The crosswise threads are called the woof. For these, you will need a long piece of yarn. Thread one end through the hole in the shuttle and tie it in place.

Now you can start to weave. Start at the line you drew 1 inch up from the bottom of the loom. Pass the shuttle under-over-under-over the warp threads until you reach the other side. Pull the yarn through carefully until there is only a 3-inch long end sticking out where you started.

For the next row, weave back under the threads wherever you went over in the row before, and go over wherever you went under before.

Continue weaving new rows until you reach the 1-inch line at the top of the loom.

Cut the warp thread at top right and tie it to the end of the woof thread. Then cut the next warp thread and tie it to these two threads.  Now cut the remaining warp threads two at a time, tying each two together as you go. Repeat at the bottom. Trim off the fringe and your woven material is finished.

The kind of weave you have just made is called plain weave. Another kind, called twill weave, is made by weaving over and under two warp threads at a time. Try it the diagonal pattern may surprise you.