3rd-5th Grade “Art Out of the Box” FIBERS Weaving and Embroidery In this “Art Out of the Box” kit, you will do one weaving project and one embroidery project. Below is a short history about both techniques. The images below are samples of the projects you’ll be making. Weaving is one of the oldest surviving crafts in human history. The basic process is interlocking vertical and horizontal fibers together to create a fabric – the vertical fibers are known as the “warp” and the horizontal are called the “weft,” and the structure used to hold the woven threads is called a “loom.” The origins of weaving go as far back as the Neolithic times, possibly even further. Ancient peoples discovered that they could create string and thread by twisting plant fibers together, and from there learned how to interlock different pieces of thread together to make a fabric. This technique became an incredibly useful tool in each household for many centuries. Families used weaving to make their clothes, rugs, and even parts of their homes. Today, almost everything that wear is woven, but with highly efficient machines. However, hand weaving is still used by artists and artisans to create unique handmade rugs, scarves, and other textiles. Embroidery also has very early origins in our history. The earliest records of embroidery go as far back as 30,000 BC, where ancient peoples embellished clothing made from animal hides with simple stitches using plant fibers. Later records are mostly found in Asia, where people utilized stitched used to combine cloth as a decorative technique. In Medieval Europe, embroidered clothing became a luxurious and highly sought after material. Techniques were developed and perfected so that beautiful, complex, hand-stitched designs could be achieved using a needle and thread. Workshops and classes became widely available, and in the 1800s machine embroidery was developed. Today, embroidery is still widely used by crafters and artists, and many of the clothes we wear include machine embroidered patterns. Project 1: Weaving In this project you will learn how to make a handmade loom and weave several colors together to create a circular pattern. Materials: 1. Cardboard circle (in your kit) 2. Yarn (in your kit) 3. White thread (in your kit) 4. Tapestry needle (in your kit) 5. Pen (not included) 6. Scissors (not included) 7. Optional: beads (not included) 1. Mark an odd number of dashes around the edge of your circle (9, 11, or 13). You can use a finger or two as measurement, or just eyeball it. It’s okay if they aren’t spaced perfectly evenly – the important thing is that it is an odd number. This cardboard part of your weaving will be your “loom.” 2. Cut into the dashes about 1/8th of an inch. 3. Take the end of your white thread and slide it through one of the cut marks, leaving a tail of about 5 or 6 inches. 4. Pull the other side of the thread through the cut opposite of the first mark (it won’t be exactly opposite – that’s okay. 5. Swing the thread around the back and bring it back through the cut mark to the right of the original cut mark you used. 6. Continue until all of the cut marks have been threaded. There will be one cut mark leftover that isn’t threaded. The next steps will resolve this. 7. Bring the thread through a cut mark that already has a thread through it. Then bring it through the last leftover cut mark. It will look funny at first but we’ll fix it in the next couple of steps. Cut the end of the thread to leave 5 or 6 inches. Tape the ends to the back of the cardboard. This part of your weaving is called the “warp.” 8. Cut 1-2 feet of yarn and thead your needle, leaving a tail of a few inches. Pull the needle and yarn underneath all of the threads in the middle. This colored part of the weaving that will interlock with the warp fibers is known as the “weft.” 9. Tie a knot in the center, pulling all of the threads together. Leave a short tail. You will see that doing this pulls the triangle of thread formed by the extra cut mark into a single line. 10. Use your needle to weave over one thread, under the next, then over, then under, etc. Treat the double thread from the extra cut mark as one thread. You can attempt to cover the tail of yarn from the center knot with your weaving. If this is too hard, you can just cut the tail off when you are finished with the weaving. If you are adding beads, you can thread them on to your needle and yarn at any point from here on out. 11. When you are ready to use a new color, simply tie the two colors together with a double knot. Again, you can either weave over the tails or cut them off at the end. Use as many or as few colors as you want! Tying it off: 12. Weave as far to the edge of the cardboard as you can. When you are done, you’ll need to tie a knot. Insert your needle through the edge of the weaving. 13-14. Before you pull the yarn all the way through, leave a loop. Then, pull your needle through that loop. When you pull tightly, a knot will form. 15. Repeat steps 12-14 one more time. This will make a double knot. Then, insert your needle through the weaving in any direction and pull the yarn through, crossing a whole inch or two, as indicated with the yellow arrow. Then, cut off the yarn so it disappears into the weaving. If this is too hard to do, you can just cut the yarn off at the knot you made. You’re finished! You can use your weaving as a coaster, hang it on your wall, or anything else you can think of. Great job! Please send picture of your finished work or work in progress to us at [email protected] if you would like to. We LOVE to see what our students are making!!! Project 2: Embroidery In this project, you will learn to do a running stitch, back stitch, cross stitch, and satin stitch. Then, you can use your skills to make a design of your own. Materials: 1. Squares of burlap (in your kit) 2. Yarn (in your kit) 3. Embroidery hoop (in your kit) 4. Tapestry needle (in your kit) 5. Scissors (not included) 1-2. Start with the burlap that has the drawn lines and rectangles. Separate the inner hoop from the outer hoop – you may need to loosen it a bit using the screw at the top. 3-4. Place the burlap over the inner hoop, then put the outer hoop on top of it. Push it down until it is fully over the inner hoop. Tighten the screw at the top. Running Stitch: 5. Cut off about 1-2 feet of yarn. Thread the needle leaving a short tail, and tie a knot at the end. Pull your needle up through the beginning of the top line. Pull the thread all the way up until you feel the knot stopping your yarn. 6. Insert your needle down through the fabric about a quarter inch along the drawn line. Pull down all the way. 7-8. Insert your needle up again just a little bit past the end of your last stitch. Continue steps 5-7 all the way down the line. Tying Off: 9-14: Tie off of your yarn on the back of the embroidery hoop, the same way you tied off on your circle weaving. The visual instructions to the right will show a similar process: turn your hoop over so you’re working on the back of the burlap. Pull the needle and yarn through the last stitch, and leave a loop before pulling all the way through. Insert your needle through that loop and pull tight. Repeat those steps to make a double knot. Then cut off your yarn at the end of the knot. Back Stitch: 15. Choose a different color yarn. Thread your needle leaving a short tail, and tie a knot at the end. Insert your needle up through the beginning of the second line. Pull all the way up until you feel the knot stopping your yarn. 16. Insert the needle and yarn down about a quarter of an inch along the drawn line. Pull all the way through. 17. Insert the needle up again about a quarter of an inch along the drawn line. Pull your yarn all the way through. 18. Look carefully at the picture for this step. Insert your needle down into the same hole that the last stitch went through (you’ll be moving the yarn back – hence the title “backstitch”). Pull the yarn all the way through. 19. Insert your needle back up about a quarter inch past the end of the last stitch. The blue arrow in the picture indicates where. Continue these steps until you reach the end of the line. Tie off on the back of the hoop (as shown in steps 9-14). Cross Stitch: 21. Choose a different color yarn. Cut off about 1-2 feet and thread your needle leaving a short tail and tie a knot at the end. Pull your needle up through the lower left corner of the smaller rectangle.