Sunset Weavings

These Sunset Weavings are a result of my Canada 150 focus and trying to find new ways to expand my circular weaving options for my younger students.

I love circular weavings, it's where I start after paper weavings with Division 1 kids, (Kinder - Grade 1).


So I took elements of the Canadian landscape as the focus.

Other ideas that would work:
- lighthouse on the rocks 'Peggy's Cove'
- grain elevator on the Prairie
- cabin in the woods
- urban skyline, using landmarks like Calgary Tower, CN Tower
- wildlife silhouettes














MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- heavy corrugated cardboard
- something circular to trace, I used a dessert sized Chinet plate
- yarn and string, I like chunky yarn for weaving but nothing too fuzzy
- plastic or metal yarn needle, you can also just use a piece of pipe cleaner, or even just wrap masking tape around the end of the yarn.
- acrylic or liquid tempera paint
- black felt
- glue, scissors

PROCEDURE:
Before we start I just want to say the directions look complicated but really they are not.  I'm just trying to give you all the tips and ways of doing this that I find have worked the best.

Weaving takes kids a while to get the hang of, some longer than others.  You will have some students that will pick it up immediately and I like to buddy them with kids who are struggling.

Weaving ends up being very relaxing, a quiet time for the kids and once they have it down a good project for those spare moments or early finishers.

Using a circular item, the size you want your weaving to be, trace onto heavy corrugated cardboard.

Cut out.

I use heavy cardboard because kids are not the most gentle with their looms.  They can pull really hard on the yarn and sometimes I see those looms flying like Frisbees, you know exactly what I mean.

You need to poke a hole thru the center of your cardboard.  I use a knitting needle.


You then need to cut 15 notches around your circle.

I never measure I just cut 4 notches first to divide my circle into quarters, like 12 o clock, 3 o clock, 6 o clock, 9 o clock but I purposely cut 1 quarter smaller than the others.

I then cut 3 notches into my bigger sections and only 2 notches in my smaller section.  This way I can cut the many class sets I have to make fast.

Cut a length of string to thread your loom. I like to just use plain household string. You don't see it in the final weaving and it does not get fuzzy while you are weaving.

If using a needle, thread it and then knot the little tail onto the needle. This stops you from having to keep threading the needle when the kids pull to hard.

Incidentally I teach kids how to thread needles and tie knots before
we do any weaving, otherwise I would go crazy.

On the end that does not have the needle I secure it into a notch, any notch, leaving a little bit so I can tie a knot.  Pass the needle thru the hole and pull tight.  Tie the little end you left to the string you just pulled thru.  This will now be the back of the loom.

Pull string tight and then fit into the next notch, pass the needle to the front of the loom and thru the hole again.

Continue until all notches are strung.

On that last notch tie off the string to the back onto one of the other strings.  It won't look right but this is the back.  It's important that you only have 15 strings showing in the front.

Now we are going to tie on the first colour we are going to weave with.  I am using white to start on these Sunset weavings.  Cut a length about the 3-4 ft.  I tell kids to stretch their arms out and cut a length that long.

Thread your needle, knot onto the needle using the little tail and then tie the other end of the yarn to your loom.  Just choose any of the strings to knot onto at the back.

Pull the needle thru the hole so you are ready to start weaving on the front of your loom.

Choose a string on the loom to start at, doesn't matter which one.

Begin weaving using the pattern over under over under.

I tell my young kids that the needle is like a rabbit, it dives under the first string, hops over the next one, then dives under the next one and so on.

When you have woven over/under along 4 or 5 strings pull the needle so that all the slack in white yarn is taken up and then continue weaving.

Some important points here:

- you have to be constantly pulling the slack, I will remind the kids of this all the time
- you want the weaving to lay flat on the loom, if you pull too tight the weaving won't sit right, it will start growing upwards from the loom instead of out to the edges of the circle, like a big mass of yarn in the center.
- after each pull look at your weaving, you should be able to see where you left off. Start again right where you left off, no skipping.
- tell the kids to leave about 4-5 inches of yarn unwoven when it's time to change colours or get more.

When it comes time to change colours or add more we need to tie off.

The best way I have found to do this and hide our knots is to first tie a knot on the next string in the loom to finish.

Before cutting thread the needle under some of the existing weaving.

Then cut the yarn carefully so you don't cut any of the weaving.


Cut the needle off from what's left of that yarn.

Select your next colour and cut a length

Tie one end onto a string, I usually choose one opposite to where I finished because I do not want too many knots hidden in the same place.  It will make a bump in your weaving.

Using the needle just thread that little end back under the weaving and cut off .


Then thread the other end of the yarn on your needle, knot on and start weaving again.

Weave until there is no space left on the loom.  Tie off one last time.


Now it's time to paint the loom.

We are just painting that little bit of cardboard that is exposed. If you want you can prime it first with some white paint, let it dry and then paint the finishing colour.

You could also just paint without priming but I would suggest you add a bit of white paint or gesso to your colour.  The white paint makes it a bit more opaque and it covers the cardboard a bit better.

When the paint has dried cut the black felt for your silhouette.


Here I cut my mountain range first.

I then turned the felt and loom to the back and using a white pencil crayon or china marker I traced the edge of the loom.



Cut on that line.

Then glue into place.

That's it. 














Some other circular weaving projects you might want to try:

Frogs

Woven Owls

Finally the winner of the "Little Loom Weaving" by Andreia Gomes is

Kathy Hardman from Ontario

Thanks everyone for entering and don't worry I have more book giveaways happening all summer long.  :)

Take care everyone and DO SOME WEAVING!

Gail

Clay Landscapes

Prior to Christmas I did these clay landscape plaques with Grade 5.

They had to choose one of the six geographical regions of Canada.

I was quite impressed with their work.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- clay
- fabric placemat
- nail, wooden skewer, small cup of water
- rolling pin
- reference photos if needed
- ceramic glaze
- kiln

PROCEDURE:

Roll out your clay to a good sized rectangle, 8x10 or so.

My slab is about a pinky finger thickness.

Before I cut the plaque out I figure out the shape.


I draw into the clay with my finger.  I usually draw it with less pressure but I wanted you to see it here.

If you don't like it just erase it with a swipe of some water on your finger.

Using the nail cut your shape out and lift away the excess.

I tell the kids to make sure they push the nail down to the fabric, "you should feel the fabric on the end of the nail".

Before I forget I make the hole for hanging with the head of the nail pushed all the way thru.

Now it's time to start our design.  I have reference photos for the kids of the 6 geographical regions.  They pick one and create their scene.

With the leftover clay from the slab they begin cutting pieces out for the landscape.  We want to stay flat like a cookie for these pieces.

I don't use slip in my art classes, I move around too much from school to school.
I use the good old "scratch, scratch, water, water".  I teach the kids that chant before we start.  To 'glue' our clay pieces together we first make surface scratches in the base where our pieces are to go.  I use my finger dipped in water to rub water over these scratches.

I then repeat the process on the back of my landscape pieces.

I then tell the kids the scratches have to kiss. They usually groan at this idea but it gets the point across and clay gets attached correctly.

If you have extra scratches in your base just erase them with a swipe of water from your finger.

Continue to add pieces to your landscape keeping them flat so your plaque doesn't get too thick.



"Scratch, scratch, water, water"

You can some texture marks to enhance your landscape.

Scratch your name into the back of the plaque, have a partner hold it while you do this.

The landscapes then get put away to dry out for 1 to 2 weeks.  I utilize the library for this, placing them on newspaper on top of the bookshelves.



When fully dry, do the cheek test: place clay piece on your cheek if it is cold it is not dry.  I find in Calgary it usually is always a bit cold even when dry but it won't feel damp.

When the clay is dry do a bisque fire in the kiln.

After the landscapes have cooled you can glaze.










Fire again in the kiln.

That's it.







Love this prairie one.

Great flower details.

Although not a geographical region the students were allowed to do Calgary.
This student took her time and made a terrific cityscape.




See you next time.

Gail

Papier Mache Bear Heads

Keeping with our Bear and papier mache theme this week I put together this project.


Each head is about the size of an orange.  I mounted mine, a good way to combine this project with a writing assignment.

I think these would also be amazing as a Christmas tree ornament.  Put a eye hole screw in place by poking a hole in the top.  Polar bears with a red ribbon...awesome!

Let's get started.







MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- newspaper
- masking tape
- white glue and water mix (1 to 1), paper towel strips for mache
- cardboard egg carton
- recycled cereal or cracker box
- acrylic paint
- small brushes for details
- bear reference photos
- substrate if mounting, I used a piece of plywood but you could use hardboard (masonite), canvas, or cardboard
- glue

PROCEDURE:

Take a half piece of newspaper and squish into a ball, about the size of your palm, and tape.




If you want to mount these on a substrate, choose one side and pound it a few times on your work surface to flatten.  When maching you will not need to cover this area.

Cut a section from your egg carton.  You don't need to trim as those jagged edges help you tape it to the newspaper ball.

Tape in place with masking tape.

The egg carton forms the muzzle of the bear.

Out of a cereal or cracker box cut 2 ears.  See how mine have tabs at the bottom, this makes it easier to tape.

Mix up your glue and water (1 to 1). Have your paper strips ready to go.  I always make extra and keep them in a plastic bag for future projects.

Start applying your strips, crisscross them so they hold each other in place.  You only need 1 coat.  Cover the ears and you can add a ball of strips to build up the nose.
Try to keep the shape of the ears, no excessive wrapping.  If you are mounting the heads you don't need to cover the back.

Leave the heads to dry.  About 1-2 days and give them a turn to dry all the sides.

I like to put mine on wax paper so they don't stick.

When dry give your heads a coat of paint.

Using small brushes paint the details.  Reference photos of bears are a great help.

You can paint your background if you are mounting them.  I spent a bit of time trying to figure this out.  I did not want to make it too busy and distracting.  The focus is the bears.

I opted for colours that would be found in each Bear's environment.

Glue the heads in place. I used the glue gun but you can also use tacky glue.

I wanted to add some text to the piece.  I printed out my titles and painted them with some watery acrylic.

I had thought I would put the names of the bears but it proved to be too busy.

Add a coat of sealer if you wish and a hanger at the back.

That's it.  My grizzly turned out too be way more friendly than I intended. :)


Gail