Weaving Techniques || Double Warping Your Loom

My notched loom has pretty wide gaps and that causes wide gaps between my warp threads. It isn’t a problem as I’ve made some very lovely wall hangings on it. But I was thinking that I would like to try double warping it for this next weave I’m working on.

The more warp threads you have, the more uniform and smooth your weave will become as the warp better holds the weft in place.

In case you also have a loom with larger gaps like me, here is how I double warped my loom. I first started by warping my loom as normal (those directions can be found here). Once I warped it as far as I wanted, I then started bringing my warp thread around the same notches in the opposite direction. This obviously made it so I had two warp threads around each notch (except for that last one which I used as a pivot point for my warp).

Once I got my warp thread back to my starting point on the loom, I then tied it off as I normally would. I next took some cotton worsted weight yarn I had and measured out a piece that would wind around my loom width a little more then three times. After I cut the yarn, I double knotted it around my frame towards the bottom then wove a plain weave across the warp threads. Since my loom was double warped, weaving the first row of the yarn was more like passing it between upper and lower warp threads, which you can see in the picture. When I reached the other side of my loom, I wrapped the yarn around the frame once and wove back in the other direction. This required more attention, as I had to make sure I separated the warp threads in the correct order. After weaving the second row, I then went through each warp thread with my tapestry needle and pushed the warp threads over so that they had a more uniform separation. I then looped my yarn around the loom frame and wove a third row. As my warp threads were more established in an order, this was an easier row to weave. When I reached the side of my frame loom, I double knotted my yarn to the frame.

These three threads will anchor my warp threads into place, which is why I tied them to my loom. They will not be part of my weave, and I will actually be able to re-use the yarn once my weave is complete and I untie it.

As you can see in this picture, even though my whole loom is double warped, the top shows how much of a gap there is when the loom is warped normally and the bottom shows the gap for when the loom is double warped. There is a big difference. I think I won’t separate and anchor my warp threads at the top, because I will be weaving bottom to top, so as I weave my warp threads should separate more. If while I weave, this is not the case then I’ll probably anchor the top too, but we’ll see.

And if you’re wondering about the story behind this loom, as I’ve shared before it is a loom made for children. It’s the Melissa & Doug Loom, but I do not mind weaving on it at all. It works for normal weaving too and I’ve made quite a few weaves on this loom. The back story is, when I started weaving I was using my Frame DIY loom (which I still use!) and my parents told me for my birthday they wanted to buy me a real loom, which I was like um yes please! And they asked me to send them some loom suggestions, which I did. Well my birthday comes and they give me my gift…and it was this Melissa & Doug Loom, which I had not even seen before. Let me tell you, I had to put on my poker face! I was just shocked like, oh my gosh, my parents did this super nice gesture and got me a loom for kids. But honestly, I’m never going to complain about being given a gift by someone, especially if they put a lot of thought into it and the thought of this gift really meant a lot to me! So I was like, I’ll just give it a go, and it actually worked like a loom, haha surprise! Plus it has this cool feature of detachable feet, so you can stand it upright on a table or use it without the feet in your lap. My dad also later explained to me that, he was looking at the loom suggestions I had sent him and noticed that all of them were a fit pieces together loom, which he said would become loose over time with use. He had wanted to get me a loom that screws together, so that they can’t become loose. I really appreciated that he put that much consideration into the gift.

Does anyone else have a loom story that you’re slightly embarrassed by? What was your first loom? Did you make it or buy a loom? Have you upgraded or do you still use the same loom? I’d love to hear from you.

I’ve added some links at the top of the blog to make it more convenient for all you great readers (whoop-whoop!!). There is a link to my shop, so you can treat yourself to something pretty. A quick link resource page that contains all my weaving technique posts. And last, but not least, a link to all the video tutorials I have made. I hope you enjoy!

Happy Weaving!

Kate

|| Shop this post ||

Melissa & Doug Weaving Loom
Lily Sugar’n Cream Solids Yarn in White
 Cotton Warp in Black

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