Teaching Kids to Weave
Over the past four months or so I've been teaching kids to weave at my local homeschooling centre. I'm by no means an expert weaver, but I do have some experience with a floor loom and various smaller looms. I started to get very into weaving about 7-8 years ago and I really love it, but I've barely touched my own loom since my son was born five years ago. One of the best parts of teaching the kids is that it's motivated me to get back into weaving and I'm looking forward to returning to some of my own projects that I'd put on hold.
The kids that I've been teaching range in age from about 4-8 years old. We started out with a simple project weaving placemats out of wool felt. I really enjoyed seeing which colour combinations the kids chose.
The next week was right around Valentine's day so we moved on to some paper weaving and made some traditional Scandinavian heart baskets and woven heart cards.
Since then I've been guiding the kids (and some of their parents!) through individual projects using various small looms. We have belt weaving on my Inklette loom (shown above), some tapestry weaving on these cute little looms I got from Pretty Little Yarns, and lots and lots of pin loom squares. I made a very simple little buttoned purse by sewing two pin loom squares together and this has been the most popular project so far. Now a couple of the other parents are helping the kids make their own wooden pin looms in various sizes which is so great! It's fun to see how one project inspires another at the centre.
The whole reason I was inspired to teach weaving in the first place is because last year I found a 4-shaft table loom sitting way up on a high shelf at the centre that hasn't been used in years. I've slowly been working my way up to figuring out a project to make using the table loom, and at the suggestion of one of the other mothers this week we are getting it warped to make drawstring bread bags. I still have a few steps to do to complete the warping process and hopefully we can start weaving next week. Wish me luck!
3 Responses
Lucie
Good luck. I think this is such a good idea. The children enjoy making things and it will last them a lifetime.
Lucie
Good luck. I think this is a very good idea.
Anna Dorner
Reading your blog brings me back to those fun years when I was doing various weaving activities with “my children” at school. Wonderful initiative Elizabeth!
Leave a comment
Also in News
Saltwater Gifts
Free Pattern: Attic Windows Recipe
The story of this pattern starts back in 2008 when Elizabeth and I, along with our sister Margaret, decided that we wanted to make a blanket for our parents as a gift for their 25th wedding anniversary. Elizabeth suggested we base our blanket design on the traditional Attic Windows quilting pattern, and she came up with a simple technique to knit the squares.
We wanted to share the basic technique for the Attic Windows squares, because it's so adaptable, and so much fun to play with! So, we decided to create a free "recipe" version of the pattern, that shares the basic technique as well as a step-by-step guide on planning your Attic Windows project.
Elizabeth Sullivan
Author