Save keeps your ticked steps. We email you a link, no password.
Steps written out by Crafting Step by Step from Spruce & Linen's video (opens YouTube) (8:20). Published .
A lap loom is a small frame loom you can hold on your knees or rest on a table. It is the easiest way to try weaving, and a little landscape tapestry is a perfect first piece. The Spruce & Linen channel weaves one in five colors on her mini loom, from the first row to a finished piece in a picture frame. You only need plain weave, the most basic weaving stitch, plus a few tricks for shapes.
Use a cotton warp string, such as 4/8 cotton, because it does not stretch. For the weft, the video uses medium weight acrylic-wool yarn in five colors. Pick shades that step from dark at the bottom to light at the top. Darker hills look closer and the pale sky looks far away, so the scene gets depth without any extra work.
Every row stays horizontal. You never weave on a slant or a curve. Curves and peaks come from short rows that stop at different warp strings, stacked like steps. Always start a new color at the lowest point of its shape and build upward. Where two colors meet, butt them against each other on neighboring warp strings rather than looping one around the other.
Plan on two to three hours for a 4 inch piece, plus a little time to frame it. The small back hills go quickly. The sky takes longest because it runs the full width. Setting up the warp is a one-time job of about fifteen minutes once you have done it once or twice.
A framed mini tapestry makes a lovely gift for a new home or a grandparent's shelf. Try seasonal palettes: autumn rust and gold, a winter sky in grays and white, or a sunset in pink and coral. Kids can draw their own hills on the warp, which makes it a good afternoon project to share.
If you enjoy this, try a macrame wall hanging or punch needle for more textured yarn art. Leftover weft makes a tassel or a yarn pom pom to hang from the frame.
Free printable
One page you can take to the table. Free with a free account, no password.
Free, for this project
How to weave on a lap loom for beginners: twine, plain weave, build color-block hills, add a sky, finish the fringe and frame your tapestry. An easy project: about 2 hours 30 minutes. Materials cost about $3 to $8. You need 11 things, including cotton warp string, cardstock and thick paper. The 9 steps start with twine the First Row Above the Cardstock on the Lap Loom and draw the Landscape Pattern Onto the Lap Loom Warp.
9 steps, about 8 minutes. Tap a picture to jump to that step. Your progress saves automatically.
Tick each step off as you go.
Warp the loom first. The video double warps a mini loom with 30 strings of cotton, two in each notch. Weave a strip of cardstock across the bottom to give you a firm base to press rows against. Then take a length of your first color and twine one row across: twist two strands around each warp pair as you go, tightening as you work.
The cardstock comes out at the end and leaves room for a fringe.
Slip a printed pattern or sketch behind the warp, then trace the hill lines onto the strings with a marker. A water-soluble marker is ideal, but any marker works because the weft will cover every mark. Keep the lines simple: three or four gentle hills and a sky. A light background behind the loom makes the marks easier to see.
Dots on each warp string are easier to follow than one long drawn line.
Start with the front hill in your darkest color. Weave over one warp and under the next across the shape, then come back the opposite way. Each row stops where it meets the drawn line, so the hill builds up in steps. Keep every row level and press it down with your fingers or a comb. Never weave on a slant.
A pick-up stick slid under alternate warps opens the gap for you on every other row.
Start the second color at its lowest point. Weave a row across until it reaches the warp string next to where the first color ended. The two colors sit side by side, butted up, not interlocked. Then look at what the first hill does next. If it has two loops at that spot, add two rows of the new color to match.
Leave tails a few inches long. They are easier to weave in later.
Weave the next hills the same way, one color at a time. The video uses gold, then a light pink for the farthest peak. Start each shape at its lowest point and work upward. Where a hill dips into a U, you may need to fill a small section on its own. If a warp string peeks through, loop the weft around it from underneath.
Press each row down firmly so no warp shows between colors.
Use the lightest color for the sky. Fill the low spots between the peaks first, each one on its own. Once the tops are level, weave back and forth across the whole width. If a row ends up following the same over-under as the one below, weave a short partial row to shift it. Stop when the piece is about 4 inches tall.
Finish with another row of twining across the top to lock everything in.
Thread each tail onto a small metal tapestry needle and weave it up or down into the back of the same color for an inch or so. The rows are packed tight, so a slim metal needle slides through better than a wooden one. Trim the extra close to the weaving. Take care not to snip the woven rows themselves.
Tuck tails into their own color so nothing shows on the front.
Lay a ruler across the warp at each end and mark a straight line with your marker. Leave about three quarters of an inch for fringe. Cut along the lines to free the weaving from the loom. Brush the fringe out with a stiff brush so it turns soft and fluffy, then trim any uneven strands.
A clean pet brush works well for fluffing cotton fringe.
Trace the frame's glass or insert onto thick paper, such as watercolor paper, and cut it out. Set the weaving on it and mark where it sits. Attach it with a few stitches at the top and bottom, or a few dots of hot glue. Place the paper in the frame. Leave the glass out if you want the texture to show.
Stitch over any warp ends that stick out so they lie flat.
Keep going
How to Make Concrete Letters for Garden Decor
More on this topic, picked for this project.
You reached the last step
Your ticked steps, the free printable and your other saved makes, together in My Projects. Free, no password.
Free printable
The bonus is hidden until you sign up.
Free with a free account, no password. Every step above stays open to everyone.
How to Weave on a Lap Loom: A Beginner Landscape Tapestry
E6000
E6000 Craft Adhesive, Clear (3.7 oz)
The industrial-strength craft glue that bonds glass, wood, ceramic, metal, fabric, and concrete. The one adhesive most craft projects reach for.
Gorilla
Gorilla Dual-Temp Full-Size Hot Glue Gun
Dual-temp so it handles delicate florals and heavy materials alike. A precise nozzle and built-in stand make it the everyday craft-table gun.
OLFA
OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
The pro-standard cutting surface. Gridlines for square cuts, self-healing so blades never leave grooves, and big enough for paper, fabric, and leather.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Links on this page may be affiliate links - clicking them and buying doesn't change your price, but helps support Crafting Step by Step.
The Crafter's Weekly
One short email with the week's best step-by-step guides. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Did this work for you?
Curated theme pages that include this tutorial.
Hand-picked next reads based on the one you just finished.
Crafts
14:52 video · 7 steps
Based on a video by ExpressionFiberArts
Crafts
9:24 video · 8 steps
Based on a video by DaveHax
Pick the crafts you want to hear about. One email every Sunday with new step-by-step tutorials. No spam, easy to unsubscribe.
Weekly digest. Pick the categories you want. Unsubscribe anytime.
Send me tutorials about
