A note on weaving & basketry
Windmill Loop Weave is a type of weaving structure. When you use it to make baskets, bags, or trays, it also becomes basketry. Textile weaving (with a loom and threads) is a different tradition — though the same word “weaving” is used for both.
One of the joys of Windmill Loop Weaving is how easy it is to start. Many of the materials you have in your recycling bin are perfect for the makings of something new.
The weave happily scales up or down – the same principle for making a simple coaster can be used to make a basket sturdy enough to carry your shopping.
The structure of the weave is rigid enough to hold its form, yet flexible enough to adapt, creating patterns that feel both geometric and organic.
And perhaps most exciting of all is its creative scope, with endless variations to explore, from tilts and spirals to 3-Way Stars and twin walls.
One of the joys of Windmill Loop Weaving is how easy it is to start. Many of the materials you have in your recycling bin are perfect for the makings of something new.
The weave happily scales up or down – the same principle for making a simple coaster can be used to make a basket sturdy enough to carry your shopping.
The structure of the weave is rigid enough to hold its form, yet flexible enough to adapt, creating patterns that feel both geometric and organic.
And perhaps most exciting of all is its creative scope, with endless variations to explore, from tilts and spirals to 3-Way Stars and twin walls.
It is thought that the first instances of Windmill Loop weaving date back to the second world war when recuperating soldiers and prisoners of war wove loops made from their cigarette packets.
It is thought that the first instances of Windmill Loop weaving date back to the second world war when recuperating soldiers and prisoners of war wove loops made from their cigarette packets.
One reason Windmill Loop Weaving feels new is that it depends on something earlier weavers didn’t really have: ready-made loops.
Traditional basketry and weaving developed with long fibres — grasses, reeds, bark, yarn, rope — materials that are prepared to run in continuous lengths. Those materials naturally lend themselves to plaiting, twining, coiling and knotting.
One reason Windmill Loop Weaving feels new is that it depends on something earlier weavers didn’t really have: ready-made loops.
Traditional basketry and weaving developed with long fibres — grasses, reeds, bark, yarn, rope — materials that are prepared to run in continuous lengths. Those materials naturally lend themselves to plaiting, twining, coiling and knotting.
By contrast, a closed loop of consistent size and stiffness is much harder to make by hand, and would have been wasteful in older craft traditions. Uniform loops only became widely available with the rise of packaging and modern manufacturing: cardboard tubes, rubber bands, plastic rings, factory off-cuts.
By contrast, a closed loop of consistent size and stiffness is much harder to make by hand, and would have been wasteful in older craft traditions. Uniform loops only became widely available with the rise of packaging and modern manufacturing: cardboard tubes, rubber bands, plastic rings, factory off-cuts.
Windmill Loop Weaving makes full use of this new material form. It’s not simply that the technique went “undiscovered” — it may not have been possible until loops became a commonplace by-product of everyday life. In that sense, Windmill Loop Weaving is very much a modern weave, born of a modern material culture.
Windmill Loop Weaving makes full use of this new material form. It’s not simply that the technique went “undiscovered” — it may not have been possible until loops became a commonplace by-product of everyday life. In that sense, Windmill Loop Weaving is very much a modern weave, born of a modern material culture.
Windmill Loop Weaving is as versatile as your imagination. It can become jewellery or ornaments, grow into baskets or mats, inspire mathematical and structural experiments, and even serve as a playful way to teach geometry and recycling.
Wherever you take it, WLW turns simple loops into endless possibilities.
Windmill Loop Weaving is as versatile as your imagination. It can become jewellery or ornaments, grow into baskets or mats, inspire mathematical and structural experiments, and even serve as a playful way to teach geometry and recycling.
Wherever you take it, WLW turns simple loops into endless possibilities.