How to Use Weaving To Teach Anything You Want... well almost anything

You might not be able to teach kids how to make pancakes, but now that I think about it, you could pour the pancake batter in lines and start to make a woven pancake...

I’m so glad that you’re part of the Over_Under project, helping to keep 5,000 t-shirts out of landfills by the end of 2026. To date you’ve helped keep 300+ shirts out of landfills, I can’t complete this project without you and your friends.

Last week I told you that I was writing a lesson for you, and I DID. I almost abandoned the idea, because it’s not a typical lesson, it’s WAY more than a lesson. It shows you how to fold in standards for second grade through high school, and I’m so excited to give it to you! It’s what I always wanted to exist, but couldn’t find, so I made it.

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Fiber arts can be complicated, but only if YOU decide to make it that way. You don't have to buy a fancy loom; you can. You don't need to blow your budget on new yarn, please don't, and you don't have to be an expert to allow your students to explore.

Start simple, and allow the complexity to grow as your students gain confidence and curiosity. If they ask if they can add some sticks to their weaving, what if you said, Give it a try, and tell me what happens.

You can spend far too much of your paycheck buying supplies this year, OR, you can make this the year that you use your paycheck to buy yourself a very exciting bias tape maker, some new thread, and a massage for after you sit at your sewing machine for too many hours.

It can be easier to buy cardboard looms and save your hands from cutting slit after slit after slit in the cardboard. I'm going to challenge you. If your students aren't ready to cut slits in the cardboard, then focus on teaching them weaving with paper, because you can do magical things with paper, and upgrade to other looms as your students can help design and construct them.

Challenge your students to gather paper that might usually be discarded and experiment.

• Turn messy mats into weaving strips

• Cut up previous student artwork that was left behind.

• Explore old worksheets.

• Experiment with magazines and old books.

• Glue scraps of paper to another sheet, making a playful collage, then cut apart for weaving material.

Practice and Experiment:

• Have students practice cutting straight lines.

• Thick Lines

• Thin Lines: Challenge your students by asking what the thinnest line you can cut is. How does your weaving change if you use skinny strips of paper?

• Curvy lines

• Zig Zag lines

This is a scarf I wove years ago, it’s still one of my favorites. I wish I remembered who bought this piece.

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