.

[Illustration: FIG. 18.--Looms and samples of weaving.]

_Looms._--The market also offers a great variety of looms for school use,
many of them quite simple in construction and moderate in price. In
schools where bench work is taught, the making of a loom is an excellent
problem either for the weavers themselves or for an older class working
for them. If the looms are made by the little weavers themselves, only the
simplest possible construction should be used, that the work may be
completed and the loom put to use before the worker loses sight of the
fact that the purpose is to provide carpet for the house. Children lose
interest in long-drawn-out processes, and for that reason it is better to
provide them with the necessary tools as far as possible while interest in
the house building is keen. Later, if considerable enthusiasm has been
aroused for weaving, individual looms may be made for home use. For the
school with scant funds a very satisfactory loom may be improvised by
driving nails one fourth inch apart in the ends of a shallow box of
convenient size and stretching the warp threads across the open top.

For very small rugs a cardboard loom will serve. This may be made by
cutting notches or punching holes along opposite edges of a piece of
cardboard into which the warp may be strung. If a knitting needle is
inserted at each side, the cardboard will be stiffened and the edges of
the rug kept straight. Weaving needles may be purchased from supply
houses. Wooden needles cost 50 cents per dozen. Sack needles serve well
for small rugs and may be had at any hardware store for 10 cents per
dozen.

_Weaves._--For first weaving the plain "over one, under one" on cotton
warp with rags or other coarse woof is generally best. Variety may be
introduced by weaving a stripe or border of a different tone near each end
of the rug. Vertical stripes serve well as another easy method of
variation and are produced by using two woof threads of different tones
and weaving first with one and then with the other. This weave is very
attractive as the body of the rug with a plain border at either end.

As soon as the children have mastered the plain weave and have a fairly
clear idea of the possibilities in design through varying the colors in
the woof only, they may be initiated into the mysteries of the "gingham
weave" and allowed to experiment with the variations in warp as well as in
woof. Cotton rovings is an excellent mat