Cluny Loom from Plastic Canvas

Ribbonwinners Tatting Patterns & Shuttles by
Georgia Seitz
11460 Via Appia
Anchorage Alaska 99515-2905 USA
AKTATTER@aol.com
www.georgiaseitz.com

Many thanks to Pat Tittizer for sharing her handy tip on making a loom for cluny leaves with the online tatting class.

Cluny Loom from Plastic Canvas

This loom is based on the loom created by Tammy Rodgers. Tammy's loom is made of shrink plastic. It is a great aid in teaching Cluny leaves, especially in a class. However, the shrink plastic tends to be brittle and easily breaks. I also had a lot of trouble getting the plastic to shrink evenly.

After spending an hour or so at my local craft store, I came up with the idea of using the star plastic canvas form as a Cluny loom. It bends easily, yet is firm enough to hold the threads. It is cheap (mine were 29 cents), so I could buy extras to experiment upon and still give one to each of my students.

Making the loom

The loom is made by making a v-shaped cut at the top point. If the star has a hanger, use that point as the top and remove the hanger. Cut 2 slits at the top and 2 slits on one arm. At the bottom (the pinch), cut 3 slits. The middle one splits the thicker spine between the arms of the star. Full size diagram
Threading the loom Hold the previous tatting element tightly in slot #1 under the loom. Then bring the loom thread up at 1, down at 2, up at 3, down at 4. Pull to curve the plastic enough to be able to slide the shuttle between the threads and the plastic. Continue by coming up at 5, down at 6, up at 7, down at 8. Finally, wrap several times at 9 & 10 to help hold the thread end in place.
Weaving a Cluny leaf Hold the loom in your left hand. Use the shuttle in your right hand to do the weaving. On shuttles with points, I find it helpful to turn the shuttle backwards so that the point does not become caught in the loom threads.
Bring the weaving thread up at 1. Starting from the right side, go under the thread from 3-4, over the thread from 7-8, under the thread from 1-2, then turn around and go over 1-2, under 7-8 and over 3-4. This makes one pass.
	The first pass must be tightened against the previous tatting. For a typical 12 pass leaf: passes 2-6 gradually become looser, then 7-9 stay the same width, and 10-12 gradually tighten back down to a point.
Shaping the leaf Carefully remove the leaf from the loom. There will be a loop of thread at the bottom, and one at the top. The ending tails will also be at the top. First, pull the top loop upward to tighten the leaf at the bottom and left side. Second, pull the bottom loop downward, causing the top loop to recede into the leaf. Third, pull the loom thread end (not the weaving thread) upward, causing the bottom loop to recede and shape the leaf.
Simple motif to try Here is a simple flower pattern to try out your Cluny loom.