It’s funny how an object can elicit so many memories. For me, one of those objects is this handwoven Christmas tree which my grandmother hung in her home during the holidays. My grandmother was a prolific weaver and then also a collector of fiber arts items. When my grandparents passed, it was quite an ordeal finding homes for many of these items. Somehow I ended up with this Christmas tree. It’s quite large so it remained in storage for many years. Since moving to a different home, we now have a spot to hang it. When it’s up, it’s certainly a topic of conversation. Even those who don’t weave think it’s just really cool.
I love it too. Other items that found their way into my possession were very old issues of Shuttle Craft publications. I’ve hauled them around for so many years not even knowing what they were until I took up weaving myself. As I was looking through these issues, I thought I found what looked like this tree in an issue from either the 50’s or 60’s (of course I can’t locate it now) and thought it was so cool as I have been thinking of adapting the pattern to make it smaller. After trying to locate the issue, I think it’s likely it really wasn’t this tree, but a different pattern. Well, then I was left with trying to dissect the pattern and adapt it to make it the size I wanted.
Specs for the Original Tree
Let’s just take a look at the original. The base, not including the sticks is about 31 inches wide. The height of the tree is about 60 inches high (not including the strip for hanging). I divided the tree into sections which started at the bottom of the large stick and stopping at the top of the fringe where a section was dropped. There are seven sections which measured anywhere between seven to eight and a half inches.
Let’s take a closer look at a section in detail. I measured from the base of the larger stick on top of the fringe to the pic thrown above the fringe where the section was dropped. The sections varied slightly in size from seven inches to 8 1/2 inches. Each section started with weaving in the 1/2 inch stick, then 1/2 inch of woven, 4 inches of open weaving (for the gathering) followed by 1/2 inch woven and then about 3 inches woven with the sticks.
Let’s now take a peek at the stick section. The larger sticks measured 1/2 inch and then there were a few different sticks of varying smaller sizes.
Now for the base. This tree starts out with seven sections on each side of the trunk. Each section measured 2 inches and the trunk measured 2 1/2 inches. As the tree is woven, a warp section is dropped and tied in a bundle.
Now I had to figure out yarn and sett. I’m not quite sure about the type of yarn that was used in the original tree, but it looked to be similar in size to 8/4 cotton. So this will be a good starting point. I measured it to be 32 ends per inch.
If I’ve learned anything during my weaving journey, it’s to weave samples. Not only did I need to test the sett for the 8/4 cotton, but I needed to practice with some of the techniques in this piece as well as nail down the threading to get the effect in the piece. I gathered two different shades of green and a brown and threaded it in plain weave with the dark green on shafts 1 and 3 and the light green on 2 and 4. For the trunk, l threaded the brown on 1 and three and the dark green on 2 and 4. I choose to start with the 8/4 cotton sett at 36 epi. Here’s my sample:
Not so pretty, but I learned quite a bit from weaving it. In the sample, I used 8/2 cotton for the weft and I am pretty happy with the sett at 36 epi. I tried sticks from the yard and although I like the look, I’m concerned that they make eventually break. In the sample I used dark green and lime. I’m going to change out the dark green in the final project and then choose a lighter brown for the trunk.
Adapting the Tree for Size
Being a little shaking with math, having a husband with an engineering background helps a ton. My overall goal was to have a smaller tree that’s not as skinny. In other words, compared to the original, I wanted a smaller, fatter tree. I felt I needed to draw it out on graph paper- at least for the first tree.
My wanted dimensions were approximately 23 inches wide and about 30 inches in height (not including the “base” or top band for hanging. I wanted to keep the same number of bands across as the original which was seven bands, a trunk and then seven bands. To do this the bands needed to be 1.5 inches and the trunk 2 inches. Each section going up the tree needed to be five inches in height. So, the plan was to weave 3/4 inch including the larger stick, then leave 2.5 inches open for gathering followed by 1 3/4 inches of weaving (including the sticks) to the drop of the bundle.
Yep, this math can be messy. Well, that was the plan- it didn’t quite turn out that way, but that’s okay. I’ll explain as we go.
Materials For the Tree
Yarn
I chose to use Maurice Brassard 8/4 cotton for this project. You will need two colors of green- one light and one dark and then a brown for the trunk. For this tree I used the color Grass Green (8267) as the dark green, Lime (5139) as the light green and Sierra (1391) as the brown. I had 5/2 mercerized cotton in gold left over from a different project so I used it for the hem stitching, tying of the bundles and as one of the yarns in the fringe. When weaving the weft I used 8/2 lime then the light green shafts were lifted and the 8/4 grass green when the dark green shafts (or a stick) were lifted.
Sticks
Oh boy, finding the right kind of sticks was a challenge. They have to be sturdy enough not to break. What does not work is balsa wood or bass wood which I purchased from Hobby Lobby. After consulting with a woodworker, the wood (which is actually not a wood) in the original project was bamboo. He suggested purchasing a bamboo blind and using the sticks from that. Brilliant, and I have one on order, but I wanted to get started. For this particular tree, I used a trim piece purchased at Home Depot along with very thin dowel rods of varying sizes.
I cut the dowels and the wood trim as I progressed up the tree. I stained the wood as well which was a pain in the (bleep). The wood didn’t take the stain well so it needed to sit awhile to absorb and then I rubbed off the remaining stain so it didn’t transfer to the yarn. For subsequent trees, I’m hoping the bamboo works. I’d love to skip this step. I also purchased and cut to size a thin metal rod found at Home Depot to weave in within the base. I did this to add weight to the bottom of the tree hoping it would lay correctly. Not sure if this was necessary, but I thought it would help pull the tree down a little since it was going to be smaller.
Embellishments
This is where your creativity comes in. You can embellish your tree any way you wish. This is what I did for my very first tree.
I purchased a gold metal ring, which could be found in the macrame section, and a metal star, found in the Christmas ornament department, at Hobby Lobby. I spray painted the star gold and suspended it with gold metallic embroidery thread. Just like in the original tree, I used pom poms of different colors and sizes. I sewed them together in group of three. Then for the last embellishment, I made ornaments from using wooden rounds with a frame from LaLaStudioM on Etsy.
To make the ornaments I printed the pictures I wanted on regular copy paper and cut them to size. I painted one of the sides of the circle (back of the ornament) and the round frame with craft paint that coordinated with the colors of the pom poms. I brushed Mod Podge on the wood, place my picture on top and then brushed a layer of Mod Podge over the picture. When dry, I glued the round frame on top using craft glue. When that was dry, I turned the ornament over and glued a small ornament hook on the back.
Threading The Project
Winding the Warp and Tying On
Each band was to be 1 1/2 inches in width with the sett of 36 epi. Therefore each band needed 54 ends (27 dark green and 27 light green). Each band is separated by a thread of dark green.
To wind the warp, I held a dark green and light green in my hand and wound 54 ends of Dark/Light (D/L) followed by two darks. This allows for visual separation of the bands, so the threading is as follows: 54 DL, DD, 54 DL, DD, 54 DL, DD, 54 DL, DD, 54 DL, DD, 54 DL, DD, 54 DL, 72 Brown, 54 DL, DD, 54 DL, DD, 54 DL, DD, 54 DL, DD, 54 DL, DD, 54 DL, DD, 54 DL
I used a 12 dent reed pulling three ends through each dent. Dark ends were threaded on shafts 1 and 3 and light ends on shafts 2 and 4 (with the exception of the 2 dark ends that separate the sections which are threaded on 3 and 4). When threading for the trunk section, the brown becomes the “dark” and the dark green the “light”. I used chip clips to manage my bundles.
When tying on to your apron, be sure to keep and tie on the band threads together. For example, do not take a few threads from the first band and join them together with threads from the second band and tie on. You will be dropping bands as you go and if there is overlap, you will lose tension on some of the threads. Hope this makes sense.
Weaving the Tree
To start the project, I decided to hemstitch with the 5/2 mercerized cotton and the twist the fringe later. I left about 8 inches for the fringe.
I then wove a few pics of light (8/2) and dark (8/4) and inserted the metal rod. When inserting the rod or any wood strip I always had dark lifted on the shafts.
I then wove a section of just plain weave until I was ready to insert my first stick and begin the first section.
Let’s take a look at that first “section”. Again, in my mind, a section starts with a larger stick and ends when a section is tied off and dropped. So, it’s large stick (in this picture the flat stick at the bottom), a few pics, gathering area (which ended up being 3- 3 1/2 inches), a few pic, then pics woven with sticks (stick, pic of light, stick, pic of light, stick, pic of light), inserted fringe, a few pics, stick, a few pics and then drop a section. Then this stick serves as the start of the next section.
I learned right away that my gathering sections needed be longer than originally anticipated and that I needed a few more pics in different sections. This meant the tree will end up being taller than my drawing.
Weaving Considerations and Troubleshooting
Tying the Bundles
When tying the bundles, the light green is to be on top. Just as in the original tree, I bundled all the threads of a section together and tied them with my 5/2 mercerized gold cotton with the exception of the trunk. For this part, I only tied the dark green and left the brown to lay underneath. For the bundles that remained, I measured approximately 1 1/4 inches and tied. For the outside bundles (one on each side) I measured 2 inches before tying and then cutting them off.
In the trunk section there was a wandering thread on the end which I tucked in place with brown colored sewing thread.
Fringe
I really don’t have a picture of how I did the fringe in process. Essentially, I cut threads 6 inches in length in dark green, light green and gold. I put 5 ends in a tapestry needle (2 green, 2 light and 1 gold) and wove them in in groups of three- one being from the previous grouping and two new from the next two dents (containing 6 ends). So essentially the fringe went under 9 total ends.
It doesn’t need to be too scientific and I’m sure there are different ways of doing fringe, but that’s what I did. When the tree was finished, I cut the fringe to be 1 1/2 inches. I also used the threads from the cut off sections for the fringe to reduce waste.
Weaving
As mentioned, as you progress through the sections, you will be dropping bundles. If you are weaving one tree, you’ll just pull those threads out through the heddles and out the back- easy peasy. If you plan on weaving another tree with the warp, you’ll have to manage your bundles. This is a little challenging.
To manage those bundles, I clipped them off with chip clips as I dropped them. This worked great. Just be sure to keep pulling them up to keep the yarn from tangling in the back as this will interfere with your shafts lifting.
Top of the Tree
The top of the tree section varies from ones below as I added a few more pics with sticks before the last area of fringe. After dropping the final two bundles, I wove approximately 6 inches with the bark only to create the band for hanging.
Finishing the Tree
Fringe
As mentioned above, I cut the fringe to 1 1/2 inches. While I was working with the tree I noticed right away that some of the fringe started to pull out. I decided to use hemming glue and glue the back of the fringe to secure it in place.
Adding Embellishments and the Star
I did a few different things to add the embellishments. In some areas I sewed the bundles of 3 pom poms directly on the tree. In other areas I inserted a loop (made from the same embroidery floss) into the tree and hung them using a small ornament hook (see pictures above).
To add the star topper, simple fold the band over and sew in place.
Ta Da! The Final Tree
Overall I’m super pleased with how it turned out. I learned a lot as I wove this tree and I have ideas for how I could make it smaller. Luckily I have warp left on the loom to give it a try.
For years and years I thought my grandmother wove this tree. Ironically, as I was deconstructing the weaving, I found this little tag at the bottom. I’m sure Loretta has long since passed considering how long I’ve had the original tree and the time it hung in my grandmother’s home before that during Christmas. But thank you, Loretta.
