Directions For Weaving/Textile Projects

Tipi

What you will need...

• Large and small straight sticks
• Twine
• Ribbons. plants, anything that can be used to decorate

 

1. Depending on the size of the tipi you want, gather no less than six sticks (Ours were 6 feet long at least)
2. Gather smaller sticks as well
3. Prop the larger stick up and tie them at the top (I used twine)
4. Stagger the smaller sticks horizontally to the larger ones and secure them with ties
5. Your tipi is ready to be decorated!

Split stick weaves

What you will need...

• Two pronged stick
• Twine or thread
• Ribbons, plants, anything you can use to weave

1. Find a stick shaped like a wishbone- one branch that splits into two relatively equal segments
2. Take yarn or a ribbon that will be used for the warp  (I found thinner material works better)
3. Tie the thread to the base of the stick, wrap the thread up the pronged stick using a figure eight motion
4. Once you secure the warp, you can use thread, plants, sticks etc as the weft

CD weaves  

Here's what you will need... 

• Old CD's
• Twine or Yarn
• Fabric and ribbons

1. Tie a string around a CD and loop it around the CD multiple times until you can tie it back around- this is the warp
2. Tie a string to the warp to hang it
3.  Chose a fabric or sting and tie to the inner warp
4. weave it in and out of the warp- to change the thread, just tie a new fabric or string to the old weft (I Left a Tail on mine)

Cardboard weave

What you will need...

• Cardboard (cut into a circle)
• Thread or twine
• Fabric and ribbons

1. Find or make a piece of flat, round cardboard
2. Cut shallow slits in the cardboard 
3. Take a string and wrap it through the slits on the cardboard and tie the ends together- this is the warp
4. Like the CD, tie fabric or string around the base of the warp to create the weave

Wire Weave

(very simple)

Here's what you'll need...

• Wire
• Thread, fabric, yarn

1. Create a closed shape out of wire
2. Wrap  a string around the outer edge to fill it in
3. You can even weave fabric or plants into the warp if you want

Dye

Here's what you will need...

• Berries, Flowers, Plants, Spices 

• I used- blueberries- raspberries- blackberries- red cabbage- turmeric- Queen Ann's Lace, cherries, and red onion)
•  Cotton or wool fabric
• Alum  

1. Soak fabric in pot of boiling water and alum for about an hour- do this in preparation for dying- the alum helps the dye adhere to the material
2. Mix a 1:2 ratio of material (berries, bark, vegetable) to water and boil
      -For spices like turmeric- 1 tablespoon to 2 cups ratio
3. Boil each mixture for an hour- the longer you let it boil, the more vibrant the color

Red Cabbage make this beautiful blue color- and when applied to cotton, it makes green!

Red cabbage, turmeric and red raspberry

*Only natural plant or animal fibers (cotton/wool) will take to the dye. Dye derived from natural materials will not adhere to acrylic thread.