It is not too late to craft something special for this year’s 4th of July. Here is a no-sew, last-minute, pin-loom way to make a decorative shadow box!
The idea was sparked by fellow pin-loom weaver and artist Sam Hammer, who has been sharing weaving inspiration all throughout the month of June with pin-loom weavers on Facebook.
I wanted to make “something” for the 250th birthday of the United States, and when Sam posted one of his art pieces in a shadow box, the lights went on: I could make a shadow box and put some hexagons in it! And fairy lights …
Before I share more details of my project below I’d like to encourage ALL of you to consider making your own shadow box. It’s easy and so much fun! And most likely you already have what you need or can make/get it quickly.
You will need:
A shadow box (the one I used measures 8″ x 10″). Make sure that your shadow box has a cushioned backboard so that you can easily pin items to it.
Pins, to pin the pieces into place.
ANY weavies! Go through your stash of woven pin-loom pieces and look for something red/white/blue. If you can’t find enough, just grab some yarn and your favorite loom(s) and weave a few pieces.
(Optional) Fairy lights.
(Optional) A 2026 charm. You could also embroider the numbers or use fabric paint.
Assembly:
Layout the weavies on the backboard until you like what you see and pin the pieces down.
Add anything else you’d like.
Close your shadow box and enjoy!
Here are a few details about the shadow box that I made:
Note: The links were valid at the time of writing but may change over time. These products are suggestions and can be easily substituted with items of your choice.
A few weeks ago I ordered some Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes online, because I was curious how the color development would look like when woven. The short answer is: Awesome!
I have not used this yarn a lot, but it weaves well on all TURTLE R-regular sett looms., shown here on the Original TURTLE hexagonand jewel looms.
Red Heart super saver is often referred to as America’s most popular yarn, so using it for the 250th birthday celebration seemed very appropriate.
I also enjoyed weaving the log cabin patternon the same loom, particularly after fellow pin-loom weaver Leigh Root on Facebook shared a source for speedy warping instructions.
Link to Leigh’s post (you need to be a member of the Pin Loom Weaving Support Group to read Leigh’s message).
Using these pieces of recent discoveries make my shadow box even more memorable. Maybe you have some weavies in your stash that have a special meaning.
I plan to reuse the display in years to come, and it will be special to remember that I made this project in 2026 for the 250th birthday of the United States.
To enhance the 3D effect inside the shadow box I decided to add “beaded curtain”-style strings made of PennyTURTLE hexagons.
Keeping it simple, I wove in the end tails while the hexagons were still on the loom.
I used the starting tails (after securing the threads) to tie the hexagons together.
The hexagon strings are taped with a small strip of Duck tape to the inside top frame of the shadow box.
The fairy lights are optional, and if you don’t feel comfortable with the idea of having lights inside the frame, the display will look great without it as well.
I laid out the fairy lights randomly and pinned them into place.
Be careful to not pierce the wire and leave a little space along the edges so that the wire will not be harmed when reassembling the shadow box.
The wire is thin enough (and the backboard of my box is flexible enough) to transfer it to the outside to the battery unit.
After putting the box together, the project is ready to enjoy. Almost not necessary to mention, but this project idea is great to make shadow boxes for all kinds of occasions, right?
Pin-loom weaving is even more enjoyable when done in company. There are two great communities online where you can ask questions, get advice and trouble shooting ideas, and brag about what you have accomplished. Check out the Pin Loom Weaving Support group on Facebook and/or the Looms to Go group on Ravelry. Hope to see you there!
For my current pin-loom weaving project I am modifying the Ditta Vest pattern to weave a jungle scene. The story behind it? I recently saw a knitted vest with a pocket to hold a small matching stuffed animal.
I decided that a vest with pockets would be a great way to enjoy those ornaments beyond displaying them on my Christmas tree.
Stuffed animal Hector snug into the picture to guard the loom.
I chose several different colors of Handspun Hope’s Organic Merino in worsted weight for the design to make a tree for the gorillas, and a meadow for the giraffe.
Allow me a quick note … if you look closely at the following picture, you will see that the purple yarn is slightly thicker than the others. This showcases another benefit of pin-loom weaving handspun yarns (more in the recent Spin Off podcast post):
The loom determines the shape and size of your weaving.
Even if you weave with yarns that vary in thickness, the pieces will all work together in your project just fine!
I will post photos of the finished vest here on the blog … I hope you’ll come back to see it!
I’ve been looking forward to this issue because it combines two of my lifetime favorites: Music and crafting. Editor Christina Garton put together an amazingly broad spectrum of musical aspects, and I’m humbled that I am part of this collection with two pin-loom projects.
The Decatonic Scarf
In music theory, a 10-tone or decatonic scale is occasionally used in experimental and contemporary compositions.
Similar to such a music scale, I used a curated mini skein collection to make this scarf. Like a decatonic scale, this has been an invitation to explore unusual color combinations.
The original yarn is slightly thicker than fingering weight yarn. It is very comfortable to weave and creates a smooth, solid fabric, perfect for a scarf.
I used Koigu’s Jasmine DK Pencil Box in Bala Cranberries. This mini skein collection has been discontinued by the company, but you can still find it online. Or use any 10 mini skeins to “compose” your own.
Optionally, add and play with removable tassels. Use them in a classical fringe way, as closures, or add your own 10-tone composition for decoration.
Folded in half around the neck and ends pulled through. No tassels.
Classical wear wrapped around the neck. Tassels along the short sides.
Uneven stole wear over the shoulders. Tassels along the front as extension of the woven color.
“Composed” wear with tassels used as random decoration.
The Rhapsody in Blue Rug
In his Rhapsody in Blue, George Gershwin expresses the many facets of the American Melting Pot in music.
The door mat depicts the first six notes of the opening of the Blues theme (midnight-colored hexagons), surrounded by the light blue sways of Blues, and some golden rhythmic accents of that time.
Dwella by Gist is my new favorite rug yarn. It is the smoothest rug yarn to work with, yet providing the strength that you need for crafting something that you will step on with your shoes.
The issue is packed with 17 projects that celebrate music, from playful to practical. I also enjoy the features, for example “How to Weave a No-Sew Pouch”, which is about weaving in the round on a frame loom.
It all started with this little patriotic heart coaster that I doodled together a few weeks ago. Then I thought it would be nice to write the pattern so that others can weave hearts as well.
Little did I realize that this would turn into an instructions series about pick-up pattern weaving using the continuous-strand weaving method on square looms, supported by seven new videos!
There are very few resources available for weaving pick-up patterns using the continuous-strand weaving method on square pin looms, and I quickly realized that there was a lot to explain before I could share my heart pattern. In this post you will find tips and tools that go beyond just one square loom. I hope that you will enjoy these new resources!
Continuous-strand weaving is typically done on looms with equidistant pin setting (the pins are evenly spread out along the sides).
However, I’ve tried to provide instructions that go far beyond just one loom so that you can apply the principles to similar looms.
Pick-up patterns for pin-looms most commonly weave over/under three threads, though longer floats are possible. The limited number of strands to work with on these little looms and the typically thicker fibers compared to what is used on traditional large looms make 3-strand floats a good choice to show as much “pattern” as possible in a limited space. These instructions use 3-stand floats throughout to keep the demonstration simple to follow.
Now let’s start the journey:
Challenge: Square Looms with Different Pin Setts
There are no traditional standards for square looms with equidistant pin setting like there are for the Weave-It method (pin looms with the classical 3-pin grouped setting). This also means that pin setts and loom sizes vary greatly. Writing a pattern that depends on a proper number of warp and weft threads therefore is of very limited use.
To solve this dilemma I decided to show how you can make a design template for any loom. Once you have that, you can more easily adapt a pattern to your loom and design your own patterns:
I recommend to start with weaving a plain square.
On the loom, slide the fabric up as high as possible.
Take a picture and optionally apply a high-contrast black/white filter.
Save this image as a reusable image for a blank template. You can print copies and color them in or use online painting apps to mark up a copy.
Such a template is useful to count warps and wefts, design cross-stitch patterns, and more.
Next, weave a square with an all-over pickup pattern. The easiest is an all-over honey comb pattern:
Weave the first five rounds as usual in plain weave. Note that you could start the pick-up pattern after just two rounds, but I recommend to add a plain weave border for a nicer edging.
On the next round, weave U1, O1, U1, … O3, U1, … O1, U1, O1 to the end.
For the continuous-strand weaving method you need rounds of plain weave between pattern rounds, so weave one round plain.
On each following pattern row, start the same pick-up sequence U1, O1, U1, then add repetitions of (O3, U1) to the last three strands and end in O1, U1, O1. The rows are getting longer because you have more warps from the previous weaving. Just repeat U1, O3 until you get to the last three strands.
Don’t forget to weave plain rows between pattern rows.
Continue to repeat the last two rounds. The final round should be plain weave to ensure pattern symmetry throughout the square. If your weaving doesn’t end on a round of plain weave, consider skipping the last round or weaving one more round in the beginning before you start the pattern weaving.
Weave the last pattern row.
Photograph your honeycomb square and make a design template as described above. Additionally, mark the line where you wove the last row. That’s your first geometry axis. Optionally you can mark the other diagonal as well for fully symmetrical motifs and to make counting easier.
Use this template to easily convert pick-up patterns to your loom and design your own patterns.
Here are video instructions that show how to weave the all-over honeycomb pattern. Shown are righthanded instructions, lefthanded instructions are available as well.
Challenge: Pattern Symmetry
Take a minute to understand how patterns develop on a continuous-stand woven square.
As is is common to continuous-stand weaving squares, what you weave at the beginning of a round “copies” automatically to the opposite side of the loom when you complete the round.
This means that any pattern stitches that you weave will automatically copy in reverse row sequence to the other side of your future fabric. The final row of the square serves as the geometry axis to join the two halves.
You only design half of a square (the upper right triangle) and the rest will fill in automatically in reverse row sequence as you weave.
That makes it easy to design patterns that are symmetrical in all directions, like a diamond. You plan the upper half of the shape and the lower half will automatically copy as you weave.
See in this video how you can try this out using your new template to design a pick-up pattern:
Challenge: Weaving a Shape with One Symmetry
Pattern design becomes a little more complex for motifs that only have one symmetry axis. The key is to align the symmetry axis of the design with the last row of your square weaving. Then the same rules that are explained above apply.
To weave the heart, you will now start each row weaving differently than ending it.
Here is a chart that shows the pattern for a heart on the Square 4″ R loom (righthanded view).
Weave plain weave for the areas outside the pattern.
To easily find out the row where you need to start the pattern weaving, count the pins!
This video shows how to weave the heart shape. Shown are righthanded instructions. Lefthanded instructions are available as well.
Challenge: Using Two Colors
Any pick-up pattern will look good in a solid color, but you may need to look twice to see the pattern.
You get a much more vivid effect if you use two colors.
Weaving a two-colored continuous-strand square requires a few extra steps:
To get a single strand at the beginning of the weaving, start with one color at the bottom corner (closest to you) and guide up a single strand to the top corner. Think of it that you weave half a round instead of a full round. Then start the second color at the top corner and weave the next round as usual. This will add one warp strand to your total count. You can add that to your design planning, or weave another template, this time using two colors!
Change colors every round in the same manner to avoid a frilled edging:
At the end of a round, guide the current working yarn between the last pin that has yarn on it and the next pin.
Switch yarns by guiding the next color OVER the previous color (the new color “traps” the old color).
To start the next round, guide the new color around two pins to get ready for the weaving.
Weave as usual, starting with going under the first thread. End each weaving with going under the last thread before fetching the working yarn.
And here we are finally reaching the pattern that started it all!
The following information puts it all together … how to weave a continuous-strand pick-up pattern on a square pin loom … with one symmetry axis … in two colors.
I invite you to download the written and charted weaving instructions for weaving a small pick-up heart pattern on the TURTLE Square 4″ R loom.
The final video shows the weaving for the heart pattern in two colors step by step. Shown are righthanded instructions, lefthanded instructions are available as well.
Bonus: Opposite Sides with Opposite Looks
When you weave a pick-up pattern, there is no right or wrong side. You will notice that the front and the back of your woven piece look different. The floats on the front (in the example heart pattern) will show horizontally on the front and vertically on the back. If you wove with two colors, the pattern shows in one color on the front and in the other color on the back. Feel free to mix and match those sides in your project!
Solid color, front.
Solid color, back.
Two colors, front. Pick-up is woven in green.
Two-colors, back.
There’s so Much More
There is so much more to write about but I tried to keep it reasonable. I invite you to ask questions in the comments section. Making all this information fit into one blog post has been a challenge on its own, and if something is not clear or I missed something that is important to you, please let me know and I will do my best to answer.
You may also enjoy the blank charts in three sizes so that you can plan your own colors.
The assembly is unusual: Putting jewel shapes together into something wearable is a first, but the pattern provides detailed, photo-guided step-by-step instructions to master the task.
Happy weaving, and I hope that we will see a lot of Roxanne tops this summer!
Special thanks go to Gale Zucker, www.gzucker.com, on Instagram @galezucker, and Yliana Mancini, Instagram @missladybugg95, for delivering the best photos on the shortest notice.
