Baby's got a brand new bag

I'm not much of a seamstress, but I figured I could sew the output from learning to weave on a triangle loom. Besides, I planned to felt the bag, so expected any "quirks" to be hidden. And that is what happened.

I used what I guess is called a running stitch to join two pairs of triangles to form the front and back of the bag. I wanted something relatively invisible so the fabric would not look pieced. And that is what I got (after felting).

To join the back and front, I used blanket stitch on three sides. For the flap, I'm guessing the stitch I used is called overcast. Across the purse opening, single crochet provides reinforcement. Fringe finishes off the flap; in retrospect, I should have left the fringe longer. Five-stitch i-cord became the strap.

I haven't felted much, but I remembered enough to put the purse in a mesh bag. Then I tossed it in with the regular laundry, intending to check on it after five minutes of agitation. I forgot all about it, so it went through the whole cold water wash cycle.

I half expected the result to be doll-sized. While the loom is ostensibly 8" on a side (okay, on two sides - the "top" is longer), the material contracts to about 7" when it comes off the loom. After my lackadaisical felting, the purse is about 6" on a side. Perfect for a six-year-old, me thinks.

It's hip to be triangular

Traveling to Portland (INDIANA) for the Jay County Fiber Arts Fest and Spin In is becoming an annual event. I don't really need more sock yarn (yet I bought some) or roving (yet I bought some, llama and yak and Shetland). I certainly don't need another loom, BUT an 8" one was provided as part of a class I took on continuous weaving on a triangular loom. That was so much fun I ordered a larger 24" triangular one from the instructor (shipment TBD).

The materials fee for the class paid for not just a small loom but other tools necessary for weaving a triangle: a latch hook, a weaving needle, and a plastic fork, plus wool yarn.

Learning to continuously weave on a triangle loom is a little more complicated than learning to weave potholders, but once you get the idea, it is easy and fun. Like other weaving, an even tension is important, but maintaining clean selvages is a non-problem. The weave looks fairly open on the loom, but closes some once the piece comes off, then will close more so once the fabric is washed and blocked. (Don't look to closely at the pic above, as there are a few "quirks".)

I made two samples in class last Friday, then the next day redid the first one (to eliminate those quirks) and followed it with three more, all in about an hour or so. I plan to sew them together and add a strap, to create a cheery pocketbook for my granddaughter.

What else can you make with woven triangles? My first thought was kerchiefs for dogs, as my daughter likes to dress up her two pooches. With a large enough loom (the largest we saw adjusts from 3' to 7') one can weave large shawls all in one piece. But actually, triangles may be combined in all sorts of ways to make a variety of objects and combined with knitting or crochet to make even more. One limitation is the fixed nature of the pegs, sort of like a rigid heddle loom with only one heddle. But like I said, it's fun and easy.