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Post by paweaver on Feb 10, 2009 20:06:22 GMT -5
My Dad made me a tape loom. Yes! I picked it up Sunday. Now the fun begins. Actually, this loom has been the talk of the group of men that Dad has coffee with each morning. One of the other men did some of the work for Dad, because his saw was better than Dad's. I think the guys enjoyed talking about my Dad's odd daughter (me). Why would she want one anyhow? I think I need to drop in on their coffee time someday to show them how it works. These looms were used to make the small narrow tapes or bindings that were used on clothing years ago. If any of you know of any books or places to find more info on this style of loom will you please let me know. Dad and I did a lot of research on the existing pics of them. Some of them were pretty roughly made. It looks simple to make, but actually it was a little bit of a challenge. Dad would do some improvements if he makes another. O.k. I better go take a pic so you all can see it. It is not warped up yet. Hoping to work on it this weekend and will post pics of it in use then. Just had to share my joy, paweaver The color is a little off, but here it is.
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Post by phoenix1967 on Feb 10, 2009 20:30:35 GMT -5
That's really neat... Care to give us a description (prefferably with pics) of how it's used?
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Post by joanne2 on Feb 11, 2009 6:19:37 GMT -5
Thx for sharing your joy! That is fabulous.. I don't have a clue of how you would use it for weaving either! And I have woven a few small things and made a few simple looms! Never have seen one like this, it's amazing! very neat... I do see that there is a little shuttle there for it and the curves at the bottom of it appears to be a place to hold this in front of you between your knees.. hmm. Pretty fascinating! Your dad and his cronies did a great job on it. is it oak.. doesn't appear to be really thick..
(Kinda looks like something you might wanna use on that PA Skinners bum from time to time). All kidding aside, that is just really really cool.. Looks like something that I could make trim for some of my buckskins with too.. with the wool. and then felt the wool a bit.. I can't wait to see how this old time loom works.. thanks for sharing your newly learned old knowledge.. like the 'string bags' this is just really keen.
Nothing odd about you girl! You're way ahead of your time! All this kind of thing I believe will come back full circle and you'll be in the lead here teaching something from days gone by.. cool that you're teaching your kids some resourcefulness and also dexterity. I'm glad to hear that the little ones are learning much from you girl and more employing what they're learning. How nice to see them picking this up and trying to create on their own. It's what it's all about, isn't it?
I hope you find more out there. I'm not in the spinning guild here but there are several weavers here that are really into their art. I'm lucky that each year they put on a big doings, also just 20 minutes from home.. there are 50 vendors at this local sheep and wool festival and I'm sure that some of the women would have some knowledge of these. Maybe there really isn't a lot to know about them other then just using them? do you know how to get going with your weft or warp.. forgot which term fits here even..Im pretty sure that you would weft the fiber through the warp but I could be wrong! I do see a great need for quality bindings however so press on PS Weaver.. nice job!
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Post by Buckskin Billy on Feb 11, 2009 19:51:19 GMT -5
cool picture, thanks for sharing. it would be cool to see it in use.
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Post by paweaver on Feb 12, 2009 0:19:33 GMT -5
Grr! High tech I am not! Just spent about a half hour taking pics of the different steps of making the loom work, and somehow I lost all of them when I put them on the computer. I never had this happen before. Guess there is always a first. I promise that I will retry. Don't give up on me. Probably with my home school schedule and teaching some friends to make cardboard looms this weekend I won't get back to it till Sunday. Sorry!
I do want you all to know I think you are the BEST!!! I've checked out other forums even posted on a few, but usually I'm greeted with silence though not always. I realize that many of you aren't weaving crazy like me, but you always care enough to comment and ask genuine questions. Even my kids think that the buck rub is the best.
Thanks for being who you are! paweaver
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Post by beaudro on Feb 12, 2009 12:38:37 GMT -5
Paweaver, i love the new tape loom. I only do alot of fingerweaving, well at least i only start fingerweaving projects. I always have a few laying around to be finished. I only see the one picture of your loom, do you have pics of the warping wheel and the rest of it? Would be nice to build one.
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Post by Buckskin Billy on Feb 13, 2009 0:38:09 GMT -5
i think that all of the old ways of doing things are neat. i like to watch and learn a little about the different stuff. i think that most people here feel the same way. we may not all do the same things but we all have a common interest in it. thanks for your post, before i would have thought that picture was of a real fancy pick comb that a brother from the ,70's would have used ;D. just teaseing you a little pa weaver
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Post by paweaver on Feb 24, 2009 23:51:20 GMT -5
O.K. It's a little late, but here it is. I been busy. Sorry. This is what a warping board looks like for those of you who don't know. You wrap your string (warp) in a certain pattern to get different lengths of warp. I do not have one of these. I measure my warp by arranging two chairs backs facing each other a certain distance about and than wrap my warp around the chair backs. I can get different lengths by moving the chairs farther apart. This is the poor man's style of measuring warp. When taking the warp off the chair or the warping board you make a simple daisy chain out of it to keep it from becoming a mess of tangled string. Here is a simple video of how to make a daisy chain. I was just using some braintan lacing for the demo. Here is a pic of the daisy change coming off my loom. I went with a braintan tie instead of a piece of wood on this one. When you go to thread your loom, you put one warp thread through hole in the wood and the next one through the slot in the wood. You just continue this until you have the width you want. Now, you tie one end of the warp off onto something solid. The other end you tie to a belt or strap around your waist. I tried using a ring here to tie onto but it made the weaving flip around to much I like it tied to a rod better. Also as I braid and want to bring the braid closer to me so I have more weaving room I just take an extra wrap around both ends of the rod with my strap. With tension on the loom, I now have a shed open for weaving. Here is a pic of it from the side. I slide my shuttle through the open shed. To change the shed, I lift up the warp in the slots with my hand. Keep lifting Lift clean past the warp in the holes. Now I have opened up a new shed. Which I then slide a ruler or thin piece on wood in. You turn the ruler on its edge and pass your shuttle through the opening. You must change the shed every time that the shuttle changes directions. And you weave by the shuttle going back and forth endlessly. I find it fun obviously. Now is this any clearer? Please fill free to ask questions. paweaver
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Post by paweaver on Feb 25, 2009 0:14:26 GMT -5
I forgot to mention that you have to beat it tight between each shed change. Also, here is a pic of what the tape looks like that I am weaving. If anyone knows anything about the history of these looms I would love to know it, or even where to look for it. I've only ever saw two people weaving on this style of loom. I have a lot to learn about this loom yet. Thanks for reading, paweaver
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Post by beaudro on Feb 25, 2009 7:49:23 GMT -5
Mrs. Paweaver , it looks like your doing a great job with your tape loom. I've seen many of these and I've yet to see one without the box and take up reel. I' think i should be calling it a rigid heddle but i'm not sure. From a historic stand point, if you read Joseph Doddridge there is a paragraph he writes where as a young man he is taught how to make his own loom and weaves pouch straps for trade and sale. I think this is it.. It was that of weaving shot-pouch straps, belts and garters. I could make my loom and weave a belt in less than one day. Having a piece of board about four feet long, an inch auger, spike gimlet, and a drawing knife, I needed no other tools or materials for making my loom. It frequently happened, that my weaving proved serviceable to the family and sold to the hunters. This doesn't describe a tape loom however, there are so many types of looms that were used. The inkle loom came about years later , but produces about the same effect as the tape loom. I get my wool yarn from Susan Wallace , i think she is probably one of the best experts on wool yarn and maybe weaving with a tape loom. She would be glad to hear from you if you want to look her up.
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Post by beaudro on Feb 25, 2009 15:44:46 GMT -5
There are a few out there that make blankets of a period fashion. C.J. Wilde is one of my favorites www.wildeweavery.com/home.htm , the down side is that his blankets are around $300 and up. I'd like to build a loom like he is using and try it. I can quote Joseph Doddridge again, every home had a loom . These were small "half" looms that made a fabric that we call homespun today. To make a blanket wide enough they would make 2 lengths on it and sew it together down the middle. If i could only find a good picture of what these looms looked like and how they operated I would clean out my hide tanning shop and give it a try this summer.
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Post by paweaver on Feb 25, 2009 19:16:37 GMT -5
Wow! Thanks for sharing. That is a neat site. I already have new ideas spinning in my head. About every household having a half loom, what yr is this statement from? I figure that I will put my first tapes down the outside seam of my boys braintan pants. I hoping that they will be moving so fast that no one can get a good up-close look at my first tape weaving. ;D
Looms are relatively simple and little has changed on them over time. I have two small (probably 6' x 4') rug looms and the basement and my mother has an old barn beam loom(bigger than a double bed). Hers has the original linen hand tied heddles on it. Believe it or not she followed her daughter into the weaving. I will check around with my friends for the best book for you if you want to build a loom. I imagine why they were called half looms is that they were narrow in width. A blanket can be woven on either of my looms in the basement, but you would have to make two pieces and sew them together. Sometimes old seamed wool blankets go fairly cheap on Ebay. Actually, I can weave many different things on the looms, but they are commonly called rug looms.
I have not had time to use my looms in the basements. The "stuff" that takes over my basement sometimes has taken over my loom area. However, when I clean up this summer I can send pics if you want. Mom's loom is neat because my Dad can date a lot of the repairs on it by the metal and way it was repaired.
I wish I could use my weaving to bring in an income like that man on that site. But right now I just do a little now and then. I'm too busy with the children and helping Loren. It sure is neat to know that someone is doing it though.
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Post by beaudro on Feb 26, 2009 7:52:33 GMT -5
Mrs. Paweaver, here's the Joseph Doddridge site online, you can read or print out the whole journal.. I know some of the places he mentions are right there in Pennsylvania , you will love it. digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/text-idx?c=pitttext&view=toc&idno=00age8892m This site has a keyword search which i find most useful in quoting for documentation and quicker research. You can also just read the whole journal though. A real bummer about Joseph Doddridge however,, the time period he writes about was in his younger days about 1760 and up, He did not record the full journal until about 1820 or so. He has been used for documentation for many a "longhunter" impression, but the historians have some doubt to his credibilities. It's entirely up to the researcher to decide whether or not he wants to use this as substantial research. About the weaving , Rob Stone, C.J. Wilde, Tony Baker, and probably a bunch i don't know about are all great weavers. Not all blankets are sewn in half widths as the small backwoods people would have done in homespun, there was a few made on a commercial level. Most people will buy a traditional hudson bay blanket for use in re-enactments, but until you have tried a homespun you will never know what a great blanket really is. The downside about hand made is of course the price. I'd sure love to see you making them , consider me a prospective customer!
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eric
Button Buck
Posts: 43
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Post by eric on Mar 2, 2009 16:41:52 GMT -5
Well, those photos certainly make it much easier to understand. Thanks so much for posting them. The ones I make (from waxed leather, so they are unbreakable)..... ..... are just lifted up and down to change the sheds, so the yarn going through the slots stays the same and the yarn going through the holes moves up or down. The rest is exactly the same. I'm going to make some narrow bands soon, but I have some tablet weaving to finish off first, then I have a large warp weighted loom to finish for a living museum, so I'll post photos of the results when I eventually get round to it. Eric
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Post by paskinner on Mar 3, 2009 16:55:23 GMT -5
Eric, Remember I what to see a pic of the large warp weighted loom. Now, you've started problems here. My Daughter likes the look of your rigid heddle and would like one. lol At least she is interested weaving, Hope you enjoy this site, paweaver
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