Intertwined Circles: Frame Loom Weaving

Intertwined Circles: Frame Loom Weaving

My journey in the textile field started back in 2015 when I designed a shoe for my Visual Communication class. For the project, I found interesting updates on how the brand Nike was creating fabric for their shoes at the time; and by exploring textures to show a more realistic product, I found myself in love with the idea of learning to weave. From long distance calls I had with my former CP English teacher, I came to know textiles was a career taught in the United States and my eagerness to learn weaving got stronger. Since I’m from Venezuela, the closest thing I had to textiles was Industrial Design; and finding someone to teach me to weave was very difficult. Especially, because at the time of studying in college, the crisis in Venezuela began to worsen.

In 2018, I migrated to Chile. In my persistence to buy a sewing machine, one day I found myself walking the street of Santiago, and I discovered Mrs. Polloni’s workshop where I thought I found my spot. Unfortunately, at the time, I didn’t have the money to pay for the classes. And once I had it, I didn’t have the time. However, many years later, Domestika introduced the course Weaving Pattern Designs on a frame loom to me, which I didn’t give a thought to purchasing; and since then, possibilities became endless.

Lilli loom, comb, stick shuttle, cardboard, pick up stick, shed stick, weaving needle, handspun wool yarn by Keira Wiggins, and 4/4 warping cotton.
Programs for editing: Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop and Rush Premier.

This grid is my own version of a design I saw in my house. I liked the idea of having four circles intertwined, but I had to make it fit in the size of the frame loom.

In the following video, you will see my process of weaving for the very first time.
During the course, Rachel warns not to beat the yarn too hard to avoid results as mine in this first attempt: wefts "squeezed" and a distorted pattern.

For this second attempt, I had to unweave the pattern I did before, and redo the whole thing again. in the following picture, I show some step by step of its process. Here you can see the pattern closer to how it looks in the grid and not so "squeezed".

I love how imperfect our hands can make things but still look beautifully perfect!

Cutting some fringes here, sliding a dowel through the loops over there... now my piece of artwork is ready to be hung!