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I am new to this guild- just looking at the workshops. In 2.4 I saw you dressing a loom where there are 5 threads you were warping with together. Is this the highest number of threads you would warp with or could I also do it with 8 threads for example? Don‘t know if I expressed myself in an understandable way ….
Margreth from Austria-
Welcome to the Guild, Margreth! There is so much information available to you as a new member! Have you had a chance to watch Season 1? In Episode 1 Jane starts right at the basics – winding a warp. In the third video of that episode she takes us through winding with multiple ends, and explains keeping each thread under control as you wind your warp. The quick answer is it would be very hard to keep that many threads under control and you probably would be unhappy with your warp.
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Hi Juli – I’ve never woven on a Gilmore, but I just looked them up on the web. It looks like you have a good castle that you could wrap 2 long strings on, thread your lease sticks through and tie them onto your back beam. That’s what I do for my David – I don’t keep my lease sticks as low in the back as Jane does. As she says – make it work for you, not necessarily exactly the way she does it 😉
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If you can’t remove the front beam so you can get in closer to the heddles, how would you do this method then? I can remove the reed but not the front beam on my Gilmore loom. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Susan -
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New to B2F and puzzled…
When and how are the loops at the end of the warp cut open before threading the heddles?
Did I miss it? I can’t find anything…-
It looks like Jane cuts her loops before she takes them out of the raddle. However, I cut mine after I’ve brought them out of the raddle and have them draped over my lease sticks ready to thread the heddles. It doesn’t matter when you cut them as long you are ready to start threading. No rules 😉
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Hi,
2 Questions:1. Do you always thread the heddles 1st heddle on shaft 1, 1st heddle on shaft 2, 1st heddle on shafter 3, first heddle on shaft 4 and then repeat? Or does it depend on the pattern you are making?
2. Is there any different considerations you need to make for wire heddles?
Thank You,
Faye from Australia
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It depends on the structure you are weaving. Plainweave – which is the structure we work with in Season 2 and again in Season 3, you thread the way you describe. When we move on to a different structure, Jane will make it clear how to thread other structures.
Thread your metal heddles the same way Jane shows threading her Texsolv heddles. Metal heddles have been used by weavers for a long, long time.
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What do you do if after you have threaded you notice you have extra colors on one section? Does everything need to come out?
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Hi Jane!
What do you do with leftover heddles, when you have a warp that uses the entire width of your loom? I have a Louet Hollandia and as I’ve read that weavers take leftover heddles out I didn’t see an easy way to do that with an Louet loom (or am I wrong?).
So far I bind them together in a tight bundle, but I’m always hoping not to get a too big bundle that shaves on the threaded heddles. I also put empty heddles in between my threaded heddles, so I don’t have to much heddles left on one side, but I assume checking the threading would be easier without it.And in the video it looks like you leave ALL the heddles of not used shafts on the sides. Isn’t that bundling up too much, if you have a warp that uses the entire weaving width?
I instead started to use all shafts, even if I didn’t need them, as I had the feeling my loom works smoother that way. If I leave some shafts unused they seemed to get stuck a lot and I had to fiddle around. After starting to use all of my shafts, that next to never happens. But perhaps that was just a happy accident.
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Yezemin, it sounds like you have found a perfect workaround solution for you and your loom! I’ve done all of the things you mentioned, depending on my warp!
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Jane, this is amazing. I love to weave but hate to dress the loom. I always lose thread because it becomes tangled. I have had 5 college weaving courses and never was I taught to warp back to front. THIS IS AWESOME!!! I can’t wait to dress my loom for the next project. And the very idea that I had to beg friends to help turn the warp on to the loom. Now, if they do help their backs won’t be broken trying to help. I JUST NEED BOOKS and I have several hundred books….no shortage there. Thank you so much for sharing. Gwyn
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Jane, I notice that all your looms have thread heddles…no wire. Is there are reason you prefer thread?
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Hi Gwyn. Most of the looms in Jane’s studio are Louet looms. All of Louet looms are designed to use Texsolv heddles, which are made of crocheted polyester. However, that being said – the loom she has woven her signature mohair blankets on for years is a Leclerc loom which has metal heddles. She also uses a Schacht Baby Wolf in the studio which also has metal heddles as well. Season 1: Episode 8 is “A Few Things about Looms” where you can watch her go through the looms in her Studio and explain the different styles of each loom.
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I am new to the guild, new to my Louet David and new to warping back to front. I am just threading the heddles. In Jane’s video it looks like she is sitting closer than I am even though I have flipped the beater up and taken off the breast beam. I wonder if she has a chair that the legs fit between the treadles as even though I am sitting on the edge of my chair I am having to bend to work. I am learning so much from the online guild. Thanks. Sue
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Hi Sue,
If you have a chair or bench that is a tad lower than what you are using where you’re not bending over, that will really help. I actually have an older chair that the front legs actually fit between the David treadles that I use when threading. The important thing is to be comfortable and low enough so your back won’t hurt. -
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When I make a warp using more that one thread at a time, and then chose one or another to put through the heddle, will I get a mess when I wind on? Why not!!
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Hi pcjm22
You’ll be fine. In this same episode, Jane is threading the Colour & Weave gamp – Season 1 Episode 2.4, 14:45 which has multiple threads that were wound together for the warp. It won’t make a mess when you wind on as long as you keep your threads together in the raddle that were wound together. Give it a try 🙂
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Also, where do I put the raddle on a schacht baby wolf with no tray above the harnesses? And can I use my raddle with one-inch divisions? I usually warp front to back, so have many questions!
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Thank you so much for the Guild! I’m a fairly new weaver and really appreciate learning the b2f way of warping (like so many others, taught f2b first). I’m planning on doing that with my next project on my LeClerc. On my Baby Wolf, I find it easier to go front-to-back since I can take off the back beam to thread the heddles, but I can’t take off the front beam/beater without dissembling the whole loom. Really appreciate your calm demeanor, Jane about “do what you have to do”..it’s about keeping the joy in weaving, right? Thanks again.
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I am not sure I can explain this well. I am wondering about the lease sticks and the threads which make the shed. I notice that there are 3 or so threads on top and the same number on the lower part of the lease sticks. I always thought that there could only be 1 thread up and then the next thread down which will then keep them in order to make the shed ultimately. I must be wrong and not understanding this. And maybe this doesn’t have anything to do with the shed. Perhaps that is the threading that makes the shed. Thanks, Cinda
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Hi Cinda, you can have as many threads as you were holding onto with your hand when you made your warp, so if you were holding 2, you’ll have 2 at the top of the lease stick and 2 on the lower lease stick. The threads in these pairs are close enough to each other to not interfere with the shed later on when you’re weaving. I like to make the warp holding 3 or 4 in my hand if possible, depending on colours & how many cones I have on hand. Still with that many, I end up with a good shed. You’ll have to give it a try with 2, it’ll speed up the warping process 🙂
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I had trouble with my Asymmetry warp example. Long story short while cranking onto the back beam, I broke one warp thread close to the end, near the front of my warp. Can you tell me apx where on the videos and how much time into it, would I find Jane’s instruction for replacing the warping thread that breaks before the warp is even tied onto the front beam?
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I have a countermarche loom where there are cords tied through holes in the bottom heddle bars at the middle, joining them to the lams (or is it lamms?) and so my heddles can’t slide across the whole width freely. How can I think of this step-by-step for dummies so I don’t end up with either too few heddles on the right, or too many bunching up in the middle? Do I just need to count the exact amount of each and a few extra in case?
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With that type of loom I think you have to count them…..however I don’t have one of those. If anyone else out there has any ideas, please chime in.
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Well, I did a silly thing. I didn’t review enough and I took out my lease sticks, therefore lost my cross before threading the heddles. How much extra work have I created for myself? I do still have the threads in the raddle, perhaps that will be helpful. You guys make this look easy. This is my first time warping back to front.
Stephanie
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Well Stephanie, every single one of us has done this at least once. It may be okay if you are very careful. The first thing I would do would be to put a piece of painters tape right across all the your threads on the back thread beam because they are probably pretty straight right now. Tape them right to the beam. This tape will help keep them in order. Then I would work with one section from the raddle at a time. Weavers who wind onto sectional beams don’t have a cross and when I used to do it I would tape each bundle flat from the tension box and thread carefully from there. This is why you want to use a type of tape that is easily removable. Painters tape works very well for this.
Hope this helps,
Jane
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Taping them to the back thread beam before winding them on will keep them from slipping? Well, I should have waited a bit longer because I went ahead and wound them on. UGH! I will keep a keen eye on the colors and try to keep them straight with each raddle, from the first, slowly to the last. The next one will turn out much better I predict!
Thank you,Stephanie
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While I was rolling my warp onto the loom, I did not notice until I started to thread the heddles – that the paper on the one side had folded and some of my threads fell off. I backed up the tension and have been trying to figure this all out but I am having problems. You can see in the photo where I circled that I have two threads in a row going over the same lease stick. This is where I have to start . Any advise would be greatly appreciated!
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I have a few threads that are not in the cross at all. I have no idea where in the warp they should be. Is there a fix for this?
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Hi Susan, those few threads that are out of the cross, they are most likely very close to where they should be. Usually when this happens, and it happens 😉 I thread them where I think they should go by following it to the back of the loom on the warp beam just to double check approximately their position. That said, if they are within an inch or so of where they should be, you’ll be fine. Hope this helps!
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Hi. I am using my Baby Wolf and getting ready to thread the heddles. I am finding that I do not have enough heddles on some of my shafts (I have 8) and do not want to take everything apart and re-organize them. The pattern calls for 4 shafts so I am thinking it would be easier to just use two shafts for one. So, pattern calls for 225 on shaft two, I want to put maybe 115 on two and the remainder on three, since I have enough shafts to do this. My question is, for shaft 2 and 3, do I put on the first 115 on two and then the remainder for a total of 225 on 3 or should they be dispersed, first thread on shaft two, then second thread on shaft three? That seems crazy but not sure if it is necessary or not.
Thanks! Stephanie
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Hello, I’m wondering if there are printed notes for this lesson and the lessons that follow in episode 2. I’ve looked through the PDFs and the one for episode 2 stops with winding on the warp (page 11), after covering only two of the topics listed on the first page. The next file starts with Hemstitching, episode 3.
They told me in grade school that girls learn faster than boys, so if I’m just missing something everyone else is getting, don’t hesitate to say so. But say it slowly.
Thanks,
Keith
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Hi Keith,
Thanks for pointing that out actually, much appreciated! The #3 to #8 are actually presented as videos and not on this or any other PDF. We’ll remove those on that first page, in the meantime, here’s where they are:
#3 Threading the Heddles is video 2.4,
#4 Sleying the Reed is 2.5
#5 Tying on the Apron rod is 2.6,
then we go to Episode 3 for
#7 Bobbin Winding is 3.2,
#8 Shuttle Control & Beating is 3.3
#6, I’m looking for which video as Jane actually shows this is several videos
You know, it’s the first time this has been brought up so I think you’re pretty fast 😉
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Hello, I have been warping front to back and today is the my first try at back to front. I am ready to thread the heddles and think it’s a great idea to raise the heddles, as Jane does, so I don’t have to lean over. I have a “new to me” Harrisville 4/6 36″ and trying to figure out how I can raise the heddles without messing up the cables in the process. When I step on the treadles to raise them, then release the heddles to lift them up with support, it messes up the cables, and they slip off. Is there a way to be successful at this? Thank you for any suggestions!
Update: never mind, I solved it; used my two yoga blocks (with two yard sticks for a little extra height); I placed them on each side above the treadles, on the brace, and resting on the bottom of the castle, just below where the cables are; so no interference with cables themselves (if that makes sense.) I’m now ready to thread the heddles.
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Good morning Jane😊
I have not woven in quite a long time. I am a longarm quilter and that has been my go too. Now being at home I have started again using what you teach and wow this is fun!! I have a table loom and it has alway been a chore to dress it. With these lessons I am actually enjoying the process so much😊😊 Thank you😊🌼
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I used to have a Harrisville where all the heddles could be slid to the left and I could start threading with the first heddle. Now my Schacht table loom has clips on the metal rods so the heddles can only be slid to the center, not all the way right or left. I don’t like this, but is there a way around this? I have been threading the right half from the right to the center and then the left center to the left. I hope my new to me Baby Wolf doesn’t have this quirk.
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Hi- I have a new Baby Wolf and I am a new weaver but this is what I know about this.
In the middle of each shaft there are two metal clips, one at the top and one at the bottom, holding the heddle bars in place. The heddles are threaded onto the top and bottom bars. If you want to move heddles to the other side, you just need to unclip the metal heddle bar clip, move the heddles you want to move, and then reattach the clip. (I have been cautioned against leaving the clip “un-clipped” by an experienced weaver, who said it can cause the shaft to catch on another shaft.) The way you unclip the clip, by the way, takes just a bit of practice – you sort of push up (or down) on the roundish piece while pulling the bar out and away from the clip. Be careful not to pinch yourself! 😉 Then just reverse to reattach.
I have learned to try to figure out how many heddles I will need on each shaft and start with those in the center when I begin threading. Then I check to be sure the threads are coming through straight and centered and try to move the heddle clips if I need to before I sley.
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Jane says while on a loom with a smaller project she doesn’t fuss about heddles not used for the project. I’m on a 24″ table loom and starting a 19″ project. Should I fuss with where non-used heddles should be?
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I am getting so much out of these lessons! Is there a lesson that goes over how to read a draft? This episode assumes that we know which heddle on which shaft is threaded in which order.
Thanks so much!
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Hi Amy,
We do have a video on how to read a draft! You’ll find it right here in It’s the Little Things videos, third video from the top of the page
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Hi folks,
New weaver here:) I’ve done my warp where I held 3 ends together for certain sections of it (felt like a bit of a comedy show as I wrestled with the yarn a bit). So now when I’m threading it into the heddles and I’m super confused about things coming off the cross.
I’ve already actually put half of the warp through the heddles and what I did was just make it alternating over/under and not worried about taking it in order from the cross (close neighbours though). Then I watched one of Jane’s videos where I see she takes them off the cross as they are for a warp that was threaded with multiple ends at a time, so 3 from below directly into the heddles, then 3 from above etc. I can’t understand how you’re going to get plain weave from this. Wont’ your warp be going over and under 3 warp threads at a time then?
In my warp the sections where I held 3 at a time are all the same colour so I’m not switching them around from the cross for colour design purposes, just because I thought that was what you needed to do.
Can you please clarify how I should be taking them off the cross for plain weave when the warp was held 3 threads at at time?
thanks so much, just loving these lessons. Leslie
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Sorry not to get to you sooner, Leslie. The structure in your warp is decided by the heddles and the tie-up of your treadles, not by where your warp threads are in your cross. One of the most important things you do in warping is to thread the warp threads in the order they are in the cross. So, in your case, your 3 ends would be together and you would normally thread them in that order. However, should you have 1 red, 1 white, and 1 red coming through the cross together – for example – and your pattern calls for the 2 reds to be side by side, you can thread them that way, no problem. You can safely move threads within their little bundle in the cross. Does this make sense?
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Thanks Sandra. It makes sense in that I understand what you are saying and will follow those instructions. lol. My poor brain doesn’t fully comprehend how it all translates into the cloth you are weaving but I will suspend my confusion for now and carry on. I’m so excited to try this first project since learning from Jane. I have high hopes that these woolen pillow cases I’m making (from ooooold stash) will actually come out the size they are supposed to, unlike my 2nd ever project where they came out almost half the size I had thought. Can’t wait for Lesson II.
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Hi there,
I am dressing my loom back to front for the first time. The warp is the color and weave gamp from season 2. When I was winding the warp, I used multiple threads in my hand (also for the first time). I followed the sequences until it came to the sequence DDDD/LLLL. For that one, I did DD, DDLL, LL. That means I will have to pull threads between sections in the cross. This is going to make a mess of the warp, isn’t it? I hope I explained this well enough!
thank you.
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You’ll be OK, Carrie. When you get to the LLLLDDDD – your colours are the next ones in your cross. You will be threading by using the next thread in your cross, just as you would have done if you had wound your warp one thread at a time. Your main goal is to keep your yarn in a straight line from your warp beam, through your heddles, reed and tied onto your cloth beam.
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Kimi, I have a Mighty Wolf made in 2007 and I don’t believe the breast beam is removable. If it is I’d love to know how. I find threading the most uncomfortable process in warping. Partially folding the loom helps a bit, but if others have ideas about ways to do it more comfortably I hope you’ll share!
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Hey, I’m new here and fairly new to weaving. I did some towels a long while ago, but want to learn from scratch.
I started watching and then winding my warp to dress my loom b2f. And met a problem.
I have a 24″ Ashford Table Loom. The raddle that came with must be placed on the back beam. I tried to install it behind the levers, so it would be in a position similar to the one in the video. Not possible.
Now I wonder how to do it because the tie on rod will hang behind the back beam loosely when trying to put the treads in the raddle. Or can I ignore that at the moment? I hope I could describe my problem understandably.
Because I didn’t make a raddle cross I can’t switch the Ashford way, so any hint is very much appreciated.
(sorry if my phrasing sounds odd. My native tongue is German)
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I don’t have an Ashford, but I do have a loom that places the raddle on the back beam (Schacht Baby Wolf). When I thread B2F, I bring the apron up and put the loops on the rod (yes, it’s hanging below the beam). Then the threads go thru the raddle and then the lease sticks. I go to the front of the loom and give it a yank or whatever it needs to straighten it out. This will tighten up the threads. Then I am ready to wind on.
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Hi – Every time I follow a patten with different warping sections, my threads are backwards. I thread the heddles from right to left and my pattern indicates that I should be starting from the left- at least if I want everything to work out. I first saw this problem when threading the color and weave gamps. At that time, I thought that I had made mistakes in counting my warp threads as I wound on. Today, is the 3rd or maybe 4th time that I’ve run into this and now realize that somehow, I’m just backwards. I use a warping mill and tie my cross carefully. Wind my warp onto the back beam, go to thread the heddles and voila, it’s all backwards. Any ideas how this happens or what I can do to solve this problem? For today, I plan to reverse the pattern and start with the last threading section and work my way forward. but I know there has to be a better solution.
thanks. joan
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When you wind your warp, and put it on the back beam – do you visualize how it will look when sitting at your loom? What’s on your left as you stand at the back of the loom, is on your right when you sit at the front threading your heddles from right to left. All you need to do is remember what was the first sequence or thread that you wound in your warp and make sure that it’s on the left of the back beam when wound on. Does this make sense to you, Joan? I think that sometimes you are just flipping your warp when you put it onto your rod and inserting your lease sticks.
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Hi, another brand new weaver here.
I would like to make a raddle to use with an older Rasmussen 27″ 4 harness table loom, probably circa the mid 70’s. The castle has a triangle in the middle to accommodate the levers on the top. And the levers above the harnesses are the highest point of the table loom. The pictures on your website show the warp laying evenly from the raddle to the front. Is it important that the threads coming from the raddle towards the front are all on the same plane? I am trying to discern how tall the raddle needs to be in order work best since I plan to clamp it to the top of the castle. Distance from the levers to the bottom of the horizontal crosspiece of the castle frame is 2 3/4″.
Do you have any opinions about spacing on the raddle to be 1/2″ or 1″ increments? Or even both with two rows?
And finally, as long as I am making a raddle, I am wondering about the length. My wood is currently cut to 42″ so it would be considerably longer (wider) than my current table loom. I don’t know if it will create more hassle or not having never dressed a loom to leave the raddle long. If I like weaving it seems that most looms come with a raddle (not sure about that really). I note that one can also get a 3D printed one too…but I am fine messing about with wood.
Thank you for your attention!
Jennifer
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Hi Jennifer – have you gone back to review Season 1, Episode 2, Lesson 2 where Jane talks about placing the raddle in looms that don’t have a built it one? In this video, she attaches the raddle on top of the harnesses, which brings the warp through the middle of the loom. I think attaching it on the top would be problematic with your loom but attaching it to the slats on your harnesses would work. Louet looms have a built in raddle, but I don’t think most other looms do. Hopefully I will be corrected, if I’m wrong. Also, the widest I would put the gap on the raddle you make would probably be ½ inch.
One more thing, you would need to make your raddle to fit inside your loom if you were attaching it to your harnesses. I think making it the right size for the loom you have is the right way to go. I think if it was a lot wider than your loom, it would soon get in your way.
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I have a question about threading order. I’m a lefty so I thread my heddles from L to R. But I’m confused about threading order! I am finding my twill direction to be opposite to what I’m expecting. When I see a draft that shows threading 1-2-3-4 (reading from the right), meaning 1st thread goes onto shaft 1 and 4th thread onto shaft 4 (like Jane did in this video) , what order am I supposed to thread when I start from the left? 1-2-3-4 or 4-3-2-1? Should my threading be mirror to what I see in this video or the same? Is that clear?
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Hi Kimberley, you want the threading on your loom to visually match the draft you are using. Just read your draft, heddle by heddle, starting on the left instead of right. If threading from right to left is 1,2,3,4 – from the left it would be 4,3,2,1. That way every thread is in the order it needs to be when you start weaving. Hope this makes sense.
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