Sparkle Craft: Hand-woven Tapestry
In this week’s Martin & Sylvia: Saturdays! story, “The Gift of Sweetness”, Sylvia and Martin (along with their neighbors, the Browns) honor the loss of a beloved sugar maple tree by using her wood to boil the sap from other sugar maples and do other projects. Even after the tree had been chopped down, it continued to be useful.
For this project you can honor a favorite tree of your own and weave in some memories too. Find two fallen sticks to create the top and base for your loom. Then gather scraps of yarn you might have leftover from other projects. As you weave, you can remember not only the tree that gave you the sticks, but also the projects that were once made with the yarn.
You Will Need
Cardboard Shoe Box
Xacto Knife
Two Sticks, wider than the shoe box
Scrap Yarn
Tapestry Needle
What To Do
Using the Xacto knife, cut out your shoebox as shown in the photo below. The pair of slots nearest each end will be for holding the sticks. The cuts in the center will make weaving easier.
Insert a stick into each end of your cardboard box loom.
Using a sturdy yarn, create the warp. Running it back and forth between the sticks, tying a knot to secure it at each end.
Using leftover cardboard cutaway from the box, create two shuttles – small cardboard rectangles with a hole punched into one end.
Attach yarn to each shuttle. You’ll only want the yarn to be a couple yards in length.
Start weaving! Leave a small tail of yarn at the start, you’ll weave it in later.
This project can be pretty free form; let your little one decide where and how to switch yarns. Since this is a hanging tapestry, embrace the uncertainty and flow.
You’ll need to push down the woven work from time to time to compress it.
Once you’ve filled most of the space between the sticks, cut the yarn and use a tapestry needle to weave in all the ends.
Explore More & Make Connections
Take a walk around your home – what do you have on your walls or shelves that reminds you of something else?
About the Authors
Andrea Folsom
Andrea Folsom describes herself as a writer, editor, creative maker, and eternal optimist. She is passionate about learning and sharing new creative techniques, making beautiful spaces, and talking about the social-emotional benefits of creativity and art. She runs Crafting Connections - a website providing inspiration, practical advice, and projects for creative families - with her close friend Danielle Reiner.
Danielle Reiner
Danielle Reiner describes herself as a creative, a maker, and a mama. At the heart of her story is creativity, though that hasn’t always been the case. She rediscovered her deeply hidden creativity early in adulthood – with a ball of yarn and a couple of knitting needles – and hasn't stopped since. Danielle also runs Crafting Connections - a website providing inspiration, practical advice, and projects for creative families - with her close friend Andrea Folsom.
