Learning to Weave

The "best" way to learn to weave depends on your own learning style, abilities, equipment, and financial resources. Here's some options.

For example, I learn well through experimentation, and I'm fairly mechanical (in that I can often work out how mechanical things function by fooling with them), and - bragging a little here - I am pretty good at building Ikea furniture. I learned to weave by buying a table loom and a book, reading and puzzling over illustrations, experimenting with the loom, until I got to where I could weave decent cloth. But I know that not everyone likes learning that way.

In-Person Classes

Local Classes

A lot of large cities (and quite a few medium-sized ones) have weaving "guilds" (basically non-profit organizations that bring weavers together to socialize, learn, and share). Because teaching new people to weave is a solid way to increase membership in the guild, a lot of them offer some kind of weaving classes, or can at least help hook you up with a local teacher.

A class is great if you learn better in person, with a teacher that can help you find errors, solve problems, and answer questions. Many classes have looms either included or available to rent, so they're also a good option if you don't want to invest in the equipment before you know if you even like the craft. A local class is nice because it can help hook you into a local weaving community for ongoing support and further learning.

Finding local classes may be an exercise in googling and following up on leads. If there's an organized guild with regular meetings, turning up at meetings may put you in contact with teachers or members willing to help new folks get started. If there's no local guild, you can sometimes find other local weavers through forums, Reddit, craft markets, local shows or galleries, etc.

Around the USA

If your town doesn't have an active weaving guild, consider joining a guild in a larger city that's within driving distance for you. Guilds often bring in teachers for workshops, and guild members tend to get the first chances at signing up for those workshops. Even if you're not a member, getting on a mailing list or checking their sites regularly for upcoming events can sometimes get you into a class.

There are also a few "destination" craft schools that teach weaving in the US. You travel to the school for a few days, a week, or sometimes more of classes on a specific topic. A lot of them teach weaving as either one option or their whole deal.

Here's the ones I've heard about:

Red Stone Glen Fiber Arts School: Located in Pennsylvania, with classes in weaving, dyeing, and spinning. Tom Knisley has a reputations as a great weaving teacher, and I've talked to several people who took classes from him while he was still teaching at conferences and guilds, and they all recommend him. I'd hope that the school he runs has other equally capable teachers.
The Folk School: All kinds of craft classes, including beginning and intermediate weaving classes. Located in North Carolina. I haven't personally been there, but I've wanted to go for years.
Tierra Wools: Beginning and intermdeiate weaving classes taught on Rio Grande style "walking" looms. Located in northern New Mexico. I've taken their tapestry class, and I loved working on these large looms, but it is very physical compared to other types of weaving I've done. The principles learned here can be applied to smaller looms as well.
Vavstuga Weaving School: Located in Massachusetts, this school focuses on Swedish-style weaving. They are also a big vendor of Glimakra and Oxaback looms, so if you are interested in those looms, taking classes here could be a great way to find out if they're a good fit.

Video Classes

My number one recommendation for learning to weave by watching videos is Jane Stafford's School of Weaving. Her videos are clear and show you every step of the process, along with a lot of good tips and advice. For $100/year you can watch as many as you want as many times as you want. She also sells kits so you can follow along with the specific projects she's working on. The first season is basic weaving - how to dress the loom and weave your first project. After that she starts tackling more complex weave structures and concepts.

Books

If you like learning from books, here's the one I learned from: Deb Chandler's Learning to Weave amazon If you're mostly interested in European-style cloth weaving, this is a great resource.

If you are mostly interested in weaving tapestry (like pictures and strong visual designs), I highly recommend Rebecca Mezoff's The Art of Tapestry Weaving amazon This book has beautifully clear photos and instructional text for picking yarns, warping the loom, and weaving your first pieces.

Many inkle looms and rigid heddle looms, when purchased new, come with instruction sheets to walk you through warping and weaving on those looms. They are mechanically a lot simpler than table and floor looms, and you may find that the included instructions are all you need to start weaving.