My grasshopper friend wrote to me recently with links to a pair of DIY videos she had fallen in love with. Let's make looms! Let's weave rugs!
She's got a really infectious enthusiasm for new projects -- a good kind of "infectious" to be, these days. I caught her bug. I finished up the set of masks I was sewing, and decided that I wouldn't start a new batch -- at this point, the hospital shouldn't need volunteers to cobble together make-shift masks anymore. (I hope). And so I set to building my loom. I wrote back to her:
I haven't steeled myself to the point of going to a store (which is, of course, the hardest part of this entire project). I have, however, made a frame out of scrap wood and other already-in-the-house supplies, and it's all ready to be studded and poled. I have nails with wide heads, which I probably shouldn't use, but no finishing nails, and I don't know yet if I have metal bars. So I might have to go to a store after all. Dang. it. I just went to a hardware store two weeks ago; rushing back right away like this seems frivolous.
Her response:
BAHAHA!My first thought when I started plotting this project was "I wonder what MiserMom will find to use instead of buying new parts.."
A flagpole (from a bicycle trailer) turned out to be serendipitously exactly one inch more than twice as long as my frame so I got my side poles taken care of. And I bummed a box of nails off of the construction guys who were coming to my home to install new stair handrails and such (they assured me that since they use nail guns for everything now, they no longer need these "hand nails"). So I finished my loom with no store trips. Whoop!
I just want to say, hand weaving a rug is way more fun and absorbing than I would have imagined. My grasshopper told me she kind of had to force herself to go to bed instead of staying up all night to finish it, and I found it had the same kind of attraction for me. I am someone who has very little patience for videos, but combining videos with weaving has been great. This summer, I'm involved in more webinars and zoom meetings than I can count, and this loom is a wonderful way to get myself through these meetings without going crazy. This was the start of my rug as of Thursday evening
. . . and by Sunday night, I was done.
I don't really need small area rugs; I don't really think I have enough fabric scraps to finish a second rug, and yet already my loom is set up and ready to go for the next round. It's funny to think how quickly I can get hooked on a new project!
Here's the [11:40] video on how to make the loom
And here's the 30-minute video on how to do the weaving.
This is so early 80s! (Probably also late 70s, but I don't remember the 70s.)
ReplyDeleteDo you remember braided rugs? Those were fun too.
*Remember* braided rugs?!? I totally have one I made myself from jeans: https://miser-mom.blogspot.com/2011/06/denim-rugs-clutter-and-time.html
ReplyDeleteI also was a card-carrying member of the latch-hook rug brigade, back in my teen years. Man, those were ugly and impractical, but they were super popular in my crowd.