Video Tip! Setting Yourself Up for Weaving Success

When I first started baking in earnest, I read something that changed my life in Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller and Sebastian Rouxel. The book is part cookbook and part philosophy of baking. In it, there’s a section by food writers Susie Heller and Amy Vogler on best practices for baking. Among the many baking-specific tips (Weigh your ingredients! Know your hot spots!) are the two that made a profound impact on how I approach any creative task: measuring out and having all your ingredients ready to go before starting (sometimes referred to as mise en place) and working clean (having your tools clean and laid out and then cleaning as you go instead of at the end).

The concepts of mise en place and working clean are, in my opinion, invaluable habits in any creative endeavor. Making sure to have everything you need set out in a clean area and keeping that area clean as you go can make a world of difference. They’re also incredibly simple, small things that make an outsized impact on whatever I’m making.

While watching Sara Bixler’s newest video, Beginning Weaving on the Rigid-Heddle Loom, I was reminded of Heller and Vogler’s advice as, throughout the video, Sara works to set up weavers with good habits and best practices.

For example, her “Starting to Weave” section begins with what you need to do before you begin weaving your project in earnest. She not only shows you the steps you should take before grabbing your weft, but she also explains the why of it. Curious? Here’s a clip of Sara explaining how to set up your loom for more ergonomic weaving and how to get your warp ready for your project’s weft.

There you have it—the advice is seemingly simple, but as a new weaver, if you begin every weaving project in this way, you’ll be starting out your weaving career with good habits. There’s so much more in Sara’s video—more tips, tricks, and best practices to help you not only learn to weave on a rigid-heddle loom, but to weave well on one.

Happy Weaving!

Christina