Weekly We Make: Weaving

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About the Weekly We Make Activity

Inspired by the woven works in the exhibition Death Boat and Other Stories: The Kampelmacher Memorial Collection of Indigenous Art, on view at the MacKenzie Art Gallery until 2 May 2027, try your own hand at weaving a small wall hanging or coaster. You’ll learn how much work goes into this medium!

This workshop is led by one of our amazing Gallery Educators.

 

About Weekly We Make

It’s an art party! Weekly We Make at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, presented by Canada Life, is an opportunity for individuals and families to drop in and create artwork.

Learn about the artists and artworks in MacKenzie’s Permanent Collection and featured exhibitions with weekly in-person hands-on workshops that can be modified for all ages. Visit our studio to make art with Gallery Educators and guest artists, exploring new and beloved techniques and art materials.

There is no cost to attend these drop-in sessions. All materials are provided.

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The Artwork that Inspired Us

The labels for these weavings say they are made by Artists Once Known. This means that we don’t have a record of who made them. It’s possible that someone once knew who made these artworks. Maybe in their own time and community, the artists were quite famous! However, that information has been lost today. Often, galleries and curators are now trying to identify who made these artworks.

Indigenous artist collectives formed across Canada to help artists earn a living. In many cases, these collectives made artworks that have been thought of as craft. These were often treated as less important than paintings or drawings in European-style galleries. Sometimes, these artworks were not labelled with their artists’ names because buyers didn’t see them as works of fine art. Other times, it may have been because many different people worked on one artwork together.

A whimsical, childlike drawing uses visual storytelling to depict a grey helicopter soaring over a hill and blue river, with a person in orange inside. On the hill in the background rests a small orange object, adding charm to the scene.
A woven textile art piece showcases visual storytelling, depicting a person in profile with long black hair and a green hooded cloak against a leafy green background, featuring stylized shapes resembling leaves or wings.

Studio Activity

Inspired by the woven works in Death Boat and Other Stories, try your own hand at weaving a small wall hanging or coaster. You’ll learn how much work goes into this medium! 

MATERIALS

  • Yarn
  • Wooden or cardboard looms (with pencils or chopsticks)
  • Scissors
  • Tape
  • (optional) Popsicle sticks
  • yarn needles
  • Plastic forks
  • A stick or a dowel if you are making a wall hanging

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1

If you are making a loom at home, cut notches one centimetre apart along two opposite sides of a cardboard rectangle. Tape a pencil or chopstick down under each row of notches to help lift your weaving off the cardboard a bit.

Step 2

Thread your loom’s warp.

  • Tape the end of your warp yarn down on the back of your loom.
  • Bring it to the front through one of the notches.
  • Stretch it to the matching notch across the front of your loom.
  • Tuck the yarn around the nub created by the notches.
  • Stretch the yarn across to the opposite side again.
  • Repeat steps d. and e. until your project is as wide as you want it.
  • Tape the end of your weft yarn down on the back of your loom.

(If you are visiting the gallery for this activity, a gallery facilitator can help you with this step or thread your warp on your loom for you.)

Step 3

Cut yourself a long piece of yarn for your weft. You could thread it through a blunt needle to help you weave. Or you can wrap it around a popsicle stick so that it isn’t so long.

Step 4

Tape the tail end of your weft yarn down on the left edge of your loom.

Step 5

Move your needle or shuttle over one warp thread, and under the next, moving to the right. Repeat until you have gone over and under all the warp threads, and your needle/shuttle is on the left side.

Step 6

Pull the weft thread all the way through. There shouldn’t be a big loop of thread on the right-hand side of your artwork.

Step 7

Repeat this going left-to-right but using the opposite pattern. For example, if you went over the last warp on your first pass, you would go back under it instead.

Step 8

Gently push each row of woven weft threads up towards the top of your loom with a fork. This will make your weaving tighter and let you make more passes with your warp thread.

Step 9

When you want to switch colours, or if you are running out of thread, tape the thread down to the side of your loom. Tape down a new thread on that same side and begin weaving again.

Step 10

When you’ve woven as much as you like, you can prepare your weaving to come off the loom. Use a yarn needle to weave the taped-down weft ends into your fabric, hiding them and stopping them from coming loose.

Step 11

Cut the warp threads along the bottom of your weaving close to the notches. Tie them together in little bunches so that the weft threads can’t fall off. These bunches can look like little tassels!

Step 12

If you are making a coaster, repeat step 11 with the top warp threads.

Step 13

If you are making a wall hanging, carefully lift the loops of the warp threads off the top of the loom. You’ll also need to untape the end of the warp thread and weave it into your artwork. Add a stick through the loops made by your warp threads. You can tie another piece of yarn to both ends of the stick to hang your artwork.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

  • After trying weaving, what do you think of it? Was it hard work? Was it creative work? Would you call weaving an art, a craft, or both?

IMPORTANT WORDS

  • Craft: making something skillfully, often with your hands. Art forms that are thought of as craft often focus on the process of making something and the materials used. Crafts often create objects that have a specific use. Crafts use creativity, expression, and cultural knowledge. Sometimes people label artworks as crafts to make them seem less important. However, crafts are important art forms, and people who make crafts are artists.
  • Artist collective: a group of artists working together and supporting each other’s art careers.
  • Weaving: making fabric by crossing threads over and under each other, often on a loom.
  • Warp: the threads that are held tightly on a loom when weaving fabric.
  • Weft: the threads that are passed over and under the warp threads when weaving fabric.
  • Loom: a tool or machine used for weaving. A loom holds all the warp threads tight to make it easier to pass the weft threads over and under.
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A colorful painting of a cartoon monkey wearing sunglasses, singing into a microphone, shines as a Pop Culture Tribute on a vibrant yellow and purple background. Paint supplies are visible beside the artwork.
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A person paints a swirling blue and yellow scene on paper, inspired by Van Gogh's
A hand paints a colorful picture inspired by Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” featuring a cartoon character with rocket boots soaring through swirling yellow and blue skies—a playful nod to Pop Culture Tributes. Paint containers are visible in the background.