Weaving

A woven wall hanging I made.

Among my various creative interests is weaving. Today I am going to share how I picked up one of my favorite creative hobbies. I picked up weaving as a hobby about a year ago. I started seeing a lot of beautiful woven wall hangings on websites like Pinterest and Etsy. I was moving into a new house at the time and was looking for some wall decorations and I thought these pieces were unique works of art that looked great on wall and was a lot more interesting than a picture or poster.  I originally just wanted to purchase one as a decoration, but not long into my search for the perfect wall hanging, I realized they were very expensive online. After some quick research about weaving techniques, I thought “why don’t I just make my own”? After looking for a loom to start weaving on, I quickly noticed they were also rather expensive. My solution to not wanting to spend too much money was again “why don’t I just make my own?”. I acquired the help of my grandfather who is a skilled woodworker. Him and I worked together to make a custom loom. Making the loom was not too complicated. Basically, we just made a wooden frame with notches on it, to wrap the string around. It only took us one afternoon to complete the loom project. As soon as it was finished I took it home and started my first weaving. After I completed it I was hooked. I started using most of my spare time to weave.  Soon I began to sell my woven wares to friends and family, and eventually moved to small craft fair events. I then began taking custom orders and completing them.  I still weave in my spare time and after a long day, I enjoy coming home and weaving and listening to music or watching some television. It helps me unwind. I enjoy weaving because it is an almost mindless task that can be very relaxing. Weaving allows me to come up with a creative design but then be able to relax while I’m creating it. The process of weaving is extremely simple and anybody who has patience can do it. Although it can be very tedious, it is very rewarding once you finish a piece and see it hanging on a wall somewhere.

A custom woven wall hanging for a local high school sports team I made.