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"Mixtapestry": Weaving Together Across the New River Valley

The Moss Arts Center is excited to announce Mixtapestry, a collective art project for young artists! Students of all ages across the New River Valley wove CDs using upcycled materials. The project is on display Friday, December 8-Sunday, December 17.

Virginia Tech students, are you in need of a study break? Join us at Newman Library, outside of the Project Design Studio, Friday, December 8, through Sunday, December 10, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., for free CD weaving workshops! You can take home your completed CDs or add them to the collaborative project.

How to Weave Your CD

Materials

  • CD
  • Different colored yarn (approximately 7 yards total, including the warp yarn)
  • Optional: flexible plastic lid to make plastic needles (see instructions below)

Instructions

Step 1:

To warp the CD, tie the dark brown piece of yarn tightly around the CD by putting one end of the yarn through the center hole and knotting it in a tight loop. Push the knot towards the center hole.

Image corresponding with step one of the CD weaving instructions. The shiny side of a CD against a beige background, a piece of brown yarn tied to the CD.

Step 2:

Loop the yarn tightly around the CD to create the spokes. You must have an odd number of spokes. The longer the yarn, the more spokes. The more spokes, the more intricate the weaving.

Image corresponding with step two of the CD weaving instructions. The shiny side of a CD is visible with an odd number of spokes wrapped around the CD in brown yarn.

Step 3:

To secure the warp, tie the end to the knot you already made. Push it to the back of the CD.

Image corresponding with step three of the CD weaving project. A white woman's hand ties a knot in brown yarn wrapped around an old CD.

Step 4:

Tie your first color yarn to warp. Don’t worry about the tail — you will tuck it under your weaving.

Image corresponding with step four of the CD weaving project. An odd number of dark brown yarn spokes looped through the center hole of a CD, shiny side facing out. A lighter brown piece of yarn is tied to the center and trails away from the CD.

Step 5:

If using a plastic needle, tie the end of your yarn to the needle. On the shiny side of the CD, weave over/under, repeating for a few spokes before pulling the yarn all the way through. Adjust the spokes back into place if they start to slip.

See instructions to create a plastic needle, below.

Image corresponding with step five of the CD weaving project. A white woman's hand threads a lighter brown piece of yarn through darker brown yarn spokes using a blue plastic needle. The yarn is wrapped around a CD, shiny side up.

Step 6:

When you get to the end of the piece of yarn, or when you want to switch colors, tie your next piece of yarn on and tuck the tail of the previous color underneath your weaving.

Image corresponding with step six of the CD weaving project. Lighter brown yarn is woven through darker brown yarn spokes, wrapped around an old CD, shiny side up. A new color of yarn, black or dark blue, has been tied to the end of the last bit of color, ready to continue weaving.

Step 7:

Continue weaving until you’re finished! You can leave part of the CD exposed.

Image corresponding with step seven of the CD weaving project. The finished product, with yarn of lighter brown, dark blue, beige, dark brown, taupe, grey, and red, spiraling out from the center of an old CD. About a half an inch of the shiny side is visible along the edges.

Make Your Own Plastic Needle

Step 1:

Cut the rim off of a flexible plastic lid.

Image corresponding with step one of the instructions to make your own needle. A blue plastic lid has been cut to remove the rounded edge, so the flat part stands alone.

Step 2:

Cut the circle into approximately 1/2-inch pie pieces.

Image corresponding with step two of the instructions to make your own needle. A blue plastic lid has been cut to remove the rounded edge, and the flat part has been cut into small pie piece shapes of roughly the same size.

Step 3:

Round the ends of each piece and punch a hole through the wider part of the needle.

Image corresponding with step three of the instructions to make your own needle. One of the pie piece shapes has been manipulated to dull the pointed edges, and a hole has been punched through the wide part, where a piece of yarn has been tied.

Other Resources

Thank you to New River Art and Fiber for helping make this project possible. New River Art & Fiber is a brick and mortar storefront in downtown Blacksburg dedicated to supplying the materials needs of artists and makers and cultivating a friendly and interdependent community through special events and social activities. Their selection of art and craft supplies is highly curated, with an emphasis on form, function, social responsibility, and environmental sustainability.