Weavers around the world use backstrap weaving to create incredibly complex and beautiful cloth using fairly simple looms. You can find backstrap weavers throughout Asia as well as in Central and South America, including among the Maya of Guatemala. For centuries—possibly even millennia—Mayan weavers have used the backstrap loom to create beautiful cloth full of […]
It’s been a while, but BeWeave It headquarters is back up and running again, and we couldn’t be more pleased. To kick off our new season of fun fiber facts and current events, we’re going to India to learn a bit about the spectacular embroidery of the Banjara tribe of India. Banjaran embroidery does not […]
I used to think that art galleries were not for people like me. I had only really seen art galleries on television and in the movies, and so I assumed they were either for the fabulously wealthy or fabulously hip. I, of course, was neither. Then I befriended artists, went to their shows, and realized […]
Weavers of Central Asia and the Middle East have long been revered for their carpet-and rug-making prowess. These textiles were especially important to nomadic tribes who used them as an easily portable means to decorate their tents. Although the pile-woven Persian or Oriental carpets are perhaps the most famous of these textiles, the tapestry like, […]
There are days when I don’t feel like a real weaver. When I was pregnant, I wove a few dish towels and then didn’t sit at my floor loom again until my child was walking and saying his first words. I often felt like a fraud—and oh, the guilt! Every time I passed my unwarped […]
When you ask the average person what they think of when they hear the word “Wisconsin,” they will probably answer with things along the lines of cheese and the Green Bay Packers. For those of us in the know, however, Wisconsin also means the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, a 3-day festival full of animals […]
There are certain weavers whose work never fails to impress me, weavers who come up with designs that leave me breathless more often than not. One of those weavers is Bonnie Inouye. Known for her complex cloth, Bonnie weaves designs that I want to look at for ages, and her Jin Silk Scarf from Loom […]
I love chenille scarves and I love Tencel scarves, but I would never have thought to combine the two. Fortunately, just like the brilliant minds that combined peanut butter and chocolate, Sarah Jackson thought to combine chenille and Tencel, and the result is weaving heaven. You can find her Turnabout Scarf in the Loom Theory: […]
There’s just something about handwoven lace scarves. They’re timelessly elegant and go with just about anything. Suzie Liles’s Swedish Lace Scarf from Loom Theory: Four-Shaft Scarf Collection would look equally good paired with an evening gown for a night at the theater, or a wool peacoat on the way to work on a cold winter’s […]
As much as I enjoy weaving snowflake twill, deflected doubleweave, and overshot scarves, there’s something pure and blissful about weaving a scarf in 4-shaft twill. The treadling is (usually) fairly simple, the sort of repeat you can memorize almost immediately. Pattie Graver’s Take It Easy scarf from Loom Theory: Four-Shaft Scarf Collection is the perfect […]