The loom in this video is almost 9 feet tall (including the longest legs), with a weaving length almost 6′. The completed tapestry measured 44″ with hems. The extra unwoven warp space is needed for the shed with the leashes (see Tying Leashes). I began weaving with legs tall enough to sit comfortably at the loom and weave. As I progressed up the warp I raised my seat and/or replaced the longs legs with progressively shorter ones.
The loom is made of 3/4″ black pipe with threaded rod and nuts to tension the warp by pushing the top and bottom parts of the loom apart. The warp is cotton seine twine sett at 8 epi (ends per inch). It is important to have constant even tension. It doesn’t have to be high tension as long as it’s even. I always set aside time so I can complete the whole warping process uninterrupted.
To warp more easily the loom is laying horizontal, resting on the feet and leash bars. When the warp is complete the loom is stood up. On the top and bottom bars of the loom I have tape with markings every 1/4″ apart. This is handy to keep the spacing even. At this point spacing isn’t critical but I like to have it in the ballpark. I also count the warps as I go. t’s easy to loose count so keeping distractions to a minimum is helpful.
It would have been easier on my back to have the loom up on hard boxes so I didn’t have to bend down so far. In the foreground you can see a bit of blue tape on the upper bar of the loom. This tells me where to begin and end the warp. As you can see I am not warping in a figure 8, I’m going round and round. In a later step I will bring the front and back warps together.