Make Wearable Art with Hand Weaving

Some info here with lots more to come! When it comes to birthstones, there are a lot of choices. Some birthstones are traditional favorites while others have come along from mystical or other influences. There are a number of versions of each list, too.

Here's one version of the traditional list - January/garnet, February/amethyst, March/bloodstone, April/diamond, May/emerald, June/alexandrite, July/ruby, August/carnelian, September/peridot, October/tourmaline, November/topaz, and December/ruby. There are multiple alternative stones for some months: jasper for March, sapphire for April, emerald for June, onyx for July, or aquamarine for October.

Modern birthstones have similar lists - January/garnet, February/amethyst, March/aquamarine, April/diamond, May/emerald, June/pearl, July/ruby, August/peridot, September/sapphire, October/opal, November/citrine, December/blue topaz. Once again, there are multiple alternatives: moonstone for July, tourmaline for October, or topaz for November. According to some sources, this list is the currently preferred US birthstone list.

This necklace is a prototype for a design that I'm doing for an upcoming show. It's woven in fine silver over a sterling silver framework.

New woven art jewelry designs are on the drawing board that incorporate handwoven segments into metal designs and introduce woven metal and other metal elements into fiber pieces. Some will be small pieces of weaving set into silver frames. Another design is for a larger necklace that will have a removable silver pendant as a focal. I've used braiding and twining as well as other techniques in creating these handmade woven fiber pieces.

Weaving and woven objects have been used since the dawn of human civilization as personal adornments. However, "tapestry needleweaving" is a relatively unique form of weaving. Tapestry needleweaving can be used to create necklaces and "pectorals" that are ready to wear from almost the moment the last threads are woven. This technique was originated by Helen Banes, a talented and innovative Washington, DC area fiber artist and jewelry designer.

The terminology for needleweaving is very simple: all weaving involves warps and wefts. Warps are the heavier threads that define the shape of the piece and in this case also carry any beads you want to include in the body of your design. Wefts are the threads and fibers that are woven over and under the warps.

The actual weaving of my handmade woven fiber necklaces is done with No. 3 perle cotton threaded through a small (#18, 20, or 22) tapestry (blunt tip) needle. Any shop that sells cross-stitch, knitting, or similar supplies may have tapestry needles and perle cotton available in lots of colors in this size. I use two threads together for each row I weave - one thread is the perle cotton, the other thread is a lurex metallic (the type used for punch work, or you can use the metallic version of perle cotton). The metallic threads come in many colors which can compliment your perle cotton color or contrast with it. I use No. 3 perle cotton with a tapestry (blunt tip) needle to weave and I put at least two threads through the eye of the needle together. One thread is perle cotton, the other thread is a metallic. Metallic threads come in many colors that can complement your perle cotton color or contrast with it. You can also use two different colors of perle cotton. To start, weave with a basic under/over (plain weave) stitch. Once you are comfortable with weaving, you can experiment with variations (go under 2 or 3 warps then over 2 or 3, etc.). Like all needlework, there's a correct tension or tightness for what you are doing and you'll learn what this is as you go. You will need to weave for a while to get a "feel" for it and for your tension to be uniform. Too loose will not look good and too tight will pull the necklace off the outsides edges of your pattern

Tapestry needles (blunt ends) are made especially for needlework and weaving. The blunt ends of the needles will not split your weaving thread. You'll also want small, sharp scissors. Each row of weaving should be compacted as you proceed. As you weave, compress each new row against the rest. An ordinary table fork works well as a "pusher" to compact the threads after each row.

You add your beads to the warp using microfilament: You thread the microfilament through the loop in the warp in the location where you want your beads. Slide the beads into the proper position. You can add beads from either the top or the bottom, but only one of these options will give you beads along the vertical center line. Keep in mind that you may block access to some parts of the design by adding beads. These points are especially important when you create a design of your own. Once your beads have been added to the warps and the warps are in place, you are ready to weave.

The tarnish that forms on silver pieces is silver sulfide, which is black. A thin coating of silver sulfide on silver will darken the silver surface. Cleaning the silver using most cleaning methods removes the silver sulfide coating, but polishing and most jewelry cleaners also remove some silver during the cleaning process. Here's an approach to cleaning that does not remove any silver, but converts the tarnish back to silver.

The chemical reaction between the silver sulfide and the aluminum only occurs when the two are in contact while in the baking soda solution, so the silver has to touch the aluminum foil. The silver sulfide is converted back to silver and the sulfur is deposited on the aluminum either as yellow flecks of sulfur or as aluminum sulfide. Warming the water speeds up the reaction and the solution carries the sulfur from the silver to the aluminum. Tarnish will begin to disappear within a few minutes. You may need to repeat the process for badly tarnished pieces, reheating the baking soda and water mixture.

You will need a container lined with aluminum foil. The container should be large enough to totally immerse the silver you want to clean. Heat the water and mix in the baking soda at the rate of a cup of baking soda to a gallon of water (adjust the amount of water to the size of your container and silver piece, then add the correct amount of baking soda for the amount of water used). Place the jewelry directly on top of the aluminum foil and add the water and baking soda solution. Some bubbling may occur during this reaction, so you might want to place your container in a larger pan or somewhere where some overflow won't matter.

Caution is needed when cleaning jewelry set with stones. Some stones are porous and should not be immersed in water or any cleaner. Examples are opals, turquoise, malachite, lapis, or pearls.

My woven and handcrafted artisan jewelry includes pendants with a variety of gemstones, gemstone earrings, bracelets, and more - gorgeous handcrafted artisan pearl jewelry that you will love to own and wear or to give as a gift. I've just added a couple of pearl necklaces to my website store and there are matching earrings available.

I love working with pearls and crystals - freshwater pearls, natural clusters of crystals, or individual crystals and pearls wrapped in silver and gold. I place individual pearls and crystals in handcrafted silver or gold settings then mount them in my one-of-a-kind pendants or weave them into exotic earrings or my art jewelry necklace designs. Each piece of my artisan jewelry is handmade using gemstones, Swarovski crystals, and freshwater pearls in hand-woven silver and gold settings.

Recently, I've been inspired to incorporate more pearls into my designs. I have little button pearls, potato pearls, and stick pearls in a number of colors that I'm including in my art jewelry designs. I also have a great selection of coin pearls in some fantastic colors that I'm using in pearl earrings and handmade pearl necklaces. I team the pearls with gemstones and Swarovski crystal.

What do you look for in handcrafted pearl jewelry? My artisan jewelry provides quality, beauty, elegance and more. My handmade pearl jewelry is all handcrafted designs, many of them one-of-a-kind. The handmade pearl jewelry for sale on this site is guaranteed to be handcrafted from the finest pearls and materials. I use sterling silver, pure silver (called fine silver), gold-filled and karat gold along with freshwater pearls, and precious and semi-precious gemstones-superb materials and quality workmanship.

For the discerning handmade artisan pearl jewelry buyer, I offer a selection of AAA and AAA+ pearls. My unique handcrafted pearl necklaces include mixtures of blister pearls, round pearls, and potato pearls, sometimes with a focal accent of little keishi pearl flowers - all accented with Swarovski crystals or gemstones. I'm currently working on a pendant of keishi pearls with rose quartz beads and brios to match earrings I created earlier.

I include lots of gemstones, pearls, and beads in my unique handcrafted bracelets and my handmade necklace and earring designs. Some of my bracelet designs involve yards and yards of coiled silver wire which is wound around a silver bracelet and accented with pearls and gemstone beads. I create handcrafted wound silver beads for my necklaces and some earrings, too. These beads are terrific paired with the lovely freshwater pearls I'm getting these days. My handcrafted artisan jewelry is high quality jewelry that will last a lifetime.

New styles in my handmade jewelry are coming! I've been adding "Like" buttons to my website and I've added a lot of new jewelry pieces, too. In fact, I've redone the entire layout. Take a look

My newest designs in handmade sterling silver art jewelry combine shapes cut from sheets of silver metal with silver wire used in a variety of forms. I select sheet silver in an appropriate thickness, trace my design onto the metal, and cut it out. Once the silver has been cut, I begin to sand and polish my handmade piece of silver art jewelry.

In one design I've combined textured pieces of sterling silver with a prong set cabochon. Each piece of silver has been carefully cut and shaped. I'm experimenting with rivets for joining some of my silver pieces as an alternative to soldering everything. As with everything else in these designs, the rivets are silver and are all handmade. One heart-shaped silver pendant has a prong-set cabochon in the center of the heart. The outer edge has been textured and has a patina applied.

Another of my new handmade silver art jewelry designs is a two part pendant set with larimar cabochons. First I select the silver I want to use and cut out the design with a saw. Then I file and sand to shape and smooth the design. Once I've done most of the polishing, I solder the bezels to hold the stones. For this particular pendant, I also drilled holes in each piece and connected everything with handmade silver jump rings. Some of my new pieces have a lot of texturing of the metal, but this particular pendant has a shiny finish like a mirror.

To increase strength and stability for my woven fine silver pendants and earrings, I'm creating soldered frames for my metal weaving. This construction approach will allow me to design more detailed art jewelry pieces that combine bezel set stones with woven silver elements. All these pieces are handmade from cutting out the various metal shapes through the assembly of all the pieces of the design.

An art jewelry bracelet design that I'm particularly proud of uses large square sterling silver wire which has been coiled into flat spiral elements. I've made each spiral a little different and linked them together with silver jump rings made from the same large square wire. I also made earrings to match the bracelet.

I have a free online tutorial for a little Tapestry Needlewoven amulet bag.


Check it out


You can contact me directly to schedule a group class at my studio in Gainesville, FL.

I have a tutorial for a woven necklace available on my website.

Here's a direct link: tutorials
or visit the main page and choose "tutorials" to see the tut. I hope to have more written tutorials available on my website soon.

Here's a photo of a "Tiny Treasures" bag. The free tutorial for this little woven bag is featured on-line at http://www.susanspassionforjewelry.com in the "ask the experts" section. You can see a gallery of some of my pieces, too.

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If you are in Gainesville, FL you can find some of my woven fiber pieces and metal jewelry on display at the Artisans Guild Gallery in the Millhopper Square shopping area on 16th Blvd. at 43rd St.

Visit my Etsy shop. There's always a lot of new stuff to see!! The photo shows some examples of the bead and woven necklaces I've created over the last several years. The stones used include turquoise, lapis, and coral.

Basically a loom is some device that lets you weave yarns (or threads) into a fabric. A loom can be very small all the way to very large. It can be made from a piece of cardboard or have a wooden framework.

A frame provides a structure. The structure can be a formal wood frame or something like pins inserted in a foamcore board, as in the case of tapestry needleweaving.

According to Wikipedia, the word "Loom" come from lome (Middle English), which meant a tool or implement. Early looms were vertical constructions with warp threads suspended from tree brances or something similar and attached to something heavy at the other end. Ground looms involved warp strung between two rows of pegs.

Frame looms are very similar to ground looms. Frame looms are still popular today and come in a variety of sizes. The Backstrap Loom is a popular, affordable, and portable loom that attaches around the weaver's waist on one end and around some stationary object on the other end.

Following a technical progression next come table looms, rigid heddle looms, and power looms. The first power loom was built around 1785. Modern looms are designed to produce specific types of weaves. The Jacquard loom was developed around 1800 and is a mechanical loom. The jacquard loom uses a series of punch cards corresponding to a row in the design to create the complex patterns to be woven.

Hopefully, this explanation will be clear without photos or drawings. Imagine a square loom with a number of vertical warp threads strung on it. You can weave in a variety of patterns with your weft (whatever thread, yarn, etc., you use to weave with).

The most basic weave is Plain Weave, also called Tabby Weave. Plain Weave is an alternating under/over pattern. From your starting point (usually on the left), go under one warp, then over the next, then under the next - until you complete the row. You then head back in the opposite direction.

You can get an interesting effect by using two colors with Tabby Weave. Use a double weft, one strand of each color, or make one row in one color, then introduce the other color for the next row, then go back to the original color for row three, etc. This works well using two separate needles.

Another interesting effect with Tabby Weave is to create three or four rows with under/over passes, then push the entire thing into an interesting curvy shape.

Twill Weave is over two, then under one, then over two, then under one, etc. Twill Weave is used for blue jeans and similar fabrics.

Basket Weave goes over two, then under two, then over two, etc. You often use a doubled weft for Basket Weave.

Twining lets you create various two color patterns - stripes, etc. You start with a row of Tabby Weave, then introduce the second color (use a smaller needle) and twine the second color around the first, alternating the under and over. You will have alternating stitches in alternating colors.

Regardless of your weaving pattern, you will need something to push the rows together compactly. In Tapestry Needleweaving, I use a table fork. On a larger loom there's a device called a beater for just this purpose.

I think that the style of weaving has a wonderful texture about it. Soumak weaving or soumak tapestry weaving is a very old technique.

You can easily create your own frame for Soumak weaving - a plain square or slightly rectangular wooden frame will do just fine. Hammer some brads or small nails into the top and bottom of the frame to hold your warp in place. The nails should be about 1/4" apart. Although you can use any size frame and any weight of yarn, you may wish to start working a small piece in a smaller frame.

The warp should be something that will not stretch - a waxed linen 4-ply cord might work well. Use a lark's head knot or a slip knot to attach your yarn to the right hand most warp. Pull the knot snug. You will weave to the left, then come back to the right for your second row of weaving.

To start, take your yarn over the next warp to the left, then go completely around that warp, so that your yarn comes out below where you first crossed over the warp and the yarn ends are headed left again. You will continue to the end of your row and then turn and repeat the process to the right.

If every row is the same, you will make a square. If you want to create a triangle, every time you turn you start one warp thread over resulting in one fewer "knots" in each row. Keep weaving until you have completed your triangle.

A plastic comb with wide set teeth makes a good tool for compacting your rows.

When you have finished your weaving, you need to cut and tie off the warp threads. Tie the first two warp threads together, then use the right most thread to tie to the next and so on until all the warps are tied. Run those warps back into the weaving to anchor them and trim the ends off. You can mount your weaving, frame it, or use it as an element of a garment or as an accessory item.