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HOT New Craft Trend: Weaving and Tapestries

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I know. It is hard to imagine loom weaving as the latest craft trend, but as you guys are doing more and more DIY Bohemian decor, weaving crafts fit right in. Rainbow Loom Bracelets are a cousin of good old fashioned weaving, but looms can be as small as hand-held or as big as tapestries. You can make some rustic wall decor with weaving and creating a tapestry. Tapestry? You may think that that form of art has long died out since the Middle Ages, but they are making a comeback into the modern age.

HOT New Craft Trend: Weaving and Tapestries

Weaving and Tapestries

So what exactly are tapestries? In the Middle Ages, their main purpose was to insulate large stone castles and protect the insides from dampness. Since they required large looms and many workers to make them to cover expansive wall areas, they quickly grew to be a symbol of wealth and power to be able to commission these wall decorations to be made. Kings would take them on their travels for prestigious status and for comfort in their depictions of their favorite stories or past times for thought and reflection. Pictures of victory battles were commissioned after wars starting in the late 1500’s  (source). Until the 18th century, they were completely made by hand and dyed from plants and insects until the first automatic loom was made by Jacques de Vaucanson which made the tapestries far more sophisticated in pattern (source). Today, tapestries are rarely hand woven. Although the manual labor of hand-weaving has been taken over by machines and an automatic press, the amount of time has been reduced, but they are nonetheless still an intricate piece of artwork (source).

I promise I won’t be making you build a huge loom and start juicing pomegranates to make your own DIY wall decor. This is the 21st century after all! No, I will just make you buy the dye instead of juicing fruits and insects, but you still have to make a huge loom…totally kidding. Loom projects may seem super scary just by the history alone, but we still craft even with Martha Stuart in business, don’t we? This is a trade and a skill that you can take with you for the rest of your life. Small weaving projects are a great place to start. You may love this so much that you may want to go big and create your own tapestries.

 

Here are a few projects to get you started!

DIY Make A Weaving Loom from Super Super HQ

Woven Chair Back

How To Weave Without Special Equipment

Make Your Own Loom from Emily Franceschini

Woven Circle DIY Mat from A Beautiful Mess

Weaving With Wool Roving from A Beautiful Mess

Weaving Lopped Rya from Hello Hydrangea

 

Do you think tapestries and hand-weaving are going to die out with technology taking over?

 

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Learn the In’s and Out’s of Weaving with Giveaway from Favecrafts!

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It seems that weaving has made a comeback.  From simple scarves to more complicated fabric wall hangings, weaving is a fun and whimsical way to create lovely pillows, clothing, and more.

And with the help of Weaving Made Easy, the newest book giveaway from Favecrafts.com, you can become a weaving wonder in no time!  Weaving Made Easy starts at the beginning, giving you a basic lesson in the standard terminology and equipment of loom weaving.

Once you have mastered the basics, you can try your hand at one of 17 loom knitting projects, all easily made on a weave.  And don’t think that it’s all tapestries and blankets…Weaving Made Easy brings this old age hobby into modern times by including great wearable art like belts, bags, and scarves, as well as home decor items like afghans and place mats.

For lovers of fabric and yarn, Weaving Made Easy is a great book to add to your collection. I for one was amazed at all that can be made with a shuttle and yarn…and I know you will be, too!

You can sign up to win Weaving Made Easy on our giveaway page.  You have until May 22nd to enter, and you can sign up once a day…so be sure to return often to improve your chances of winning Weaving Made Easy!

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FaveCrafts 365 Warp, Weft, And Weave

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Weaving is a wonderful technique because it can be done by most age groups. For kids you’ll want to use inexpensive materials like paper to teach, but once the basics are learned there is a world of materials just waiting to be woven. Two key words are needed to get the basics of weaving under your belt, watch the video to find out what those words are.


Want to give weaving a try? Here are some great beginner projects and articles.

Loose Weave Card is colorful and fun, click here

This basket weaving glossary will put you in the know, click here

Weave a party favor for your next get together, click here

This autumn basket can be adapted to any season, click here

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Tie-Dye Basket Weaving

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Dear FaveCraft Friends,

I’m so happy to say that I will be blogging over here monthly and sharing information with you regarding the wonderful craft of basket weaving.  Today I want to share with you how I, as a basket weaver, used the Tulip Tie-Dye kit.

Tie-Dye Kit

I used the kit to dye my reed!

tie-dye-reed

The kit comes with 12 delicious colors. That’s great, because my box of mason jars comes 12 to a box as well. That means one color per jar and I won’t have to wash out and re-use the jars for additional colors.

I mixed up the first color according to the directions, color plus 4 oz of water (1/2 cup). I dipped the end of some reed in it and it took the color instantly. The directions said that the color could be lightened by adding more water. I decided to go to one cup of water. The reed still took the color almost instantly and with the same intensity as the first dip test. I decided to stick with one cup of water for each package of color.
Into each jar I put the dye, 1 cup water and 1 1/2 oz to 2 oz of reed. (I weighed it just to be sure.) Then I shook up each jar and placed it on its side to help the reed get maximum coverage in the dye bath. I let the reed stay in the dye bath about 1 hour and would turn and shake the jars about every 10 minutes.

reed2

Did I tell you I did all this outside on my back patio wearing old clothes? Nancy’s Tip: Even under optimum conditions NEVER, I repeat NEVER dye read in the house, or while wearing nice clothing on. The kit comes with rubber gloves as well as a plastic tarp. I used those too while working outside. I do think dying fabric could be less messy because it wouldn’t flip and fling little droplets of dye the way reed can.

When the kit came, the colors on the package just shouted, “It’s party time!” to me. That said, I decided to design and weave little party baskets to hold candy or small favors.

party-baskets

For those of you who have been too timid to try dying your own reed, this is a good way to try dying just a small bit at a time. It really was just one-step.
This month at FaveCrafts, I have posted the pattern for this fun little Party Favor Basket.

If you are in need of additional basket weaving information, be sure to visit my blog at www.basketmasterweavings.blogspot.com for more tips and techniques.

Happy Weaving,

Nancy

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New Craft at FaveCrafts: Basket Weaving

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I just love introducing new crafts at FaveCrafts, especially with the help of such a nice blogger as Nancy Jacobs of Basket Master Weavings. Nancy put together our first basket weaving craft project, the Square Autumn Basket and an accompanying glossary of basket weaving terms for those new to the craft. Here is a sample basket weaving term:

Cut and Tuck or Cutting and Tucking–When finished weaving the sides, you cut the stakes or spokes that are on the inside of the basket flush with your top row of weaving. The stakes or spokes that are on the outside of the basket get folded to the inside and tucked behind a weaver to hide the ends.

According to Nancy, basket weaving is not as difficult as it may sound and you can complete the Square Autumn Basket project in just one evening. I’m especially excited to try this out as my mother loves and collects baskets. Two rooms of our family home in Indiana feature a ring of baskets around the top of the wall. What a great gift for her, right? Anyone would love a homemade basket.

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4 Brand New, Easy Sewing Patterns + Weaving Without a Loom

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I am so pleased to tell you about these brand-new projects just posted at our website from Jenya of MyEvaForeva. Jenya has two Etsy shops at forEvaMore and EvaForeva, and was kind enough to share 5 projects with FaveCrafts.com, 4 sewing projects and 1 weaving tutorial that shows you how to weave without special equipment. These are such creative and helpful tutorials with tons of step-by-step photos.

Heating Pillow with Buckwheat– This heating pillow calls for buckwheat, which is hypoallergenic and holds heat (or cold) better than any grain.

Sweet Collar– Sew up a sweet little collar with embellishments to finish any outfit.

Easy Applique Flowers– Even without a sewing machine, you can add fun applique flowers to garments with scrap frabic.

Eco-Friendly Felt and Leather Bag– This bag is made from sustainable and biodegradable industrial felt and recycled leather. This is one sturdy, reusable bag for shopping.

 

How to Weave without Special Equipiment– Instead of purchasing a loom, use an old wood frame and nails to weave a piece. Jenya turns her piece into a handy little pouch.

 

Thanks so much Jenya!

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The Art of Tabistry

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Check out this blog dedicated to can tabistry, “the art of creating versatile textile out of ordinary soda/beer/soup/fruit/other can pull tabs woven together with fabric, ribbon, cord, wire, jump rings or any other material.” Author Tiffany creates hats, clothing and even shoes from pull tabs and the end result is impressive.

turkish_vest_blck_frontside_2

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