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Loom Assembly Instructions

Part Four: Weaving on the Mirrix Loom

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1a) For Tapestry: weave two passes of warp yarn. Measure two pieces of yarn each approximately one and a half times the width of the loom. Engage the shedding device. Weave in the first piece leaving an equal amount of yarn left over on each side. Engage the shedding device in the opposite direction. Weave in the second piece. Tie the ends of both of these yarns securely around the threaded side poles of the loom, pulling tightly so that an even straight surface is created for weaving just above the top of the front of the bottom beam. Adjust the warps so that are evenly spaced. You are ready to begin weaving.

1b)For Bead Weaving: do not use the shedding device to weave in these first two rows! Instead, thread a large eye needle with strong string. Needle weave up and over the warp pairs, treating each pair of warp as one. Weave under the odd pairs of warps for the first row. Weave under the even pairs of warps for the second row. These two rows of strings will divide your pairs of warps making it easy to weave in your first row of beads.

2) For both tapestry and bead weaving: In order to advance your weaving to expose more warp, you will first need to cut the two spacing wefts that were tied to the side poles of your loom and remove them. Loosen the warp by turning the wing nuts clockwise. When there is a fair amount of slack in the warp, gently pull the warping bar up exposing as much warp as you need at the front of the loom to continue weaving. Make sure that your weaving is straight and even. Tighten the wing nuts until the warps are once again under tension.

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Tips for Bead Weavers Using the Shedding Device:

Once you've inserted the thread with your beads on it into the shed (the space between the raised and lowered warps) hold the thread between your left and right hands an inch or so above the V created where the two sets of warps meet. Jiggle the thread until the beads are caught between each of the raised warps. Once they are in place, slide the thread and beads down into the V. The beads will be caught there.
Start with a fairly thin piece to get used to the process before attacking something wide and potentially overwhelming.
Always needle weave in your first and last row treating pairs of warps in each dent as single warps. Otherwise when you remove your piece from the loom it will fall apart since it's the crossing of the warps that keeps your beads in place.
A slightly baggy tension will prevent a clean shed. Adjust the tension until you have a clean and open shed in both directions.
It takes several rows of weaving with the shedding device before the heddles and warps all find their proper place and stop sticking together. Don't get frustrated.
By about row five or six, weaving will get very easy.
After you've changed the shed, strum the back of your hand across the warps making sure that the warps or heddles are not stuck together, preventing the shed from being clean with all up warps up and down warps down.

Finishing: The only way you can accomplish the "pull and pray" method of finishing your piece is if you've used two spools of warp at the same time. This method requires that you carefully pull the warp which snakes through your piece so that you are left with four finished selvedges. There are other ways to finish your piece, which include tying off the pairs of warp threads and folding them behind your piece. You can then sew on some nice edging material such as hem binding to hide the knots. My favorite method is to weave in a header and footer after you've woven your piece. I use a tapestry needle to do this. The material for the header and footer should be fine silk or rayon. Choose something pretty. Make the header or footer wide enough that you can fold it twice, burying the knots in the warp. Carefully sew this with blind stitches so that you have a very neat, attractive fiber border on the back of your piece. This works great for purses, bracelets and wall hangings. Other methods of finishing such as sewing back in all your warp threads are also acceptable although very time-consuming.

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back of loom

A note about the second warping bar kit: This kit is NOT necessary for bead weaving but is helpful in the following two situations: 1) When needle bead weaving a wide piece, because it eliminates the warp on the back of the loom, it allows you to get your hand in back of the piece to hold your beads in place while sewing through them; 2) For any kind of bead weaving, it allows you to put on a shorter warp.