Construct a Cardboard Box Loom for A Child

The box construction allows small arms, hands, and fingers to manipulate yarn in
  and out of the warp twine in an easy fashion. When I was very young, perhaps in
 first grade, my teacher gave us box looms to practice weaving with. Because
weaving projects with yarn are now taught in 5th grade and paper weaving in first
 grade, teachers no longer construct box looms for young ones to practice
with in public school.

Brief Description: Teach your little one how to weave with a cardboard box loom. They can play with it and weave soft, colorful yarns in and out of the sturdy twine, over and over. This is a wonderful way to develop their small motor skills. This loom is used for teaching only, so it is not necessary to tie off the yarns or dismantle the warp twine threads, therefore I tie the warp all the way around the box (a sturdy wrap). The child will also need to unwrap the weave in order to start again and this is good. Unweaving is just as important as the weaving because it trains the child's fingers. Make and unmake over and over, just as you would do when practicing with sewing cards.

Supply List:

• a very sturdy, shallow cardboard box
• box cutter
• sturdy twine
• many colors and textures of yarn

Directions:

1. Measure and notch with consistency, the narrow end of a sturdy shallow box for your warp twine. 
2. Wrap the twine, using even tension all the way around the box through each notch to create your warp threads. Tie it off at the back of the box.
3. Now a little person can practice their weaving using some soft, thick yarn. After they have finished practicing, have them remove the yarn from the warp, roll it into a ball and store it inside the box loom behind the warp threads.  

Additional Tips: Resist eliminating the steps when teaching little ones an activity. It is very important for children to learn processes in art. This trains their thinking, their perseverance and their hands. What may seem like busy work on the surface is actually a necessary part of their development. Just as it takes hours, days, weeks and years for an athlete to learn how to play at sports, so does it take the same industry to learn how to accomplish great things in art.
      Children today definitely lack the patience and fortitude that they once had in the countless generations of students born prior to our century. In part this has much to do with the immediate gratification people experience through modern conveniences. However, if you persist in teaching your children patience and dedication to quite activities such as these: their abilities to self sooth, wait with a quiet and calm spirit, and create with understanding and genuine curiosity will improve.

Left, I'm prepping a sturdy piece of wood on the left for notching. You can make a loom like a
 cardboard one in the video below out of thin plywood. Right, you can see that here I have
 notched a stiff piece of card board and wrapped my warp threads to the front of the loom
 only. This is because I intend to remove and use the weave.

       When your child is ready to weave something worthy of keeping, you will need to construct a cardboard loom and wrap the warp around the notches to the front. You can learn how to make a cardboard loom by watching the video below. This loom will enable the young weaver to remove and keep their work.

      Advanced loom weavers graduate to working with a loom built out of wood and nails. Professionals then may purchase a loom for perfect results!

More Related Content:

• Weave a Paper Dress - project for second and third graders.
• Weave Some Yarn Trees  - third and fourth grade project
• Weave a Spider's web for a Spooky Fall Craft
• Weave Indian Corn for Autumn Fun! 1rst -3rd grade

Weave The Ojo De Dios

The traditional Ojo De Dios craft. Left, backside of the weaving,
Right front side of the weaving.

Brief Description: A god's eye is a yarn weaving and a spiritual object. The Ojo de Dios (Eye of God in Spanish) is woven with yarn and wood, often with several colors. The weaving of an Ojo de Dios is an ancient contemplative and spiritual practice for many indigenous peoples in the Americas, and beliefs surrounding them vary with location and history. Some people believe they were originally part of the religion of the Ancient Pueblo Peoples. Read more...

      This is a popular, inexpensive Native American craft. It is often taught at summer camps, scout meetings and sometimes in schools. 

Supply List: Students will need yarn of any color, scissors, 2 sticks of equal length and masking tape to make this vintage craft.

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Tape the center of two sticks together in both directions to secure your twigs into an X shape.
2. Tie the end of your yarn piece off at the center of your crossing sticks.
3. Wrap yarn over and under between each stick, working your way around and around until the god's eye is finished to the size you want. 
4. Add tassels if you like by wrapping yarn around a piece of cardboard many times. Remove the card and tie off the strands together twice. Clip the ends to form the tassel. Watch video here.

Look at the weave steps up close.

For more classroom friendly videos

 visit SophiesWorldVideo.

"Plain & Fancy: American women and their needlework, 1700-1850"

Plain & Fancy cover art.

Plain & Fancy: American Women and Their Needlework, 1700-1850 by Susan Burrows Swan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

       This comprehensive survey of American needlework written by Susan Burrows Swan is a very entertaining read for those of you who love to learn about Early American art history. Although some of her writing is weak in the area of understanding how religious history influenced the kinds of topics that women pursued, her overall coverage of the genre is certainly appropriate within the arena of textile methods and women's social history.

       I acquired the book from a library discard shelf and as usual, it was a valuable teaching resource that should never have been classified as "discard material." These kinds of books are needed for research and education of our young people. Ms. Swan writes in a style that teens can read easily and with some degree of patience. Because of this, her work is a valuable treasure for teachers who integrate both literacy and art.

       This being said, however, it is obvious that she writes about religious topics from a disposition of one who does not have any true connection with those who practice religion, an unfortunate circumstance often plaguing those authors who have written about the history of art in our museums for the past fifty years. It is difficult to write about religion from an agnostic or atheistic point of view. It's like writing a book about war without ever having had to live through one, if you know what I mean.

       Art history is a difficult subject to write about if one does not share deeper connections with the artists that go beyond the surface study of an object or museum collection. So much of what inspires religious topics in art comes from deeply rooted belief and this belief should be explored with the same depth of study that one gives to the art object itself. For what is art if it does not reflect life? Where does it's true value come from? Art is not merely object, it is also reflection of human experience.

The needlework collections are from the Winterthur Museum, Delaware.

add texture to your textiles

Above is one of many teacher “samples” I have created to instruct students in the textile arts.

Textile pieces don’t need to be assembled like traditional quilts. Students can add
 pockets, pleats, layers, beads and blanket stitching wherever they prefer
 in order to create unusual designs.

I have sewn a clipped and ruffled center to this fabric flower from felt. In the flower above,
I have used several embroidery stitches to accentuate the design in a alternative way.
A variety of applications and methods may be used to incorporate texture
 into textile artworks.

Some of my fabrics are purchased from a store and others are hand-dyed or painted
 during my classes. I teach students a wide variety of methods so that they may
choose those techniques that appeal to their own creative interests.

In this photo, you can see that I am starting to add even more visual and tactile information
to my small banner with the introduction of bright yarns and threads. It is important to
teach students that they do not need to rely on machines to produce elaborate work.
Very few young people have the income or materials to produce artworks apart
from what they can manipulate by hand on their laps. They must be taught independence
and ingenuity apart from their financial means in order to survive as artists.

I chose to back my textile piece with this lavender leaf patterned fabric. Finishing artworks
 on both sides is professional. Art teachers instruct students to be professional in order
for them to achieve excellent results.

More Related Articles:

• Mandy Besek’s Colorful Textile and Fiber Jewelry (beadinggem.com)
• Definition: Smocking (fabsugar.com)
• Fabric with Dimension (tuttiedesign.wordpress.com)
• Inspiration: Textiles Artist Jazmin Berakha (gallantandjonesblog.com)
• Happy Trip: From Trunk to Textile, Rewind (7100islandsblog.wordpress.com)
• Weinrib’s fabulous textiles. (modernloom.wordpress.com)
• Picking up the threads (thehindu.com)
• Pakistan can export its entire textile products to India: Baig (nation.com.pk)
• Talking textiles with Hannah Pang (rmitgallery.com)
• Inspired by Fabrics (marieandjames.wordpress.com)
• Friendship group days are a treat! (alwaysquilting.wordpress.com)
• 2010 Primetime Emmy Awards Trend: Total Texture (fabsugar.com)
• Stone Textiles (artintheparkblog.wordpress.com)
• More Chances… (annahergert.wordpress.com)
• Textile Resistance (moleculedesign.wordpress.com)
• Jessica Bell’s Textilicious Masterpieces (seaofgray.wordpress.com)
• Assignment One – Reflective Commentary (daisymarmalade.wordpress.com)

upcycling pre-teen trash

Every spring my daughters and I collect from their closets clothing and other items that they have either
outgrown or no longer need

These items are then donated to charity.

However, given the fact that I am very sentimental about my children, it often makes me sad to see them
throw away those things that I have associated fond childhood memories with. Of course, you can
not keep everything.

This sample banner, I think, helps me to demonstrate just how my students may use some of the old
garments and novelty toys they might label as “toss offs.”

This image of a young teen is from a marvelous book. I will find it in my bookcase
sometime today and link to the author/artist here.

Students may even include text in their samplers; here I have used a permanent ink
marker to write a story directly onto the fabric.

Here I have demonstrated that students don’t need to follow stricter rules used by quilters when they are thinking
 about their designs. I’ve used both the reverse and the front of this fabric within the same design.

The batting here is used as though it were fabric and some of the edges of fabric are
left raw and frayed. Small plastic toys from my children’s old toy bins are also
 sandwiched between layers of material.

Even a silk flower from one of my younger child’s old costumes finds it’s way into the mix!

Finally, I have backed my textile sample with fabric from a skirt once worn by my youngest.

More Related Content:

• Etsy Focus – Hunted and Stuffed (hiddenblossom.com)
• Upcycled Baby Clothing Creatures Alisa Burke (apartmenttherapy.com)
• Team Upcyclers Awesome Interview and Pictures (ourchildrensearth.wordpress.com)
• Upcycled: old shoes covered in new fabric (refashionmama.wordpress.com)
• Turning Waste Into Clothes (psychedelichippiefashion.blogspot.com)
• Upcycling: Guitar String Flowers (fishandbicycles.com)
• How to Build Your Own Cyclepunk Chandelier from Bike Parts and Trash (treehugger.com)
• Upcycling Gives Excess Clothing Fabric a Second Chance (fastcompany.com)
• Upcycled Wetsuit Laptop Sleeves for Must Have Monday (modernecohomes.com)
• Research Into Ethical Fashion (sarahmorbey.wordpress.com)
• Upcycle Your Style with a CLOTHES SWAP (naturalechronicles.wordpress.com)
• Upcycling with Hipcycle: No Trash Left Behind (simplegreenorganichappy.com)
• Upcycled African Fashion – afriCAN is Made by Artisans in South Africa for North America’s Market (TrendHunter.com) (trendhunter.com)
• The upcycler’s Parisian paradise (dothegreenthing.com)
• iPhone App Connects Your Trash Directly to Artists and Upcyclers (treehugger.com)
• How-to: Make an Upcycled Smash Book (craftingagreenworld.com)
• Add Texture To Your Textiles (dollenvy.wordpress.com)

textured, blue textile banner

My first textured, textile banner completed for a college credit course. Missouri art teachers are now expected to take some textile credits for a k-12 art education certification. I dyed the blue fabrics in a class for an assignment. We were then asked to integrate our fabrics into some sort of a banner.

I added pulled threads and one other machine knotted, metallic fabric to this project.

The butterfly was made by hand as well; I used embroidery threads, copper wire and beads to create this blue butterfly. The banner is backed with a wool felt that was once used as packing material for one of my family’s many cross country moves.

About half way through the project, I decided the banner needed a few additional colors; I chose yellow and pale pink.

I finished many of the edges off with a decorative blanket stitch.

More Related Links:

• Project 6 – Stage 3 (tactualtextiles.wordpress.com)
• Inspiration: Textiles Artist Jazmin Berakha (gallantandjonesblog.com)

Resources for Weaving

From a carpet-weaving in Hamadan. Tabriz and Isfahan,
as well as in many villages, even in the dark nomad tents
and mud huts, are headed by women and girls, the cheapest
 labor, the famous Persian rugs made. For desert dwellers,
 and nomads are the ornaments of their colorful carpet a
 symbol of paradise, and a replacement for the garden
with real flowers.

      Weaving is a textile craft in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced to form a fabric or cloth. The threads which run lengthways are called the warp and the threads which run across from side to side are the weft or filling.
      Cloth is usually woven on a loom, a device that holds the warp threads in place while filling threads are woven through them. Weft is an old English word meaning "that which is woven". A fabric band which meets this definition of cloth (warp threads with a weft thread winding between) can also be made using other methods, including tablet weaving, back-strap, or other techniques without looms.
      The way the warp and filling threads interlace with each other is called the weave. The majority of woven products are created with one of three basic weaves: plain weave, satin weave, or twill. Woven cloth can be plain (in one color or a simple pattern), or can be woven in decorative or artistic designs, including tapestries. Fabric in which the warp and/or weft is tie-dyed before weaving is called ikat.
      Though traditional handweaving and spinning remain popular crafts, nowadays the majority of commercial fabrics in the West are woven on computer-controlled Jacquard looms. In the past, simpler fabrics were woven on dobby looms, while the Jacquard harness adaptation was reserved for more complex patterns. Some believe the efficiency of the Jacquard loom, with its Jacquard weaving process, makes it more economical for mills to use them to weave all of their fabrics, regardless of the complexity of the design.
      In general, weaving involves the interlacing of two sets of threads at right angles to each other: the warp and the weft (older woof). The warp threads are held taut and in parallel order, typically by means of a loom, though some forms of weaving may use other methods. The loom is warped (or dressed) with the warp threads passing through heddles on two or more harnesses. The warp threads are moved up or down by the harnesses creating a space called the shed. The weft thread is wound onto spools called bobbins. The bobbins are placed in a shuttle that carries the weft thread through the shed.
      The raising and lowering sequence of warp threads in various sequences gives rise to many possible weave structures:

• plain weave,
• twill weave,
• satin weave, and
• complex computer-generated interlacings

      Both warp and weft can be visible in the final product. By spacing the warp more closely, it can completely cover the weft that binds it, giving a warp faced textile such as rep weave. Conversely, if the warp is spread out, the weft can slide down and completely cover the warp, giving a weft faced textile, such as a tapestry or a Kilim rug. There are a variety of loom styles for hand weaving and tapestry. In tapestry, the image is created by placing various colors of weft only in certain warp areas, rather than across the entire warp width. (Wikipedia)

• Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 – Weaving
• Resource collection
• Card Weaving
• Oriental rug weaving
• Irvine Weavers
• The Worshipful Company of Weavers

Weaving Lesson Plans:

1. Paper Weaving Lesson Plan  
2. Weaving With Foil Tooled Accents
3. Magazine Weaving
4. Weaving in Circles
5. Weave Drawing
6. Paper Plate Weaving

Resources for Basketry

Basket made from reeds and sweetgrass.

      Basket weaving (also basketry, basket making, or basketmaking) is the process of weaving unspun vegetable fibres into a basket or other similar form. People and artists who weave baskets are called basketmakers and basket weavers.

      Basketry is made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials•anything that will bend and form a shape. Examples include pine straw, stems, animal hair, hide, grasses, thread, and wood.

Basketry Comes in Four Types:

• "Coiled" basketry - using grasses and rushes
• "Plaiting" basketry - using materials that are wide and ribbon-like, such as palms, yucca or New Zealand flax
• "Twining" basketry - using materials from roots and tree bark. Twining actually refers to a weaving technique where two or more flexible weaving elements ("weavers") cross each other as they weave through the stiffer radial spokes.
• "Wicker" and "Splint" basketry - using reed, cane, willow, oak, and ash

More About Basketry:

• Natural Vine Baskets
• California Indian Basketweavers Association . website
• The National Basketry Organization
• The Book of English Trades, and Library of the Useful Arts, page 17-22 Google Books
• Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico V. 1/4, page 132-135 Google Books
• Spons' Workshop: Basket hand-making

Video About Basketry:

• Basketry: Swill Memories
• Jane Wilkinson Teaches Basket Making
• Making Traditional Irish Flask
• Basket Making in Mapaki, Sierra Leone
• Pine Needle Basket Maker
• Sweetgrass Basket Weaving
• Prepare Yucca Fillamentosa for Basket Weaving
• How to make split white oak baskets
• Native American Basket Makers From Great Basin
• Julia Parker's Baskets
• Alicia Nelson's Baskets

Basketry Lesson Plans: 

1. Basket making by Sue Stewart
2. Weaving with plastic cups by Susan Holland
3. Basket Weaving from Craft Revival
4. Fiber Arts Curriculum from Basketweaving.com
5. Reeds and Rainwater Make Baskets
6. Lesson on basket coiling
7. Choctaw Baskets: Weaving the Past and Present
8. Telephone wire basket
9. Fiber Coiled Baskets

stitch some felt coasters to protect your furniture

A sample of the snowflake design was
used to craft the felt coaster above.
(approx. diameter across, 3 1/2 inches)

Brief Description: Felt coasters make wonderful little, inexpensive gifts. Children may practice their sewing and cutting skills while producing a set for a parent or grandparent. 

• Supply List:
•    1. At least two contrasting colors of felt or a grab bag of felt scraps will due.
•    2. Sharp scissors
•    3. No sew if you prefer (I did not use it, but it can make this endeavor much easier. You will need an iron too if you go this route.)
•    4. Embroidery threads of matching or contrasting color.
•    5. Coaster templates
•    6. Black permanent ink marker or a very soft lead pencil

Directions:

1. Print and cut out the felt coaster templates provided below.
2. Trace around all of the details of the template on top of the colored felt you have chosen for the top part of the coaster. Children may prefer to use the permanent ink pen for this part of the process. It is easier to see on dark felt.
3. Then place your circular felt top onto a contrasting felt and use it as a template to cut two additional felt circles that will become the bottom half of the coaster.
4. Set aside the third blank felt piece for later.
5. Sew with straight stitches the fancy top to one of the back sides with a pleasing design. Children find it easiest to follow the outlines of the pattern. Remember to knot and backstitch in order to keep your work from unraveling.
6. Place the third felt circle on top of the first back side and either whip stitch the three felt circles together or use a blanket stitch, if you prefer. This third piece of felt will hide all of your knots!

Additional Suggestions: Some people may elect to craft this project with "No Sew."  Read and follow the directions given on the packaging of the "No Sew" instead of stitching the coaster together by hand.

Diamond design template by Grimm for a felt coaster.

Cross and fish design template by Grimm for a felt coaster.

Mum design template by Grimm for a felt coaster.

Snowflake design template by Grimm for a felt coaster.

A wheel and spoke design by Grimm for a felt coaster.
All of these templates may be downloaded and sized in a
word document to fit the above measurements.
Read the Terms of Use before using it folks.

All patterns and photographs by Grimm copyrighted 2017.

Assemble an embroidered bouquet wrap

You may wish to hang this bouquet
by a vintage dressing table.

Brief Description: I think this is a lovely way to give a simple bouquet of flowers. Baby's breath and red roses would look delightful tucked inside of this embroidered wrap. I used tissue paper flowers for the photograph because these were what I had at hand. Make something new out of something old. 

Supply List:

• embroidered pot holder
• embroidery floss, I used red
• embroidery needle
• scissors

Directions: 

1. Turn the pot holder face down and fold together two of it's opposite points to create the cone shape. Pin down the sides if necessary.
2. Thread your embroidery needle as thickly as you wish and stitch these two side together with a firm decorative stitch. 
3. Stuff the cone shaped wrap with a posy and give it to your sweetheart or friend.

Additional Suggestions: For those of you who still celebrate May Day, this little project would be quiet charming. There are so many of these little embroidered pot holders for sale in antique malls and flee markets for mere pocket change.

The cone shape allows for a charming little
package for rose buds and baby's breath.

An old-fashioned pot holder I picked up in a local antique shop.

All patterns and photographs by Grimm copyrighted 2011.

wrap and tie a prairie yarn doll

Brief Description: These kinds of rag dolls were made by American settlers. They have an old-fashioned charm. My daughter took this one as soon as it was photographed.

Supply List: 

• One skein of yarn if it is bulky and soft
• scissors
• small piece of cardboard
• scrap fabrics and lace trims
• needle and thread that matches the yarn

Directions:

Twist the yarn around a notched piece
cardboard, first one way, then another.

Soon you will have made a tight ball
the size of my doll's head, approximately
one inch in diameter. This solid
ball will add weight and substance to
the doll. I want this doll to stand
up to a three to five year old's rough play.

Use a large book to twist the yarn around
repetitively (about 35 times) until
there is enough yarn to create a full
body with. My book measured
approximately eleven inches long.

After removing the yarn from the book carefully
tuck the ball of yarn beneath it. Pull the yarn
over the "head" and tie around the bottom with more yarn
to create the neck. Then thread a long needle
with matching thread and sew in and out of the head.
The thread should disappear into the yard but
if you continue to do this the doll's
head will become firm and compact.

Run your fingers through the yarn body and
clip the looped bottom apart. Gather up the
yarn ends and trim these ends off evenly.

You will need to repeat the third step above
(about 17 times).Tie off the yarn edges.
Braid the yarn to create the arms.
The braid is shown above
along with the yarn doll body. Divide
the doll's body in two even sections
and then position the arms between the sections.

Wrap more yarn around the doll body
to create a waste just below the doll's arms.
Thread a needle and sew in and out of the
waste, the wrist joints, and arms of the doll.
Sewing ensures these ties are firm and will
stand up to rough play.

Now you are ready to dress your prairie doll.
I gathered and sewed onto the body a skirt.

I added a lace shawl and mop cap.

Additional Suggestions: Yarn dolls are dressed in a variety of ways. Scarecrows and clowns are popular costume choices. Some crafts people prefer just to leave them without clothing as well.

photographs and written craft pages copyrighted by Grimm 2011 

Want something more contemporary? 
SoCraftastic makes a octopus doll from yarn.

assemble a half mask for a masquerade

A close view of the half mask.

Brief Description: I made this mask for my younger teen one year for a party. These kinds of half masks are very easy to assemble if you've got a glue gun.

Supply List:

• one prefabricated half mask
• two small bags of silk flowers
• one prefabricated glittery peacock
• approx. five yards of satin ribbon
• two yards of contrasting ribbon
• one long sturdy dowel rod measuring approximately 15 inches

Directions:

1.  Wrap approximately two yards of the larger quantity of satin ribbon around the dowel rod. Apply very tiny drops of hot glue to the back side of the dowel rod as you wrap.
2.  Hot glue a small portion of the larger quantity of satin ribbon around the half mask.
3.  Hot glue into a pleasing arrangement, the tiny silk flowers.
4.  Hot glue the glittery peacock onto the right side of the mask if the lady is right handed, to the left if the lady is left handed.
5.  Hot glue the dowel rod to the back side of the half mask so that the top of the dowel rod does not show above the mask.
6.  Hot glue the remaining ribbons to the back side of the dowel

Additional Suggestions: Work as neatly as you can: the aesthetic appeal of such a project depends upon the careful attachment of the elements.

The full length view of our masquerade mask.

photographs and written craft pages copyrighted by Grimm 2017

Craft More Masks:

• Kids Crafts: Superhero Masks and Template
• Fun Family Crafts: Masks
• Craft A Simple Butterfly Mask