Tips for weaving on the Mirrix Five Inch Chloe Loom. From using a magnet to hold your needles to making slip knots that keep the tension and are easy to remove for finishing.
There is something so intimate about weaving on a tiny loom.
Lately, I have been weaving up a storm on my Chloe Pocket Loom, making tiny sketch weavings and learning a lot. I've gathered up a few tips I wanted to share:
Tips for Weaving on a Chloe Pocket Loom:
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Loom Bumpers
I use mine in my lap or leaning against the edge of a table. Hence I use the bumpers which protect the table and grip it as well. I have themon all my Chloe Looms. You can put them just on the top but it makes sense to also put them on the bottom for when you weave from the top down (another tip!)
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Bent-tip Needles
I exclusively use thin bent-tip needles for weaving on my Chloe. Since I weave from top to bottom without leaving any warp waste, a thin needle is necessary at the end. The curved points are just an added bonus.
- Double-sided tape on the loom to hold a magnet for needles
And what are those needles attached to, you might ask? I lose needles constantly. Sometimes in my bed, which is a very bad idea. It is so annoying. One minute a needle is in my hand, and the next minute it is gone. That is a magnet which I have attached to the top beam of my I Chloe with a piece of double-sided tape. Every time I am not using a weft that has a needle on it bam it hits the magnet!
- Slip Knots
When warping the loom start with a slip knot and end with a slip knot. You will thank me for this. First of all, the slip knot does not slip. You heard me correctly. It holds better than any knot I have ever tried. It is a little trying to get the last warp with the slip knot to be exactly the same length. But you will figure it out. I always make that end tighter than all the rest. Then I pull on all the warps from left to right, tightening up the other slevedge warp. I pull on all the warps until I get to the last one and then it gets that little bit of extra length to make it the same tension as all the rest. Trust me, I have done this at least a hundred times!
First slip knot. Photo is before being tightened.
Second slip knot. You are going to have to play with the length, but you will figure it out and then it will be simple to do in the future.
Tightened final slip knot.
When you take your piece off the loom those slip knots will be heaven sent. You just yank on them and they are gone and you can sew them into the back of your piece.
- Weave Down (and Up)
Next tip: in order to weave from top to bottom for a no warp ends piece, you need to weave down from the top a little bit. It is hard to get those final rows in when you are up against the comb but not hard if you are up against fiber. I pack in a lot of weft so that at the end I can push things around to the cover any warp that is showing up top.
Want to learn more about our three different Chloe Pocket Looms? Click here!
