Swift Darning Loom

The Swift Darning Loom is an upcycled, modern take on classic mini mending looms like the Speedweve.

Made in Canada by Elysha and Scott from Worth Mending, it has 14 hooks, a unique rectangular work surface and is made predominantly from reclaimed/upcycled materials.

You don’t need a darning loom to darn, but it can be fun to use. The ability to flip the hooks makes the weaving process easier/lazier; there's less thinking required, more time spent in a flow state, and more fun.

I have a few mini mending looms in my collection – vintage and modern. I’ve chosen to stock the Swift Darning Loom for a few reasons:

• It’s a really good product, made by ace humans (who really care about making a good product) in small batches.
• I love the range of accessories they've added: weft picks, warping helpers, weaving shuttles, extra-long work surfaces
  
• Elysha and Scott reuse and upcycle everything possible, and put as much thought into their packaging as their products. Loom hooks and weft picks are made from stainless steel bicycle spokes!
• They also care about the customer experience and want you to succeed, providing a helpful instructional booklet and adorably awkward and charming videos on YouTube and social media.

Choose from:

• Swift Darning Loom – Wooden mending loom with 14 hooks (made from stainless steel bicycle spokes) and unique rectangular work surface.
  Includes: loom body, regular work surface (3 x 4.5"), weft pick, instruction book, warping helper, 3 needles and reusable T-shirt yarn "elastic" tie, packaged in scrap fabric.

• Weft pick – Wooden comb designed to help tension weaving and darning, made from repurposed hardwood and stainless steel bicycle spokes. It’s useful for tidy woven surface darns, whether you use a loom or not. Fits into the 14 holes on the XL work surface to convert the darning loom into a weaving loom.

• Extra-long work surface – 9" long work surface compatible with the Swift Darning Loom. Designed for large darning projects and, with the weft pick(s), for small weaving projects.

• Swift Shuttles (2 pack) – mini shuttles to hold long lengths of yarn while weaving with the Swift Darning Loom (for weaving only – not for darning)

• Mini bundle (loom + storage pouch) – Deluxe darning bundle
  Includes: Swift Darning Loom (with instruction book, warping helper, 3 needles, reusable T-shirt yarn “elastic” tie), weft pick, and handmade denim zip pouch made with second-hand textiles and YKK brass zipper.
  
  
• Darning & weaving bundle (loom + 2 weft picks +2 Swift Shuttles + XL work surface + storage pouch) – The ultimate bundle!
  Everything you need to master the Swift Darning Loom for darning AND weaving. It also includes some cotton for warping your weaving loom, so you can dive right in with yarn from your own stash for the actual weaving.
  Includes: Swift Darning Loom (with warping helper, 3 needles, reusable T-shirt yarn “elastic” tie), instructions books, two weft picks, two Swift Shuttles, XL work surface, cotton thread for warping, and handmade snap pouch made with second-hand textiles.

If the loom or accessory you want is sold out, click the “notify me when it’s back in stock” button and get an alert when the next batch arrives. Or get in touch if you’d like to preorder for the next round.

I’ll now hand over to Elysha and Scott to tell you more about the Swift Darning Loom:

“We designed this loom with our core values in mind. We use reclaimed solid hardwood paired with high-quality birch plywood for the base, and stainless steel hooks and hardware to hold everything together. The wood is sanded to a fine finish and left bare, allowing it the potential to develop a beautiful patina with age and use.

Each of the work surfaces is unique in character, and in many cases the original finish is left intact as a hat-tip to the previous life that the wood has already enjoyed.

The Swift Darning Loom comes with one 14-hook darning loom & our “standard size” work surface (3 x 4.5”). The rectangular shape of the work surface means that you can create a much bigger patch per 14 hooks, compared to the "original" circular disc design. (They're also more efficient to make -- less waste in production, more function in the end product! A total win!)

• 2x 3.5” sewing needles, 1x 2” sewing needle

• stretchy tie (so you don't have to keep scrounging for elastics as they break)

• our Warping Helper (click here for a video tutorial on how to use it)

• the most thorough mini-loom instruction booklet that exists!

• access to lots of how-to videos on the Worth Mending YouTube channel!

Your loom and accessories are kept safe by fabric scraps from our stash that you can re-use for patching or whatever else strikes your fancy.

Each loom is one-of-a-kind and, as we mentioned, handmade with natural wood and stainless steel. This implies that variation in colour, texture, weight and other physical characteristics is completely normal and should not affect the function of your piece. Each one of these is built to last, and we handle every single one of them before shipping to make sure that they are sanded to a velvety finish and that those hooks flip smoothly side to side. The rounded edges and curves make this piece just lovely to hold on to as you work, and the unfinished wood will develop a patina over time -- or you can choose to stain, wax, oil, or paint it as you see fit!”

Made in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, from natural wood, stainless steel and fabric yarn, and packaged in fabric scraps.

Browse the full collection of darning tools here.

Weekly dispatch

This shop dispatches orders once a week so I can do alllll the things – including running this shop and running after two tiny tots – and enjoy my life. Your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated.

Shipping carrier

I ship via Australia Post. If you select Express Post at checkout, it will speed up Australia Post's delivery timeframe but won't speed up my process.

After your order has been packed, you will receive an email notification with your Australia Post tracking number, which you can use to check on the delivery status of your order.

International customers: click here for current Australia Post international delivery timeframes.

Shipping fees

Shipping is currently a flat rate of $12 within Australia ($17 Express Post); international shipping is calculated at checkout. Gift vouchers are delivered electronically and do not require shipping.

International shipping

I ship worldwide with the exception of the UK, due to VAT regulations that came into effect on 1 January 2021. If you are in the UK you can order the UK edition of my book from your local bookshop.

Local delivery

Customers in Northcote, Thornbury and nearby suburbs (subject to capacity) can select local delivery at checkout. Local delivery is extra-slow and coincides with my pram-walking / kid-wrangling schedule, up to one week after purchase.
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I choose to reuse

When shipping orders my first priority is to reuse packaging materials whenever possible – boxes, padded mailers, cardboard, paper, tissue paper, bubble wrap and egg cartons from neighbours, second-hand shops and recycling centres. I cannot guarantee the materials used to ship your order will be plastic-free for this reason.

I buy recycled packaging

If I don’t have suitable second-hand packaging to use for your order, my next priority is packaging made from recycled materials. It's important to me to support Australian companies making good products from our recyclables, and to make sure that material gets a second life.

Tape

I use compostable, gummed kraft-paper tape to seal my parcels whenever possible. I have a second-hand tape wetter that I love, purchased from my local op shop. Gummed paper tape is available at most art-supply shops if you want to make the switch yourself!

Express Post orders will have official plastic "Express Post" tape added.

International orders will have a plastic pocket taped to them, to accommodate paperwork required by customs.

Individual product packaging

Every item for sale on this website has its packaging components listed and in most cases photographed, so you can make an informed decision.

Upstream packaging

When I speak to my suppliers I specifically ask that my orders be supplied to me without plastic packaging, whenever possible, to avoid waste and single-use plastic. This isn’t always possible, but I’ll keep asking, forever.

Here's how one of my suppliers has my name recorded in its database: