How to Pin Weave

Have you found a sewing pattern that you want to bring to life? If so, there’s no doubt that you are excited to get into your sewing room and rev up that sewing machine so you can get to work. There’s just one problem: when you start gathering the sewing essentials, you realize that you don’t have a sewing fabric that’s worthy of your project. Sure, you’ve got some beautiful materials that you could use, like lace, linen, minky, denim and chambray, or even jacquard, but none of them really seem to offer that pop that you’re looking for to really make your project stand out.

You could head to the fabric store and maybe you’ll find a material that you could use, but you want something really different; something that’s textured, yet soft, and easy to work with; something that’s truly one-of-a-kind. Maybe you should try pin weaving! Pin weaving yields some pretty incredible fabrics, but if you’ve never done it before, you might be a little hesitant. Not to worry! In this sewing help guide, we’ll show you how you can pin weave your own incredible fabric.

Create a Loom

First, you need to make a loom. To do that, you’ll need glass-head straight pins, cardboard, and fusible interfacing.

Cut the cardboard into two rectangles the size that you want your fabric to be.
From a piece of sturdy material, like burlap, cut a rectangle that’s double the size of the cardboard you cut out.
Fold the fabric in half so that the right sides are facing each other and the shorter edges line up.
Stitch a seam along the raw edges, leaving one end open.
Turn the fabric right side out and fit the cardboard pieces into the opening. Sew the open end of the fabric closed.
Position the interfacing onto the board with the fusible side up.
Set the pins (they should lay flat) 1/3 inches apart along the longer edges of the board.
Select a piece of thread. Tie a pearl knot with one piece of thread to the first pin, then lace the thread back and forth between the pins. Once you reach the last pin, tie another pearl knot in the thread.

Now you’re ready to start weaving!

Weaving the Design

You’ll need:

20 to 30 pieces of 1 to 2 yard long pieces of yarn
#16 tapestry needle
An assortment of ribbons and lengths of fabric

To weave your fabric…

Thread a piece of yarn through the needle and use an over-under approach to weave it across loom. Weave the yarn in a curved shape.
Continue the process, selecting different pieces of yarn and ribbons with each weave.
Try changing up the direction of the curves to give the design more interest.

When you’re finished, you’ll need to press the fabric. Cover the fabric with a press cloth an use a steam setting to bond the interfacing to the yarn and fabric in the material you created. Take out all of the pins and your fabric is ready to be used!