fingerweave

[blacktail]

anyone out there know how to fingerweave? i need a new sash. traditional iroquois chevron style. can anyone help?

[Blackbear]

You might want to buy a book on fingerweaving for details ... it's like making those friendship bracelets that used to be really popular but on a larger grander scale.... you can buy an assumption sash at Iroqrafts for a descent price but will be limited to color and the quality is so so... it takes alot of time and patience to do this so if you learn..hone it well because there are alot of people who need fingerwoven items... just ask BoJangles!

[Czechy]

Here is an online store that offers a variety of styles. They are also called Eholee-Opal.

Welcome to Eholee-Opal Designs

[warhoop]

if you think beading is monotonous.....

I have only created a couple of pieces, I know what kind of piece you are looking for. I do also understand that making a piece means more than buying it. The design you are talking about takes a little more skill than what i have done. I must caution you before I leave is if ou think beading is tedious and stretches you to the limits of your patience then obviously you have never tried fingerweaving. when a mistake happens one usually doesn't catch till several lines later. patience is the greatest virtue when dealing with this craft, practice will only make you faster. It is not hard to learn it takes studying the books out there to get the general idea of things. As for suggesting books I can't really suggest any, mainly because it's hard to diagram it into easy steps for a beginner to understand. Good Luck

[J.L. Benet]

Finger Weaving a Sash
That site should help. The chevron is actually a very easy pattern to master. I'd do a set of garters first so you get the hang of it. You can whip up a garter quickly if you make mistakes, but if you have uneven tension in the sash, it will really show. Try to keep the tension tight. Ideally, you shouldn't be able to see light through the sash.

[trob226]

Finger Weaving a Sash
That site should help. The chevron is actually a very easy pattern to master. I'd do a set of garters first so you get the hang of it. You can whip up a garter quickly if you make mistakes, but if you have uneven tension in the sash, it will really show. Try to keep the tension tight. Ideally, you shouldn't be able to see light through the sash.

This is my biggest frustration with fingerweaving - keeping the tension tight so you can't see light through the sash. I'm just not mastering it, at least on the chevron weave. Any good hints for improving my weaving?

[J.L. Benet]

Pull the threads tight every time. Not just the last row you did, but the previous rows as well. When you finish weaving the strand through and pulling it tight, spread open the top and bottom threads open like a clam. This helps tighten that thread in there, and keep the proper tension. Keeping going. It will get easier the more you do it.

[trob226]

Pull the threads tight every time. Not just the last row you did, but the previous rows as well. When you finish weaving the strand through and pulling it tight, spread open the top and bottom threads open like a clam. This helps tighten that thread in there, and keep the proper tension. Keeping going. It will get easier the more you do it.

That's what I'm doing - I just I'll just have to keep practicing. Thanks.

[trob226]

JLB - hey, your hints and your link - and practice - are working! I added one more thing - After I get the threads set between to small dowels, I not only tightly fasten the dowels together, but I also pin them down to a pillow, so they don't move around. As I finish a few inches of weaving, I pull it through so I'm never weaving all that far from the dowels. Everything is staying really steady that way, and I'm almost finished a real basic belt. Thanks!

[J.L. Benet]

Good to hear it's going well. Sorry I forgot to mention the safety pinning to a pillow trick, but it's good that you figured it out on your own. It does help keep things more stable. I've also used a clipboard. It clamps down on the section already done, and gives a good surface to work on. It depends on what I'm working on though, as I still pin to a pillow or the arm of my couch as well.

[trob226]

Good to hear it's going well. Sorry I forgot to mention the safety pinning to a pillow trick, but it's good that you figured it out on your own. It does help keep things more stable. I've also used a clipboard. It clamps down on the section already done, and gives a good surface to work on. It depends on what I'm working on though, as I still pin to a pillow or the arm of my couch as well.

I tried the clipboard thing too, but I don't like it as well. And yeah, fingerweaving takes a LOT more patience than beading, but it's just as gratifying to watch the pattern develop as you go along.

[lynda hunter]

Finerweaving

My sister passed away this spring ,was a great fingerweaver(I should have paid more attention)There is a site Nativetech.org/finger/beltinstr.,that has instruction for making fingerweave sashes.

[J.L. Benet]

What I've found really works well are the Twixit! style chip clips.