Midgins'

Weaving is a textile art that I’ve been wanting to learn for a very long time. Having grown up with sewing and fabric being a big part of my life, it is one of the few techniques that, until recently, I had not yet practised. This post has been a long time coming and I am super excited to finally share the beginnings of my journey into weaving. I have split this post into sections so you can easily see where I get my inspiration, which loom I purchased, which tutorials I found helpful and a sneak peek at what my first couple of weavings look like.

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INSPIRATION

I gain a huge amount of inspiration from other small business owners that I come across on Instagram and Etsy. Below is a very small selection of people who I follow and admire, and who inspired me to start weaving myself. Pinterest is also a fantastic source for finding inspiration. Take a look at my board Embroidery & Weaving to see what I’ve been pinning.

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THE UNUSUAL PEAR WEAVING LOOM KIT

I spent quite some time deciding whether to make my own loom or to purchase one on Etsy. After a lot of browsing and researching I ending up ordering this beautiful bamboo loom from The Unusual Pear. I went for the large starter kit (about A3 size) which was very reasonably priced and really lovely quality. I’ve really enjoyed weaving with it so far and I’m definitely happy with the size I chose. Plus it always pleases me to know I’m supporting a fellow Etsy seller!

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TUTORIALS & LEARNING THE BASICS

The Unusual Pear loom kit comes with instructions for basic weaving techniques and how to get started, but also recommends visiting The Weaving Loom. This blog has by far been my most used resource on everything from warping the loom and learning the techniques, right through to the methods of hanging. I spent a lot of time reading through all of Kate’s incredibly helpful posts when my loom arrived and frequently refer back to her blog whilst weaving.

Although weaving is generally about experimenting and trying new things, it is extremely helpful to have a few solid resources that you can rely on if you get stuck, especially as a beginner. I have listed some other tutorials below that were also very useful to me.

Other helpful links:

• Weaving Class: The Basics – A Beautiful Mess
• DIY Woven Wall Hanging – Honestly WTF
• Weaving for Beginners – Annabel Wrigley, Creativebug YouTube

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A LOOK AT MY FIRST WOVEN WALL HANGINGS

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So that is roughly where I am up to at the moment. At this stage I am still learning an array of techniques and tried to practice something different with each weaving. I already feel much more confident and as you can probably tell, my second attempt was much stronger than the first. I love that chevron weave in the above photo!

Next I will be attaching driftwood to the top of each piece so they can be transformed into proper wall hangings. I have already collected and prepared lots of wood so hopefully they will soon be completely finished and listed in my Etsy shop.

Have you ever tried weaving?

I hope you can appreciate this beautiful and timeless craft as much as I do!