Table looms

[Heathenpeddler]

Hi all

I've just been offered a Harris table loom by a friend, it's one of the ones on this page - http://www.emir.co.uk/pages/weaving_looms.aspx

Now, I'm a complete beginner at this so does anyone have any advice/hints/tips etc? Has anyone used a Harris loom?

Thanks

 

[weaver]

Harris makes a quality loom, many designers and hobbyists use them here.

Start with a simple one color warp, learn a few easy patterns then steadily increase in complexity. Take it slowly, don't try to do it all at once.

 

[sallyinwales]

oh lovely, definately a good thing to have! One tip is that it always takes far longer to warp up than it does to do the actual weaving, so its worth putting on a long warp in a basic thread (say a plain linen warp) then you can make several things before you need to warp up again

 

[jon r]

Wow! Thats a great offer that your friend has made!

The ammount of shafts your loom has will determine the ammount of different patterns you will be able to make.

I think its proberbly a skill that someone needs to teach you. I think diagrams and text alone might not be ideal for learning the skill from scratch.

Id grab that loom with both hands though!

I wove this and many others on a loom. The skill doesnt take that long to pick up and once you know how to do the different pattens there is no end to what you can create!

 

[Heathenpeddler]

What I'm hoping to do is make my own material for Viking-era clothing It's going to be a challenge, certainly!

 

[jon r]

I think in some countries they make clothes from Nettle fibres

 

[BorderReiver]

Sold mine many years ago.

Wish I still had it.

One thing to remember,it takes a lot of patience to do it properly.

Are there any spinning and weaving clubs in your area? An hour being taught is worth 10 hours of book reading and trial and errror.

Good luck.

 

[Heathenpeddler]

Here it is, in all it's glory Now, which bits go where... Pics are clickable for larger images

 

[sallyinwales]

What I'm hoping to do is make my own material for Viking-era clothing It's going to be a challenge, certainly!

A warp weighted loom would be a much quicker loom to learn to use in that case, plus you can take projects to events with you!

 

[Toddy]

Nice one!: D

Warping up is one of those engage brain before taking action jobs.......and you can't call yourself a weaver until you've lost the cross......weavers, joke for the use of......it means you've managed to lose the ties that hold the warps in place before they are brought through the reed and tied to the cloth beam and created an unholy mess

Might I suggest that you approach your local Weavers, Spinners, Dyer's Guild and ask if anyone there has a little time to come and help you arrange the first warp up?
http://www.wsd.org.uk/
They are usually very helpful, and interested too.
Best of luck with it

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Heathenpeddler]

I've contacted the local rep, so we'll see what we can do

 

[weaver]

You may also try Stacey at the Loom Room. She is an amazing weaver, teacher and all around nice person.

http://www.theloomroom.co.uk/weaving_courses.htm

She is on a weave mailing list I read every day. Really knows her stuff!

 

[Heathenpeddler]

Well, I think it's all together I do have one slight problem in that there's a bar missing which I think holds the reed in place but I knew there was a bit missing and it doesn't look too hard to sort out.

First pic is of the reed, second is the heddles in action and the last is the assembled loom

 

[Heathenpeddler]

Woohoo! It turns out the local representative of the Weavers, Spinners and Dyers guild just happens to live in my town so we've arranged for her to come over in a couple of weeks to have a look at the loom and help me get set up. This is fantastic, she's really helpful and it means I will have someone to help me get set up first time round. She's also recommended I have a look at Scandanavian weaving as some of those patterns have been around for centuries so hopefully they will make it easier when I try and discover the traditional Viking-era patterns.

Just a few little repairs and I'll be ready for the off!