Monday, September 05, 2016

Picture Frame Loom on a Stand


The cooler weather makes me want to work in fibers again : Spinning yarn and weaving.  A friend at work gifted me some wonderful alpaca yarn, and now I want to use it! 

Many years ago, I saw a speaker give a demo on using an old picture frame to weave rag rugs.  It was something she learned years ago herself from the older generations in her family.   So I kept my eyes open at the thrift stores and purchased a few suitable frames.  But I didn't really want to make rugs, nor use up my fabric that way ...

Since then I acquired a small table loom, and really enjoy the back and forth meditation it allows me --  but it's quite a process to get the thing warped.  So I was looking for a simpler option ...  Back to the Picture frame loom idea.  On Pinterest, I found a couple of sites / videos that looked most useful :

This one used the idea of heddles on the Picture Frame Loom.  I love the heddles on my table loom.  That is what makes the process of weaving go so fast.  I don't have that option on the Tri-Loom, which is what makes me hesitate starting a new project there--that and the space it takes up.

This one puts is all together : Heddles, shed sticks, even foot peddles to make the shifts smoother.




In this video, Noreen Crone-Findlay explains it all, and talks you through the process, even including  tension bars, warping this type of loom, and putting in the heddles and a recycled/upcycled folding / spinning stand for the picture frame loom that makes warping and working this kind of loom easier and more ergonomic.   I think this is going to be my fall project with Sweetie this year.  ;-)

And so my husband and I set out to build a picture frame loom modeled after Noreen Crone Findlay's mostly recycled loom.  I know how expensive these are to purchase new, and I love the idea that it's so simple to build a workable loom yourself.    And so we did ...

The only thing we purchased new was some hardware for about $8.  The picture frame was $2 at a local thrift store.   The rest of the wood was from my husband's stash--cherry and walnut.
A heddle bar scavenged off an old broken drying rack, and a shed stick salvaged from a bed frame that otherwise fell apart.    



The legs fold into each other (like nesting dolls) so that it folds flat for storage.
Brilliant design, NCF!  

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