In a Facebook group that I Lurk belong to and occasionally contribute, I see the same heddle questions pop up. Make heddles the length from top peg to heddle peg I thought I would take a quick moment to talk about how I make and use my heddles and what works for me. The Inkle loom is one of those looms you have to make your heddles for, they don’t come pre-made, and this is often a gray area that creates some confusion. It seems simple enough, then you realize this would be much easier if you were an octopus. This allows you to quickly create a shed to weave through. They simply hold the warp tight and the heddles which keep half of the warp immobile. She can use her knees to squeeze the base near the right upright.Inkle looms are relatively simple in their design. She puts the left end in her lap with her foot on the right end on the ground. She found that she usually weaves sitting in a chair or on a stool. Most important, there is less chance of the pins bending under pressure which can ruin the project through uneven tension.Īn addition that my daughter found helpful was a vertical foot on the right end that stuck out both sides so she could steady it with her foot. There's plenty of room & it makes moving the project easier. I'd suggest using 3/4" or even a 1" dowels on this loom. I prefer to use a bigger dowel & separate the starting pin from the tension release, but that's tough to do on this design. ![]() I generally use a hanger bolt for the tension pin(s) with fender washers on the back side & a star knob, although I try to steer clear of cams in general. Picking the heddle pin up above the warp run is another good idea so the warps don't touch. Easy enough to fix by turning the lower center peg into another tension release. From studying several looms that work well, I've found there needs to be 1" of tension release for 17" of warp & have an unconfirmed report of even more being needed for one project. I've made that one & there are a couple of issues with it, the biggest one being it doesn't have enough tension release. This is basically what Bress shows in her "Inkle Weaving" book. The tension slot was laid out in S tep 4 and cut by drilling holes along the layout line, and hogged out with a cutting bit. Wood filler was made with sawdust and glue. Bits of cereal box were used to protect the threads of the bolt from the chuck. It was shaped by chucking the bolt into the drill and dressing it on a sanding block. Now the "design element" becomes functional as a thumb hole for portability!īy sandwiching the 1/4" hex head bolt between the two 1 1/2" rounds, the tension knob is created. Another 1 1/2" hole was cut into the long board, adjacent to the hole in the base. In Step 2, "design elements" were drilled into the base board. A "paddle" system was chosen and was made by splitting and whittling the 5 inch section of the long board that was retained in Step 2. This helps advance the work through the loom as you go, makes it easier to warp the loom with consistent tension, and allows for warp "take up" as the work progresses on the loom. ![]() Inkle looms must have some way to tension the warp. Please be encouraged to search around and see if Inkling might be something you'd enjoy- Then, come back here and build an Inkle loom! Luckily, a ton of online information is available on Inkle weaving. The other warp is made with "yarn" cut from strips of old t-shirts. One of the warps pictured, is regular 100% acrylic yarn. Bead work, wire weaving, card and tablet weaving, picking, and probably many other techniques can be applied to produce everything from single color utility straps to truly mesmerizing patterns in a range of materials from the finest silk thread to the coarsest fibers. Many different techniques can be demonstrated on this loom. On the contrary, Inkle weaving seems to have a very low cost of entry for amazing versatility. At first look, I thought it was limited by what it could produce and couldn't hold my attention for long. It is commonly used for weaving narrow bands and has been around for centuries. I was looking around at various types of weaving and different types of looms when I came across Inkling. For me, space is at a premium and I hesitate to spend time and money on an introductory weaving course which I may not actually enjoy, just to have access to a loom. The artist may spend many thousands of dollars on weaving kit which takes up a lot of space. One problem with weaving is that it can be extremely cost prohibitive. The weather is getting colder lately and I'm finding more excuses to lay about in the warm house. ![]() I've been thinking about weaving for a while as something I might enjoy to pass the time or teach my children.
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