Vesterheim Museum

May 20, 2024

Charts from an Orsa Apron Band

Update July, 2025: This booklet is unfortunately out of print. Contact me if you wish to purchase a pdf copy. Weavers had previously been buying this booklet directly from me, but I’m happy to announce that it will now be sold through Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum & Folk Art School, both at the museum Continue reading

News, Pattern Charts & Design

Baltic, bandweaving, charts, patterns, pick-up, Swedish, Vesterheim Museum

ABOUT ME

I’m Heather Torgenrud and I’ve been weaving bands ever since my late husband gave me a band loom as a gift in 1972. I’m passionate about every aspect of the craft—from the traditions of the past, to the pleasure of designing with color and pattern, to the rhythm I find in the process of weaving itself. I weave other kinds of textiles on my floor loom, and I love that too. But I feel uniquely connected to bandweaving, where my hands are so intimately involved with making the sheds, picking up the pattern, and forming the interlacement, one weft shot after another. This photo was snapped by my friend, Susan Kolstad, as I lifted up the piece I was weaving, and it captures the delight and satisfaction that is easy to find in this timeless heritage craft.

ABOUT THE SITE

This site was named after my first book, Norwegian Pick-Up Bandweaving, but that theme is now expanding a little. My new book, Pick-Up Bandweaving Designs, contains 288 new pattern charts and an in-depth look at ways to arrange color in pick-up bands. It illustrates how both pattern and color can be varied creatively while still staying in touch with the essence of this heritage craft. Future posts on this site will include patterns and techniques for warp-faced tabby as well as Baltic-style pick-up. And there will be information that applies to the inkle loom as well as the Scandinavian band heddle. Thanks for visiting!

Vesterheim Museum

Charts from an Orsa Apron Band