Did you know that you can weave Saori Style on a rigid heddle loom?
Saori is a style of weaving that is done using 2 harnesses and a free form method to create fun, highly individual fabrics. It’s sort of a ‘make it up as you go along’ kind of weaving.
Sound fun? It is!
Today I will be exploring some clasp weaving to make a Back to School Pencil Case.
I’ve warped my Harp Forte with some 8/2 black cotton, using the 10 dent heddle. My warp is 10 3/4 wide, 192 ends. Although I only need to weave 15″, I’ve made it about 5′ long so that I will have more to play with. Since I will be using a wide variety of colors, black was a good choice because it will go with all of them.
I’ve woven a 3″ header section using the 8/2 black cotton. I will be adding a zipper to this when I sew the case. After finishing my 15″ Saori weave, I’ve added another 3″ section of black for the zipper.
It’s much easier to show you how to do Clasp Weaving if we remove the warp. Otherwise you will be looking through all of the warp threads and it might be hard to see what’s happening withing the shed. So imagine if you will, that I have a warp on my loom. You’ll need 2 shuttles for this, wound with 2 different colors. The yarns will be woven in such a way that there will be two strands in each pass. keep this in mind when choosing the yarn, so that your project does not end up thicker than you would like.
Begin with one shuttle on either side of the loom.
Raise the heddle to create the shed. Pass one the the shuttles through the (in this case invisible) shed.
Wrap it around the yarn on the 2nd shuttle. While holding the end of the second yarn, return the 1st shuttle to the other side of the loom – WITHOUT lowering the heddle and closing the shed.
Gently pull the 1st yarn through so that it carries the second yarn along with it, until the interlocking thread is where you want it to lay.
Now lower the heddle and beat the yarn.
Change the shed by placing the heddle in the lower position and repeat the previous steps. This time, place the clasp in a different spot to create a zigzag pattern such as I have done, or directly above for a more brick like color change. Have fun with the colors and just change them whenever you want to. That’s the beauty of Saori Freestyle Weaving!
I’ve used mine to make a fun Back to School Pencil Case. What will you make??