How I did it: I sat down with the Taber/Anderson book, and followed it from start to finish! The section on building a backstrap loom from scratch is particularly useful, they're such simple devices that anyone can make their own for free, which ties in nicely with the ethos of independence and creativity that comes with handweaving. I started by just making a few practice pieces, experimenting with designs and pattern techniques (soumack, over/under, wraparound etc) and then moved onto my first "real" project, the belt in the picture! Due to its length it took a long time, but I wear it every day, so the end result was worth it!

Lessons & tips: I always include the lessons I've learnt from weaving different pieces on the photos I post on Flickr, here!

Resources: Almost everything I know about weaving I got from the Taber/Anderson book; Backstrap Weaving.

Besides that I looked some things up online and found Weavolution and

the Yahoo Group 'Backstrappers' to contain plenty of good advice,

techniques etc.

Dec 13, 2009, 02:44AM PST | 1 comment | 2 cheers