“I am an absolute beginner. I have just purchased two tapestry looms and Rebecca’s book, The Art of Tapestry Weaving. I wish to take a course, Weaving on Little Looms or the newest course, Introduction to Tapestry Weaving. I can’t decide. Which would be the right course?”
Marilyn’s question is a good one! I want to clarify the difference in these two classes and help you choose the one you might want to start with.
Should I take Introduction to Tapestry Weaving or Weaving Tapestry on Little Looms?
Weaving Tapestry on Little Looms is a course I developed for beginners who want to use small looms exclusively. Though it does have bonus videos about how to warp a regular Mirrix and a copper pipe loom, it is generally focused on very small looms and how to use them effectively. In my own practice I use both small and large looms and there is certainly a place for both in your tapestry life.
A project from Weaving Tapestry on Little Looms. I had my loom at Joshua Tree National Park. The biggest advantage of tiny looms is their versatility for travel!
Introduction to Tapestry Weaving is the course that opened this month. It is directly related to my signature beginners course, Warp and Weft: Learning the Structure of Tapestry. Warp and Weft is a very large course because I wanted it to be a comprehensive beginners resource. But it is a lot to jump into if you don’t have any experience with tapestry weaving and you’re not completely sure the medium is for you. Introduction to Tapestry Weaving provides an easy entry into tapestry and gives you a look at my teaching style. If you love tapestry and my courses and want to continue, at the end of the course you’ll be offered a discount for the amount you paid for Introduction to Tapestry Weaving off any version of Warp and Weft.
One of the projects in Introduction to Tapestry Weaving.
Here are few things to help you decide which course to take:
Want the least expensive start in an online course format? Take Introduction to Tapestry Weaving ($39).
Interested in using small non-tensioned frame looms exclusively and know you don’t want to take the comprehensive Warp and Weft course? Take Little Looms especially if you want to explore different ways to start your pieces and display them when they’re done.
Want to learn all the tapestry techniques in a course format? You’re going to want to take Warp and Weft, so start with Introduction to Tapestry Weaving.
Interested in learning how to make various headers on small looms AND you want to learn all the tapestry techniques? You might want to take both! (Another option is to take Little Looms and purchase my book, The Art of Tapestry Weaving to learn the techniques not included in Little Looms.)
Interested in buying a kit to get you started that includes the Introduction to Tapestry Weaving course, a Mirrix Saffron loom, and 5 colors of Gist Yarn’s Array tapestry yarn? Gist Yarn is selling a beginners bundle with this brand new made-in-the-USA tapestry yarn. It was available for pre-sale last summer and as of this week it is available for purchase.
It is absolutely possible you’ll want to take both Little Looms and Introduction to Tapestry Weaving. There is some overlap in content. Both courses have a similar video about the Mirrix Saffron loom*. Both courses include information about meet and separate, weft tension, and double half-hitch headers. Some of the concepts in the projects are also the same though the projects are different.
You can view all the steps in my courses in the course platform. You can explore the courses by visiting that here: https://rebeccamezoff.pathwright.com/library/. Each course has an About page and a Path page. Click on Path and you’ll see all the steps in the course. This can help give you a better idea of what each course contains, how large it is, and whether it is for you or not.
Happy weaving!
Mirrix Saffron looms with small weavings like the ones you might make in either course (though pick and pick isn’t covered in these courses!) This image is from Change the Shed.
*The Mirrix Saffron is the only tensioned small loom included in my courses mostly because it is the only one that I have used extensively. There are a few others out there including the C. Cactus Flower looms which are excellent and Sketchlooms which I have not worked with enough to advise you on yet.