Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Back on Track

Well... I'm back!

I haven't been able to get the time to post anything lately, but I want to get back on track. I have been busy since my last post!

I have taught myself how to bead on a loom. I bought a beading loom many years ago and I never really learned how to use it. Recently, I decided that I wanted to learn and I went in search of my loom. Phooey! I couldn't find it anywhere! So...
I made a loom!
It was a process of trial and error! I made two "end combs" for the loom with plastice lids from food storage containers. I cut out two rectangles of plastic and cut slits across the long side of each to use as the thread dividers. The first try I used a stryofoam block as the base to hold the combs. This didn't work so well. The threads wouldn't stay tight. I came up with the idea to use a small drawer from a little wooden cabinet that I bought at the Dollar General a few years ago. This turned out to be perfect! I taped the combs to opposite side of the drawer with packing tape. I strung the loom by tying one end of the threads to the drawer handle. I strung the combs and then I added a push pin to the bottom of the opposite side, which wrapped the tightened threads around. I then secured the ends with another piece of tape. Voila! Homemade loom!

This loom works really well for the work that I am doing right now. I am going to get a Czech loom in a couple of weeks, but this works for now! Here are a few examples of what I am doing:







Can you tell that I am having fun? I really like working on the loom! You can do so many different patterns and interesting designs!  I will post pictures of the homemade loom tomorrow! Thanks for reading!

KC