Halloween is bearing down on us like a freight train. Even if I never left the house, the Pinterest-y projects would tell me this was the case. I love Pinterest because it is a nice way to tag interesting things I find on the internet to return to later. Mostly I am looking for tapestry-related content.
But I can't help but laugh at the blog and Facebook posts that start this time of year with titles like, "Nailed it!" This is the kind of thing I'm talking about; this one from bored panda.
Today I am going to tackle one of the final projects for the upcoming Tapestry Weaving on Little Looms online class. I'm making a new copper pipe loom. I expect it to be so much fun that I'll run right down to the corner hardware store for more pipe. I want to include copper pipe looms in this class because I get so many emails from people about looms. There is one excellent small tapestry loom and many good looms on the market today. But sometimes you just want to try a new craft without spending a whole lot of money.
DIY says make your own loom! Now of course you could just go to Goodwill and buy a picture frame and warp it up. But for a little extra effort, you could make a copper pipe loom, the advantage of which is tension.
I'm hoping not to have a run-away Pinterest fail moment. I've already had one of those with copper pipe looms. Following directions in a popular tapestry book, I made a copper pipe loom with those push-on corners you can buy. Dead easy--loom finished in 10 minutes. Unfortunately, those joints move. Probably fine for many water-based applications, but you want a loom to be stable and not rack. This loom was a fail.
Copper pipe loom with push-on corners. FAIL.
I'm soldering today. Never done it before, but my father assures me it isn't that hard. The other option for these looms is to use tap screws. Maybe I'll make one of those next.
Stay tuned.