Boys, adults into weaving too

SINGAPORE - While over a million looms have been sold worldwide, Singapore distributor Sophie & Friends says only 60 per cent of its customers are girls aged between 6 and 14.

"Rainbow Loom is being enjoyed by kids of both genders. Increasingly, we see adults getting into the action," owner Lin Daoyang tells The New Paper on Sunday.

"A friend of mine bought a loom and a lot of bands for her mother to weave to keep her occupied and maintain her dexterity. I guess this is the new form of knitting."

And the trend does not seem to be waning any time soon.

Children are watching YouTube tutorials and there is an entire vocabulary out there like Fishtail, Dragon Scale and Inverted Hexafish, for instance.

I caught up with loom enthusiast Drexel Loh, 10.

He can make a triple row bracelet in just five minutes, while I spent a pathetic two hours making just a single one.

Drexel has even made a superhero Thor figurine, among other complex Rainbow Loom designs.

"The Thor (figurine) I made is my favourite. I watched a video tutorial and made it in about an hour," he says.

His sister, Rie Loh, 11, can also cheerfully list the different kinds of advanced-level bracelets she knows how to make such as the Starburst, Delta Wing, Feather and Hibiscus.

Besides bracelets, Rie has made a 3D figurine of Cinderella and a 2D figurine of Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

The siblings have done all this with no help from their parents.

They are so good that they have even taught other children how to weave the bands.

Rie and Drexel taught 10 small classes, comprising five or six kids, at Playhao, located in Forum The Shopping Mall, over two days in the June holidays.

In addition, they taught an advanced three-hour class, at Twelve by Elly, located at Cluny Court.

Their mother said that teaching the classes was a really good experience for the siblings.

"It's a good opportunity for my kids to teach other kids," Mrs Loh says.

This article was first published on JULY 6, 2014.
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