Hand-Loom Weaving: A Manual for School and Home

by Mattie Phipps Todd

Chapter Nine

HAMMOCKS

Back of loom, showing method of stringing warp through rings for a hammock

Method of adjustment

Use of stripes for various colors

Lengthwise stripes

To weave a hammock, one must first adjust the loom to its full size. Tie two rings together and fasten them at the back of the loom, to head, foot, and sides, as in the illustration. One must then decide how close the warp is to be strung. Measure the string, which should be continuous, allowing enough to go to the rings at the back and make a buttonhole stitch each time. Then wind on a long thin stick or dress steel, in such a way that it will pass easily through the rings. In stringing the hammock in the illustration, a penholder was used. The rings are tied, with white cord, to the four sides of the loom. By doing this, all tangling of the warp string is avoided, and it is far preferable to splicing. Tie the first warp string to the top ring. Draw it tightly through the first groove, over the face of the loom to the opposite groove, then to the back of the loom through the bottom ring. Make a buttonhole stitch and return in the same manner over the face of the loom, around to the top ring, where you make a buttonhole stitch and return, until the whole warp is strung. Care should be taken to make it firm and tight. Hold the string and ring firmly in the left hand while making the buttonhole stitch with the right. Cut the woof cords long enough to allow a fringe on each side of the hammock. Weave each cord separately, tying in pairs around the rods. Stripes of one or more colors can be woven at each end or at intervals through the hammock. By weaving two colors alternately, the stripes will be lengthwise instead of crosswise. Knot the fringe at each side. To fasten the top and bottom woof cords so that they will not pull out of place, thread a tape needle with cord and tie each warp string close to the woof. Another way to secure the top and bottom woof cords is to weave two cords at one time, twisting one over the other between the warp strings. The bottom one should be woven before the hammock is commenced. The top one can be woven before the hammock is finished, and pushed up close to the head piece. Then fill up the space.

A hammock made from strings of different colors in lengthwise stripes

Making the fringe

The stretcher

The head-rest

Hammock with lengthwise colored stripes

Knotted hammocks

Instead of knotting the fringe as suggested, two cords can be twisted at each side of the hammock in the same way that the woof cords are secured at the top and bottom. This forms a heading for the fringe. Take up two cords of the fringe at a time. If desired, the strings which extend from the rings to the hammock may be woven for the space of an inch or so close to the rings instead of making a buttonhole stitch. Make a stretcher for the head by covering a piece of rattan with buttonhole stitch. Fasten this to the hammock. A head-rest can also be woven and adjusted. To remove the hammock from the loom, cut the two rings apart, and then lift the warp strings from the grooves. A very pretty hammock can be made by stringing the warp of different colors, in order to make lengthwise stripes. Weave a neutral color through them. In this case, have a close warp. Pretty hammocks can be made by knotting instead of weaving.

To string warp for hammock in order to have the sides shorter than the center

Cut two semi-circular pieces from light wood or pasteboard. These should suit the width of the hammock to be made. If this is the width of the loom, then 9-1/2 inches long and two inches at the widest part. Cut the curved edge in notches to correspond with the number taken in the head piece. These pieces will be firmer and more satisfactory if made of wood and finished at the lower edges like the metal head piece. This can be easily done by glueing them to a narrow piece of wood so that they will stand. If furnished with perforations, they can be laced to the head and foot pieces or the rods can be run through them. By stringing the warp in this way, the sides of the hammock will be shorter than the center, and there will be no danger of Miss Dolly falling out.

The warp can be strung more quickly and easily if hammock hooks similar to those in the two illustrations below are used. Measure the right length—22 warp strings 31 inches long for the metal loom, or 29 the same length for the wooden loom—and wind as before.

Hook No. 1

Hook No. 2

Hammock hooks

Weaving

In using hammock hook No. 1, knot half the number of warp strings in the left-hand ring and half in the right-hand ring. If hook No. 2 be used, unpin the part at the right, knot the warp strings along the straight edge at the bottom, and then pin the right-hand part again. Weaving each cord separately across the loom makes a heavy fringe at the sides. If a lighter fringe be desired, cut the woof cords twice the width of the loom plus twice the length of the fringe. Weave across the loom, leaving enough for the fringe at the side, then around the rod and back again, drawing the cord through to the same length as the part left at first. Weave in the same way with the second color, having the loop on the same rod and the fringe at the same side as the other. Weave the next two cords with loops on the opposite rod and fringe on the opposite side. Continue in this way until the hammock is finished. Make a heading at the sides as described, only carry the two cords through the loops, crossing them between on top of the rods. The warp strings can be passed through the rings without buttonholing. A firm pretty finish can be made at the sides by cutting two cords—one of each color two yards long and buttonholing around the rods on top of the woof cords which extend at each side. Fasten these long cords at the bottom of the loom. After two pairs of woof cords have been tied, buttonhole the edge over them and around the rods and continue this until the hammock is finished.

A square of silk canvas

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