Little Handmade Holiday

With the holidays approaching, it’s fun to add a little handmade surprise to your gifts. Today I’ll show you how to make a little weave with a simple snowflake embroidery that can be used as a tag on a gift and later used as a little decoration. The best part of this small project is you can use any extra yarn that you might have left over!

Loom: All-in-One Loom & 20-Peg-Extenders

Yarn: Aunt Lydia’s Crochet Cotton Classic Size 10 in white is used for the warp. Along with a hand-spun Merino wool thick n’ thin in color Antler from AmandaJFrench on Etsy is used for the weave. The embroidery is done with Aunt Lydia’s Crochet Cotton Classic Size 10 in metallic gold.

Notions: tapestry needle

Small Weave Pattern Steps:

Set up your weave as described here. Double knot your warp thread on pin #4 from the bottom left. Warp your loom so that 8 pins are warp across the top and 9 pins are warped on the bottom, which includes your beginning double knot and your ending double knot of the warp thread.

Step 1: Take a length of white warp thread, about 8 inches long and plain weave it between the warp threads. Pull so both ends of the thread is even on both sides and the thread is sitting up against your loom pegs. Tie the two ends together in a knot. This is what will be used as your tag string.

Step 2: Using one thread of your thick n’ thin, soumak weave (looping around each warp thread) across the first row.

Tip: Weave your soumak a few inches down your warp threads, then push it up all the way to the top so that it is touching your loom pegs. This will give your hands room to weave.

Step 3: For the second row, weave your thick n’ thin yarn in a plain weave. Continue weaving the plain weave so that you have 15 rows of plain weave.

Step 4: Finish your tiny weave with the last row being soumak (looping around each warp thread) all the way across.

Step 5: Secure your yarn ends in the back of the weave.

Step 6: Add the embroidered snowflake (steps below).

Embroidery Steps:

Using your weave as a grid, there are 16 warp threads across the top and 17 weft rows down the side. I have numbered the weft threads and the plain weave weft rows (don’t count the soumak rows) for the embroidery pattern.

Step 1: Use your gold thread with your tapestry needle. From behind the weave, bring the gold thread up at plain row #4/ warp #4. Pull it diagonally down to row #12/ warp #13 and bring the gold thread through the front of the weave to the back.

Step 2: Bring the gold behind the weave then up at row #4/ warp #13. Pull it diagonally to down to row #12/warp #4 and pull the gold thread through to the back of the weave.

Step 3: Bring the gold behind the weave then up at row #8/ warp #4. Pull it across row #8 to warp #13 and pull it through the to the back of the weave.

Step 4: Bring the gold thread behind the weave then up between warp #8 & #9/ row #4. Pull the thread down warps #8 & #9 to row #12 and pull it through to the back of the weave.

Step 5: Your snowflake is now complete. Secure your gold thread ends in the back of the weave.

Finishing the Small Weave Steps:

Step 1: Cut the bottom warp threads about 5 inches from the bottom of the weave.

Step 2: Gently lift the top warp loops off the pegs.

Step 3: Flip your weave over to the back. Taking two of the bottom warp threads, tie them in a double knot together. Continue this until all bottom warp threads are tied off.

Step 4: Secure the warp threads in the back of the weave, then trim the excess.

Your small weave gift tag is now complete and ready to personalize your gifts!

Happy Weaving!

Kate from The Weaving Loom (a blog dedicated to helping others learn to weave)