Weaving is an ancient and universal activity that people have used to create basic necessities like clothing and tools as well as express identity and build community. Woven objects and textiles are ubiquitous in daily life and the activity of weaving has the power to bring people together in appreciation of the traditional arts and handcrafts that surround us. The Sustaining Scandinavian Folk Art in the Upper Midwest project invites you to join us in a workshop and celebration of weaving, involving small, handheld looms which we will mail to you upon registration (registration information below). We hope you will join us for this fun, informative, and interactive weaving event featuring fiber artist and instructor Laura Demuth of Decorah, Iowa.
The 90-minute program will begin with Laura Demuth demonstrating some simple weaving techniques, which you can practice at home using your own handheld Hello! Loom. Following her demonstration, Laura will offer a presentation about Norwegian weaving traditions, featuring images of woven coverlets from the Vesterheim Museum collection. We’ll also be joined by colleague Lea Lovelace of Vesterheim Museum, who will say a few words about the relationship between folk art courses and museum collections. After the presentation there will be time for Laura to answer any questions as you weave along with the group from home.
Laura Demuth has been a weaver for over 40 years and enjoys all aspects of textile production, from raising the sheep to taking a finished piece off the loom. Because she lives on a small acreage just seven miles northeast of Decorah, Iowa, Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum, has been a continual source of education and inspiration throughout her textile career. Laura’s fiber interests include spinning, natural dyeing, knitting, nalbinding and weaving. She is a Vesterheim Gold Medalist.
How to Register
Please register for our event here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdnVoZaT6FKo_uU_rTyYi_Ut1Avm4OB97VWaCdMDUatogVifQ/viewform. Registration is free and you will receive a Zoom link to our event via email one week prior to the event. Registration also allows you to sign up to receive a free handheld loom kit from Hello! Loom while supplies last (yarn for one sample weaving project included). Please register early to ensure you receive a loom in time for the event. Depending on when you register and your location, looms shipped from Madison, Wisconsin, may not arrive in time for the May 13th event.
All are welcome to tune into this event and it is not necessary for you to have a Hello! Loom to participate. We hope you’ll join us with whatever project you’re working on!
How to Make Your Own Cardboard Loom
If you are finding out about this event late and will not receive a Hello! Loom in time, consider making your own loom from common household items before joining the event. We have listed some resources below to help get you started.
There are many quick and easy online instructions for creating simple cardboard looms that function in a similar way to the Hello! Loom. You can find them easily by googling them, but here are some resources we find useful:
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Here is a great set of photos and instructions from a website called The Weaving Loom: https://www.theweavingloom.com/how-to-make-a-cardboard-loom/
- The website Fibers and Design has a number of wonderful resources and videos for beginning weavers, including instructions for DIY looms: https://fibersanddesign.com/
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Here’s a video tutorial for making your own cardboard loom from Caitlyn Thompson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQHf8TlYC50
How to Find Weaving Examples and Instructions
When you have your loom ready to go, you may want to look at some helpful resources to get started weaving. Here are some written instructions from Hello! Loom (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b612b56f7939206fea89383/t/5dfbd7763fb0586051ae128d/1576785810287/HelloLoomInstructions.pdf) or on the Weaving Lab website (https://www.weavinglab.com/tools).
You might also find these short instructional videos on Instagram and YouTube useful: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7zFwA6iJ-uryxz-_ghc7qA/featured. There are countless other simple (and free) weaving tutorials and ideas out there once you begin searching, so have fun exploring.
Finally, you might want to see some weaving examples for inspiration. You can find examples on the Hello! Loom website (https://helloloom.com/examples), on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/hello_looms/), on the Woven Together virtual exhibit (https://sway.office.com/jN4wyMcGakoyA8Ha?loc=play&ref=Link), or by doing a quick Google search for frame loom weaving.
