Really, the only thing that stops me from weaving is DRESSING! All you weavers out there, how long has your loom or looms sat naked, gathering dust? because you dreaded dressing it?
I’ve had some epic failures dressing my loom, mostly because I was trying to find a way to make it less tedious, less work and less …. let’s face it …. dangerous! My first year weaving I went to Harrisville Designs in New Hampshire and learned how to warp a loom front to back from Debbie Chandler. It was the best way to warp a loom than any one of my “make it better” methods and I stuck with it for a while. It had one really big disadvantage (besides having to sit low to the floor) — my warps did not have consistent tension and I had to do a lot of fidgeting and fixing through the weaving process.
THEN, I bought a Glimakra Standard 120 cm 8 shaft 10 treadle loom! We called it “The Big Swede”. Everyone on Ravelry told me to go to Vavstuga and take the Basics Class. So I did. I learned an easy method to warp the loom from back to front. I could stand for preparing the warp to wind onto the back beam and for the actual winding. I learned all about using a Trapeze! Wow what a cool method to get a nice even tensioned tight warp! I learned ways to thread that were easy on my back and shoulders and the ONLY time I had to be on the floor was to do the tie up. Each part of the process of starting a new weaving project became much more enjoyable.
Projects at Vavstuga
Here are some of the Key Points
- Winding the warp — a warping mill is faster and easier on the body. You CAN do it all in 1 bout if you have a big enough mill, but I like to use 2 bouts.
- using lease sticks and a raddle or lease sticks and a reed will let you spread the warp ends evenly in preparation for winding onto the back beam.
- The trapeze is a must for an evenly tensioned warp, even if it is a short warp. My hubby is ok for holding warp while I wind on, but nothing beats the trapeze!
- If you have a large loom like the Glimakra you can arrange the shafts and a bench and sit INSIDE the loom for threading.
- Sleying the reed is a snap if you hang it to lie just in front of your shafts.
- Once you tie on to the cloth bar, use a leveling string and it will bring your warp threads together so you won’t have to weave a tissue paper header!
Many years later I had other looms and used several of the Vavstuga techniques on them as well. I’ve used a Louet David, a Louet Spring and a Glimakra Ideal using these methods and I no longer have problem warps.
