Easy Mini Darning Tool: Speedweve Style

Materials

• 2 altoid tins
• 1 thick rubber band to fit around tin
• 1 soda can
• 20 or 30 bobby pins (extra for breakage)
• paper
• sharpie
• kitchen scissors
• pliers or needle-nose pliers
• nail and hammer (or dremel, pick, old knife: something to make holes in soda can)

Take the lid off one of the altoid tins, and put it on the bottom of the other tin. You need that groove for the rubber band to not slide off as it holds the fabric and the loom.

Get a piece of paper and cut it to about 1.5" or 2" thick, and fold it over the tin and cut to size.

I used mini bobby pins. Now, this is important: make sure to bend your pins the exact same way. I did not, and when it came to actually darn, it was ten times more difficult than it had to be. Also, my hooks are right angles: I wish I had bent them back more or given them a curve because the darning warps kept slipping off. Also, these are really easy to break, bend with caution. I made 8.

Fold your template down the middle and cut a groove for the handles of the hooks. Then cut the holes. Practice getting the hooks in, it's a bit fiddly. I held the paper folded closed, pushed in the hook through the holes to the middle handle part, then pulled down so the handle is sitting over the holes. Then I opened flat the paper, forcing the handle part up through the middle slot. I hope that makes sense. In the picture you see how the paper, the hook, the rubber band, and the tin will make a loom.

Cut open a soda can with kitchen scissors, then use the paper template and a sharpie to make your loom.

Use the pliers to bend over the sharp edges, including the corners. Check your hook placement before you cut all the holes with your cutting tool. I used a pair of scissors the first time, then switched to a dremel. This part won't touch the thread or fabric, so it doesn't matter really how you make the holes or the slot.

This took me two tries before I was happy with the size of the metal part: it will depend on what size bobby pins you use.

If you can get one hook on there, you can get 8 or 10. Once all your hooks are in place, open up a bobby pin flat and slide it into the handles of the hooks so they don't drop out of the slot, and tape a piece of paper underneath to cover the holes and slot.

The white paper in this picture between the tin and the loom is there so you can see the hooks in this tutorial, it has no purpose otherwise. I just want you to see the hooks really clearly.

Look on YouTube for 'speedwever' darning tutorials. I obviously need more practice, but the loom works. At the end when I was finished, I put my loom and materials in the tin and put the rubber band around it to hold the bottom lid in place.