Those who’ve been following my weaving journey for a while, might know I’m a big fan of the homemade inklelooms by “jd”. Unfortunately, “jd” no longer makes these looms; they’ve become something of a collector’s item. Whenever one appears on the Dutch platform Marktplaats, it is usually sold within one hour. My interactions with “jd” and his looms got me thinking about designing an inkleloom. Despite how great the “jd-loom” is, it does have one drawback: the minimum length of a band is 2 meters. An improved version of the “jd loom” would be ideal.
Then, in November, I saw a post by Loes van Aken on LinkedIn: Lojan, Wheels and Looms was starting up! Initially, they focused on building a spinning wheel, but more products would follow. I sent an email: “Would you consider bringing an inkle loom to market?” The response came within a day: it’s great that you reached out, but no. They couldn’t see what improvements could be made to the current inklelooms.
The final version: 1 loom, 3 possibilities for weaving
But I still saw plenty of possibilities: using screws instead of glue, sturdy and long rods to allow for weaving wider bands, and a loom capable of creating both short and long bands, while also being suitable for tablet weaving. Ideally, it would include a tablet-weaving board. And, of course, it would be a Dutch product. This email quickly led to an invitation: “Come by, and we’ll talk further!”
In January, I drove to Raalte and didn’t head back until five hours later. I got a tour of the factory, enjoyed a pleasant lunch, but most importantly, had in-depth discussions with Loes and Jan about inklelooms. We agreed that Lojan would send me a design sketch. I drove back, excited but thinking I’d eventually get a design. To my suprise, “eventually” turned out to be just two days later! And that marked the beginning of an amazing collaboration.
In the months that followed, we combined our strengths: Loes, Jan, and Sanne’s expertise on building looms with my experience in band and tablet weaving. We tested prototypes, with me pushing the looms to their limits to identify any weak points. We distributed eight looms among international dealers for testing, gathering even more feedback. And now, we’ve reached the point we are today: the launch of the Lojan Inkleloom!
This Lojan loom has all the features I dreamed of, with movable pegs making it a true 3-in-1 loom: a short path for sample bands, a long path for ‘real’ bands with adjustable lengths, and a tablet-weaving option with a board! But that’s not all: it’s held together by screws, so within 15 minutes of receiving the package, you can start weaving. It can be assembled from both sides, making it suitable for both left- and right-handed users. It even has Velcro to secure your shuttle and caps to prevent your warp from slipping off the pegs.
short warp for sampling
long warp, various lengths
set-up for tablet weaving
I’m practically bouncing around the house with excitement. Ten years ago, I started as a hobby weaver, and now I’m collaborating with a serious loom manufacturer. The first 200 inkle looms are set to hit the (inter)national market in September, and I’m becoming a dealer for Lojan looms. I never could have imagined this! A huge thank you to the Lojan team for joining me on this journey and for an incredibly enjoyable collaboration!
Read about the details of the loom on Lojan’s website.
Enthusiastic? You can now pre-order the loom! Visit Lojan’s reseller page!
Where is the tensioning device? How does it work? Thanks.
If you look at the three pictures from the side, you can see that the tensioning device is just above the center of the loom, right after the heddle rod. this works for all lengths, both the short and the long warp.
Hoi Marieke, van harte proficiat met dit succes. Prachtig initiatief, mooie samenwerking. Goeie verkoop!! Hartelijke groeten Christianne de Wit