The sixth Tapestry Discovery Box opens April 15, 2024 and it is all about wedge weave. I’ve admired contemporary wedge weavers for a long time. It has become a popular technique and I often see wedge weaves in art shows.
The technique is an eccentric tapestry weaving technique and in that sense it has been used all over the world for as long as weaving has existed. The use of wedge weave where the technique patterns a whole textile, however, is most often seen in Diné (Navajo) weaving. It was a popular style from 1870-1900 when it disappeared from use for a century or more. It is said that tourists didn’t like the scalloped edges this weaving technique creates and the weavers stopped making them around 1900.
There are contemporary Diné weavers using wedge weave again. Kevin Aspaas and Venancio Aragon are two artists you should look up.
Non-native weavers of wedge weave are also popping up everywhere. I’m especially taken with the work of Connie Lippert, Janette Gross, and Ruth Manning. I mention more artists using wedge weave in the April Tapestry Discovery Box.
Some of the wedge weave samples from the April Tapestry Discovery Box
The April Tapestry Discovery Box is all about wedge weave. Over my years of teaching tapestry weaving, I’ve had many students ask me if I’d teach them how to do wedge weave. Until now I’ve declined because there are several masters of this technique teaching in-person workshops (Kevin Aspaas, Deborah Corsini, and Connie Lippert for example). But it is hard to find information about this technique online and I decided that this course format was the perfect place to teach it.
I really enjoyed making this class. I hope you’ll join me! The course opens April 15 and Gist Yarn will start shipping the yarn that day as well. More information can be found on my website here: https://rebeccamezoff.com/discoverybox
If you haven’t heard about the Tapestry Discovery Box, the trailer below will fill you in. It is a collaboration between myself and Gist Yarn. Each quarter you get a box of new Array tapestry yarn colors and a new course from me that focuses on a particular technique. I teach the technique and then present some options for weaving your own tapestry. You’ll be supported by myself and a community of tapestry weavers. You’ll be able to ask questions at any time and there will be live Q&A sessions on Zoom. You can watch the trailer on YouTube HERE. (Note for UK weavers: please email me if you’d like to join the Discovery Box.)
The image below is just one of the wedge weave samples I did while working on this box. I just kept weaving them! I suspect you’ll be similarly enchanted.
Wedge weave in process from Tapestry Discovery Box, quarter 2 (April), 2024. Weaving and teaching by Rebecca Mezoff