Even the most enthusiastic multi-shaft weaver has to admit that our looms don’t travel very well—but we can still scratch the weaving itch while in a hotel room (or sitting around at a child’s track meet) with the help of a small rigid heddle and a backstrap weaving setup. Using a backstrap, all you need to do is tie the far end of the warp to something secure and fasten the near end of the warp to your belt. You become part of the loom, and that’s what makes this method so portable.
Learn How it Works
Long Thread Media’s Kate Larson teaches you how to weave bands anywhere in her latest video course, Backstrap Rigid Heddle: Weaving Pick-Up Bands. In it, she covers all the equipment and supplies you’ll need (it’s not much—Kate’s complete kit fits in a shallow box that’s about 6 inches square, which makes it easy to fit in a bag and carry along).
Everything you need to weave bands on the road fits nicely in a shallow little box (above). Kate Larson (below) leads you through the steps of warping and weaving bands with a small rigid heddle.
Then she shows you how to thread the heddle and weave a band using two different pick-up techniques. Not looking to do pick-up? You can use your threaded heddle to make plain-weave bands.
Short warps are a particularly strong point for the backstrap setup. You can weave a pair of hanging tabs for your latest towels using your thrums for the warp, or experiment with a pick-up pattern or two, all easily and without creating much in the way of loom waste.
The course includes a video workbook with:
A supply list,
Set-up information,
Patterns for alternating pick-up and Baltic pick-up, plus variations of each, and
Three bonus pick-up bands inspired by our favorite spider, Charlotte.
If you’re unfamiliar with Kate, she’s the editor of Farm and Fiber Knits (and she was previously the editor of Spin Off and PieceWork). A well-known and beloved instructor of all sorts of textile techniques, Kate brings her passion for textiles into every part of her life.
Resources
Is backstrap weaving new to you? Kate’s new video course leads you through how to get started—or you can watch a free video first to learn the basics of bandweaving using a backstrap.
In need of a rigid heddle or band shuttle? TheDancingGoats, which sponsored this video course, makes reproductions and re-imaginings of historic and prehistoric fiber arts tools. Focusing on the ancient textile traditions of the Northern Roman Provinces, the Northern Isles, and Western Europe, TheDancingGoats creates shuttles, heddles, looms, spindles, and whorls in wood, stone, pewter, copper alloys, ceramics, and glass. Learn more at TheDancingGoats.etsy.com.