Weave a Pin-Loom Clutch with Berroco Cotolana

We love Angela Tong’s Pin-Loom Clutch in the new Easy Weaving on Little Looms magazine that we asked her to share some of the story behind this great little purse!

I consider myself a knitter who weaves. Knitting yarns are always my go-to yarns for weaving. The pin loom is perfect for using yarns in your stash. My fascination with pin looms began with seeing a copy of Interweave’s Piecework Magazine. It was the 2010 issue and it featured a Weave-It Afghan on the cover. Since then, I have collected vintage pin looms like the Weave-It, Weavette, Loomette, Jiffy Loom, to name a few. I even have some handmade ones I have bought from Etsy. I love weaving on pin looms because they are simple to weave on and very portable. When Schacht Spindle Company came out with the Zoom Loom, I bought one right away. It works very well and it’s similar to the vintage pin looms.

At the 2016 TNNA Summer Show in Washington, DC, I picked up a sample bag of Berroco’s newest yarns. When I got home, I started sample weaving (similar to swatching for knitting or crochet projects) with some of them. Around the same time, I was asked to submit project ideas for the second issue of Easy Weaving on Little Looms. The editor liked my pin-loom foldover clutch and asked me what yarn I wanted to use. I immediately suggested Berroco Cotolana™. The blend of wool, cotton, and nylon wove up nicely on the Schacht Zoom Loom. Plus, the selection of yarn colors worked with the magazine’s color palette.

The foldover clutch is made with 24 woven squares, using 2 contrasting colors of Cotolana. The 2-color squares add a subtle depth of color to the woven fabric. It is all done with plain weave and it’s easy. You warp the pin loom with 1 color for all 3 layers, then tie on the 2nd color and weave with it.

When it’s time to assemble the bag, I like to start by laying out the squares first. It’s a personal preference, but I like to use the tail end of the woven squares to seam it into strips. I find that it’s less ends to weave in. After seaming the squares, I end up with 3 strips of 4 squares. Then I seam the 3 strips together to form the first panel of the clutch. Repeat for the second panel.

There are many ways to seam pin loom squares. It really depends on your desired finished look. Since this is a clutch, I want the squares to form a solid piece of fabric. I like to offset the bumps along the edges of the squares and whip stitch them together. It makes a flat seam.

If you have never tried pin loom weaving, I encourage you to give it a try. I have taught classes on pin loom weaving in LYS’s in New Jersey. It’s one of my favorite classes to teach. If you want to learn more about pin loom weaving, I have filmed a video with Interweave called Creative Pin-Loom Designs. In this download video, I teach you how to warp and weave on a pin loom, weave a 2 color square and different seaming techniques. If you have a pin loom that you haven’t touched in a while, pull it out and weave some squares. Before you know it, you will have enough squares to make something with them. I hope you will try out some of the projects in Easy Weaving with Little Looms—there are three other pin-loom projects in this issue, and so much inspiration for other small loom projects. And Berroco has a lot of great yarns you can try out on your pin loom.

Thanks, Angela! Don’t forget, we’ve got a giveaway running this week—you could win the pattern, Zoom Loom, and yarn to make your own Pin-Loom Clutch. Head to this blog post for more details.