MATERIALS
» Commercial sewing pattern with
recommended notions
» Yarn

A

» Lightweight fusible interfacing
» Cheap wooden rulers ( 2)
» Paint stirrers, well sanded ( 2)
These are your shed sticks.
» Fine sandpaper

B

» Plywood board at least 1" larger than
the piece to be woven
» 3d finishing nails, 1¼"
» Hammer
» Pencil

C

» Straightedge
» Measuring tape/ruler
» Scissors
» Masking tape
Calculating How Much Yarn You Need
By doing a bit of math, you can easily
calculate how much of each yarn you need.
1. Build the loom.

1a. Determine the size of the loom you need by measuring your pattern pieces and adding 20% to the measurements to allow for shrinkage, etc. Add 3" to the length for loom waste. When you measure the pattern piece, make sure to take into account the grain line, as this can change the dimensions.

Photography by Joan Sheridan Hoover

Warp Count Take the total number of nails on your loom and multiply it by the distance in inches between the 2 rows of nails. Divide by 36. Our warp used 96 nails and measured 30" long ( 96"× 30" = 2,880" and 2,880"/36 = 80yds).

1b. Transfer the dimensions to the plywood board using a measuring tape and straightedge. We made parallel lines 11" long and 30" apart. Mark the lines in 1" intervals, making sure the marks are square to the marks on the opposite end (Figure A).

Weft Calculate the weft as the same
quantity of yarn as the warp, and you’ll
have plenty.

1c. Subdivide each 1" segment by making tick marks to measure off ¹/5" (Figure B), or 5 threads per inch. Eyeballing it is fine. If you use bigger yarn (worsted or bulky weight), measure ¼" segments ( 4 threads per inch).

 

1d. Pound a nail ¼" into the board wherever the tick marks intersect the line (Figure C).