What does loom length have to do with it?
Many of you are now working through my book, The Art of Tapestry Weaving, and I’ve been answering some of your questions here on the blog. One recent question from Zach was about how much warp you need to leave for various finishing techniques on the Mirrix Saffron loom. This question got me thinking about loom length and the video below was the result.
Loom length is something that I don’t hear tapestry instructors talking about a lot. Those of us who have been weaving for a long time intuitively understand the limitations of a short warp. But for new weavers, it isn’t something you’d automatically think about.
The length of the warp and thus the size of your loom does matter especially for ease of weaving. This is all about geometry. A longer warp is more easily manipulated while maintaining a tight tension. When we open a shed, we are stretching the warp out of its neutral* alignment. It is much easier to manipulate a warp that is longer. For me this translates into a more enjoyable weaving experience and so I maximize the lengths of my warps whenever I can.
This isn’t always possible. There are times I love using smaller non-tensioned frame looms and in those cases, I just accept the more difficult weaving environment so that I can have a loom when traveling or sitting somewhere casually.
I make a case in the video for maximizing the length on your loom and talk specifically about the Mirrix looms and why I advise students not to keep their loom in a shortened configuration.** Almost always, people do this to save warp. But what they’re missing is that the weaving is not as enjoyable when the warp is short especially when you’re fighting that tension and putting extra stress on the shedding mechanism. That bar gets harder and harder to turn the shorter the warp is, and so people end up loosening the tension to compensate which again, makes the weaving more difficult.
The sweet spot for warp length? This will vary depending on the loom. I like 12-18 inches of free warp above the top of the weaving if possible. If not, I just know that I’ll have to use a modified weaving approach to compensate for the more difficult weaving environment.
The video below looks at the Mirrix Saffron loom, the standard smaller Mirrix looms, a copper pipe loom, and a small slotted loom as I talk about the advantages of a longer warp.
Zach’s actual question isn’t one I talk about in this video, but the answer is fairly simple. You’ll see in the image of the Saffron looms below that there is a couple inches of free warp below the weaving. This is because I want to use a braided edge for these tapestries and I need at least that much to manipulate the warp and create the braid. This is another great reason to use the longer rod on the Saffron loom. It maximizes the ease of weaving as I discuss in the video and it allows you to leave enough room for your fringe or desired finishing technique.
Two Mirrix Saffron looms. Note the different length support bars as well as the extra warp I left before starting the weaving to create the braided fringe.
Zach’s question was actually about how short the fringe could be. Is there a “too short” length? My answer is that if you’re using double half hitch knots to hold the bottom of the tapestry in place as I discuss in chapters 6 and 15 of The Art of Tapestry Weaving, and you tie them tightly, they should hold and the fringe can be as short as you want. I usually try to leave at least an inch on a pegged loom like this and then I trim it carefully with a metal ruler and rotary cutter (you could also use scissors). For the braid in the example above, I needed to leave more free warp before the weaving started.
Have you found differences in how easy the weaving is when weaving on longer versus shorter looms? Let us know in the comments!
*When using many tapestry looms, the warp is often not entirely in neutral at rest. This is normal. Looms that will have warps that are not completely flat at rest include pipe looms where a bar (potentially the top of the loom) is used as the open shed. Other high-warp tapestry looms can be configured so that there is an open shed at all times. Generally looms with treadles or rotating shedding mechanisms have warps that are completely neutral at rest.
**The Schacht Arras Tapestry Loom already has a nice long warp and the height of the loom is not adjustable.