My poor loom broke last Thursday. One minute I was weaving pinwheels, and the next I heard a snap and knew something was wrong. Fortunately it is an easy fix—I just had to order a new lam cable—but until it's delivered I'm temporarily floor-loomless. Rather than mope about during the weekend, I borrowed an inkle loom and a pin loom and used my broken loom as a good excuse to broaden my weaving horizons, such as with woven bags.
The inkle loom had already been warped for tablet weaving so I took it outside and experimentally turned the cards to see what designs I could create. I ended up with a rather random-looking band with questionable selvedges, but I was hooked. I can't wait to re-warp the loom and tablets for more than just sampling.
Next, I gathered some of my wool thrums and began weaving on the pin loom. It was fun to play with color, texture, and quickly weave off little squares. Some of my experiments were pretty, others were good lessons on how not to mix colors. As with tablet weaving it kept me busy for hours and now I'm plotting future pin-loom projects in my head.
Weaving the fabric for a woven bag is your chance to acquire and show off your weaving and designing skills as well as make something you can really use. A number of weave structures, yarn, and colors can be used for weaving bags. With our free Woven Bags ebook you can experience the joys of woven bags while creating something that is one-of-a-kind.
Sneak-Peek at the free woven bag projects:
Create Fabric Handmade Bags for the Gym
Yoga Mat Carrier In Plain Weave with Weft Stripes by Sue Bleiweiss The idea for this carrier came to Sue while in her studio. As she was standing in front of some cones of pearl cotton yarn, she happened to spy her yoga mat rolled up in the corner. Pearl cotton was the obvious choice to use for a handmade bag that Sue knew would spend its life in perpetual trips from closet to exercise room to the trunk of the car to yoga studio and back again. Woven in plain weave, the cloth will stand up well to repeated washings and daily handling.
How to Make Handwoven Bags for Shopping
Sturdy Rag Totes With Handy Inside Pockets by Dinah Rose Inspiration for these sturdy, handwoven bags came from two earlier Handwoven projects. One was a diaper bag with lots of pockets. The pockets required weaving and piecing strips, but Dina wanted to weave a single piece of fabric. A project for an inkle-woven cellphone case gave her an idea for easy pockets—the fabric on one side of the bag is extended and folded down into the bag from the top edge and then turned back up to become the pockets.
Tiny Bag Weaving Fun
Farkle Game Bags In Summer and Winter by Joan Sheridan Hoover Farkle (also called "the dice game") is lots of fun. It requires no cards, the counting is easy, and it can be learned in just a few minutes. These little handwoven bags take longer to weave than a game of farkle takes to play, but they are sure to delight you every time you get out your dice. Plus, they're a fun way to play with summer and winter and a small amount of luxurious yarn.
Make Felted Handbags that are Practical and Stylish
A Felted Bench Bag for Weaving Tools by Deborah Shelmidine Whenever you have to sit and wait—in the doctor's office, at your children's sporting events, or on road trips—you can have fun weaving colorful fabrics on portable, easy-to-use pin looms. This project arranges woven squares in four different colors along the diagonal to make a handy bag to hang from the upright of a loom bench. Add a second handle, and the bag becomes a sturdy shopping tote.
Make a Handwoven Tote Bag on a Pin Loom
Fingerprint Tote Bag by Marcella Edmund Sometimes a girl doesn’t know where she’s going—whether to a downtown gallery or an uptown museum—but a tote bag as individual as a fingerprint goes anywhere. Marcella wanted to design a tote that was modern-looking, functional, simple to make, and with the potential for individual expression. The pin loom is as personal as the artist who uses it, with infinite possibilities for using color, texture, and the combination of possible patterns.
Handmade bags and totes require only a small amount of fabric, are easy to weave, require minimal sewing skills, and you can never have too many of them! This free eBook will help you create a custom-made bag fit for any occasion: a yoga mat carrier woven with pearl cotton, a versatile and sturdy rag tote with convenient inside pockets, small Farkle (dice game) bags to hold your dice, and a handy felted bag to carry your weaving tools.