Paper Weaving Instruction Sheet
Most women living in the early New England colonies were expected to weave lengths of cloth. The fabrics were used to make homespun clothes and household items such as bedding and linens. The process of making cloth was long and tedious. First, the colonists had to spin and dye the yarn in preparation for the weaving process. The women took great pride in preparing plant dyes to create attractive colors. One of the favorite colors was blue, made from the indigo plant. They also made yellow from goldenrod flowers, pink and orange from boiled sassafras bark, and purple from iris petals. Leaving the yarns in their natural shades of creams and tans was also common.
When the preparation of the fibers was finally complete, the women spent many hours weaving the yarn into cloth. Children loved to watch the weaver and begged for bits of yarn to make small items. Girls created hat bands, hair pieces, and shoestrings. Boys made suspenders to hold up their trousers and garters to keep their stockings in place.
To develop an appreciation for what the early colonists needed to do in order to have something to wear or keep warm, create easy-to-make paper weavings. Can you imagine living in a community where there were no department stores?
STEPS TO PAPER WEAVING
Making the paper loom
- With a ruler and pencil measure a 2-inch border on both ends of a 12" x 18" sheet of colored construction paper.
- Fold the paper in half so that you can see the pencil marks.
- Measure and cut 1/2-inch lines from the fold to the pencil marks.
- Cut out every other line to the edge of the 2-inch border.
- Using contrasting colors, cut a variety of 12-inch strips (to weave into the paper loom). For variety cut some narrow and some medium widths. For additional variety, cut some curved, pointed, or torn strips.
- Weave the strips into the loom. Row 1 will be under one, over one. Row 2 will reverse and be over one, under one. Repeat rows 1 and 2 until the loom is full. When finished weaving, carefully glue every other strip edge to the edge of the loom (on both sides).
Excerpted from Ready-to-Use Interdisciplinary Lessons & Activities for Grades 5-12.
