The free tapestry mini-course is back!!
I’ve been a sketch tapestry practitioner since 2016. I started making these small pieces which reference something I experienced when I was at an artist residency at Petrified Forest National Park. I had so much fun weaving simple things each day of that month-long residency that I have devoted blocks of time to doing them ever since.
Petrified Forest NP residency tapestry after a pot sherd in a place the ranger swore me to secrecy about.
Eventually I made an online class about this practice called Summer of Tapestry. 2026 will be the fifth year I’ve run it. Each year has different information and challenges (prompts), but the concept is the same. We notice things in our environment (wander!), make some sort of observation about that, and then weave a simple tapestry. The process is intended to get you weaving something that doesn’t take forever but that has meaning in your life. I remember well the moments that I wove tapestries about such as this weaving based on a pot sherd I saw on a walk to a special place a ranger at Petrified Forest National Park told me about.
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 for me. Making a small 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 in a way I don’t remember things I just snapped a photo of.
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 fall/winter if you’re in the southern hemisphere!).
I think I wove this piece earlier than 2025, but I used this image for a social media post for last year’s class. I noted the colors of various birds with a little bit of watercolor in my sketchbook, divided up the space with stripes and wavy lines, and wove probably using weaversbazaar yarns.
The mini-course is all about looking at the colors of something and then weaving those colors in simple shapes or stripes. I’ve woven blocks of color, wavy lines, wedge weave, and stripes for some of my color studies. Most are pretty simple and thus they are fun to weave. The photo example of the bird tapestry with my sketchbook and process was the most complicated piece I did from this color-based prompt. But it was so fun to note the colors of birds that came to my backyard feeder and then weave little wavy sections with the colors of each bird. The resulting tapestry is rather riotous, but I love it and it reminds me of some of those beautiful birds.
I’d love to see what you’re weaving! If you use Instagram, please tag me so I can share in your fun (@rebeccamezofftapestry). On Facebook, tag Rebecca Mezoff’s Tapestry Studio and if you’re in one of my online classes, you can share in the studio Facebook group as well.
Summer of Tapestry 2026 registration is coming soon
If you like this practice, please consider joining me for the full Summer of Tapestry 2026 course. Registration opens May 14th with the first prompt opening May 29th.
A color tapestry about mushrooms.
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.
I often get questions from people who are interested in this class who assume there is a drawing component because of the name “sketch tapestry.” There is no drawing component to this class. You do not have to have drawing skills** to do this practice. The warm-up will show you that even just using colors of what we see with simple forms, we can produce a marvelous tapestry that isn’t realistic. It actually is quite hard to depict something realistically in just a few inches of warp, so part of this practice is learning to suggest things or ideas with not a lot of detail. Drawing is something I encourage if it is something you love, but it is not an active part of this class.
The trailer for this year’s class is below or you can access it on YouTube HERE.
I hope you enjoy this concept of sketch tapestry and that you try the warm-up activity from this mini-course. If you have fun with it, please do sign up for the full Summer of Tapestry 2026 class. You have access to it forever and even if you can’t manage all four prompts within the two months, many people including myself will be around for the rest of this year and even years down the road as you finish your weavings.
If you have taken one of the Summer of Tapestry classes in the past, let us know your experience in the comments!
The gallery below has images from my own sketch tapestry practice. If you want to see some student work, take a look at the trailer videos for past classes. I am quite sure I’ve seen over 1,000 tapestries woven by students in the last four years of classes. I promise you’ll see so many fabulous ideas from other participants in the full Summer of Tapestry class. But if you’re just doing the free mini-course, make sure to tag me on Facebook or Instagram so I can share! Visit the gallery on a computer if you want to see captions for the images with more information. The images will show up as a long string on a mobile device.
*Some people call them tapestry diaries but mine don’t go for a whole year.
**I firmly believe that drawing is just a skill and that anyone can master it. I am proof of that (except for the mastery part). 6 years ago I would have sworn I “couldn’t” draw either. Mind you, my drawings will never be in the archives at MOMA, but who cares?!! Making marks on paper is a low bar, a lot of fun, and adding color is the best. If you want to try, I have a bonus about it in the full Summer of Tapestry 2026 class, but all you need is a sketchbook (get one with watercolor paper if you want to use wet media like watercolor or markers), a permanent ink drawing pen, perhaps some watercolor pencils or a small watercolor palette, and a water brush. Then make a mess. You don’t have to show anyone at all!