WEAVING LOOM

Weaving with a loom results in needlework where the fibers which sustain the beads are also the only warp of the finished object.

The oldest type of weaving loom is the bow loom: a flexible stick with healds made of birch bark or leather to hold up and separate the warps of curtains fixed at each extremity.

The Fox bead loom (Mesquakie) shown here is in and of itself a masterpiece.

Carved out of hard wood in the late 1800s and bearing engravings on both sides, it is more technologically sophisticated than smaller looms which were usually used to decorate straps.

In this model half of the warp threads, which pass through the eye holes in the middle of the heald, are held in tension, whereas the other half, which passes through the healds, can move up and down.

In this manner the warp itself can be woven so that the pattern is the same on both sides.