Every year I run a class I call Summer of Tapestry. It revolves around a practice I’ve had for many years now of bringing a small loom with me when I’m hiking or traveling and weaving something about what I experienced or saw. I often call the practice sketch tapestry because my goal is to capture something interesting about the experience, not to replicate whatever it was necessarily in any realistic way.
I find that the practice of really looking at something and then weaving about it makes me pay attention instead of just rushing blindly through life. The inspirations I’ve woven something about are things that I remember months and years later.
I’ve linked many of these sorts of tapestries on my blog over the years and you can find some of these stories under the tapestry diary category. The concept is simple. It is a way of paying attention to something in my experience that caught my eye or had some sort of meaning. Making a tiny piece of art about it allows me more time to sink into the experience and I find that I remember the things I wove about clearly in the future.
The little rainy tent tapestry I made during and after that rainy backpacking trip.
For example, I took a backpacking trip by myself into the Rawah wilderness to a spot I’d never been before. It rained and rained on that trip. I came away with very wet feet and some good stories. I had more time in the tent and I wove a tiny tapestry about the rain.* These little tapestries are almost always quickly done and often they’re not very technically good. The practice is about observing and remembering and having some fun. I also find that I learn a lot through exploring concepts in this way and many of the ideas I use in these small sketch tapestries become ideas for larger pieces.
If you’re interested in this practice, I’ve made a free mini-course to introduce it to you. I hope you’ll spend some time relaxing with your tapestry loom this spring or summer (or winter if you’re in the southern hemisphere!).
I’d love to see what you’re weaving! If you use Instagram, please tag me so I can share in your fun (@rebeccamezofftapestry). A great hashtag to use is #changetheshed and mention that you’re working on the Summer of Tapestry mini-course!
If you like this practice, please consider joining me for the full Summer of Tapestry 2024 course. The preparatory material opens this week and the first of four prompts opens May 28th. We’ll spend eight weeks on the four prompts, two weeks for each of them. The prompts are simply ideas for gathering information in your environment and translating them into tapestry. We’ll take into account the particular structure of tapestry weaving and the way we use yarn to create images as we play with these fun concepts. More about the full course is on my website HERE with a link to register.
The trailer for this year’s class is below or you can access it on YouTube HERE.
Each year has four completely new prompts with video explanations, bonus videos, opportunities to engage with Rebecca and the community of weavers in the class platform and in two Zoom meetings. I hope you’ll consider joining me for Summer of Tapestry 2024!
If you have taken one of the Summer of Tapestry classes in the past, let us know your experience in the comments!
*You can find the full story of the Rawah rain tent tapestry in these blog posts: