Creativity Countdown Week 7: Weaving (And craft project failures)
Ever have one of those weeks when your to do list is so much longer than the actual hours you have to complete everything? (I'm sure most of us have those weeks quite frequently.)Last week was one of them. This post was on that to do list - optimistically. I would be ahead of the game. But it didn't happen. So this morning I had this and another thing that had a morning deadline that I couldn't ignore.So when I got to this post, I was distracted. I actually didn't feel that way at the time, but I was. That's how mistakes happen.Week 7Each Monday for the next 7 weeks I’ll be posting a Creativity Booster. There will be a variety of activities to try. Sometimes there will be videos and sometimes photos. These activities will boost your creativity and make you feel more creative so that you can express yourself in your jewelry making.What are we counting down to?Well, I’m so glad you asked! January 5, 2015 (I know it seems far off now!) we’ll be starting our next round of Rediscover Your Creativity & Make Jewelry eCourse. It’s a six week eCourse with weekly prompts to help you rediscover or boost your creativity, jewelry lessons and jewelry projects.To learn more about Rediscover Your Creativity & Make Jewelry, click here.Week 8 can be found here.WeavingI had been thinking about doing a weaving project for a little while. I had been thinking about creative things I enjoyed as a child. One of them was weaving. I remember using a paper plate in art class to make a circular weaving. I also remembered having one of those looms where you would make potholders.I decided it would be fun to do some weaving. And I have this idea of attaching it to an abstract painting since I really enjoy making mixed medium art.So I knew how I wanted to create the piece, but I decided to see if I could see how other people were doing it. I found this "How to Weave on a Cardboard Loom" tutorial on Instructables. I don't remember doing it in quite this way, but it looked so handy and neat I decided to try it this way.I had imagined I would just wrap the yarn all the way around the cardboard and then cut the ends and tie them close to the weaving (and as you'll see as you go through I ended up having to do it this way), but I liked that this tutorial you simply pulled everything tightly and it was all nice and neat.And then I made a mistake.See, even though I was photographing this tutorial to show you what I did, I didn't even notice that somehow I had wrapped completely around once instead of setting up my loom as the instructions indicated.
I even took this photo and didn't realize it at the time. Had I realized it, I would have fixed it.So instead, I weaved the entire piece and at the end when I went to take it off the loom I realized my mistake.I sat there for a little bit, walked away, got frustrated and weighed out my options. I had just spent a bunch of time creating the piece and I really liked how it turned out, besides my mistake in the back, of course. I decided to just do what I first thought I would do, which is cut the strings and tie them at the top rather than starting over. And I actually do like how it turned out, even though it was a mistake.
LessonThe lesson here is that sometimes you'll make mistakes when creating. Let me rephrase that. Oftentimes you'll make mistakes. Maybe even a lot of the time. Don't let that stand in your way. For one, I know that when I weave again in this way I'll never make that mistake again. For another, I may have realized that I don't wish to do it that way anyway.I have made soooo very many mistakes in jewelry making, too. Sometimes mistakes have become the main feature of my jewelry pieces. I did it differently and I'm happy with how it came out. Sometimes I started over.I often get emails and comments that people are so worried that they will mess up so they don't start. You don't even know if you're going to mess up if you don't try. And if you do mess up -- and you will -- then you'll learn valuable lessons. You may learn to not make that mistake again. Or even better yet, you may learn a new way of doing something or a new style that you wouldn't have even known about had you done it perfectly to begin with.Another way of doing thingsI'm a big fan of not letting people tell me how to do things. Also, that there is more than one way to do things. Throughout my years making jewelry there has been people out there who haughtily say "This is how you do it. There isn't another way."I don't buy into that. I believe jewelry making is an art. I think when you're learning it's great and important to learn from other people. (I mean, I do have this whole website teaching people how to make jewelry, right?) But if their way doesn't work for you, try another way. Maybe there's someone else who fits better with you. Or maybe you'll find your own way! That is beautiful. That's self-expression.If you find you hate what you made, then try again in a different way. If you like it -- despite what other people say -- then go with it. You have a voice that needs to be heard and there's room for everyone's voice.WeavingNow onto my weaving. I have the steps below with my mistakes because I kept them and learned to adapt as I went along with this weaving piece. If you're interested in seeing it without mistakes, click here for the tutorial that inspired me.The difference between my piece and the piece I linked to is that I used fabric strips instead of yarn.Also, I was going for a more boho style rather than perfect. I left the frayed edges and made knots visibly instead of tucking things in. You can decide how you would like to express yourself. You can mix it up with yarn, fabric, ribbon or anything else you can think of. In my final piece I plan to attach the weaving to an abstract painted background and add one or more buttons to it as well.If weaving isn't your thing, try something else new you haven't before or think back to your childhood and what you used to enjoy doing back then.
Here's the tutorial:Materials and Tools:
- A piece of cardboard
- Yarn or some other sturdy stringing material
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Tape
- Yarn, fabric, ribbon or whatever you want to weave
Step #1
First I cut a piece of cardboard to about 8" by 8". This doesn't need to be perfect, but it does have to be larger than how large you would like your finished piece to be.About the cardboard: The cardboard I used was about the strength of a cereal box and it worked fine. You can use a piece from a cardboard box or whatever you have around.Step #2
Then I made marks 1/4" apart on the top and bottom of the cardboard. The first marks are 1/2" from either side.Step #3
Now make little cuts where you made the marks.Step #4
Tape the end of the yarn to the back of the cardboard.Step #5
So here's where I messed up, so don't make my mistake!Pull the yard down through the first notch at the top and then across the front of the cardboard and into the first notch at the bottom. Then bring the yarn to the front through the second notch and back up to the second notch at the top of the cardboard. Continue until you get to the end.Tape down the other end of the yarn to the back of the cardboard.The third picture shows my mistake. There should not be yarn running across the back of the loom like that.Step #6
I used about 1/2" strips of fabric (but I didn't measure them, to be honest). I didn't cut them, I just tore the strips so they would be frayed.Like I mentioned, you can use whatever you like here such as yarn, ribbon or whatever else you come up with.Step #7
Now, here's where the fun begins, the actual weaving!Start under the first string, over the next, under the next and continue to the end.HINT: I had the idea that I would just tie all of my strips together at the beginning and start weaving. It was a bad idea because it was too balky to weave and I ended up cutting them back apart.Step #8
When you get to the end bring the fabric/yarn/whatever you're weaving with around and go back in the other direction in the same way. If your last weave was under, go over the yarn when you turn back the other way. Going back, the weaving should be opposite of the previous one.Just continue doing this until you get to the end of your fabric strip or yarn or wish to change colors.Step #9
Now, to add in more fabric or yarn, I simply tied a knot attaching the first fabric to the second and was just careful to get the knot in between 2 of the loom yarns and pulled it to the front. I wanted my knots to show because that's part of the look I was going for.If you want a neater look, then do not knot them. Just end the fabric strip or yarn at the end and then you'll work then in at the end. To see this, click here to go to our instrucables inspiration since she did a neater, tuck in at the end system.Step #10
When you're done weaving, take the end and kind of weave it vertically up into your piece.Step #11
So here is where I realized my mistake.Normally, you could just pull off your weaving and pull the ends tight and bring it all neatly together. That wouldn't work in my case. So I just started at one end and cut the loops, tied them. I did the top and then did the same with the corresponding bottom, pulling the weaving tightly as I went. I continued until everything was tied.Then I trimmed off the ends so everything was neat.
Now you can use this for whatever you like. As I mentioned, I plan to use mine in a mixed media art piece. You might want to make a set of coasters or maybe a wall hanging. Maybe just the act of weaving itself will inspire your creativity and you won't even do anything further with your weaved piece, and that's awesome, too!I find that even though my main art is jewelry making, doing other art forms makes me feel more creative overall and helps me with ideas for jewelry making.Maybe I'll incorporate weaving into jewelry making or maybe I will just feel more creative and come up with more ideas for jewelry making having nothing to do with weaving at all.My eCourse Rediscover Your Creativity & Make Jewelry starts on January 5th, 2015! Get in now before the price goes up! Get all the juicy details on this fun and creative block lifting eCourse here.