Saturday, July 2, 2011

Homemade Potholder Loom

I was reading somewhere today about sock loopers for potholders, and it reminded me that I had a bunch of old holey socks out in the studio.  I didn't have a potholder loom, so after I cut a few loopers from the socks, I figured out how far they could stretch, so I could decide how big to make the loom.  My loopers stretch about 8". 

In the basement in Bob's shop, I found some scrap wood and cut the four sides for the loom, assembled them, and gave the frame a bright red coat of paint.

I marked out the placement for the pegs, (22 per side), and then headed for Ace Hardware to see if I could find anything that wasn't too expensive to use for them.

I found a box of trim screws, with a nice small rounded head, and the box included the correct size star bit.  There are probably enough left over to make another loom.  I couldn't find anything shorter than 1 5/8", though, so Bob helped me make the loom thicker to accommodate the length.  He was helpful and set up the drill press and drilled all 88 pilot holes for me.  What a sweetie, and that was after being on his feet all day at work!

I'm testing it out with a log cabin layout.  If I make another one, I will probably put fewer pegs on a side (maybe 20).  I'll see if I have trouble weaving 22 rows first.  I can always cut the loopers a little narrower.  I cut this batch 1" wide.

8 comments:

  1. oh wow Jenny, that is too cool that you made your own little loom-I love that

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  2. I would really like to know where you purchased the grey potholder loops. I have googled everywhere but cannot find them. Your picture of the "teddy" weaving that you were working on is amazing. If you don't mind sharing the information, my email address is listed below. Thanks.
    celeste7777@msn.com

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    1. I was looking at another recent comment and noticed this. The gray loopers came from old worn out black cotton socks. I cut them myself.

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  3. Do you sell these 10" looms? My email is below:
    Lindaseng@outlook.com
    Thank you,
    Linda

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  4. Do you sell these 10" looms? My email is below:
    Lindaseng@outlook.com
    Thank you,
    Linda

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    Replies
    1. Linda, it is a one of a kind and no, I don't make looms to sell. It is something I made because I could get the materials in the basement and at the local hardware store cheaper than purchasing ready made. I guess it is an advantage of being a little bit handy.

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  5. Very cool! I really like what you made. If I were to make one, I would put 18 pegs on each side as that is somewhat of a standard.

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  6. Ed, thanks. This little loom was made to fit the loops. Purchased loops in all the pretty colors for pot holders are shorter and require a smaller loom. I wanted to come up with something so I could make use of the unworn out parts of old tube socks.

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