Learn to Design Patterns & Weave on an Inkle Loom
With Annie MacHale
The inkle loom is a simple tool for weaving useful everyday items.
In this workshop, students will learn the techniques and artistry of inkle weaving from someone with over 4 decades as an exclusive inkle loom weaver.
Students will have the opportunity to look at samples and graphic aids to learn how to use elements of color theory and pattern design to create endless variations on their own. They will also learn two methods of creating patterns using a free online tool and a chart-paper method.
They will then warp and weave the designs they create or ones supplied by the instructor.
Annie will share tips for warping, making heddles, fixing mistakes, starting and stopping, and keeping selvages straight. She will also demonstrate how to temporarily remove and replace the warp, as well as how to cut the final project off the loom and handle it when it is complete.
Buy, Bring, or Rent A Loom for This Workshop
We offer a good selection of top-quality looms for purchase. Begin your weaving journey with a loom of your own! Contact us for more information
If you already have the appropriate loom, please bring that to the workshop.
We also offer a limited number of looms you can rent on-site during this workshop.
Click here to see the looms you can rent for this workshop
Please select the loom you’d like to rent and add it to your cart before clicking the “Register” button.
Learn to Design Patterns & Weave on an Inkle Loom
Loom rental: Schacht Inkle Loom
With Texsolv heddles. On-site rental during workshop.
4 in stock
- Skill level Beginner
- Age appropriate 12+ (minors must have a parent on site)
- Students should bring Inkle loom (preferably an open-sided standard loom. If you have a loom with warp and cloth beams, contact Annie prior to class to discuss). 30 heddles which fit your loom’s requirements (either string or Texsolv). If you are not sure about heddle length, please watch this video and find the right size before class: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJMobaaocT8). Sharp scissors. Stick or belt shuttle (suggested length 6-8”). Note-taking materials, lunch, and a drink. Optional: students students may bring a Laptop or tablet to use with the free online design program, Raktres (https://www.raktres.net/seizenn/#/inkle)
Instructor
Annie MacHaleAt the age of seventeen, Annie MacHale first discovered the inkle loom, sparking a lifelong love affair. She built her first loom in 1976 with the help of her dad and a library book. Since then, she’s woven miles of bands, including over 1,200 guitar straps. She loves to play with colors and patterns and the inkle loom provides a very satisfying way to do this.
Annie is known to many through her blog, ASpinnerWeaver.com. The popularity of her patterns shared there led to the 2019 publication of a book, “In Celebration of Plain Weave: Color and Design Inspiration for Inkle Weavers”. This was followed by another book in 2021, “Three-Color Pickup for Inkle Weavers: A Modern Look at an Ancient Baltic-Style Technique,” in which she shares a rare, older Lithuanian technique that has fallen out of use. In her workshops she shares her decades of experience as a weaver working exclusively on inkle looms, her unique insight into working with color, and her discovery of three-color pickup.
