Note: I’m going to assume that you have never used a beadloom before and give as much detail as I can about each stage. If you are already use a loom feel free to adapt the basic idea and make up your own bookmarks.
You Need:
Using a Seed Bead mix means you can get beautiful variations without following a chart. You can buy they fairly easily, look for ‘Colour Mix’ or ‘Bead Soup’. My bookmark was made with a mix called ‘Dwarf King’s Desire’ from Beadfx.
Decide on the finished length of your bookmark Mine is about 15cm (6in) including the tassels. Cut 10 lengths of thread to this lengths plus 30cm (12in). It will look like you have way too much thread but you need the extra length to wind onto the rollers. If you are using Nymo as I did you will need to stretch it to get rid of the kinks. Tie the bunch of threads together using an overhand knot (like tying the neck of a balloon), at one end
Look at your loom: on mine there is a wooden roller with a screw in the middle of it at each end. If yours is different look at the instructions that came with it; if it’s the same read on!
Slip the knot over the screw so that an equal number of threads are on either side, and bring the bundle of thread over the separators (on mine they look like large springs on each end of the loom)
Begin turning the roller to wind the threads onto it.When you have enough thread left to go across the loom to the other screw plus 10cm (4in) stop turning and tighten the wing nut on the roller to hold it still. Tie another knot in the loose thread ends, slip it over the screw on the other roller and turn it until the thread is taut. Tighten the wing nuts. Using the tip of your beading needle, guide each thread into a separate channel in the separators, making sure they are spaced equally.
Congratulations! You’ve just warped the loom. The warps got along the loom; the wefts go at right angles to the warp. When instructions say ‘warp the loom’ the above is exactly what you do It looks long-winded, but gets quicker with practice.
Now, the weaving.
Cut a length of beading thread, how long is up to you, just use what you feel comfortable with. Stretch if needed. Thread your beading needle and tie it to the warp nearest to you with a double knot.
I work left to right, so position the loom with the roller with the most turns of thread on the right. This allows you to slacken the treads and wind more thread into the middle of the loom should you need to make the bookmark longer. I didn’t need to but obviously I don’t know how long your loom is!
Pick up 9 seed beads (SB). Don’t choose the colours, just do it at random. Slide them onto the thread and down towards the warp threads. Bring the needle up and under the warp threads (i.e. away from you) and with your spare hand push the beads up into the spaces between the warp threads, making sure each is in its own little space. Thread the needle through the beads, this time making sure the thread goes over the warp threads, thus keeping the beads in place.Pick up 9 more SB and repeat.
That’s it, basically. Carry on weaving until you get to the length you want. Every few rows push the beads up against each other, so you get a nice snug fabric.
If you decide you need a longer bookmark, undo the wing nuts at both ends and wind some more of the warp threads into the centre of the loom before tightening them again. This might mean you wind the beadweaving onto the roller, but don’t worry, it won’t come to any harm. When you’ve finished, work any thread ends into the beadwork and clip the thread.
Unscrew the wing nuts and carefully unwind all the warp threads, lifting the beading off the loom. Now you have to deal with all those warps, which is the worst bit in loomwork! In this project we’re going to make them into a fringe.
Take a pair of warp threads and thread on 13 SB. Tie several overhand knots in the thread next to the last SB. It might be a good idea to put a drop of glue on the knot to make it extra secure. Repeat with the other pairs of warps to give 5 tassels at each end.
Finished! I hope you’ve enjoyed the project. It looks long because I’ve deliberately given very precise instructions to help those who’ve done little or no loomwork. Really it takes very little time-it took me longer to type this out! If you have any questions post a comment and I’ll try to answer them.
Comments