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creating designs in fabrics, gradually elbowed aside the earlier ambition.

As soon as I saved enough from my earnings at Hellman House, I bought my first loom. It was small, only thirty inches wide. I began with simple things, hat bands, sweater fronts, pillow cases, a blanket for a baby's perambulator. Then I grew more ambitious and tried my hand at weaving curtains and the materials for a man's vest. I had to force them on my brothers because the tailoring was expensive. For materials, I used everything I could lay between a warp, scraps of wool, yarn bought at the five-and-dime store, even Christmas ribbons. Out of necessity, I put material on the looms not usually used in weaving. It was an invaluable lesson, although I did not realize it at the time. Years later, when I was weaving professionally, it seemed perfectly natural to try anything that came to hand. Architects and decorations were intrigued when they found me