DIY Project: How to make a chunky woven storage box

Do you remember using cardboard and wool to do weaving when you were a kid? I loved school craft lessons like this and I don’t know why I don’t do it as an adult. But all that’s about to change with a book I’ve recently been reading. It’s called Weaving Within Reach by Anne Weil and the great news is that I’ve got a copy of the book to give away to one lucky winner so read on to enter my blog giveaway!

The book is a lovely softback craft book, which contains projects that can be done by loom or by hand, so it’s ideal for beginners with no equipment and is equally well suited to established weavers who are looking for inspiration for a new design.

The projects in the book range from homeware – such as this storage box DIY – to fashion accessories, kitchenware, gifts and soft furnishings. As you can probably tell from the wide range of projects, there’s something to suit every ability and it even shows you how to make your own makeshift loom to get you started.

I especially like the idea of being able to make my own homewares because I love changing the look of my rooms with the addition of a few new accessories. Having the freedom to choose the colours and textures of these projects means that my dream decor pieces are within reach – literally at my fingertips, haha!

CHUNKY WOVEN STORAGE BOX PROJECT

Transform a throw-away cardboard box and a pile of yarn into fine decor in an afternoon. If you don’t have access to this jumbo speciality yarn, never fear: hold together 3 or 4 strands of a super-bulky yarn that you can find at any craft store, and the results will be just as lovely.

SKILL LEVEL Beginner TIME REQUIRED 3 hours

MATERIALS & TOOLS

• 9″ × 9″ × 12″ (23cm × 23cm × 30cm) cardboard shipping box
• 50 yd (45.7m) of jumbo specialty yarn, 2 WPI, or three 50-yard (45.7m) strands of super-bulky yarn , 5–6 WPI held together
• Colour-coordinated embroidery thread
• Scissors, ruler, cutting mat (optional), pencil, craft knife, packing tape, sharp tapestry needle

FINISHED SIZE

• 11″ (28cm) long, 9″ (23cm) wide, 9″ (23cm) tall

1. Flatten the box and place it on a cutting mat or other protected surface. With a single cut, trim off the upper 2″ of the box sides and the top flaps, so that box measures 7″ × 9″ × 12″ (18cm × 23cm × 30.5cm) (A).
2. Beginning at one end of the flattened box, mark a line every 1 inch (2.5cm) across the body of the box, from the top of the box to the flaps that make up the bottom of the box (B).
3. With a ruler and craft knife, cut through both layers of cardboard at each line, stopping at the beginning of the flaps (you may want to switch your blade a couple of times to keep it sharp) (C). Only cut where you’ve drawn pencil lines.
4. Open the box (it will be in two pieces with two corners still intact). Cut the bottom of every other 1″ (2.5cm) strip, removing the strip. Don’t cut the corners yet so you can maintain the every-other pattern of the strips (D).
5. Tape together the bottom of the box (E), bringing the two pieces together. Turn the box on its side and slit the corners with your craft knife. Remove the 1″ (2.5cm) strips according to the every-other pattern around the box (F).
6. To begin weaving, orient the box with the inside (the brown side) face down, the outside (in my case, the white side) face up, and with the cardboard strips (warp strips) splayed out at each edge. Cut 20 yd (18m) of yarn for the weft. Be­ginning at the lower left, wrap the yarn lengthwise around the bottom of the box 10 times. On the end with 4 warp strips, place 2 strands per warp space. On the end with 5 strips, place 1 strand to the left of the first strip, 2 strands in each opening, and 1 strand to the right of the first strip (G).
7. 
8. Bring the yarn end across the width of the box, weaving in plain weave over and under pairs of the yarn (H). This will split the pairs on the end of the box with 5 strips. Flip the box over to the inside and weave under and over the pairs (I).
9. Flip the box over again to the outside of the box, and weave over and under across the width of the box, matching the pattern of the strand from step 7 (J). Flip the box again, and do the same on the inside of the box, only this time, be­fore you flip again, finish with the strand in the next warp space on the box (K).
10. Repeat steps 7 and 8, weaving across the width the entire length of the box (L). You will fill in any gaps in the weaving later.
11. Next, bring the length of yarn remaining up to the warp strips and begin weaving over and under the warp strips around the box (M).
12. As you weave around the box (N), hold the warp strips so that they’re vertical. The sides will tend to drift a bit as you weave, which creates a nice shape. Your initial length of yarn will run out about halfway up the strips.
13. When your initial length runs out, cut a length approximately 5 yd (4.6m) to fill in the sides and bottom before finish­ing the top part of the box. You’ll notice a visible gap between the bottom of the box and where the weaving starts on the strips. You’re going to add to the coverage along the bottom. Weave the 5 yd (4.6m) length over and under the strands from the bottom of the box, around the box once, as if it were the first row of the side weavings (O).
14. Next, flip the box bottom side up. Bring the 5 yd (4.6m) length down and weave over and under the pairs on the bottom of the box, going around the outside of the current bottom weaving twice to fill in the edge and create an outer ring according to the weaving pattern (P). If desired, bring the yarn length to the in­side of the box through a warp space and fill in the edges of the weaving inside the bottom. To finish, trim the yarn end with a 4” (10cm) tail and tuck it into the weaving.
15. Return to where you left weaving the sides of the box in step 11. Working with the remaining 25 yd (23m) of yarn, con­tinue to weave around the box until you reach the very top of the warp strips (Q).

Reprinted from Weaving Within Reach: Beautiful Woven Projects by Hand or by Loom. Copyright © 2018 by Anne Weil. Photographs copyright © 2018 by Rebecca Stumpf. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Available from www.thegmcgroup.com

Now, on to the giveaway! There are plenty of ways to enter the competition via the Rafflecopter widget below. Every entry gets you one step closer to winning a copy of Weaving Within Reach for yourself so best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway open to UK residents only. Competition runs from 19th October – 4 November 2018. 1 winner will be chosen at random via Rafflecopter and will be announced on the website. The winner will be contacted by email and will need to provide a delivery address to receive their prize.

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