New Yarn Susan's

This sweet little yarn Susan is made using a vintage quill bobbin.  I have a ton of these and what better way to up-cycle them.  Adding the hardware for this was a bit difficult to figure out but I finally did it!  So excited about my new store product.
Here she is, my first Yarn Susan!

A gaggle of handmade rigid heddle looms

This is a order I just finished and just shipped off today.  These are for a class being given in Ohio.  I'm super excited at how nice these turned out.  I had to show them off, so here they are.

A Bench of a different color

Or different wood.  ..... :)
So, I've been making adjustable weaving benches for years...about 20 now I guess... and I always make them from pine so I can offer them much cheaper for people who couldn't otherwise afford a nice adjustable bench.  Weaving shouldn't be only for the rich, and I think if budding new wanna be weaver not making a 3 figure salary wants to weave then ....why shouldn't they also be able to afford to weave and have some of the tools that make it more of a pleasure. That has been my mission all these years... and this year I've decided to expand what I offer as you might have noticed (if your following) from some of my previous posts.

Any-who back to the story (us older people sometimes get off track ;) )

I got a bug in my back end this past weekend and made a Large Oak adjustable weaving bench and a small Poplar adjustable weaving bench with a spool holder.  Yes they are beautiful and I'm still offering them rather reasonable compared to larger companies ( I'm a one woman show) and I wanted to post them for you all to see.  There is also a pine one here in the mix, it is a customers order.

Soon  very soon, I will be offering a Lazy Kate as a pocket topper (like the spool holder) that is super exciting to me.  :)  I've had many spinners tell me they love my bench for sitting and spinning fiber so that's the reason I'll be offering this option....oh and on that note  there are some Lazy Susan's on the horizon too!!!!!
Oh okay I'll stop blabbing and post the darn pictures...  Have a great day all one of you :)

Handmade Double Bobbin Boat Shuttle

Here is my first double bobbin boat shuttles.  I'm planning some rigid heddle double bobbin boat shuttles too.  :)  I'm very pleased with these.  Took several very bad ones to get them to where there are now, ready to post for sale.  :)

New Chatelaines and Heirloom pewter tools.

I am excited to show you some new heirloom sewing tools for my Etsy Handywoman shop.  These are so lovely don't you think???? :)

A Boat Shuttle for an Inkle loom

If you've ever woven using an inkle loom or rigid heddle loom and used a standard yarn shuttle you are going to appreciate my effort to make a boat shuttle for the inkle loom.  The way a boat shuttle dispenses yarn is so amazing and takes no more effort than your initial wind onto your bobbin.  So this is why I felt it was important to offer a boat shuttle not only for floor looms, or my rigid heddle loom but also for my inkle looms!  So now you can get your own boat shuttle for the even the small Inkle loom!

And here she is....

More Handmade Weaving Boat Shuttles

I finally found a great source for hardwood besides oak and poplar not far from me called Hardwood products.  I made the trip on Tuesday and bought some Tiger/curly Maple, Hard Maple, Black Walnut and African Mahogany.  Some 2 inches thick which is perfect for shuttles.  I've made a new 9 inch shuttle out of Oak, Pine and now Black Walnut.  Today I'm planning on making one in Hard Maple.

Here are my new boat shuttles.  My new boat shuttle for an inkle loom.  They are rather thin with a beating edge.    Anyway here are my new handmade boat shuttles.  You can find Maple, Cherry and some Walnut at www.handywoman.etsy.com and if you like exotics you can find those at www.handywomanshop.com

Handmade Rigid Heddle Yarn shuttle

You might have noticed (or not) I've been working on projects for my weaving shop.  I'm trying to add more handmade weaving tools to my shop for sale.  I started with a few new looms, the rigid heddle loom, the Inkle Loom and the simple lap loom and simple rug yarn shuttles for these looms.  Well, I've been wanting for years to make a proper boat shuttle and decided that weaving with a rigid heddle loom would be so much more fun if I had a boat shuttle that would fit under the narrow shed.  Well so I finally worked it out.  Eventually they will use a magnet to keep the bar in place but the stainless steel rod I already had doesn't work with magnets so here is my new boat shuttle for now.  When I use up all this rod and get new rod I will re-engineer this shuttle so that it will be easier to make

My first one.

and now the design will look like these

Sewing Box Table

This was a labor of love.  I spent a great deal of time making this little ladies sewing table.  There was a time when you could purchase a side chair table that was made specifically for keeping a ladies handwork and tools next to them, keeping everything at hand.  Weren't those the days?!?
I guess since less items are hand made today the need for such an item has long past.  These now can only be found if you are fortunate enough and able to afford to purchase an antique or vintage one.

Well of course I just had to see if I could possibly make one.  I did try to give mine a more updated look compared to the images of them I found on the internet.  I am please with it and I love the image I found to transfer to the top; I think it makes it special.

Well without further ado here is my sewing box table complete.

Handmade Rigid Heddle Loom

This one took me FOREVER to figure out how to make.  I looked at what seems like one thousand ridged heddle looms to decided how to make this little guy.  The hard part, well that would be the heddle and heddle stand.  I must and I mean I must find an easier solution for these.  The gears were actually fun to make and I'm pleased with them.
Well without further blabbering here she is, of course I still need to route all the edges to make her look presentable but I couldn't contain myself one moment longer to take pictures and get this post up.  Yes that is how excited I am about this little loom.

And here she is finished...

These are as I was working the design out and still working on a more professional heddle!

My little workshop

Sometimes people wonder where I make all my weaving tools...  well this humble abode is all mine. It's taken me many years to acquire all the tools I own and with each tool my job gets a little easier.   I'm going to be making it better soon.  Adding more cabinets and more outlets.  In this picture my scroll saw is out because I'm making a bench and I have to remove some of the wood in the openings before I can route them (saves work on my router :) )  So anyway, today I'm making a bench for a customer.  Here is my shop and here is the bench (work in progress).
Hope you enjoy seeing where I create.  :)
Have a great day!

Then finished :)

My first Inkle Loom build project

So...  it only took me a little over a week to figure out all the joints on this project and the slot, the slot OH MY that slot!  lol  Well, here is my very first Inkle loom finally finished.  The fantastic thing is I have also made all the jigs required to make this so simple looking loom....Might be simple for some but trust me when I tell you it really made me think so hard it hurt!
Well never fear, she said she would and so she did!