On Monday Hannah brought a special artifact from her past into the neighbourhood to share – a woven tapestry set up on a simple upright loom. Hannah worked for many years at the Australian Tapestry Workshop, where she had the opportunity to be part of large-scale weaving projects that replicated artwork of many Australian artists as woven tapestries.
Hannah gave the Year Twos a special weaving demonstration, showing students how to ‘warp up’ a loom, and pointing out all the things that weavers need to consider when they are weaving. She talked about colours of thread, bobbins, and drawing the pattern of your artwork onto the warp.
We have almost finished making the looms, and hope to finish this by the end of the week. We will definitely be keeping a few hammers around so if nails need to be re-added or made more secure, there will be lots of time for this in the neighbourhood. A few students worked with Hannah yesterday to warp up their loom and next week everyone will begin this process.
Yesterday, as a whole group, we reflected on what we learned on Monday, and how our loom making connected to our inquiry into exploring how the changes in the past have impacted our world. Students summarized the process of warping up a loom, and we considered the difference between using the hand held screwdriver and electric screwdriver for making the looms. Read some of students comments below:
Cleo liked to use the hand one so that she could experience what it was like in the past.
Finn would prefer to use the automatic one because it’ would be easier to drill in.
Alexandra would use the automatic one because it is easier and would take less time, leaving her more time to do other things.
Rudi would prefer to use the hand one because he helps his dad at home with stuff like this and he uses the hand one at home.
Lee had a question, ‘in the past, before hand screw drivers, did people just use rocks like a hammer to get it in?’
Marly would use the electric one because the hand one was very tiring.
Noni would use the hand one to save electricity.
Silas would use the hand one because it’s lighter to hold and it would cost less money.
Hugo P would use the electric drill because it’s faster.
Aliye would use the hand one because it might be good exercise for your hands.
Josh would use both – he thought the hand one might be more accurate to place holes.
Xena would use the hand one because it might be better for the environment.
Elliot would use the electric drill because he would be able to make things more quickly.
Jake thought the hand held one might last longer, as you could still be using one today that has been around for 100 years.