This is a rigid heddle loom that I hand built and designed, with the intention of re-invigorating the loom for the life of a busy commuter. Not that long ago, people still wove the cloth for their own clothes and weaving was a widely shared knowledge. Post-industrialisation however, we are far removed from the process of textile creation.
A rigid heddle loom works by have two warp beams onto which threads are wound to make the length of the fabric. These warp threads are thread through the heddles of the reed/beater (the little white lines). This way, when you lift or lower the heddles, every second thread is lifted, to make weaving faster. The heddle is then used to beat back the weft thread (the width of the fabric). Once a section is complete, you can release the warp beams to wind of the woven fabric and wind on the emptry warp threads.
For this redesign, I moved away from the typical rectangular form of a loom. I was fornunate enough to be given some scrap shelving destined for landfill that had this beautiful veneer to work with. The straps were also made from scrap materials, using scrap leather for durability. They are designed to wrap around the wearer's back, so they are able to weave while walking or travelling.
The loom's circular shape creates a symbiotic relationsip where the loom must be worn in order to be used, as otherwise it will roll away. In using this loom, the user is given a unique opportunity to re-engage with the analog and handmade world, an increasingly rare opportunity.
