I'll start by saying that although I do multi-shaft weaving full-time and a reasonable amount of rigid heddle weaving, I've never woven on an inkle loom.  So perhaps it was a mistake to begin the way I did...by having my son build me an inkle loom out of PVC pipe following the directions in the Weaving Today free ebook.  He had no problem following the directions to build & assemble the loom.

Then I tried to warp & weave.  I admit that I found the directions difficult to follow, so it's likely I did something wrong.  I'm also pretty sure I made a mistake by using 8/2 cotton for my trial instead of something thicker, and by making my string heddles out of cotton that is thicker than the warp yarn.  But I don't want to re-warp or make new heddles till I figure out what else I've done wrong.

Here's a photo of my warped loom.  PVC inkle loom

 

It seems like the photos in the directions to me.  But I can't really make the shed with the unheddled warp threads on the bottom without using 2 hands.  I've watched YouTube videos on inkle weaving (although all I could find are on a 'regular' inkle loom) and they all make it look relatively easy to change sheds.

Any suggestions on what looks wrong, or on what I should be doing differently, or basically how to be successful at inkle weaving?

Comments

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 03:46

MaryMartha

Peg, what happens if you bring the hanging bar up and back toward the top of the frame by shortening the cords?  Will that pull your heddles up and back?  Or maybe you need to lengthen the heddles.  In any case, I think the unsually sharp angle of separation between the two layers of the warp is making it difficult to form sheds.  Here is a picture of a similar PVC inkle from Alice Schlien's blog.  It is not side-on, but you can see the bar is suspended just under the elbow connectors and the heddles are sitting almost perpedicular.  The position of this warp looks more normal to me.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 10:48

Peg.Cherre (not verified)

Thanks for your comment, MaryMartha.  I have tried with the heddles more straight up and down, and with the hanging bar right up against the top of the castle.  Neither had any impact for me.

BUT, the link to Alice Schlien's blog should be helpful. It appears she mad the exact same loom, and I'm going to email her and see if she can be helpful.

FYI, I positioned my heddles as they are with the big angle as it looked --- to me --- more like the images I've seen of a standard inkle loom.  I sure may be wrong about that!

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 12:26

sequel (not verified)

On my inkle looms both sheds do not go over the first, top bar as yours do.  The heddled threads go over the first upper bar, the open threads go over one further back, so that the warp is more or less at the same level in front of the heddles, but separates behind the heddles.  Try searching on-line or go to this one on Weavo.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 13:05

Peg.Cherre (not verified)

I've definitely seen that difference in looking at images of regular inkles, Sequel.  That's why I pulled my top 'shed bar' down from the castle, in an attempt to do what I can to re-create that difference.  There's a big difference in the path of the heddled and unheddled threads on a standard inkle, but not on this PVC inkle.  I'm assuming that's part of my problem....but since I've never used a regular inkle, that's just an assumption.

 

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 03:27

MaryMartha

Could your warp be a tad tight?  Inkle is warp-faced, so it needs a little give to wrap around the weft.  And I'm thinking the sweet spot for weaving falls closer to the front of the loom.  Here is another photo from a different blog that shows this same loom.  She is using a pickup stick as a batten (sword) to hold open the shed. The batten goes in flat, and is then turned on its side, so you only need to open a little shed to insert it.

It's a pretty warp, though. So far, a lot has gone right.

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 12:03

Peg.Cherre (not verified)

You know, MaryMartha, I had that thought myself, that my warp might be too tight.  I'm used to weaving under high tension, and when I need to weave something 'lighter' I have to pay real attention to make sure that I'm not cranking that warp as tight as it'll go.  I loosened it a little, but probably not enough.

I also re-made my string heddles, using input from Teena T, going from about 8" total length/heddle to 11".  Plus I made them out of 10/2 instead of thick-ish string.  All this has helped, but I think I'm coming to the realization that the inkle loom isn't going to do what I wanted, which is make a really simple project piece that people can make a bookmark on.  If I can't figure out how to make changing the sheds substantially easier, it won't fit my current plan.  People can learn to use my rigid heddle loom quickly & easily, and I can put on a much longer warp.  The biggest drawback to that is that I can't sett the threads as close as I'd like.

So I appreciate all the suggestions and will keep trying to become (somewhat) proficient at the inkle loom, and will simultaneously re-think my plan and decide if there's a better alternative.

Tue, 06/02/2015 - 12:21

sequel (not verified)

If I send you my personal e-mail in a private message, could you send me a copy of these loom plans?  I cannot seem to find them on Weaving Today.  Information is Power!

Thu, 06/04/2015 - 14:07

teewers (not verified)

I found the article (go to Weaving Today site and search for "Inkle". Also in March 2009 Handwoven). Looks to me as though sheds are created by moving the heddled threads rather than the open ones. See section 5: "the heddle rod in the down position lowers ... the light warp threads...; the heddle rod released and the shed stick moved forward raises the ... light threads".  This is not the way my inkle loom works, so I can't actually test this out and I'm not sure what you have to do to "release the heddle rod". The article photo and your photo seem to show the loom with the shed made by having the heddle rod down. Your original heddles are probably the right size. I've found that I have to have my warp tight or the whole band slips around the loom pegs when I beat. I looked for a YouTube video of someone actually using the loom and could not find one, so other people may also have found the instructions confusing. Hope these comments help!

Thu, 06/04/2015 - 15:52

Peg.Cherre (not verified)

Sequel - the loom plans are a free download from Weaving Today.  Here's a link to them: http://www.weavingtoday.com/inkle-loom-weaving/

Teewers - I'm with you all the way...agree with all your comments.  I'm hoping one of my Guild members will be bringing a 'regular' inkle to our meeting on Saturday so I can decide if this will suit my purpose.  For me, I think the PVC inkle won't ever fit my personal bill, either for my current need or future inkle projects, although I'm sure it has worked for others.

Thu, 06/04/2015 - 19:34

CelticCats

Have you given thought to searching for a used Inkle Loom?  I could have used my regular loom, but wanted something I could use downstairs and searched ebay and craigslist for a used inkle loom at an afforable price.  I found one and it is a lot of fun to weave on. 

 

Here is a used loom from my guild's resource webpage:

 

http://www.whidbeyweaversguild.org/classifieds.html

http://www.weaversguildmn.org/classifieds/show-ad?id=342

 

While searching for used inkle looms at a good price, I got sidetracked.  Had some fun though. 

 

Maybe one of these will work for you.

 

=^.^=

Thu, 06/04/2015 - 22:46

Peg.Cherre (not verified)

I have definitely considered buying a used inkle, dwilliston.  First I want to check out one in person, hopefully from a fellow Guild member, and then I can have a better idea if that's what I want to do. 

Thanks for the links....I'm on the east coast, so if I decide I want one, I'll look in craigslist or similar near here.

Sun, 06/07/2015 - 14:05

Peg.Cherre (not verified)

At my request, yesterday one of my fellow Guild members brought her Schacht inkle to the meeting.  SOOOO easy to use.  She graciously lent it to me for my upcoming event.  I think I'll look for a used one!

I think the PVC loom would be good for card weaving, but, IMHO, not 'regular' inkle weaving.  More experienced inkle weavers may well disagree.