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The Take-Your-Loom-Out-Of-The-Box Bracelet (Part One)

 (Note: This project has been adapted from Mirrix's 24th weave-along) 

Let’s get started setting up and warping our looms!

Note: If you do not have a kit, you can purchase one here

First, A Few Definitions:

Warp
The thread or yarn that is put on the loom to serve as the base for your weaving. Think of it as your canvas.

Weft
What you weave into the warp.

Warp Coil (or spring)
The spring at the top (and optional for the bottom) of your loom that separates the warp threads.

Warp Sett
The vertical space between warp threads

Set-Up & Warping

If this is your first time setting up a Mirrix Loom, you might be a little bit apprehensive. What if you do it wrong? What if you can’t figure it out? DON’T WORRY. Warping for this piece is easy and fast and not only do we have great materials to help you on your way, but we’re also here if you have any questions. Let’s dive in!

We have included here some pictures and basic instructions for warping for this piece including a brand new video. If you haven’t warped before, you will want to look over our warping for tapestry .pdf and our warping for tapestry video to get more details on the process. We aren’t using the shedding device for this project, so you can skip putting on the shedding device and heddles. That means warping for this project is really easy and perfect for a beginner! If you are using a Mini Mirrix for this project, please refer to these Mini Mirrix warping instructions. (Note: If you’ve warped before and want to use the shedding device, feel free to do so!)

Here are a few notes on this particular piece:

-We will be weaving 13 warp threads across using the 14 dent coil warped in EVERY dent (sometimes we skip a dent, which would make the warp spacing different).
-You will warp using C-Lon Cord, which is the thicker cord that came in your kit.
-We will be instructing you how to weave one piece on your warp. If you have a larger loom and you’d like to weave more than one piece on the same warp, you will want to make sure you have enough warp to do so. You will need enough warp to make two pieces around 7″ long (see next point for more on this) with 8″ of warp waste for each piece. So set your loom high enough that you will have a total of 30+” of warp. To test this, set your loom to what you think will be the correct height and wrap a measuring tape around it to make sure that equals 30″ or more.
-Measure your wrist and add an inch to get the total length of your bracelet. For example, my wrist is six inches in diameter. I will weave a piece seven inches long. Your piece will shrink slightly when removed from the loom so those seven inches will become more like 6 3/4 inches, which is fine. When attaching the findings for your bracelet you can achieve the perfect fit based on where you place both the button. You can have the two edges of the bracelet just touching, with space in between or overlapping. In other words, there is a lot of room for adjustment. 

Ready to start? Place your loom on a flat work surface, fold out the leg or legs (depending on which loom you have, the Mini has no legs to fold out) and ready your supplies!

loom with legs folded out

First, set the height of your loom by turning the wing-nuts on either side of your loom. You want an inch of threaded rod showing unless you have a Mini Mirrix, in which case you want about 2″ showing.

Measure to make sure the sides are even.

Place your 14 dent coil on the loom by looping the ends of the warp coil on the brass pieces on the top bar of your loom. This should be the second-largest coil in your bag if your loom came with a shedding device and the only coil if your loom did not. If you’re ever confused about what size coil you have, place the coil on your loom and measure an inch. Then count how many dents (spaces in the coil) are in that inch. That number will equal the size of your coil. So a 14 dent coil has 14 dents in an inch.

putting on warp coil

warp coil on loom

Now you’re ready to begin warping. Make sure your clips are securly on your loom by tightening the white plastic screw in the back. If your clips are feeling loose and the plastic screw is pointed to the side of the clip and not the back, unscrew it, slide it to the back and re-tighten it.

Now turn your clips so they are facing backwards on the loom.

clips backwards on loom

Now take your warping bar (this is the thick aluminum bar slightly shorter than the inside width of your loom) and place it in the indentations on the inside side of each clip. Press the clips inward to hold the bar securely between the clips.

pressing clips together

After that, you’re ready to tie on your warp.

Because this is a thin piece relative to the width of the loom (we are using a 12″ Loom) we are going to warp on one side of the loom instead of in the center. The reason we do this is to balance the warping bar. If we were to weave a thin piece in the center of the loom, once the loom is warped, the warping bar will be unbalanced. By warping on one side of the loom and then balancing the warping bar with a piece of string, cord or ribbon the other side (or warping another piece on the other side of the loom) we guarantee that our warping bar is balanced. If your loom is 12″ wide or larger, you should do this too.

Note: We encourage you to all try warping with the warping bar for this piece because it’s a good skill to have. The warping bar allows you to advance your weaving so you can weave a piece longer than the height of your loom. This might not seem very important if you’re weaving a small piece, but it’s very convenient to be able to move your piece down on the loom even if you don’t technically need to (so you can weave at a comfortable height). THAT SAID… you can also warp using our Easy Warp method. With that method, you could warp one piece on the front of the loom, turn the legs around, and warp another piece on the back. Make sure to set your loom high enough that you have enough warp to weave your two pieces with 8″ of warp waste for each piece.

Here are a few tips to remember when warping (the warping bar way):

1.) Never let go of your warp. It is important to keep even tension while warping, but it does not have to be tight as you will tighten your warp threads later on.

2.) You can start warping in any direction (first going up over the loom or down under it), but the concept is always the same: Bring your warp around the loom until you hit the warping bar. When you hit the warping bar, loop around it and go back in the direction you just came from. Continue around the loom until you hit the warping bar again. Then, loop around the warping bar and continue back in the direction you came from. Continue this pattern.

3.) Check occasionally to see if you’ve accidentally warped through the center of the loom. Your warp threads should always be going around the loom and should never cross through the center.

4.) Make sure your wooden clips are even horizontally. To tighten them to the loom, simply turn the plastic screw at the end of the clips.

The video below shows you how to tie onto your warping bar and how to begin to warp. The next video shows more warping.

Once you’ve warped your loom (making sure there are warp threads in 13 dents in the spring), tied a string to balance the warping bar, moved the warping bar so it’s two inches above the bottom beam and tightened the tension you need to make sure the warp threads are both evenly spaced at the bottom and covers the same width as in the spring. 

measuring the piece

One last step! String up your tapestry needle with a piece of C-Lon that is a little more than twice the width of your loom.

You will use this to weave a piece of thread through that will act as a base for your piece. This will be removed when you advance your weaving. Weave your thread under and over your warp threads. When you have woven through once, loop your thread around one side beam and weave through again in the opposite direction, this time weaving over the threads you wove under and under the threads you wove over. Tightly tie this piece to the other side beam. It should not have much slack. It should not have much slack.

beginning to weave

balance the warping bar

Done!

Next it is time to begin weaving. Click here