Rainbow Rag Rug

I finally have the black warp on my loom. I had lots of help from my wonderful niece. This is the first time I have used the black. I have only had the natural warp. I thought I needed something darker because I had all of these bright fabrics to use. Now I have the rainbow rug done. It is 30 x 39. Macy would stand on the end and catch the shuttle and then throw it back to me. She also was great help on pushing the peddles. She'll make a great weaver someday!

Blue Jean Rag Rugs

I received all these great jeans from a friend and I have started making rugs. I used my electric scissors to cut them into two inch strips. I sewed a bunch of these together and started weaving. And it didn't work. It was just too bulky. So I took all of that out and cut them into one inch strips, and that worked great. It has enough bulk to it to make it a heavy rug, but not too much that it won't weave well. I read in one of my books to always do a sampler before starting to see if the warp and the weft work together. Also to see if the idea in your head is what you are actually weaving. It is an excellent idea and my goal is to start doing samples. It would have saved me some time, plus I would have seen how the different blues would go together.

New rugs

I've been working really hard over the weekend on two rugs. I really wasn't sure I liked the pink and brown until I took it off the loom. The other is a multi-colored one of just leftover colors. Kind of a go anywhere rug.

Rag Rug Handbook

Another great book I found is the Rag Rug Handbook by Janet Meany and Paula Pfaff. This is the greatest book ever!! It tells everything you need to know about rag rugs. How to prepare the material and what to use, how to put it together and all sorts of patterns. It has many patterns for two harness looms which is what I have. How to do all sorts of stripes both horizontal and vertical. 20 different rug projects and even a room sized rug. How to sew the whole thing together and make a 6 x 9 ft rug. There is even a great history of looms chapter. It tells about all the great old loom makers. This is an excellent book for anyone making rag rugs.

New Rugs

I have two new rugs. The first is two shades of orange and brown. And the second is blues, purple, red, and hints of pink. I am warping my loom at 30 inches to start some new larger rugs.

Cutting fabric for rag rugs

I found the absolute best way to cut fabric for my rugs. I was using scissors, but that took forever and made my hand hurt until I found the My-T-Fine cordless electronic cutter. Thanks to Christmas money from Mike and Julie, I purchased the cutter and it arrived yesterday. It is the greatest invention since sliced bread! It is 9 inches long and only weighs 8 oz, and just slides through the fabric like butter. It is cordless, has self- sharpening blades, and industrial strength motor. It is rechargeable and comes with the charger and everything. It has revolutionized the rag rug weaving business. Cuts my fabric cutting time by half. Amazing

How to put strips together for rag rugs

I spent all this time sewing my strips together for my rag rugs. Which worked well, but of course I had to have a sewing machine. Found a new way to put them together in an old Handwoven magazine. Cut a slit in the end of two strips. I have been putting it horizontal to the length, but I might try putting it vertical and see how that works. Anyway, put one fabric strip inside the other through the slit, then loop the fabric through. It works pretty great because I can make a nice length anywhere. No sewing machine required.

New rugs and great weather and a great Halloween

I hope everyone had a great Halloween. I had a blast. Got dressed up twice to go trick-or-treating. Once in the afternoon and then again last night. So much fun. (I'm on the left) It is hard to believe though that it is the 1st of November now. It was 75 degrees out today and no wind. What a lovely day. I did spend some time outside but I was also finishing some rugs. I have several new colors. And some beautiful new rugs. I am going to start a new batch. I just need to warp my loom again.

Halloween Sale

In honor of Halloween (my favorite holiday), I am having a sale in my shop. www.mwestdesigns.etsy.com Free shipping in the US through Monday november 3rd. Just let me know you read my blog and I will refund the shipping price. Plus today I am finally going to list more handwoven rag rugs. Have a great Halloween!!

Weaving on a Union Loom No 36

My Union Loom came to me in peices. And it had been 1o years since I took weaving in college, so it was quite the challenge to get it together. I had no directions and only a small black and white picture to guide me. But after many many hours, I finally got it in working order.

After all that time spent, I found a woman on the internet that has a Loom Manual Library. She has all these old manuals and will send a copy for a small fee. Her website is http://www.weaversfriend.com/

Just an amazing amount of information on weaving and old looms.

It is a two harness loom and weaves 36 inches across. I am now in the process of warping it for the second time. It will be eight threads per inch which is 16 threads per section which means 304 threads at 30 yards each. If you do all that math then it is 9120 yards of cotton rug warp. That will be an estimate of 20 rugs that I can do on that much warp.

It takes a lot of time but once it is done, it will be really fast and easy to get the rugs done.

New rag rug

I just finished a new rug. It is blue and tan and 26 x 34 inches. I was inspired by the pale blue delphiniums that are blooming in my garden. This is about the 15th rug on this warp and now I am at the end so I will have to wind on more. It is a lengthy process as there are about 200 threads on the loom. But once I have that done it is smoothe sailing from there.

My loom is a 2 harness Union Loom no. 36. It was originally bought in 1949 for $49.95. It is very heavy and weighs 170lb. It was shipped back then by train. I was fortunate enough to have it given to me. And after a lot of work fixing it up, it now works well.

art supplies

I was checking out a Blick art supplies catalog today and it made me think of all the great places that I get supplies. So I thought I'd make a list.

Polaroid transfers:
669 polaroid film from Adorama.com. Lots and lots of camera equipment and film.
Arches watercolor paper from dickblick.com. Every art supply you could ever need.

Paintings:
Oil paints from dickblick.com. My favorite are the Van Gogh oils.
Canvas from hancockfabrics.com and joannfabrics. com

Rag rugs:
I get lots of fabric from Goodwill. Old sheets work well. If I need a specific color DnL Fabric Crafts and More on ebay is the best. She'll even cut the strips to 1 inch size.

Cloaks:
My favorite place for fabric is realfabricman on ebay.com. He has the best velvet and sells it in 70 yard bolts. Fast shipping and great quality.

That's it for now. I'm working on a new rug today. Tan and blue checks. Check out my site mwestdesigns.etsy.com and I will list it later. Have a great day!!

BUY HANDMADE!!! etsy.com

Have you checked out etsy.com??? It is a site devoted to handmade items. I love this site. You can buy jewelry, clothes, rugs, hats, blankets and the list goes on and on.

I have my polaroid transfers, paintings, rag rugs, and renaissance cloaks listed on my site mwestdesigns.etsy.com.

You might ask what is a polaroid transfer? It is basically where you take a 669 polaroid apart before it has completely developed and print the negative side. Then you can texture, scratch and hand tint it.

I listed some new ones today. Several windmills, sunflower, and some Italy pictures.

I like the idea of listing something new there everyday. It is a goal of mine to list 1 to 2 new items a day. Because being creative everyday is the best thing in the world.