ALWAYS TIE THE WARP...Not the time warp.

So I have been working and co-teaching with an art teacher in Powers, Michigan over the past year and she gave me some lesson plans for weaving. I thought she meant large, free-standing loom weaving and I was wary. Instead, she had given me templates for students to make their own looms out of strips of cardboard! I was experimenting with the process last night and I almost pulled my entire weaving apart, but now I understand what I did wrong... Always learning.

I opted to take on the challenge of weaving a pouch. I wanted to try out this craft for some of my older campers seeing as my co-teacher has such success with it in her older grades.

 ** Very important! Pull weaving TIGHT on warp threads. This will ensure a secure weaving consistency and a way easier time finishing the piece.**

 My mistake occurred when I pulled the weaving off of the loom and forgot how to tighten and trim the warp threads. This left me with a bunch of loops at the top, or opening, of the pouch. I opted to sew the edges to try and correct my mistake.. we'll see if it holds!

The correct process is to cut the warp loops and tie them together to close them again. This creates a chain between the warp threads and the weaving... sewing was a giant pain. I recommend doing it right the first time!!

 All in all, didn't turn out too bad! It took about 2.5 hours of weaving, not including preparation of the looms (of which I made over 20). I translate that to almost three craft cabin sessions (est. 50minutes each)

I will have students measure out the increments for their loom's teeth when we get to this project.. and instead of doing demonstration before the project begins I will do a walk-along project with them. We can all learn together and all possibly mess up- and correct mistakes- together too.

Here are some of the links I used for reference. Picture-heavy, but very helpful and easy to understand!

Link to simple weaving pattern instructions
There's a Dragon in my Art Room: 5th Graders Weave Pouches!

Ms. K