Well, I seem to have successfully woven a pouch!  I used eight pieces of jute, which when doubled become sixteen, of course.  I used the weaving method described on this forum with a rather cobbled-up (but effective) loom consisting of a two-by-four and two pieces of dowel.  When I got to the comb, I simply wrapped the weft around the comb itself, which left a 3/8" gap in the middle of the pouch, but I'm not bothered by it.

As functionality goes, it seems to work great.  Now, granted I only just tested a couple times, because it's dark out and I only had one sock on*.  Anyhow, all seems well.  Thanks for all the advice!


* I tend to use my big toe as an anchoring point for the finger-loop while braiding.  It works pretty well if you're limber!

Alright, you got me.    These are hosted locally, so please don't go slashdotting me:

http://hansenlabs.no-ip.org/weave_top.jpg

http://hansenlabs.no-ip.org/weave_pouch.jpg

The pouch isn't exactly symmetrical, but boy does it hold a load.  I'm pretty surprised by how functional it is.

Nice pics, Thori!  What material is it made of? 

I have braided mine with hemp.

Alright, this may sound stupid, but when weaving a pouch is the "weft" added in when one reaches the pouch after braiding the finger loop/first cord, or is the weft simply a longer strand that was involved in the braiding? If the weft is added in after, how is it secured in place? Is there a knot that is unnoticeable? Thanks.

Here are some basic instructions:

I used jute twine, which I got 190' of at Wally World for something like $1.30.  I made eight pieces, each roughly 11' in length.  These I braided normally right up to the pouch, after the manner described in Dan Bollinger's article, "Making a braided sling: An illustrated guide" on this site.  The only thing I changed was that I used a four-strand braid to hopefully keep the cords narrower, as jute is fairly thick stuff (1/8").  So, I made my finger loop with eight of the sixteen (when doubled) strands, then joined back up and four-stranded it all the way to the pouch.

At this point, I constructed the jig/loom in my photo out of a two-by-four and a piece of dowel.  The dowels are cut to length and then inserted into pre-drilled holes via the use of a hammer and lots of enthusiasm.  I then slipped the finger loop over the left peg, wrapped the free, unbraided ends around the right peg, pulled the whole works tight, and secured it in place with a piece of cotton string.  I then separated the strands into the comb, making groups of two, resulting in eight strands of two strings each.  The comb, as the shape of my pouch indicates, was in the middle of the pouch (about 5.5" from the end of the retention cord).

After this, I used the weaving methods described by Hobb and english, which are quite sound - cut a weft (a weft being little more than the piece of material you intend to weave over-under-over through the pouch).  I used a piece 10 or 11 feet long, but you may wish to go longer based on your project, as I said.

Then just wrap the weft around the retention cord a few times and start to weaving.

When I reached the comb, I simply went around it and kept going, resulting in the small gap toward the middle of the pouch.  You can experiment to try and eliminate this fault.  When I finished weaving, I removed the works from the loom and braided the release cord, then took 'er outside and tried 'er out!

I know these are minimal instructions, but I'll be glad to answer any specific (or otherwise?) inquiries about my particular method.  english and Hobb, however, are the Masters.

Quote:


Sorry, but I've got to disagree with you there.  Whipartist and Jim Burdine are the masters.  They take sling braiding to an art form!

That's a really slick way of working in the weft, english.  I use a yarn needle or a long hook made from electric fence wire as a shuttle, which really speeds things along.  I think it helped preserve the warp in my painfully homemade loom, too.