"Palmetto Braiding and Weaving" is the definitive book for creating a variety of crafts from palm fronds, straw, rush, and grass. In this well-illustrated volume, artists and authors Viva Cooke and Julia Sampley explore thoroughly one of the most fascinating traditions of the southern United States: palmetto basketry. This tradition of crafts made from palm leaves has been passed on through generations. "Palmetto Braiding and Weaving" includes techniques and patterns for braiding and weaving-from simple to complex-for a variety of creations. In addition to baskets, "Palmetto Braiding and Weaving" explains how to make hats, handbags, trimmings, mats, fans, belts, and more.

"Palmetto Braiding and Weaving" explores a wide array of uses of this native plant. Cooke and Sampley give full instructions for basketry, including samples of popular braids that have been developed and passed on by word-of-mouth, from generation to generation. Instructions are clear and accurate, and samples and fi nished pieces are shown with drawings and photographs of the authors' creations. The combination of drawings, photographs and thorough instructions makefor the perfect how-to resource for palmetto basketry, and are adaptable to the use of other fibers including straw, rush, and grass.

Discover how to make incredible woven yarn mandalas in a mindful, meditative way. This is a practical book of instructions for woven mandalas, starting with very simple four sided mandalas through to more complex designs, with an emphasis on how they can be a tool to aid wellbeing. Yarn mandalas are a wonderful way to create bright and beautiful woven wall art in a mindful, meditative way. The use of pattern and colour can help to reduce stress and aid wellbeing at the same time as developing your creativity. Author Inga Savage, explains how to start your mandala journey with a simple four sided version, as well as how to choose the right materials including dowels, yarn and other hardware. There are step-by-step instructions for 17 wonderfully colourful yarn mandalas, ranging from some very simple, basic versions using just two dowels, right up to more complicated 12 sided mandalas (using six dowels). All of the key techniques are accompanied with step-by-step instructions and photography so you can see how to prepare the dowels, marking them up and how to join them as well as what the best yarn to use is and how to ensure that your mandalas have the correct tension which allows the pattern and colour to shine. This skill-building approach to weaving mandalas will help you to develop your skills by practising the techniques on simple mandalas and building up to the more complex designs. The instructions include step-by-step tutorials for all the key patterns used in yarn mandalas including the daggers design, the square design, and how to add embroidery, tassels and other elements into the mandalas as your skills develop. The intricate layers and patterns of mandalas have been used to aid meditation and mindfulness for centuries and this collection explores how makers can tap into these benefits while creating beautiful woven mandala art, with the practise of intention, colour therapy and visualisation during the making process. This collection explores these ideas in the form of a practical guide to making woven yarn mandalas in a meaningful way to allow you to express your creativity via this mindful, relaxing craft. Inga highlights some 'Mindful Moments' throughout the book where she draws on her experience in order to encourage you to get the most from the creative process and to be present in the moment while you are working with the mandalas. All you need to get started is yarn and some dowels and before you know it you will be creating beautiful woven wall art to adorn your home.

Weaving: Structure and Substance looks at weave design from several different perspectives, showing how resources, ideas and practical experience can come together in a creative process of designing through making. Emphasizing the potential of woven textiles throughout, Ann Richards follows the success of her sister title Weaving Textiles that Shape Themselves and explores the tactile properties that emerge from the interaction of material and structure. The book is organized into four parts that look at the natural world as inspiration, the design resources of material and weave structure, the fabric qualities as starting points for design, and the practical issues of designing through making. With over 280 lavish photos, this book will be an invaluable resource for textile designers and enthusiasts looking for inspiration and practical advice.

Learn to weave your own stories and make personalised woven wall art with this guide to tapestry weaving. A collection of wonderful woven hangings for you to build your tapestry weaving skills. Learn all the techniques you'll need to create your own woven tapestries with a unique, personalised element. Author, Kristin Carter, explains all the skills required to make heirloom woven wall art with a very personal theme and how to recreate images of people, pets and places to create your own 'paintings with thread'. Learn all the basic techniques for tapestry weaving including a quick and easy way to make your own loom using an old photo frame, how to choose the right yarn, working with a template and how to start off a weave. Kristin then explores all the tapestry weaving techniques you will need to make your own stunning wall hangings. All of these techniques are accompanied by step-by-step photography so the instructions are super clear and suitable for absolute beginners. Learn how to do rya loops, weft facing weaving, soumak, pile weaving, diamond twill, overweaving, boubles, and an inverted rya fringe. There are 17 incredible projects for you to experiment and try out your new skills. Each of these can be adapted in order to create your own personalised wall hangings so you can make special heirloom woven art for friends and family. Kristin explains how to set up the loom, gives guidance for yarn amounts and what other tools and equipment are needed for each project. All of the projects are suitable for a an A3 sized loom so you only need one size to try out all of the variations. There are projects for abstract patterns, gradient weaving, blending compatible yarns, pet and people portraits with special techniques for recreating the texture of fur and hair, how to play with transparency in a weaving and creating texture using different yarns. Other techniques covered include cartooning (how to make a cartoon template from photographs); creating templates from your own sketches, how to create a marble effect and advice about colour theory and weaving.

Weaving Textiles That Shape Themselves sounds like a contradiction in terms, but this book sets out to show how textiles can do precisely that: shape themselves. Weaving with high-twist yarns and contrasting materials can create fabrics with lively textures and elastic properties. Although these fabrics are flat on the loom, they are transformed by washing - water releases the energy of the different yarns and the fabrics 'organize themselves' into crinkled or pleated textures.

Weaving involves straight, parallel, and gridlike lines, but as Norma Smayda shows, ondule-weaving with curving warp threads-offers new directions. This is the first book on ondule textiles, and includes clear information on every aspect, from instructions to design tips to a comprehensive history of the fan reed, the tool that makes ondule possible. Smayda shares the details of her own learning experiences with numerous ondule warps in a variety of fibers. More than 180 color photos also feature stunningly beautiful work by five other contemporary and two twentieth-century weavers, plus intriguing historic Japanese textiles. Also included are sections on weft ondule, designing a fan or hybrid reed, and the thought processes behind twenty-one of the featured projects, including drafts. This reference will serve as foundation and inspiration for your ondule weaving.

These eight beautiful Swedish weaving afghan patterns by Katherine Kennedy are designed especially for Monk's Cloth. Stitching on Monk's Cloth is easy and it is the perfect fabric for creating cosy afghans, throws and baby blankets. The repeating patterns featured in these eight designs allow you to easily create other projects such as pillows, table runners and more. Stitch an afghan for your own home or gift it to a special friend or newborn baby. Your stunning afghan will be sure to become an heirloom piece to be cherished for years to come.

Discover how to master and enjoy the lace-like, intricate, often mysterious-seeming leno weave with this comprehensive guide. For new weavers and advanced-level weavers alike, the book combines historical information about leno with the best practical instructions and "secret" tips resulting from the author's years of research and sampling. Leno weaves, also called gauze weaves, are very sheer, yet at the same time very durable because they are made with four warp threads that are twisted around each other. Here, colorful photos of leno fabrics and step-by-step instructions, along with seven beautiful projects, help weavers learn leno pick up and many other techniques and structures like bead leno and Tarascan lace. This is a one-of-a-kind resource for anyone who wants to learn to create this versatile weaving structure or further refine their leno skills.

This comprehensive, full-color guide features dozens of images of slings from various cultures, both ancient and contemporary. Slings had great significance in many cultures, particularly in the Andes, and were often used as both prehistoric weapons and herding tools. The book shows novice and experienced braiders how to make 50 designs, from 8 to 32 strands, on a braiding card or with a braiding stand and bobbins. Learn step by step how to make an authentic Andean-style sling with braided cords and a tapestry-woven cradle. A range of techniques useful for beginning, ending, and embellishing slings are included, and can enhance a wide variety of other items, like jewelry, garments, and accessories. This book is a key resource for historians, ethnologists, textile artists, weapons experts, and others to learn the practical skills for understanding sling braids' structure. Includes braiding card and plans to make core stand.

Portable and productive, the hand spindle has been responsible for creating the world's yarn for millennia. Many contemporary spinners view the hand spindle as a beginner's tool, suited to learn the basic steps of spinning before moving on to a spinning wheel. In Respect the Spindle, Franquemont emphasizes the spindle's importance and use to make yarn in advanced ways for high-end to novelty cloth. In fact, the yarns and cloth made for thousands of years-Viking sails, Egyptian shrouds, Roman togas-all were created with the use of hand spindles. And, in other parts of the world, the spindle still reigns supreme, supplying astounding volumes of yarn for every purpose imaginable. The perfect how-to book for any spinner with a growing collection of spindles or even just a dowel, Respect the Spindle combines step-by-step photography with detailed illustrations, making the spindle spinning techniques clear to even the novice spinner. Franquemont teaches techniques from the basics, such as getting started on the spindle, to more specialized techniques, such as using the spindle to make specific kinds of yarn faster than imagined. Profiles of spindle spinners from various traditions are presented in sidebars throughout the book, which introduce heartwarming and historical fiber stories from around the world. Images of gorgeous yarn and spindles provide inspiration and plenty of eye candy for any fiber lover. Franquemont also includes five simple projects give spinners practice in creating a variety of yarns and patterns.

Learn to make the decorative braids used in the sling-making traditions of Peru and Bolivia; this detailed guide, including 400+ step-by-step photos plus hundreds of diagrams, teaches the technique and over 100 designs for weavers, craftspeople, jewelry designers, basket weavers, and others interested in using braids for embellishment. In-depth instructions are given, along with clear diagrams; recommended braiding yarns for slings and kumihimo; detailed set-up instructions; and many fascinating contemporary applications. This book introduces a new piece of equipment, the core frame, and gives instructions for making it from wood and dowels. When the core frame is used with a braiding stand and bobbins, a wide variety of core-carrying braids become accessible to kumihimo braiders. Most of the braids, from 4 to 40 strands, can be made on the included 32-slot braiding card designed specifically for Andean braiding, and 50 patterns can be made on the stand without a frame.

This book features the original sample collection and handwritten drafts of the talented, early 20th century weaver, Bertha Gray Hayes of Providence, Rhode Island. She designed and wove miniature overshot patterns for four-harness looms that are creative and unique. The book contains color reproductions of 72 original sample cards and 20 recently discovered patterns, many shown with a picture of the woven sample, and each with computer-generated drawdowns and drafting patterns. Her designs are unique in their asymmetry and personal in her use of name drafting to create the designs. Bertha Hayes attended the first nine National Conferences of American Handweavers (1938-1946). She learned to weave by herself through the Shuttle-Craft home course and was a charter member of the Shuttle-Craft Guild, and authored articles on weaving.

This is a large size 'bible' of 600 different weaves of loom. It is organised by type, from basic 4-shaft structures to block drafts and double weaves, providing a wide range of herringbone, twill, zigzag and diamond designs. Each weave is rated according to degree of expertise required, and features a recipe of materials, a clearly photographed swatch showing the intricacies of each design and an easy-to-follow colour chart indicating the threading sequence and order of work. There are also basic explanations of basic weave structures and information on choosing and using looms and shuttles. There is also advice on working with colour, selecting and dyeing yarn, finishing techniques and suggested applications for the finished yarn.

This collection of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century weaving drafts from the Southern Highlands region of Appalachia includes 112 overshot drafts and drawdowns, and 31 drafts and drawdowns for the all-white summertime cotton bedspreads called counterpanes. Color photos of the original samples are shown side by side with valuable modern translations of the drafts, which enable today's weavers to make them. A vibrant example of our weaving heritage, these drafts were originally gathered in the nine states of the Southern Highlands region between 1892 and 1918 by the legendary Frances L. Goodrich. Handwoven counterpanes and coverlets were important possessions, and often were the only items of beauty in the women's otherwise impoverished living conditions. These are drafts Goodrich carefully collected but did not include in her classic Brown Book. Dozens of vintage photographs of Goodrich, the communities she served, and the women who invented the drafts help bring this part of our American craft heritage to life.

For the first time in English, a complete book about Norwegian pick-up bandweaving from its fascinating history to beautiful bands you can make yourself, with more than 100 pattern charts from bands in museum collections. Part 1 tells the story of how these bands were used in the rural communities of 18th and 19th century Norway, as stocking bands, swaddling bands, sending bands, and more. Part 2 looks closely at twenty bands brought to America by Norwegian immigrants, and what they tell us about traditional patterns, colors, and materials. Part 3 has clear and concise instructions for weaving pick-up on simple, traditional band heddles, and these instructions can also be adapted to other kinds of looms. Meticulously researched, easy-to-read, and profusely illustrated, this book is destined to become a classic in the field. It will interest not only weavers but anyone who appreciates textile arts, folk costumes, and Norwegian culture."

This comprehensive guide to weaving big on your frame loom enables you to maximize your little loom to make large projects. Weave long warps up to 2 metres (6.5 feet) on a basic frame loom. Aimed at both the beginner and the more experienced weaver, Fiona Daly guides you through all you need to know from dressing the loom, how to weave, and extending the warp, to a variety of patterned weave structures and highly textured techniques. These include waffle weave; extra-weft floats and tassels; leno/gauze weave; as well as classic weave structures such as houndstooth; check, and log cabin. Including project patterns for eight contemporary, big projects for you and for your home, you can make an oversized scarf, a mesh shopping bag, a large wall hanging, a bath mat and textured cushions. Projects are designed using techniques explained in the book, incorporating beautiful, natural materials. Fiona stresses the use of sustainably sourced and native materials, including tips on how to find your local, sustainable yarn producers as well as repurposing existing yarns from second-hand garments and charity shops.

Sometimes referred to as a Navajo folk art, these representations of recognizable objects occasionally have been designed into Navajo weavings at least since the middle of the nineteenth century. Unlike the geometric designs of more traditional Navajo rugs, these delightful pictorial images include scenes from everyday life, animals, landscapes, spelled-out words and designs of ceremonial significance. The pictorial weaving are shown through hundreds of color photographs with new as well as older examples. Here are familiar and imaginary animals, birds, people, religious designs and multiple weavings of fantastic detail. They convey, through dynamic color schemes and bold designs, images important to the Navajo weavers: the light and happy reflections of their scenic lands. The pictorial rugs are arranged chronologically within design groups to demonstrate the evolution of styles. Whenever known, the weavers are identified by name and region. It is their creativity that breathes life into these pictorial images and conveys the lively spirit of their lives.