How to warp a loom!

I remember the first time I had to warp my loom ... it certainly was interesting!  I looked up every website that Google enabled, studied and studied the pictures and videos and then tentatively took my first steps.  It took a couple of turns, but I eventually got the hang of it.

So, I thought I would share and take another tentative first step and post instructions to help you through this process.

This is a standard loom, there are many types and variations out there - but most have a spring bar at both ends.  I line mine with a bead mat.  For this exercise I have used Nymo size D thread.

The back and front of the loom has some small nails in the tension bar - a small tack will suffice if you don't have this as a feature on your loom.

To start I tie the thread around the nail.

Depending on the size of the piece you are looming, for a cuff - I usually start about a third of the loom across.  Pull the thread up over the top of the spring bar, across the loom to the other side.

Here is a view of the other side, secure the thread around the nail to create a nice clean wrap.  Make sure you do this at both ends of the loom for each warp.

Pull the thread so that it is not too taut, to create a nice even tension.  For more information about tension, check out Beads, Beaded, Beading Warp Tension

This is about half way the loom warped, notice the tension is not too tight!

This is the completed warped loom. Notice the white threads on the end, this is Fireline and for more information about this technique click here.

An example picture of how the warps will look on the spring bar.

Voila - the finished warps.  If you have adjustment bolts on the side of the loom - remember to use them to adjust the tension as you go along.  Here is another fabulous link outlining some great bead techniques including how to check your tension.

Whats in a pattern

One of my favourite past times is creating patterns - I have a wealth of them sitting on my hard drive which I really need to share .. but (and there is always a but) hold back because they need some adjustment.

This adjustment is called "cleaning up" a pattern.  I use BeadCreatorPro 6 for my pattern designs - this program  has amazing design concepts allowing you to develop the depth and dimension of a design.

I'm involved in a facebook group "Bead Looming Intervention" and our first challenge is to design a an Art Deco inspired piece - this can be in the form of a cuff, necklace, hanging, etc which had some caveats attached to the design.  My piece was taken from this picture:

To commence the process, I worked in Adobe Photoshop to sharpen the image, cut back the unwanted areas and enchance the DPI.  When the pattern was first converted, it had over 100 colours and looked a little like this:

You can see that there is a lot happening in the image, it looks patchy, there are a lot of shadows that the pattern program has picked up and the overall picture doesn't blend.  Imagine looming that!  After many, many hours (I think 5 in total) the colours were blended together, I compared the "real" colours to the ones picked by the pattern program and the final "cleaned" up pattern is reduced to around 35 bead colours and now looks like this:-

If you scroll between the two pictures you can see there are  more clean lines, depth and dimension to the picture and the Art Deco Lady stands out more.

My beads have arrived and I'm now off to stage II of my cuff - the actual looming ... stay tuned.

New Beginnings

For the past few years, many of you have known me as BeadSire ... I've decided its time for a change.  As my style has evolved and the elements of my design has changed - so too will the social aspects.  

Over the past couple of years I have gone from simple beading, to learning about wire work, metal clay and looming.

This year is a year of new beginnings.  It is time to apply those learnings and take it to a new level and new challenges.

I have taken the advice of some of my wiser jewellery friends and will be reverting back to my name ... Caron Michelle - keeping it nice and simple.  

I look forward to sharing this exciting new journey with you - stay tuned for some fun times ahead as I merge various mediums together to create some fabulous new designs.

Thank you for your support so far 

Caron