Thursday 6 February 2014

One Frosty morning: the amazing beauty found in a simple frost

Sometimes it's the simple things which excite and amaze. Something as everyday as a frost can give one such wonderful ideas that you are filled with excitement for the day. Frost creates some many amazing textures...






Like a soft fuzzy coat everything was covered in one way or another.  Once again in the dawn I am a child smiling and happy that a new day has found me alive and well enough to enjoy the frosty light and the quiet that seems to have fallen, muffling the sounds of busy life. A frosty quilted blanket of joy and beauty.




If you'd like to see how these pictures inspire my weaving pop over to LoomyBin or my Etsy Shop

Saturday 1 February 2014

Woven hearts: A Simple to Elegant weaving project to do without a loom

Woven hearts are easy to make and can be simple to more complicated or 'grown up' depending on the time and effort you put into them.

to be auctioned for the British Heart Foundation Feb 5th
Using pure wool felt and a little embroidery I turned this woven heart into a dainty hanging ornament perfect for gift giving on Valentine’s Day or even Mother’s Day

3 felt hearts I made got turned into a coin purse, a cute dressing up handbag and a hand basket for sweets or toys.

What you will need:
  • Pencil or fabric chalk or felt tip pen for tracing and making light marks
  • Scissors
  • Paper pattern either printed or self made *see footnotes on the pattern for details on how to make your own the graph paper shown is for making your own pattern.
  • Material you’re making your heart out of paper, felt, fabric (the fabric needs to have interfacing on the back to help stiffen a little and prevent too much fraying), etc.
*if doing this with younger children it’s easiest to use felt or thick paper like mulberry paper because it bends and moves easily*
First copy/ print and cut out the pattern or make your own.
(See end of tutorial for pattern)

Trace the pattern onto each material you wish to cut out i.e. paper, fabric, felt.


Use pattern to cut your material


You will need two for each heart.
Fold the pieces in half so the top of each arch matches the top of the other.
Refold so that the ‘inside’ is outside. I.e. any pattern you want is on the inside of the heart. This is so all marks you make are on the inside of the finished product.

this way:
not this way:
Draw a very faint line across the bottom of the arch using the other half of the heart as a guide.
Decide how wide and how many strips you want. You may have 2 to 201 stripes (obviously the wider the strips the easier it is to weave them)


Cut the strips from the fold up to the lightly penciled line at the bottom of the arch.


*Remember go just a little beyond your lightly pencilled line to allow for the bending and filling of the paper*

Refold the arches so that the pencilled lines are all back on the inside and the pattern you want is on the outside.

Weave the strips together as follows:



*Remember when weaving the strips, they need to go through and around the loops of the other side not just over and under as in traditional weaving because you are weaving a 3D item/ open pocket*
Start with the first looped strip on the right half of the heart. Put loop 1 through loop A then put loop 1 around loop B then through loop C then put loop 1 around loop D and through...etc until you get to the end of the strips on the left half.

Push the woven piece all the way toward the top of the heart (toward the arch)

The second looped strip on the right will be done as follows: Loop 2 around loop A then through loop


B then around loop C and through loop D etc. Push all the way to the top against loop 1.


Third looped strip will be done same as first.

Fourth will be the same as the second.

Continue in the same way, alternating the through and around until you finish weaving all the strips into each other.

With the addition of a little paper handle the heart then turns into a beautiful hanging hand basket for decorating or gift giving.



Here is the pattern for the hearts
Blow up this image until it fits nicely on an A4 or letter sized paper to print it off.

Alternately, make your own using the guidelines and tips below:

To see loom woven items visit me at LoomyBin or my Etsy shop. Also catch up with me on Twitter (BethatLoomybin) or Instagram (bethatloomy).

Please join us for the auction for the British Heart Foundation