How To Make A Loom Out of Cardboard

Cardboard looms are a great way to get started if you are interested in weaving. Since you only need an old cardboard box and a pair of scissors, making a loom out of cardboard is so easy that anyone could do it.

In this article, you will learn how to make a small cardboard loom, a large cardboard loom, and a shoe box loom.

1 Making a small cardboard loom

One advantage of cardboard weaving is that you can easily make several differently sized looms for different projects.

This video will show you have to make a weaving loom out of cardboard using only a pair of scissors, a popsicle stick, tape and yarn.

1. Cut out a small rectangular piece of cardboard
2. On one side of the cardboard indicate the middle with a pencil
3. Then also indicate the middle of each half, and the middle of each quarter.
4. Now draw the same 7 lines on the other side of the cardboard
5. Use a pair of scissors to cut the lines
6. Start with a small rectangular piece of cardboard and make 7 small and evenly spaced cuts on the top and bottom.

Normally, warping a loom can be a little tricky, but with this one you simply wrap the yarn around the loom and fix it with some tape.

You can use a popsicle as a weaving shuttle. But if you don’t have any, using a piece of cardboard or a needle will do as well.

To remove the weave from the cardboard loom you can simply cut all the warp threads at the back.

Although there are many ways to finish a weave, the easiest method is to use a double knot.

2 Making a large cardboard loom

Of course, if you have enough cardboard you can make a loom as big as you want.

This video shows how to make one of these by using three pieces of cardboard, tape measures, scissors, glue and a marker.

If your cardboard is very big, it’s difficult to estimate the middle, middle of each half, etc. So using a ruler or measuring tape is recommended.

1. Prepare a big piece of cardboard
2. Leaving 2 cm clear on the edge, mark every 5 mm with a marker at the top and bottom. Make sure that the marks align on both sides.
3. Make ~1cm cuts using a pair of scissors.
4. Use the two narrow pieces of cardboard and glue them right next to the cuts.

The last step isn’t essential. But it will cause the warp to be slightly lifted of the cardboard, which makes weaving a lot easier.

3 Making a shoe box loom

You can also make a loom out of any old shoe boxes you have.

This has the benefit that the warp will be suspended in air.

Check the video below for the instructions.

1. Remove the lid of the shoe box
2. Using a pencil and a ruler, mark every 5 mm at each end of the shoe box.
3. Use a pair of scissors to make cuts on the marks.
4. Insert the yarn thread in the cuts and fix them with some tape

Also, to prevent the warp threads from moving you can fix them with some tape.

And that’s all it takes to make a homemade bead loom.

Buying a weaving loom

If you are new to weaving, making a cardboard loom can be a great way to try things out. However, these cardboard looms have clear disadvantages.

First, cardboard isn’t very strong and might not be able to keep the tension on your warp. Secondly, it’s not very durable so you probably will have to constantly make new cardboard looms. Finally, these cardboard looms are similar to simple frame looms. If you are interested in weaving, I recommend you look into the more advanced rigid heddle looms.

If you are interested in buying a weaving loom, read our article on weaving looms for beginners.