Setting up, improving, and using a toy Weaving Loom

[@heidiroukema2771]

I got my first loom about 70 years ago in Switzerland. I was probably about 6 years old. It was exactly that system to create the shed! The quality of the loom was a bit better, (it was of course also a bit more expensive), and had more warp threads per cm. Many years later I became. Textile designer and handweaver!

[@Imjustbored-kh6ly]

70 YEARS AGO?? BRO JUST HOW OLD R U

[@wudgee]

I use an Ashford heddle loom and couldn’t resist watching this. I would have loved this when younger. That heddle is ingenious. Lovely gift for any age.

[@hugh009]

Thanks from a 78 years young guy who has always wanted to take up weaving. I too bought the toy loom.

[@brunettewife]

Thank you so much for this! We are going to our first rendezvous as a family and wanted to get the kids something to do during their 'down' time. I bought this time and just like yours, the instructions were not the best and in another language. I immediately came here as your video was the first that popped up. It has been so helpful and I really appreciate it!

[@SallyPointer]

Really pleased it helped

[@cheryll5496]

I bought one of these a few months ago when I started eyeing floor looms and hubby sensibly suggested I try with something small and cheap first. An old floor loom fell into my lap (figuratively) and I've been sanding it back so the first thing I did with my new toy loom when it finally arrived yesterday was take it to the garage for a sand and wax. It's lovely and smooth and now I've had a tutorial on how to use it! It is about as straightforward as can be but it's very helpful to watch someone run through it. Thanks!

[@ponchoandmuffinadventures2345]

Thank you my Chinese mandarin is rubbish and my Heart sank when I read the instructions or basically not read instructions.

[@JenMcCaleb-q8d]

Thank you so much!! I got a kit for really cheap from target for my daughter and I to do together, and couldn't for the life of me follow the instructions (glad i tried it first without her here!), now i've figured it out and we'll be having fun making "yarn paintings" as she calls them! Thanks so much!

[@littlewhitedaisy11]

Thank you for a brilliant tutorial. I had already taken delivery of 3 of these, none of which would fit together until I sanded the sides and glued. Then I found your video and I will do that shuttle sanding adjustment. Can't wait to use it and teach my 2 grandchildren.

[@ronnetteharvey6781]

I bought my look to see if I was going to like weaving. Same foreign instructions. But you did marvelously at letting me know what to do . Thank you and I am going to make a big look because I really like it. So yes thanks again. Great teacher by the way. Forgot to tell you I did mine as I was listening to you. First loom, first lesson. Perfect.

[@SallyPointer]

Really pleased that it helped!

[@ronnetteharvey6781]

@@SallyPointer Yes thank you for the reply usually I comment and think the poster must have passed away bc they don't answer after the first week! So I'm in utter astonishment!!! Wonderful.

[@jakehardiment8613]

Hi Sally, thanks for sharing. I’m currently working my way through your channel and some of Alan Carr’s too and learning so much! I think all children should be shown where their clothes come from, and maybe if more people could do their own weaving it would help the climate recover. I love that heddle stick, I’ve never seen one like it before.

[@kaygee301]

Yes, not to mention the human cost with sweat shops and unfair wages

[@melenatorr]

Thank you, as always! I have a couple of small frame-type looms, which I use for making little tapestries and also to test out colors and stitch patterns before moving on to my rigid heddle. That rotating heddle is a wonderful idea: at the moment, I use a small dowel for one shed but still have to go over-under for the other one, and have been trying to figure out, in my non-engineer's mind, how to work around that without making yarn heddles to loop over another dowel. I've now seen a few frame models with this sort of thing in mind, but they're larger than I'd like, and I wasn't sure if they would really work. Looks like they can!

[@kauwenvrouw2660]

I used to have one of these as a kid! So much fun to work with. I remember the thingy that spaced the threads was rounded and the threads always stayed in the grooves (instead of laying on top of the wood and slipping around). I remember being obsessed with that mechanism, it seemed so clever. I think I used the piece of fabric as a blanket for my stuffed frog. I didn't really know what else to do with it. Now I'm wondering where the loom has gone. Maybe it's time to nose around in my parents' attic... ;)

[@obsidiansugar1123]

Wow. Thank you for this! I needed this 🙂. From Aurora, Colorado USA ❤

[@cherylsosciacassidy6701]

Thanks for the video! My son has a very similar loom that he received as a gift. The instructions it came with are in French and I don't do any kind of crafting at all. This is giving us a good start.

[@fjolliff6308]

I have 2 of these looms. Great for little coasters and potholders. I find that using cotton yarn for both the warp and weft make for a much nicer end result. You can teach a basket technique and then sew them together nicely, but a child might need help with that as well as tying the warp for the short sides. Beautiful ideas to improve the shuttle. I've found that using netting shuttles is great since they are usually made from nylon or smooth plastic, they just glide between the threads so easily.

[@puddle-brigade]

When i bought a little loom like this I also got a small shuttle meant for small looms at my local yarn store. It’s already the right size so I prefer it over the laser cut shuttle.

[@n.ayisha]

that really is a clever heddle. i definitely would have loved this as a child, and i hope that the gift was well received.

[@sarahjarden8306]

Nice video Sally to help folks start their weaving journey. Clever little heddle system,!!

[@amyroswick3759]

Thank you! Mine came with no instructions at all. Glad you were able to walk me through.

[@janinedear-barlow]

Same

[@briibird]

As a 23 yr old who is using a child’s loom to learn and see if I like it, this video helped me so much! I wish you could’ve gone longer so I can see you handle it with different colors and taking it off when you finished 😭

[@differentworld2822]

I was thinking the same thing

[@luminalsaturn2]

This would be good for making a patchwork blanket or rug!

[@sarahlarock9885]

My 8 year old daughter just got one for Christmas! The instructions were horrid. Very little information, and whilst using those foreign looming terms (like a shuttle, heddle bar, etc). Thank you for your informative video! This was helpful in getting started with the basic mechanics. 😊

[@Kineth1]

That rotating heddle really makes me think of an automotive camshaft. It looks like it could be improved a little bit by deepening the grooves, and extending the groove, making it shallower in the other position. That way, the warp threads would always be in a groove, but either a shallow groove, or a deep groove. It would reduce the picking of the warp threads to get them back into their grooves, and make the overall operation smoother. Flattening the heddle on the corners opposite the grooves would also help it "sit" in the right positions, rather than being stuck up on a corner.

[@SallyPointer]

It would be a lot of fun to develop a more 'grown up' version with refinements.

[@amilia2483]

Thank you for making this video! It was really helpful, and I can't wait to try my set out

[@assitandiallo1917]

Merci beaucoup Dommage que l'ont n'a pas la suite. Je veux parler du rendus final. Quoi qu'il en sois je ne parle pas anglais mais j'ai trouvé les explications très super avec les mains. J'ai tout compris. Ça m'a fait gagner du temps pour mettre en place l'activité pour ma fille. Encore merci

[@vanessaboman8143]

Sally, I am grown and would love this! I have a skiing wheel but not a loom and to start I think this would be fun !

[@vanessaboman8143]

When I was a kid I remember getting this little kids at Christmas and birthday s and loved getting kits cos I loved being creative.

[@AnimeShinigami13]

when a friend got me a loom like this, I had to bind the loom up with the ends of the warp. it was just like this!

[@JSAnstock]

That heddle is quite neat. With a spaire scrap of 20 x 20 it wouldn't be hard to make a second heddle to weave twill pattern. Job for Uncle perhaps?

[@ggma4743]

Thank you for this video. I bought one when I first became interested in weaving. Now my great grandkids use it and another I have that looks like a mini loom. And that's the one I have problems with. I was hoping you may have that loom or know about it, it's the Lavievert Wooden Weaving Loom. Keeping my fingers crossed that you do. Again, thank you for this video.

[@NadineCallan]

I just got one like this but it was assembled with no instructions at all lol. Thank goodness for you.

[@danielleworley9112]

This looks perfect for my daughter to move up from plastic loop weaving.

[@Casinogirl56]

Toy loom or not, this is about the niftiest thing I've ever seen. What a fun video!

[@petesmith2837]

Just got one of these and this video has been invaluable- thank you :)

[@motherendurance]

I'm pretty impressed with the shedding device!

[@Yirggzmb]

This is actually the nicest toy loom I've ever seen. I've never seen one with a heddle before. You just have to bring the weft over and under manually with whatever you're given as a shuttle/needle.

[@SallyPointer]

That's why I got this one, it was very cheap, but the heddle was intriguing. My little niece got the hang of it straight away.

[@tinmanlover1994]

Hi I came across this video after looking for a video on an old American Girl doll weaving loom which was available untill the early 2000s and I'm wanting to try recreating a weaving loom for my historical doll joesafina

[@susansstudio267]

I love your videos. Thank you for teaching us.

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

Wouldn't it be possible to just wind around the top pegs and then have more string (one string for each) so you could make something far longer than this frame?😊 Just need a system to hold it in place at the bottom, like a metal comb, or something else thin but rigid...

[@SallyPointer]

Yes, you could, probably the simplest way would be to clamp the frame to a table and tie off the spare warp at a point further back. Toys though generally are about one sitting projects, so this was set up to create a finished project in perhaps an hour of work. If your child has a long attention span, then definitely experiment with long warps, great idea!

[@starfirebird3099]

I had one of these as a kid, but there were no instructions and I never figured out how to use the heddling piece, so I would bring the yarn over and under by hand (as I was used to from potholder kits)

[@franzrogar]

Another easy (vast) improvement would be modify the heddle: just extend the cuts up to the rim (thus covering half of the square section). That way, the distance between over and under warp will increase. So just put a small hand-saw and cut up straight to the middle of the section.

[@SallyPointer]

That's a great idea! If I get another one I'll try that.

[@jkabholat]

Great demonstration

[@EM-cg4iy]

That’s adorable but functional!

[@michaelsiddle837]

Nowadays it is very easy to read instructions in Chinese or any language for that matter. Simply take a photo and then load it into the Google Translate App and the text will be translated to whatever language you want. The translations are usual much better than those provided in the instructions!

[@777Janii]

Helpful and easy to understand thank you!!

[@cheerful_something_something]

Lovely, I'm sure she'll be thrilled.

[@kathleenpurple4415]

Hi my young granddaughter loved watching you doing loom what thickness is the warp thread please 😊😊

[@SallyPointer]

A generic crochet cotton is a good starting point for warp thread

[@beatamafulu2405]

Sally have you ever thought of teaching these skills and knowledge to kids in Africa?, since I started watching you I want to learn from sally and at the same time to open a learning centre and work with professional like Sally to teach Kids this valuable skill.

[@SallyPointer]

I'm always happy to teach, but you've got so many skilled people much closer to home who would be a much better choice without having to bring me in from abroad 🙂 I'm sure you'll find someone perfect.

[@beatamafulu2405]

@@SallyPointer there is none in DR Congo Sally, can you imagine there are people in some of my birth country who still walk naked not because they do not like wearing clothes but can make fabric for lack of knowledge.

[@evelinharmannfan7191]

I had one similar loome when I was in second grade, and I liked weaving. But it is really important that it works well and doesn´t snag. Or kids will be frustrated.

[@tappingflamingo]

Thanks for sharing. This was a great video. I do have one question...after you remove your weave from the loom, do you have to tie off some how or will it unravel? How do you finish it off?

[@SallyPointer]

Because the ends are loops, this particular loom doesn't unravel. If you have long warp ends left though you can tie knots to make a fringe.

[@tappingflamingo]

@@SallyPointer thank you 😊

[@AlemLima]

Thank you 🎉so much

[@RamaKrishnan-ml3mt]

Quite interesting. Thank you.

[@theresasnow1178]

I just received mine from eBay I'm watching your video

[@tinmanlover1994]

I'd use a medium worsted weight yarn

[@janinedear-barlow]

Do you take the cotton out of it after and do you chop the wool ends off or weave them in?

[@SallyPointer]

Cotton stays in, that's the warp thread. Ends can be woven in when you finish the piece, just run them into the weave with a big needle.

[@littlewhitedaisy11]

How do you add a different colour in the centre of the weave for eg an orange circle surrounded with blue ?

[@SallyPointer]

You need to lock the two colours together, so, let's imagine you are just doing one half orange, one blue for now. You'd weave halfway across with each shade, coming from different sides. When they meet, cross the yarns over so they bend back on themselves (try interlocking your index fingers together, just like that), change the shed, then weave back, orange over orange, blue over blue. That interlocking in the middle stops a gap. More complicated shapes like your circle work the same way, you'll just have three strands at play in any row. Hope that makes sense!

[@АнжелаАнжелика-х7ц]

Здравствуйте, спасибо за очень хорошее объяснение, здоровья вам .

[@hollowangel6831]

Wonderful video, it was a great help! I recently bought a similar one and I'm excited to begin my journey in creating woven artwo!rk

[@mariaadeliafernandes6128]

Tapetinho ficou òtimo Eu tengo um bastidor desse em casa

[@jacobo6652]

Can the white string be replaced with other wire or yarn?

[@SallyPointer]

Absolutely! Your warp thread just needs to be stable enough to take the tension of warping up and manipulating the sheds, experiment a bit, but anything smooth and relatively strong should be fine.

[@jacobo6652]

@@SallyPointer nevermind i found some warping thread online but thank you for letting me know some alternatives!

[@conniedlawson]

How do I take the rug off the loom

[@SallyPointer]

Just unhook it from the 'teeth' that the warp is stretched between

[@SpaghettiEnterprises]

Why does the warp use thread while the weft is made of yarn?

[@SallyPointer]

It's not essential, it's just what was to hand and was easy for a small child to differentiate between when I handed it over

[@henjelucy]

Great video thank you

[@sandi1725]

Very helpful

[@theresasnow1178]

How do you secuire your weaving once you have finished

[@SallyPointer]

Just weave in the ends and ping the warp loops off the frame (or the other way round if easier). It's that simple.

[@VikingMakery]

Could you please post a link to this loom?? The helpful spacer is a great addition.

[@SallyPointer]

A quick search on eBay will get it, there were dozens of different sellers

[@gaynorlongmuir8928]

How do you take it off?

[@SallyPointer]

Just ping it off the ends, it's only looped over those grooves

[@gaynorlongmuir8928]

@@SallyPointer great video, i had a bigger more like a proper loom back in the 60's as a child, got it for my grandaughter - thank you

[@SallyPointer]

@@gaynorlongmuir8928 this one is very much an entry level toy, but it does the trick at pocket money prices!

[@janetcurtain7183]

I’ve never loomed before and found it helpful but the end was so abrupt and now I have threads sticking out at the start and the end of each colour.... I have to find another video to help me and my daughter finish 😕

[@SallyPointer]

A darning needle will let you weave any ends in, just wiggle them into the weave so they don't show, that's all there is to it 🙂

[@rheasambajon1427]

How to take off the finish product?

[@SallyPointer]

Just pull it off the loom, the loops of warp are just hooked over the ends

[@eijonasson]

For sale Harris tabletop loom. Made in England .

[@lug.5329]

Hello, anyone. What are good small projects for first weaving projects?

[@SallyPointer]

Try things like turning a rectangle of weaving into a phone or spectacle case perhaps?

[@lug.5329]

@@SallyPointer , thanks for the good ideas

[@tommywiseau_]

i know its a toy, i wanna get one for myself lol

[@SallyPointer]

Go for it! Basic looms are still good for trying out ideas or small projects

[@cheerful_something_something]

Lovely, I'm sure she'll be thrilled.