Measuring on a Loom

I am weaving this large rug on my loom and trying to measure the length was really difficult until I read this great tip. The rug is wound on a bar so before I was using a measuring tape and wrapping it around and I was having difficulty. Now I measure 20 inches and mark it with a stick pin on the side then I know the length easily. So much better.

New exciting projects

I am working on two new challenging projects. The first is a wool cloak lined in cotton. It has been a while since I worked with wool. Wool is a wonderful fabric, but I just don't have much access to it where I live. It is a custom cloak and he found this wonderful olive green fabric called cactus. With a cotton lining of burgundy or tan. I need to see the fabric before I decide on the lining. The other exciting project is an 5 x 8 ft rug. My loom is only 36 inches wide so then I have to weave two pieces 8 ft long and then sew them together. It will be a very exciting project. It's going well right now. I have the fabric all cut in strips and ready to go.

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.