Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Weaving with Children



Weaving can seem daunting, especially if you are picturing weaving on a large floor loom (like this one that we have for sale...hint, hint!). With children, the best way to start weaving is with a simple, homemade loom. You can make one out of cardboard and yarn or string, like the one Joey is weaving a pouch on, below.

If you spin or dye, you can create a family weaving project with your own yarns. We wove a table runner out of our handspun and dyed yarns from the Griffin Dyeworks dye & fiber retreat from last year (see pic at the top and under Table Loom, below).

Some other options for weaving with children are....

Small Looms


Pin Weaving


Table Loom (Knitter's Loom)


Inkle Weaving


Card Weaving


Nature Weaving
Forked Stick, Yarn, Pine Needles
Some places to get weaving inspiration, ideas and help:

19 comments:

Mona said...

Beautiful colors on your table runner! - And nature weaving!! - I have to try that with my children. Thank you so much for the idea :)

Mama Rose said...

The runner is beautiful! I like the idea of a family weaving project-everyone puts their heart in soul into it-awesome!! I'd like to try it someday soon. It looks almost meditative :D

Sara said...

I have always wanted to try weaving with my son. Looks like you are all enjoying yourselves. The table runner is so pretty.

Alicia said...

Looks beautiful, your children (and you!) are learning so many skills :)

Tammy said...

Those small square wooden looms you have a photo of...we have some like that but they are round. It's so fun to use good natural products. Makes the whole process so enjoyable.

This was fun to look at. :)

Jenell said...

I have daydreamed about weaving with a warp-weighted loom.... So many possibilities!

Joy said...

The only weaving we've done is potholders. :) I'd love to learn another simple style.

Anonymous said...

So pretty! The girls have just started asking about weaving. Thanks for all the info!

Tan Family said...

Hi Joy! Potholders are such a fun weaving project. I would start with some nature weaving, and then try making a loom out of cardboard. If you have the $, a Knitter's Loom by Ashford is a wonderful investment and the whole family can join in on a project. It folds up and has a carrying case which makes it easy to store and travel with.

Anonymous said...

I attended a huge natural living fair where they set up a large homemade loom and all of the people walking by were encouraged to add to it, it was so beautiful to see the expressions of the community working on this one project! Some people choose yarn others fabric and there were even flowers woven in, so gorgeous! What a helpful post, We have tried the cardboard loom as well as the "nature loom" I would like to purchase a table loom.

Kelly said...

Thanks so much for sharing these links :) I have a couple here who I bet would love this ~
Beautiful pieces!

Tan Family said...

Hi gardenmama! Wow...the loom you are referring to sounds really neat! Yes, if you can get a knitter's loom, it's worth it. Also, pin weaving is pretty easy to do and the link in my post will take you to Ellen's blog (she is an amazing fiber artist and shows you step-by-step how to do it!).

Jenn said...

so interesting...we just did the nature weaving ourselves about 2 weeks ago. i loved it, it was so much fun...posted about it on my blog actually. :0)

Tan Family said...

Hi Faith! Great to hear that you have enjoyed nature weaving. It's a lot of fun and so easy to do. We did these little Y sticks back in Oct. when we were waiting for one of the kids' lessons to be done. We meant to do more...sounds like a summer project in the works! We also want to do some pine needles basket weaving at some point.

Tahara said...

Thanks so much for this post!...I just learned to spin, (yay) and was thinking about doing weaving with Keanu...We need a small loom, and I thank you for the links!

Anonymous said...

love the table runner- that you made it together makes it so special! We might have to give it a go this summer!

Jenell said...

Jennifer, I just nominated you for a Watermelon Award, if you want to play!

dottyspots said...

I love the piece with the cloud - so pretty!

I'd really like to have a table loom. I made a basic loom on an old drawer a while ago and wove a pouch for a necklace for my mother (amongst other things). I find it such a restful thing to do.

My 5 year old is making a simple woven piece on a piece of cardboard, she's very pleased because it is stripey ;0)

Michelle said...

We've tried pencil weaving, and "recycle art" weaving (using styrofoam trays and cutting notches along the sides). Would love to try more!

As always your photos are an inspiration! Thank you for sharing them :-)
~Michelle