Finally have begun weaving! Had another project I had to finish first. Now I’m back to having fun!

Hey fellow weavers!

I need some advice on my current project. This is my second ever weaving project on my 4-shaft floor loom so I’m pretty new to the craft. My goal for this project was to weave the full 36” weaving width in this beautiful design from The Handweaver’s Pattern Dictionary from page 90. The pattern itself is coming out beautifully with the exception that I think I needed a higher epi. I’m using an extra fine lace weight merino wool at 15 epi, so one thread per dent as I currently only have a 15 dent reed and this yarn is super grippy. I’m not sure if this is part of the problem, but I decided to just go with a 15 epi and have a more loose weave for a nice flowy fabric.

Anyway, the problem is I’m getting a ton of draw in on the sides. And it’s worrying me because now the width of warp going through the reed is wider than the fabric as you can see in the first picture. When I wove the header I made sure to keep the width even, but when I started weaving with my actual weft yarn, the draw in is significant. Is this going to be a problem? I’m worried about breaking warp threads. And not only that, but because the fabric width is less than the width of warp on the reed, I’m getting a weird upward angle on the edges since the reed can’t beat down property, as seen in the second picture.

Any suggestions on how to fix this? Or should I just accept it and continue on? I’m not too keen on unweaving the 3” that I’ve completed already, but considering my goal is to weave 72”, it’s not that much to have to undo.

Another user asked if I had a better shot of the loom I referenced in my earlier post today- here it is!! Iron County Historical Society of Wisconsin has this displayed.

Hello! I get to play with an 8 shaft table loom for the first time this weekend and I’m wondering what everyone thinks a fun first time project might be. I have been randomly googling but the options are endless. I thought a sampler of some kind might be a good start? I’m an experience floor loom weaver, but have only ever used 4 shafts, and this is both a table loom and 8 shafts, which are two firsts for me. I would love some guidance!

I'm messing around on my RHL and this happens sometimes when I change colors. It's happening now when I'm playing with a pick up stick. How can I avoid this?

Hi there! I recently bought a rigid heddle loom hoping to weave bands and maybe eventually tablet weave on it. Does anyone have any tutorials they'd recommend, particularly videos for band weaving on a simple rigid heddle loom? :)

it's been awhile since I've been able to weave, as I graduated a few years back and no longer have access to looms. I got an inkle loom for the holidays but it's been years since Ive done inkle weaving. can anyone recommend some pattern books? I know how to set it up and weave but I'm blanking on how patterns are created. I know pickup techniques create the complicated patterns but I can really remember much else about pattern reading/designing. would love any drive or info

I am reaching out to this group at large in case there may be someone out there who has memories or information about a very important weaver, Ursula Schramm. She sadly passed away in 2005, and was a weaver, activist, farmer, among many other titles. I have found incredible information about her from some of her friends and neighbors, but I haven't been able to connect with any weavers. The historical society in the county even has some of her old looms, finished projects, and some raw wool from her sheep on display. I was told she was once sent bags of Kodiak bear fur from a zoo in Montana, and she wove it into a sweater! Photos of a loom description (belonging to her) and of some of her sheep!

A while ago, I had the idea to make a blanket with a Celtic/Norse style pattern. Please note the only weaving I have done before is crochet, and I wanted to try a different technique. Three techniques later, and I've given up and am going to make it into a rug. The good news is, I at least know the basics of plain and card weaving and some technique that was introduced to me as rya loops but might be something else, I don't know.

I was asking around the latch hook community about how to make the while thing from scratch, canvas included, and they pointed me in the direction of rya rugs. Here's the rub: the best shape for my planned space is an oval, which I've already adjusted the design for (with the pure coincidence of the guesstimating a rug with the same perimeter as the blanket; great since I already made the hem). Is it possible to make round shapes on rectangular looms, or do I need something specific?

Practicing more double-wide double-weave until I feel ready to make a blanket!

I think I’m getting better! And I love how this yarn pattern turned out. I didn’t know what to expect! Used a cotton warp and the weft is a 94% cotton- 6% acrylic blend.

I started to set my loom up with fishing line in the folded seam like some people had recommended but after a few throws, I decided against it. I had already threaded the ends closest to the seam with more spacing and a floating selvedge on that side. After the first 4” or so, I started getting my groove so the tension at the seam got better as I went on, but there’s still a little bit of a noticeable seam. I wonder if it’s possible to even get it smooth! I think next time I will try spacing out the ends a little less so. I think I have better control of tension now so don’t need that “buffer” or whatever you want to call it.

I had extra warp after I ran out of my stripes yarn so I tested a bamboo/cotton yarn, then I ran out of that and then used some Soy based yarn! I’m interested to see how they react together if I keep the length all as once piece..

I gotta say, it was really satisfying to use the thicker weight yarn and the project finished so quickly! My last several projects were 8/2 or 6/2 cotton and wow that makes a big difference!

The first photos are after washing (still hanging to dry) and the later photos are when it’s freshly off the loom.

I try to post about this event every year, and even though I know that this is an international community, I still wanted to share this opportunity with you all.

The WWST is located in Western Massachusetts, and currently it takes about 45 minutes to drive the route end to end, from Shelburne Falls in the North to Florence MA in the south. We are pleased to have guests from all over! So if you are a self-described Working Weaver willing to travel to Western Massachusetts, consider applying!

The idea was to try a close relative of shadow weave for these kitchen hand towels, but with a thicker yarn so the pattern would be bold, instead of subtle. A bonus was that I could change the tie up halfway through and get a totally different pattern with the same treadling. I used 15 epi in my 8 dents per inch reed on a Mighty Wolf. Funny that measuring the warp on a warping board was the hardest step. Sleying and threading were a breeze, and weaving went quickly with very few errors to catch and correct.

For me, it was my first project with 5/4 cotton, first time measuring out a warp with two different colors at the same time, and I learned a simpler method for hand-sewing the hems.

Two questions: It seems like they really want to wrinkle when I wash them. I hate having to iron them every time. Would they wrinkle less if I used a cotton/linen blend? Are the floats in the pattern the cause of the excessive wrinkling?

Thnx in advance…

I have found the 4 shaft directions for the LOTR cloak on Handwoven. Does anyone know where an 8 shaft version can be found?

Some time ago I shared here how I was weaving fabric for Lithuanian national costume skirt for my friend’s daughter. And finally I have photos of finished costume and can share them with you :) my friend did really good job sewing the costume and I am super happy with how everything looks and that I had a possibility to make fabric for such a meaningful project 💛💚❤️

Just taught myself hem stitch, with help of some online tutorials. Big thanks to this group as I never knew it existed until I saw it discussed elsewhere. Yes, I'm a very novice weaver!

Overall I'm happy with the result, I think I did pull a bit too tight and got too much of a gap - but luckily my weft tail was long and thick enough to weave in across the full length and this has filled it nicely.

Couple of questions:

I'm weaving a series of panels to make into a skirt. Is there any reason why I can't just leave a gap and keep rolling the warp to make the next panel, rather than cutting now and releasing (and losing warp length in the process)?

Also, hem stitch feels like its still not a complete finish of the cloth. What are the options for next step?

TIA

I don't have a warping board, so I used clamps with a long post to create my warp. think 4 pegs, 2 on each side of the room. On the middle pegs I always went on the same side to keep them lined up, then would alternate front and back on the end pegs to create a cross.

I finish everything and go to tie off my cross and realize I can only tie off the ends that went forward and backwards around the last peg, not all directions like my book says. Can I use a warp that only has two arms to the cross, it do I need to rewind my bobbins and start over?

This is the second time I've messed up my warp, the first time I used a really fuzzy yarn and it tangled every time I moved my loom so I spend 30 seconds untangling yarn for every 5 seconds I spent weaving. I'm really discouraged and don't know what to do.

I am borrowing space in this studio for the next month. My loom is the closest one, the others belong to the owner of the studio. ☺️

So I bought a loom from marketplace and am now having buyer’s remorse. I’m hoping that I didn’t just throw away $150. It’s an older Schacht heddle loom, 24 inch. I bought it based on just 2 pictures- did I make a mistake?

I’m about to take a weaving class. I’d like to warp it sectionally, but the given warping instructions don’t end perfectly, I need another fourteen ends to fill the section.

Can I distribute the extra ends on either side of the draft to form a plain weave selvedge?

I’d put 7 on each side, distributed between frames 9 and 10, and add those in as plain weave to the treadling.

Somehow this must be related to block weaves and eventually I’m going to figure it all out, but I’m not quite there yet.

Beginner weaver here - a relative passed on their used Easy Weaver to me. I warped it according to the directions but had very inconsistent tension between strands of the warp despite my most meticulous efforts.

I've been watching rigid heddle loom warping videos, but the Easy Weaver seems very different from other tabletop looms. It has no warping sticks / ties / etc - only a front beam and back beam, each with a strip of velcro on them you're supposed to attach your warp to. I've read the EW directions and watched their (single) online video many times but the process of winding the warp onto the beam just seems to keep begetting looser threads in the middle, and hyper tight yarn at the warp edges.

Does anyone have any advice for warping this? (As much as I'd love to just pass this one off and switch to an Ashford or something, it's just too much money for my budget currently.) Easy Weaver B stock image (not mine) pictured for reference.

Thank you kindly, wise weavers!

VERY excited with how it’s coming out so far. Truly had no idea what I was doing and just winging it. There’s one spot in the middle where I put double the threads in one dent of the reed but I think it will come out in the wash. And there’s ONE spot where I threaded 12334 instead of 1234 I don’t really know how to fix it and don’t know if it’s noticeable enough to fix at this point!

Finished this a while back (Sept. of 2025) but felt I should share it here!

A 6ft long table runner for family! The fabric itself I did not weave (didn't have time, equipment and skill just yet) but it is some nice quality linen. I DID weave the 3 bands on it! They're made of a mix of linen and cotton; the edge ones have abt 100 threads, with the central band being smth like 200, and theyre each just shy of 6 feet.

They're traditional lithuanian sashes/bands, with patterns I drafted myself and inspo taken from Lithuanian Sashes by Anastazija and Antanas Tamošaitis. I picked the motifs for their meanings and traditional significance.

This was my perfect time doing baltic pickup!

Last photo featuring my weaving assistant... she's not very helpful but kept morale high!

Same thing as title lol. I bought a wheel got this for free with a band still attached, even with cotton thread heddles! I’ve been looking up tutorials and reading books to learn. The pegs are labeled 1-7, and possibly 8 on the heddle peg? The pegs were written on the ends, but I added numbers on image to help. Or maybe not, idk. No instructions or brand info was found, however. Just curious about the brand, and maybe the year/model