Grade 3 Art And Craft Weaving – Plain Weaving Notes

Art & Craft — Weaving

Subtopic: Plain Weaving (for age 8)

Weaving is making cloth or mats by crossing threads. Plain weaving is the easiest kind. We take one thread up, one thread down, again and again.

Words to know

• Warp — threads that stay straight from top to bottom (vertical).
• Weft — threads that go across from side to side (horizontal).
• Plain weave — over one, under one, over one, under one.

Simple picture: over 1, under 1

Where you can see plain weaving in Kenya

• Kiondo baskets (woven with sisal) 🧺
• Mats (mkeka) and small floor mats made from grass or palm leaves 🌾
• Kikoy and other woven cloths from the coast — simple woven threads make cloth strong ✂️

Easy craft: Make a cardboard loom (small mat)

Materials: cardboard, ruler, pencil, scissors, yarn (or strips of fabric), tape.

1. Cut a rectangle of cardboard ~ 20 cm × 12 cm.
2. Make small notches 1 cm apart along the top and bottom edges.
3. Tie a piece of yarn at the top-left notch and stretch it down to the bottom notch; keep making vertical warp threads using notches.
4. Take another yarn (weft). Start at the left, go over the first warp thread, under the next, over the next — repeat to the end.
5. On the next row reverse: under, over, under, over. This makes plain weaving.
6. Push the weft rows close together as you go. When finished, tie off yarn and cut warp from notches.

Safety tip: Ask an adult to help with scissors and cutting cardboard.

Try these patterns

• Stripes: use red weft for 3 rows, then green for 3 rows.
• Checker: change colors every single row to get checks (like the picture above).

Quick quiz (ask a friend!)

Q: In plain weaving, does the weft go "over one, under one" or "over two, under one"?

Have fun! Try weaving with different colours and things like thin strips of kitenge or twine from sisal to make Kenyan-style baskets and mats.