Warping a Long Warp on a Gate Loom

Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Festival was May 25-27 in Commington.

I was teaching a walk-in class in Band Weaving from 1-3 pm on Sunday.  Saturday, I had set up to sell pottery at the Heirloom Market in Weathersfield CT.  So I came home, unpacked my pottery from the van, repacked for the fiber fest and fell asleep on the couch at 8 pm!

I was up at 4 am to warp 4 band looms for the Sunday class.  Usually, I measure out 4-5' of warp and set the loom between my knees, then warp the threads across my lap carefully so they do not tangle.

However, setting up four 10' warped looms in less than 2 hours needed a simpler, quicker method.
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I clamped the loom to the back of a chair as shown to the right. Then putting a crochet ball of cotton in a box, threaded the first hole, ran it across to my door latch, back through the first slot, picked up the ball end and wrapped the two threads around a dresser drawer on the other end of the room. 

Doing two at a time like this saves a tangled mess and the warping of 4 looms went along easily.

Knot the end in a loop at the door knob end and rehook to the knob.

Go to the other end, the drawer pull and snip the ends even, holding them tight and put in a temporary knot.  While the loop is still on the door knob, untie the knot on the drawer end and attach with a weaver's knot around your waist beam and  and you are set to go. Unclamp the loom. Chain the longer warp end to save space later on.

The looms were set up for four to work at once and my walk in first time weavers soon picked up the rhythm of weaving and turned out some nice bands.

Of course learning to plain weave is the "easy" part. Beginners work on their selvages to keep them straight. They work on the turn-around weft from the shuttle, there is no beater and the tail end of  the last row can be bunchy.

And of course setting up and warping the loom is really the most important part!  If you need help setting up a band or tape loom, warping it and working on the advanced pick-up patterns, my book, Tape Loom Weaving.... simplified is available through my web site, www.eastknollpottery.com or on Amazon.

Happy Weaving!