Kids Weaving: Projects for Kids of All Ages (ISBN 1584794674)

Good projects, good instructions:
This book is great if you want a book that has interesting, useful projects, clear instructions, and beautiful photos of kids and their weaving. The starting projects are loomless, involving weaving paper ('checkerboard notecards'), twigs ('fairygarden planter'), pliable tree branches ('hideout'), and what looks like a kind of six-strand braiding of embroidery floss hung from a pencil ('friendship bracelet'). From there you graduate to use of a cardboard loom to make a small wool pouch (I did this one) and to weaving cloth strips to make Japanese Rag Warrior dolls. (These, by the way, really do look like dolls my boys would play with.) Following that, the book details how to construct a stand-up loom from pvc piping and fittings, thick wooden dowels, and tongue depressors, and comes complete with heddle bar. I made mine for a cost of about $20. This pvc loom will handle a band of weaving up to 5" wide. From this loom (dubbed 'inkle loom') you can make these projects: inkle strap shoelaces, tapestry dog collar, a belt, a 43" long scarf, doll-sized pile carpets, and, by sewing woven strips together, a kente cloth blanket. The book also includes information, about making your own fiber dyes, different ways to set up the inkle loom, what is 'fulling' and how it is done, as well as bits of weaving history and lore. I got 'Kids Weaving' from the library six weeks ago. I meant to photocopy only a few pages for use introducing weaving to a small homeschool co-op. But when I began to see that it wouldn't be just a few pages, that's when I realized that I should just buy the book. Nearly all of the projects look like something we would do. That's rare.

What a find!:
Lots of GREAT ideas!!! Some are quickly done while others are more involved. This is the best book I have found for doing weaving with children. The PVC pipe loom is a terrific idea and inexpensive enough for each child to have one of their own to work on.

Great Project Book for my 10 year old:
This book was a great project book for my daughters, especially the 10 year old. We learned a lot about weaving and were able to produce some nice, usable projects in a short time. We still plan to make the loom from PVC piping and make some Christmas gifts with it. I had gotten the book from our public library and felt it would be a great addition to our craft library and had to buy it. The instructions, diagrams and photos are well done.