Cardboard Weaving from Earlier this year.

I was asked to speak to Ella's Kindergarten Class in February about knitting and weaving.  I ended up making cardboard looms for the class as well.  They were a big hit.

Here's a quick summary and some pictures of how to do this at home.  (Pics show a knife being used instead of a craft stick.  This was on my prototype before I went to the craft store to buy the craft sticks.  The kids received no-knife shuttles.  LOL)

An alternative to making your own looms is to go to Blick Art Supply.  They sell sets of a dozen pre-cut cardboard looms.

A cardboard loom is a great way to introduce children to weaving and to fiber arts in general.  They are simple to make and fun to use.

Materials needed:

Cardboard

Scissors

Tape

Yarn

Craft Stick

Large Eyed Needle

Making the loom

1. Cut a piece of cardboard from a box, cereal box or poster board.  The piece should be thin enough to easily cut with scissors, but firm enough that it will not bend easily with the weaving.
2. Cut slits every quarter inch at the top and bottom of the board as shown.

Warping the Loom (Stringing it up)

1. Leaving a 3” tail, tape the end of your warp string/yarn to the back, bottom left of your loom. 
2. Bring the yarn through the bottom left slot and up to the top left slot.
3. Wrap around behind the cardboard between the 1^st and 2^nd slot and bring back through the second slot on top back down to the bottom second slot.
4. Wrap around behind the cardboard between the 2^nd and 3^rd slot and bring back through the third slot on the bottom back up to the third slot on top.
5. Continue these stops across the cardboard, finishing at last slot and taping a 3” tail to the back.

Weaving

1. Tape a long piece of yarn to a craft stick.
2. Starting at bottom left, begin weaving the yarn through.  Over the first warp thread, under then next, over the next, under the next, across the warp.
3. When you reach the end of the row, work back across the loom, alternating the over under from the previous pass.
4. Every pass or 2, snug up the rows to each other with the end of the craft stick, your fingers, or a wide tooth comb also works well.
5. Work as high on the loom as you want, but leave enough warp at top to cut and tie in a knot.
6. When you finish, remove piece from loom and knot ends.  Trim them to ¼”
7. Weave in loose ends using large eyed, blunt needle.