(This set of instructions is written for people who have some basic weaving experience and who have also some knowledge of basic weaving terms .)
Materials you will need to construct the loom
The above materials will make a very serviceable 12" wide Backstrap loom. Here's how to prepare the material to make the loom:
The only pieces of actual weaving equipment you will need to weave with this loom are a shed stick (approx. 15" long) and a shuttle stick (approx 11" long).
The above diagram gives you an idea of how the loom is setup. As with any type of weaving, of course, the hardest part is the warping of the loom.
When making the warp chain for a backstrap loom, it is imperative that you make a double cross in the chain, i. e., the chain should be shaped in a double figure-eight. The beginning and end of the warp should be tied to itself in the form of a loop. Thus the warp is a continous double figure-eight wrapping.
The easiest fabrics to weave on backstrap looms are warp-faced textiles. This basically means that the number of ends per inch will be the same as the number of threads that will fit into an inch of space. Suppose you wanted to weave an eight inch wide strip of cloth out of cotton yarn that wrapped at forty-eight ends to the inch. You would need to wrap a warp chain of 384 ends. You could lay in stripes of various colors in the warp as you go.
When the winding of the warp is complete, you MUST tie a looped cord through each cross to keep it from coming out when the warp is taken from the warping frame. The two looped ends of the chain are merely transfered to the two end beams of the loom directly. After this is done, you can begin the dressing of the loom in earnest.
(WARNING! You are definitely going to want to turn on the answering machine at this point, because it is not possible to get yourself free from this loom's confines in time to answer the phone without completely destroying your warp.) Being carefully not the futz up the warpchain you just made, attach the warp beam of the loom to the warp beam cord, and attach the cord to a tree, pole, mounted hook, or whatever is available. Then, taking the cloth beam in your hand, and your backstrap in the other, stretch the warp out taught, and then sit down in the spot where that places you. Attach one end of the cloth beam to the backstrap, bring the strap around your waist, and attach the other end of the strap to the other end of the beam. Scoot back until the warp is good and taught (not too much, or your warp will begin to snap!).
At this point you are ready to dress the loom. First, you must spread the warp evenly on the beam, both front and back. Make sure that you spread is symmetrically from the center of the beams. Use a ruller to help you get the right number of threads running over each inch of the beam.
In the space that is formed between the two crosses, you will now insert the shed roll. Do this by taking one of the cross ties in one hand by both of its ends and leaning slightly forward to create some slack in the warp. Make sure that the space that forms in this area is a true shed before your insert the shed roll. Once you have inserted it, lean back again to restore the tension. Now do the same thing with the thinner lease stick in the space above the upper cross, and with the sword beater in the space below the lower cross. At this point both cross should be surrounded with these three tools. Double check one last time to be sure that all three of the shed you just pulled are true and represent exactly the crosses you tied on the warping frame. THIS IS IMPORTANT!
Now the string heddles can be formed in the shed closest to you. In this shed insert the end of the cord you will use for the heddles leaving the other end coming off the ball or cone. Place your heddle rod on top of the warp and attach the end of the heddle cord to it using a slipknot. Keeping this shed open with the sword beater, bring the cord up between each warp end in order and wrap it around the heddle rod, twisting the cord one way for the first end, and the other way for the second. By reversing the twist on this cord as it goes over the rod, the heddles will simply lay over the rod instead of being wrapped around it. This kind of placement makes for easy removal of the heddles should the need arise. Continue making the heddles all the way across the warp making sure that they are of roughly equal length (the trick here is to hold the rod parallel to the warp surface at a fixed distance). When you reach the end, wrap the cord around the rod several times then cut the cord leaving a tail on it about three time the width of the warp itself. pass this cord arond the rod and through the open spaces in the heddles, wrapping it along at an oblique angle, then, when you reach the opposite end, reversing and coming back along the rod in the same way to make crosshatched, small bundles of heddles. Tie the cord off at the other end to secure it. You are now ready to weave.
There are now two sheds availabe for your use on this loom, the soft shed, and the hard shed:
The soft shed is formed by grasping the heddle rod with one hand, the shed roll with the other, and while leaning slightly forward to relax the tension, pulling up on the heddle rod and pushing down on the shed roll. You can make the shed cleaner if need be by grabbing various areas on the shed roll and lowering the threads that run over each area of it in turn. When the shed is clean, insert the sword beater and stand it on edge within the shed. Lean back again to tighten the warp and you are now ready to throw your weft.
The hard shed if formed by letting go of both the heddle rod and the shed roll and by leaning back, increasing the tension on the warp. This will cause the threads which run over the shed roll to pop up onto the surface, forming a shed. Insert the sword beater, stand it on edge and relax the tension a little. You can now throw the weft again.
One packs the weft into the warp at the beginning of the next shed. After the shed is formed, insert the beater and, grasping it on both sides with both hands, pack the previous pick of weft down into the warp.
This weaving method produces warp-faced cloth, so you only need to lay the weft in the shed straight across, leaving no slack at all. Also remember to pull the selvedges a little tighter than you normally would on a balanced fabric, or you will get wispy rough edges.
This is the basic weaving process for the Backstrap loom.
Page last updated 5/11/98.
Here's a link to another page on this topic: How Preindustrial Looms Work
This page written by Burleigh Custis. Questions? Write to:btcustis@aol.com.