overshot on rigid heddle loom free sample

A set of cotton and linen towels woven with Mallo Cotton Slub and Duet Cotton/Linen. This rigid heddle pattern uses a pick-up stick and a supplementary weft to create weft floats inspired by the Halvdräll Towels (a 4-shaft pattern) by Arianna Funk.

Warp Length: 4 yards (assumes 26" warp length per towel plus generous loom waste, room for sampling, and about 18% take-up/shrinkage on length and width)*

Note:As written, this project will make four towels and leave you with plenty to make more. If you are working from your stash, assume approximately 100 yards of each yarn per towel woven to these dimensions.

1. Warp the loom using your preferred method (direct or indirect) with a total of 156 warp ends, 4 yards long, alternating 1" sections (12 ends each) of Yarn A and Yarn B. Begin and end with Yarn A, for a total of 13 stripes. Center for a weaving width of 13" and sley 1 end per hole and slot in a 12 dent heddle on a rigid heddle loom.

Place the heddle into the “down” position. Behind the heddle, only the slot threads are up. Place a long piece of cardboard, like a section of manila file folder under the raised threads to help you see which threads to pick up (See photo 1)

Pick 2: heddle is in NEUTRAL, pickup stick slides forward to heddle and turned on its side to create the weft float shed, weave with Yarn A (See photo 4)

**A note on dealing with selvedges: with weft floats, it is important that you cross the wefts at each selvedge edge. Do this by crossing the exiting weft either over or under the previous weft. (See photos 5, 6, 7)

4. Repeat the four picks above nine times, then replace Yarn A with Yarn B and repeat sequence another nine times with the new color. Alternate these blocks of Yarn A and Yarn B until you have woven 11 blocks total (6 of Yarn A, 5 of Yarn B). Towel should measure ~26" in loom under tension. Finish with 2" of tabby using Yarn C. Weave a few picks with contrasting scrap yarn to in between towels, then repeat the above steps to complete 3 additional towels.

5. Cut yardage off the loom and zig zag stitch the edges. Machine wash cold on delicate cycle, tumble dry low and press. Cut towels apart at scrap yarn markers. Hem using your preferred method.

In addition to being Gist"s Operations Manager and Wholesale Director, Christine is a weaver and exhibiting fiber artist. She scampered down the rabbit hole of rigid heddle weaving several years ago as a way to use up her knitting stash and never looked back. In addition to very practical cloth woven to adorn home and body (tea towels are her favorite home linen projects to weave), Christine also weaves conceptual works that explore themes of mood and memory, strength and fragility, and often reflect on the current political and ecological landscape. Her work is held in private collections across the country and is shown regionally in New England galleries. To see more of Christine"s work, check out her Instagram.

Full Disclosure: I have a 24-harness 45" wide loom that takes up most of a room. It"s tall and sturdy—in fact, I like to joke that if that big earthquake ever hits here in Southern California I"m hiding inside it. What that big loom isn"t, is flexible and portable. It is quite large and because I tend toward inertia, it might prevent me from ever relocating. Just the thought of figuring out how to move it is tiring. As for flexibility, I guess you could say being able to change tie-up and treadling sequences using a computer is an advantage but it isn"t the loom I look to for sampling and experimenting.

Flexibility and portability are two attributes I associate with the rigid-heddle loom, and I think they are what make them such a popular tool in weaving. Their portability is easy to describe: rigid-heddle looms are looms that travel easily from room to room and from house to house. I"m pretty sure that someone at some point has brought one in their carry-on bag and woven on their way across country. Having met my husband on an airplane, I can only imagine the conversations that could start.

Flexibility is what makes them the loom I often reach for when I have an idea in my head that needs to get out. From seeing the rigid-heddle projects in Handwoven, at my local guild, and on the internet, I know I"m not alone. The ease and speed of direct warping allows for a quick start up and gets the weaver to weaving faster than other looms. I believe for many of us, having that shorter time commitment up front allows more freedom of expression.

That freedom of expression can be seen in the beautiful Mermaid Scarf by Lisa Rayner on the cover of Handwoven November/December 2015. Without the ease of pick-up the rigid-heddle loom affords, that scarf might never have been woven. Because the loom works well with knitting yarns, many projects that would probably be difficult to weave on a multishaft loom have come to be, such as Judy Pagel"s Classic Caplet featured both in Handwoven May/June 2015 and in the book Simple Woven Garments that uses Brooks bouquet and a fingering weight yarn. Finally, and not to blow my own horn, I can tell you definitively I would never have thought of doing the little inlay squares on my towels that were in Handwoven September/October 2014 if I hadn"t been working on a rigid-heddle loom and “playing around.”

My advice: learn your looms" strengths. Use your multishaft looms for what they are intended for and look to your rigid-heddle loom for the freedom of expression it allows (And when that earthquake hits, join me in my loom, with your rigid-heddle loom.

NOTE: CHART NOT INCLUDED. Purchase the chart for my 2018 Mermaid Scarf 2.0 separately. This ebooklet is a freeform overshot technique primer that uses my 2015 Mermaid Scarf and five freeform overshot projects woven by other people around the world as examples.

I wove my original Mermaid Scarf 1.0 with a PICK UP STICK on my 25-inch-wide Schacht Flip rigid heddle loom. Warp 3/2 weaving cotton, tabby weft 10/2 weaving cotton, pattern weft fingering wool singles. Watch my short freeform overshot video on my Lisa Rayner Handwoven"s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lisaraynerhandwovens.

Handwoven magazine published my short article on my Mermaid Scarf in the Nov./Dec. 2015 issue. This ebooklet is MUCH longer, MORE detailed, and easier to follow than the magazine article. The article was only three pages long and the editors shortened my version of the article even further. This ebooklet is 20 pages long and includes a lot of written information and many color photos not included in the magazine article. Reading this eBooklet requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.0 or newer.

This booklet does NOT contain a Mermaid Scarf chart. In November 2018, I finally designed and charted a Mermaid Scarf 2.0. You can purchase this pattern chart separately in this shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/650996510/ebook-mermaid-scarf-pattern-20-freeform?ref=shop_home_feat_3&pro=1.

Do you wish you could weave fabric with complex Jacquard-like patterns? Do you like tapestry motifs, but want to weave wearable, drapeable cloth? You can weave such fabrics on any loom, from rigid heddle looms, pin looms, backstrap looms, and even full size inkle looms, to simple shaft looms, multishaft table and floor looms, and dobby looms using the freeform overshot technique. Most looms require freeform overshot to be woven with a pick up stick.

The technique ebook is about freeform overshot. It uses the original Mermaid Scarf as the example, with a lot of photographs of that scarf. The chart is just a (long) chart for the Mermaid Scarf 2.0, which is very similar to, but not identical with, the original Mermaid Scarf: the curves are rounder, and the limitations of weaving software means it’s not quite as wide as the original scarf; it’s 64 ends wide.

All rights reserved. No part of this booklet may be duplicated, reprinted or shared electronically without written permission from the author, except for brief quotes and reviews. Respecting copyright supports the important work of authors. In addition, my patterns are for personal use only, not commercial use. Thank you.

It is sometimes presumed that the rigid heddle loom is a plain weave loom. This is because, at it’s most basic, it is a two shaft loom, and plain weave is woven on two shafts.

While it’s true that plain weave is often woven on a rigid heddle loom, it’s capabilities for weaving patterns can be surprising (and very pleasing to the newer weaver!)

Plain weave is very simple on a rigid heddle loom and easy to set up. Thread one slot and one hole alternating for the width of your project, then when weaving alternate the heddle between the up and down position, and you’re on your way!

The question that I have come to challenge myself with more in recent times is “is there anything I can’t do on a rigid heddle loom?” Yes, it’s really that capable.

You have two options with this technique. You can either warp with the variegated yarn and weave with a solid colour or warp with the solid colour and weave with the variegated.

Then there is clasped weft! Once again, we have plain weave but with the use of colour and some clever techniques, you can create distinctive and unique patterns. Pairing variegated and solid yarns works very well for clasped weft.

I also have videos on clasped weft with 3 colours and 4 colours, but if you’re just starting out with it, I recommend you go through this one first to get the concept set in your mind.

The most logical next step up from plain weave is the introduction of pick up sticks. These are simple, effective and inexpensive flat sticks of timber with usually tapered ends that assist in the picking up of the threads. Some people who are handy with wood even make their own.

There is just so much you can do with one, two or more pickup sticks. Besides picking up behind the heddle to weave patterns, you can also pick up at the front to weave a type of overshot. This is where your pattern will sit on top of the background weaving rather than being incorporated in (this is called a float). If you arrange your floats and colours in particular ways, you can weave all sorts of cool patterns!

I have a lot of these overshot style videos on Youtube, but considering the Christmas theme is so loved, here are a couple of the most popular videos:

This is intended to be a brief overview of pattern weaving on a rigid heddle loom, there is so much more! I haven’t touched on Colour and Weave here, as it deserves it’s own post. You can read more about Colour and Weave in this article. I have, however written about plaid and made some free drafts for your use. You can read that post here.

If you are just starting out with rigid heddle weaving, I highly recommend my beginner’s online class From Woe to Go! It takes you step by step through everything you need to get up and weaving.

One of the great things about having been a blogger for 12 years (did I actually just admit that?!) is that you occasionally get to look back and see how very far you’ve come.

Over three years ago, when my David Louet floor loom was still somewhat new to me, I wrotethis post on overshot. If you read it, you will discover that my initial relationship with overshot was not a very positive one.

Back then, I was a little harder on myself as a learning weaver. By now, I’ve realised that weaving, just like life, is a journey that has a beginning but no end. Back then, I thought that my ultimate goal was to be a “master weaver”.

Honestly, I don’t even really know what that means but it no longer matters to me. I just want to be the best weaver I can be, but even more importantly, to continue to be fulfilled, challenged and rewarded by doing it.

The happy ending to the initial overshot sob story is that I can weave overshot now. Quite well, in fact! And I also teach it. And I happen to love it, very, very much. Don’t you love a happy ending?

I don’t think there was any particular moment where I thought to myself “I can weave overshot now!” I didn’t even weave any overshot for quite some time after that initial attempt. But slowly it tempted me back, and we started over. It was just a matter of sticking with it, employing some specific techniques and practice, practice, practice until it feels like an old friend.

My love of overshot has only increased with my more recent discovery of American Coverlets. I loved the look of the coverlets and the history behind them before I realised that so many of them were woven in the wonderfully humble 4 shaft overshot.

Now that I have quite a lot of experience weaving overshot, I want to share my best overshot tips with you in hope that you too will fall in love with this wonderful weave structure.

I know, I know, sampling takes time and yarn, it’s true. But it teaches you so, so much. It can also be more economical, as you can test your yarns out for suitability before committing to a larger project. Trust me, sampling is so well worth the time!

To weave overshot you need a warp yarn, a tabby yarn and a pattern weft yarn. Using the same yarn for warp and tabby works perfectly. For the pattern weft, I like to use a yarn that is twice the size of the tabby/warp yarn. I have experimented with using doubled strands of tabby/warp yarn in a contrasting colour, but it just doesn’t look as good. A thicker pattern yarn is the way to go.

What will the size of your item be? A miniature overshot pattern may get lost in a blanket, but may be perfect for a scarf. As a general rule, a good way to estimate the size of one repeat of your pattern just by looking at the draft is to see how many repeats are in one threading repeat. Also consider the thickness of your yarns and the sett you intend to weave.

Just to give you an idea, my current project is woven at 20 ends per inch with 8/2 cotton for warp and tabby and fingering weight wool for the pattern weft. The weaving draft has 50 threads in one threading repeat. My design repeats on the loom are around 2.5″ wide and just under 5″ long, which is a great size for the 30″ x 99″ throw I’m weaving.

I throw my picks gently to avoid drag on the selvedges and therefore preventing excessive draw in. I give a generous angle to the weft pick and keep it soft at the edges. I do adjust the picks at the edges before beating when necessary, but mostly I prefer to leave them alone and let them settle into place on their own.

This is a non negotiable for overshot if you want neat edges and less headaches! You get used to using floating selvedges very quickly, so don’t stress if you have no experience with them.

This is another selvedges tip. I’ve experimented with crossing the two weft yarns at the selvedge to see whether it gives a neater edge, but it doesn’t, at least for me. So, instead of twisting the two wefts at each selvedge when throwing a new pick, I just let them follow one another sequentially and my edges are much neater that way.

Besides the thickness of the pattern weft yarn, you will also want to consider what kind of bloom it may have after wet finishing. For example, I know that my fingering weight wool blooms beautifully, whereas a cotton of the same size would not bloom in the same way. I very much like the contrast of the 8/2 cotton background with the plump wool pattern weft.

I’m going to sound like a broken record, but once again, a sample will show you everything you need to know about how your yarn will behave as a finished piece.

This is a particular problem if your colours and white on red or navy on white – you want to preserve that white and not have it come out of the wash as a pink or light blue!

The best way to avoid this is through vigilance, especially in the first 10-15 minutes of your woven piece making contact with water. If you see dye beginning to run, take it out of the warm wash and rinse in cold water until the water runs clear. Place back in the warm water and maintain your watch on it. Repeat the rinsing process if needed.

There are 6 treadles needed for overshot, even though you weave on 4 shafts. The two extra treadles are for the tabby weave. I always set up my pattern treadles in the centre of the loom – two on the left and two on the right. Then I set up a “left” tabby and a “right” tabby treadle. To do this on my 8 shaft loom I leave a gap between the pattern treadles and the tabby treadles so that my feet can “see” and differentiate between a pattern and tabby treadle.

I like to advance little and often. You will find your own preference or “sweet spot” for weaving, but I find that with overshot I advance a lot more frequently at a much smaller amount than I do usually.

The firmness of beat will depend on a few things. Your chosen yarns, the weave structure, the width of the project and the tension your warp is under are all important considerations. I let the project dictate.

An example of this is that I wove an overshot sampler right before Is started my main project (the throw). It was a narrow warp (around 8″) and a different overshot threading and treadling than I’m using for the project.

I personally do not use a temple. Some weavers will say they won’t weave without one. I’ve tried using a temple on many of my projects, particularly if I’m getting broken edge warp threads (signs of tension problems and too much draw in). But I will avoid using one wherever I can get away with it, and I don’t use one for weaving overshot.

I find that if I’m careful with weft tension and warping evenly, I do not get excessive draw in. It is something I’m constantly aware of while weaving and remind myself of tip 4 so that my weft picks are not pulling in at the edges.

As always, it’s been a busy couple of weeks. One of the members of my online weaving group on Our Unraveled indicated that she would like to make towels in the Lee’s Surrender overshot draft. Now Lee isn’t easy. It may be only a 4-shaft overshot draft, but it combines several elements, has a wicked border and isn’t for the faint of heart. Or at least isn’t for beginning weavers. The good news is that it is in Marguerite Porter Davison’s A Handweaver’s Pattern Book. The original book is from the 50’s and the draft is written out in the older format, but it still manageable. (Hint: beware of getting a new version of the book. I’ve heard that it has been gutted and has maybe half the drafts of the earlier editions.)

I don’t know where the original draft came from. In the book Davison says that it is adapted from an earlier pattern. Since weaving drafts, like quilt patterns, are frequently named for historical events, I assume this one is truly named for Lee’s Surrender of the Confederate troops at Appomattox Courthouse. If so, that would place it in the late 1800’s. The border is based on the Blooming Leaf pattern that appears in other overshot drafts, and this gives the border its intricate, eye-appealing size. The tables that form the center design are themselves quite simple – a star design commonly found in overshot. However, they allow the piece to be wider or narrower at the weaver’s discretion simply by adding or removing repeats.

Lee and I are no strangers. Many years ago I decided to tackle this draft in a very fine thread intending to make a set of four place mats in the classic blue pattern on white background. One must understand, however, that I am a Southerner. As nearly as I an tell, all eight of my great-great-grandfather’s fought for the Confederacy. So either some curse got thrown in my direction or I got a bad cone of white cotton, but it was one broken warp thread after the other. After two place mats and 20+ broken warp threads, I cut the piece off the loom. Still, the two place mats turned out beautifully.

I volunteered to make the draft for the requested towels and post it to the group. I also suggested that we use it as an overshot weave-a-long or WAL. Several people agreed and I think we’ll get going on the first of September. I was able to find the original notes and WIF (Weaving Information File) I entered when I made the place mats. I hadn’t finished the treadling diagram, but it wasn’t hard to finish up. I did all the calculations for two towels and wrote up the instructions. Unfortunately, I couldn’t test the towels prior to releasing the PDF. I’m hopeful that everything is fine and I didn’t make any mistakes. I suppose we’ll see.

Equally unfortunately, I decided to make the towels in Ashford’s 10/2 and 5/2 cotton. Sadly, we’re out of the colors I wanted at Yarnivore, Hopefully, the cones will be in before long and I’ll be able to get the towels on the loom. I’m planning to get the origami blouse fabric off the old Schacht Standard so the towels can go on.

Crazyshot: Creative Overshot Weaving on the Rigid Heddle Loom introduced weavers to a whole new world of creative weaving on a rigid heddle loom using just one heddle and one pick-up stick.

And now Crazyshot Wearables: Creative Overshot Weaving for Wearables on the Rigid Heddle Loom offers patterns – for scarves, cowls, shawls, ruanas, tops, and handbags – that incorporate charted Crazyshot designs, either as fabric borders or as all-over patterns.

Complete step-by-step instructions for the weaving and sewing of each item are included, so you can successfully create your own Crazyshot garments and accessories!

Crazyshot: Creative Overshot Weaving on the Rigid Heddle Loom introduced weavers to a whole new world of creative weaving on a rigid heddle loom using just one heddle and one pick-up stick.

And now Crazyshot Wearables: Creative Overshot Weaving for Wearables on the Rigid Heddle Loom offers patterns – for scarves, cowls, shawls, ruanas, tops, and handbags – that incorporate charted Crazyshot designs, either as fabric borders or as all-over patterns.

Complete step-by-step instructions for the weaving and sewing of each item are included, so you can successfully create your own Crazyshot garments and accessories!

"Thank you, Kelly, for providing this RHL Overshot Class. Because of all your videos, I have gone from newbie to being able to produce this beautiful scarf! I learned how to read a four shaft pattern draft and from that, warp and thread my loom. I learned how to manage more than one heddle and handle different combinations of them. It was also helpful to learn about floating selvedges. I will never do another project without them."

"I love learning new techniques. This was a fun one to learn. I appreciate your step-by-step instructions to help get me a solid foundation to start. I look forward to trying my hand at this beautiful scarf!"

"This was one of the best weaving courses I have taken on line. Your calm and slowly paced weaving videos are excellent. Very easy to follow. Also the feedback you give to questions is much appreciated and it always works. I like being able to go back an replay the videos as I progress to make sure I didn"t miss anything. Good job."

This is the section to explore the possibilities of overshot with many variations, test out your yarn and get some practice in weaving with this structure.

When we move on to the project there are 3 variations for threading so that you can choose the best method for the way YOU learn. The project is a stunning, iridescent and luxurious scarf that is a real head turner!

Kelly is a self taught weaver with a big passion for sharing the timeless art of weaving with others. Kelly is known for her calm and slow teaching style and she bases her classes on how she would have liked to have been taught. She designs all of her own projects and caters for levels from beginner to intermediate. Most available classes are for the rigid heddle loom, floor, table and inkle loom weaving.

How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.

Many years ago, I finally got to try weaving. I took the Beginning to Weave workshop through the Ottawa guild. At that time, 1989, the OVWSG did not have a studio space to house what guild equipment we had acquired. (The Guild had an old second-hand 100 inch loom and 6 or 7 table looms. There may have been a floor loom too but I was distracted by the 100 inches of loom, so do not remember). All the looms lived in one of our guild members’ very big basements. On weekends, she either taught weaving workshops or hosted weavers working on the 100 inch loom. It sounded like a busy basement! I remember 4 weekends of driving to a little town just east of Ottawa. I took the table loom home each week to do homework. I still remember the sound of the mettle heddles rattling as I drove down the highway, back and forth to the classes. Then I think there were two more weekends of Intermediate weaving and Dona sent me off and I was weaving!

It all starts with yarn, wind it carefully, attach it to the back beam, wind on, thread the heddles, slay the reed, tie on to the front beam, check the tension and then start to weave. It sounds like a lot of work but it is all worth it as you start to pass the shuttle through the shed and the cloth begins to appear. Weaving was like Magic! From a pile of string to POOF, actual cloth!!!

During the workshop, I found pickup seemed strangely familiar as my brain watched my fingers happily lifting and twisting threads for the various lace and decorative weave patterns. The other thing that my brain went “ooh this is cool!” was Overshot. It is a weave structure that requires a ground and a pattern thread, (two shuttles). One is fine like the warp and the pattern thread is thicker and usually wool. I was still reacting to wool so I used cotton for both.  My original goal was to draft and weave a Viking textile for myself but I put that aside for a moment, I will get back to that later.

The first thing I wove after my instruction was a present for my Mom. she had requested fabric to make a vest. I looked through A Handweaver’s Pattern Bookby Marguerite Porter Davison and found an overshot pattern that I thought we both would like. I wove it in two shades of blue (Mom’s favourite colour), at a looser thread count than usual. (Originally the overshot weave structure was used to make coverlets, so were tightly woven and a bit stiff, while I liked the pattern I wanted the fabric to be much more drapey.) Even worse, I did not want it to be as hard-edged in the pattern as it was originally intended so I tried a slub cotton as a test and loved it.

So, for any sane weaver, it was all wrong! Wrong set, wrong fibre, wrong colour choices! It was fabulous and perfect. I kept the sample as a basket cover and at either the end of 1989 or the beginning of 1990, I gave Mom the yardage for her vest. “Oh this is too nice to cut” Mom Said, so it lived on the back of her favourite reading chair as a headrest until her most recent move (2015?) it never did get to be a vest but it has been well enjoyed.

My sample piece, which became my main demo basket cover, has been in the background of many demo photos. This year it was used as an Old example in part of the guild Exhibition. You can see the subtle distortion of the pattern when a slub yarn is used.

In the Exhibition The Inkle band, hanging beside the overshot, I wove much more recently. I used an Inkle loom and a supplemental warp thread. This means weaving with an extra separate thread that was not part of the main warp on the loom.  I used a yarn with a fuzzy caterpillar-like slub.

You may be able to see how I wove the weird slubby supplemental warp. The yarn is weighted and left hanging over the back peg of the Inkle loom. It comes over the top peg (usually labelled B in diagrams) and floats above the weaving.  In the areas where the Caterpillar (Slub) is not present I catch the yarn with the shuttle and weave it into the band. In the area the caterpillar appears I would leave the yarn above the warp and then start weaving it in again as I reached the end of the caterpillar. I hope that explanation doesn’t sound like mud and makes a bit of sense. Using a supplemental warp on an Inkle loom is not quite normal but it is a lot of fun.

Over the years I tried out other two harness techniques that you normally don’t see with an Inkle loom. It turned into an entire 2 day, with a week in between days, workshop (with a homework assignment) and lots of samples!! I think it’s the fault of my dyslexic brain wandering off into odd thoughts again.

I was going to tell you about my original goal in learning to weave, the mysterious Fragment #10 from a Viking excavation from around the year 1000, but  I have likely confused you with weaving enough for one day. So I will save that for another chat. (don’t forget the Inkle loom I would like to tell you a bit more about that in another post too. I promise I will get back to felting in the not-too-distant future)

We have been getting lots of questions from folks wanting to try out new crafts now that most of us are spending a lot more time at home. We"re excited that lots of new fiber artists are going to enter the world! Since we"re getting so many questions we decided to make a series of blog posts with some basic info to start you off with several different fiber craft disciplines! This week we"re going to cover: Rigid Heddle Weaving!

A rigid heddle loom is an ideal choice to economically learn to weave. The name is derived from the structure of the heddle. A heddle functions to raise or lower the warp threads. A rigid heddle is a fixed panel that moves the warp threads as a group, as opposed to individually thread movement like a wire or Texsolv heddle. A rigid heddle loom is the equivalent of a 2-harness loom, it will allow you to weave light work, such as placemats, dishtowels, scarves, shawls or fabric for clothing. Rigid heddle looms cannot support the tension required for projects like rugs.

At The Woolery we often recommend rigid heddle looms to newbie weavers who want to jump into weaving but don"t want too large of an investment in a new hobby. Rigid heddle looms can be very small and affordable, and are perfect or giving weaving a test drive! The skills and techniques developed on a rigid heddle loom are all transferable to other types of looms, including the larger table and floor looms.

Weaving Width - This is the maximum width your projects can have. It is not something that can be changed later on and is set in stone from the moment you purchase the loom. Remember that you can always weave narrower than your maximum weaving width, so it"s safer to go with a wider loom to make sure you have enough versatility for the types of projects you want to weave.

Second Heddle- This is another thing you need to think about in the beginning because some rigid heddle looms have the ability for a second heddle to be added and some do not. The second heddle has two functions. It can allow a rigid heddle loom to mimic a four-harness loom. It also can allow a weaver to use the finer cotton weaving yarns more commonly used on floor and table looms.

Space- If you are limited on space you might want to consider a loom that can be folded so as to take up even less space than a standard rigid heddle loom.

Wood Finishing - Some looms are sold with unfinished wood. We highly recommend that you finish unfinished loom wood before working with your loom. If you don"t want to bother with wood finishing, pick a loom that has finished wood.

Available Heddle Dents- The dent size of your rigid heddle determines how far apart your warp ends are going to be and also determines the size yarn you can use. Certain brands have a larger amount of sizes available. If you already know you want to use Laceweight or small yarns you might need to take this into consideration. If you are not already attached to a certain size of yarn, then you don"t need to worry about this.

Most of the other differences between rigid heddle looms are going to superficial personal preference type options such as; brand, visual style, and wood type.

We have several rigid heddle loom options, these are our favorite options for beginners:Schacht Cricket Loom - The Cricket Loom is compact, capable and cute! It comes in both 10" and 15" weaving widths. Both options come with everything you need to start your first project in the box. There are floor stands available for both sizes of this loom. The loom comes with an 8 dent heddle (suitable for Worsted Weight) and 5, 10, and 12 dent heddles can be purchased separately. There is NOT a 2nd heddle option for this loom. This loom is made of unfinished maple and apple plywood and comes unfinished.

Ashford Knitters Loom - The Ashford Knitter"s Loom is lightweight, collapsible, and portable. It comes fully assembled and finished. There are 3 available weaving widths, 12", 20", and 28". There is a floor stand available for all three sizes. It comes with a 7.5 dent heddle and you can get additional heddles in 2.5, 5, 10, 12.5, and 15 dent heddles separately. Ashford rigid heddle looms offer the most variety for dent sizes. It comes with everything you need for your first project except yarn. It even comes with the 2nd heddle blocks so you can install them and have the capability for two heddles right away. If you don"t need your loom to fold or care about the wood being finished look into the Ashford Rigid Heddle loom as it has most of the same features (but does come in different weaving widths).

Kromski Harp Forte - If you are into a more traditional style of elaborate turned wood features, the Harp might be the loom for you! The harp is available in two different finishes a light wood and walnut. There are four available weaving widths, 8", 16", 24", and 32". It can fold for a smaller storage profile. The loom comes with a 8 dent heddle and 5, 10, and 12 dent heddles can be purchased separately. It comes with a 2nd heddle block option. There is also a floor stand available.

Most looms we carry come with all of the necessary bits and bobs to get started weaving, but there are some additional items you may wish to purchase to expand your weaving journey.Pick Up Sticks - These allow you to create additional sheds in your weaving to create more elaborate patterns. We do not recommend them for your first projects, but after you have a couple projects under your belt it might be something you want to explore.

Warping can often be the process of weaving that scares away beginners, but we promise it"s not scary! All of the loom models we recommend here come with booklets with instructions for warping that particular loom. There are also very helpful YouTube videos available:

You can use almost any yarn on your rigid heddle loom as long as you are using the correct heddle dent size. Here are some options that are particularly good for beginners as they can be woven with the heddle that comes with your rigid heddle loom.

Omega Sinfonia - This is a 100% Mercerized Cotton, 6 ply yarn. It comes in balls of 218 yards. This is a sport weight yarn so it"s a little smaller than you would normally weave with on an 8/7.5 dent heddle, but that"s okay your project will just have a little bit looser weave!

Handspun Hope Organic Merino Yarn - Certified 100% organic wool yarn is hand spun and dyed in Rwanda by the ladies of Handspun Hope. It comes in 185 yard skeins. Handspun Hope is a certified member of the Fair Trade Federation.

While YouTube is a fantastic resource, sometimes nothing can beat a quality book.Weaving Made Easy by Liz Gipson - Author Liz Gipson give you the tools to make working on a rigid-heddle loom a joy in this revised and updated version of her much loved book. Added to this edition is step-by-step instructions on how to set up your loom in twenty minutes or less, finishing tips, and two new projects, as well as more headers to make it easier to find just the tip you are looking for to make your weaving time more enjoyable.

Inventive Weaving On A Little Loom by Syne Mitchell - This essential guide explores the full capabilities of trigid heddle looms, covering all the basics and offering an amazing array of projects. Crafters will be thrilled by the possibilities: satisfying tapestry and transparency projects, bead weaving and e-textiles, and dramatic effects using simple finger-manipulated techniques. Adding a second or third heddle allows for more complex weaving, such as overshot, shadow weave, and very fine threads

Ashford Book of Rigid Heddle Weaving by Rowena Hart - International weaving teacher, Rowena Hart, shows how you can create exciting, beautiful garments and crafts - all on the simple two shaft rigid heddle loom. In the book she guides you step-by-step through the many techniques, showing just how easy it is to make your woven creations come alive through color and texture.

There are so many creative things you can do with a rigid heddle loom! The most common types of projects are scarves, placemats, dishtowels, or shawls. You can also weave fabric and then sew it with other fabrics to create garments or bags. You are limited by the weaving width of your loom so if you were wanting to make something very wide like a blanket you could only achieve it by sewing together multiple panels of fabric. We recommend playing with plain weave (just standard back and forth weaving, no fancy patterning) and then maybe branching out to try some different techniques! We have a blog post, Rigid Heddle Texture Infusion that details how to make a plain weave scarf using some fun different yarn textures!

We also carry some kits that are great for rigid heddle looms!DJE Timeless 2 Tea Towel Kit - The reason things become "a classic" is timeless appeal and usefulness. Woven on one warp, this classic plaid and striped towel kit (1 towel of each design) features The Woolery"s Bluegrass Mills Hemp yarn. The hemp yarns make a super absorbent fabric with great body, durability and just a touch of shine. With the warp already wound, this is a fast, easy weave for all experience levels. You will need two 8-dent heddles.

DJE Crossroads Infinity Scarf Kit - Utilizing two sizes of hand painted Tencel combined in two color and weave patterns, this design is reminiscent of the patterns created as roads intersect on maps and the landscape. The scarf has lovely shimmer and a luxurious drape.

DJE Bloom Scarf Kit- Featuring Mountain Colors hand-painted 4/8"s 100% merino wool and two variations of leno lace weave, this kit celebrates spring foliage colors. Wet finishing the scarf makes the yarns bloom, creating a super soft, cuddly scarf that is light enough to wear indoors, yet warm enough for snuggly comfort outdoors.

It is important to note - You cannot make rugs on a rigid heddle loom, only rug shaped objects. A rigid heddle loom cannot stand up to the high level of tension required to make a durable rug. This means that any "rug" you create on the rigid heddle loom will deteriorate very quickly to use and be more of a "rug shaped object" than an actual useable rug. If you try to jack up the tension on your rigid heddle loom you will cause the loom to bend out of shape and become damaged over time. If you are insistent that you want to weave rugs you"re going to be looking at a floor loom, not a rigid heddle loom.

We hope this is a good jumping off point for your in your rigid heddle weaving journey and we can"t wait to see all of the beautiful hand woven projects you create!

Want to get started weaving on a rigid heddle loom? These are perfect for those looking to start weaving on an affordable, portable loom that can get you weaving quickly. This course walks step by step through the process of creating a project from beginning to end, using audio slideshows with clear photos and illustrations. From learning the parts of your loom to tying fringe on a finished piece, this course has everything you need to get started. The course includes a pattern for weaving your first scarf. Take the stress out of weaving with this friendly, thorough introduction!

There is so much you can do with a rigid heddle loom! It can be hard to know where to get started once you’re ready to branch out beyond simple plain weave projects. This course covers how to use colour, pattern, and texture to expand your rigid heddle horizons. Using audio slideshows, we talk through the theory behind each element, then move onto tips and tricks for how to put your new knowledge into practice. The course includes three projects, one for each module, that will let you learn with your hands as well as your head. Learn pick-up sticks, colour-and-weave, different finishing techniques, and how to plan colour gradients!