I’m constantly experimenting with tools and yarn and techniques in tapestry weaving. It gives me a lot of joy and though the outcomes of these experiments is sometimes unpleasing, the process is always educational and more ideas surprise me with their success than not. Lately I’ve been working on a loom that weaversbazaar in the UK sells. It is a simple tensioned frame made by Andrew Dickinson.*
The beauty of a tensioned frame loom…
Warp tension is the friend of a tapestry weaver. At least it is for me. I do know some tapestry weavers who love a floppy warp and who weave very large things on wooden non-tensioned frames that have nails on the edges. I admire their ability to manage the weave with non-tensioned equipment at such a large size! But for me, a loom with some tensioning ability is the best.
In Europe, I’ve seen a lot of non-tensioned frames used especially for workshops and sampling. These work just fine because the size isn’t that large. If you want to source a sturdy picture frame and use it for a loom, it is probably the cheapest method you could employ and it absolutely works.
Beyond that, I am an advocate for simple tensioned frames. I often use copper pipe looms I make quickly myself, but for years I’ve been eyeing the ones that I’ve seen tapestry weavers in the UK use. I finally purchased one from weaversbazaar. This beauty is made by Andrew Dickinson. You may remember him as the bobbin maker I talked about on Change the Shed. He is clearly also a skilled woodworker. He made the frame and the fantastic clamps to hold it.
I love how easily those big plastic screws under the top bar adjust the tension. The wood is beautiful hardwood and isn’t even thinking about bending with the tension I’m putting on it here. I intended to put two warps on the loom side by side but got carried away warping the first one and didn’t balance the loom with another. The loom does not seem to care one bit. The tapes with inches and centimeters came with the loom and are just stuck on. They help for warp spacing but are optional.
Sample with weaversbazaar heavy 5/2 wool tapestry yarn in process.
I love playing with materials and in tapestry this most often means yarn or fiber. I started this particular adventure wanting to try out the weaversbazaar heavy 5/2 yarn. I have a student in the UK who is new to tapestry who had lots of questions about this yarn which she is able to get readily. I had some of it, but I hadn’t used it much. I use weaversbazaar fine and medium yarns all the time, but the heavy had escaped my experiments largely because it is too thick for easy bundling with more than one strand of this weight at the sorts of setts I use and it seemed too thin for one strand at a time. Sibylle’s experiments with this yarn in the Warp and Weft course were so positive that I dug out my stash and warped this loom.
weaversbazaar heavy 5/2 is around 1,130 yards per pound. Just for comparison, Harrisville Highland is 900 yards per pound, so it is thicker than weaversbazaar heavy. I generally use a fairly thin warp for my tapestry and so this 5/2 wool always felt too thin at 8 epi on 12/6 or 12/9 cotton seine twine. It was time to try this yarn with a thicker warp and the loom pictured above is warped with 12/12 cotton seine twine from Bockens.
The weaversbazaar heavy 5/2 yarn I’m using in the pictured sample.
With the heavier warp, the yarn behaves beautifully at 8 epi. I love the sheen this worsted-spun wool has. It is just as beautiful as weaversbazaar fine and medium weight yarns and I want to apologize to Ms. Heavy for not giving her more play earlier. I am certain I could bundle this wool with strands of the thinner yarns for a wonderful mix and I’ll be trying that as I continue to sample.
The image below show some of the tapestry yarns I use frequently for size comparison.
Visual size comparison of some of Rebecca Mezoff’s anchor yarns for tapestry weaving.
Adjustable loom clamps made by Artisan Bobbins and sold by weaversbazaar.
I will be continuing the discussion about this yarn and loom in an upcoming post. I have a lot more to say about these clamps which I bought with the loom. I’ll fill you in on my experiments with them for loom as well as whether they’ll work for other tapestry looms in the coming weeks.
I’m also excited to finish this sample and test out some other combinations of weft bundles.
Until next time, happy weaving!
*I do not have an affiliate agreement with weaversbazaar and receive no compensation for talking about their yarn or tools. I purchased these tools and yarn at full price. Their products and customer service have earned my trust!