Tapestry Weaving

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Sett: Looms and tools

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Sett: Looms and tools

How does sett happen on various looms and what does this have to do with the equipment I choose? This post continues a series of articles about sett and tapestry weaving. The complete list is at the bottom of this post.

Low-warp floor looms and sett

I don't talk about weaving tapestry on floor looms nearly enough. When you're just starting out, finding space for a large loom may not be in the cards. But once you've decided this thing is for you, a floor loom can be a fantastic friend for your work.

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Sett: How does it affect materials for tapestry weaving?

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Sett: How does it affect materials for tapestry weaving?

I frequently get questions in my online classes about which yarns to use for tapestry weaving. To answer that question, you have to think about what sorts of imagery you want to weave and at what sett. Of course I can give you a list of my favorite yarns, but I may be looking for different characteristics in my weaving than you are. Knowing how sett and yarn interact will allow you to make the best choices for what you want to accomplish in terms of image creation and the look and feel of the resulting fabric.

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Sett: How does sett affect image?

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Sett: How does sett affect image?

How does sett affect image?

When someone says they’re weaving at 8 epi, that is the sett. That means they have 8 warp strands in one inch. I define sett a bit more in my last blog post on this topic. 

Weaving is a gridded structure. The images we make have to fit onto the grid formed by the warp and weft.

Because the structure so easily forms squares, making other shapes is more challenging in tapestry weaving. But of course we do want to weave something besides squares!

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"In tapestry you only ever have two choices." Susan Iverson and tapestry weaving.

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"In tapestry you only ever have two choices." Susan Iverson and tapestry weaving.

Susan Iverson was in Fort Collins this week to do a couple lectures in conjunction with the show FABRICation which is traveling from Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU is the school where Susan was a professor in the School of Arts, Craft and Material Studies department until her recent retirement.

Susan's practice of tapestry weaving has many similarities to my own. We both weave on floor looms. We both value abstraction and weaving tapestry that relates to the gridded nature of the medium. And there is a deep sensibility from her around materials.

Sett: What does it have to do with tapestry weaving?

Sett: What does it have to do with tapestry weaving?

In the last post I talked about the important relationship between warp and weft sizes when weaving tapestry. These questions are intimately connected to sett.

Sett is most easily understood as the number of warp threads in a unit of measure. In the USA we use inches, in Europe you probably use centimeters. (Don't get me started on why the stubborn United States never switched to metric. Yes, Europe and Canada, your way is better.)

So think about your loom. If you hold a ruler up to your warp and count the number of warp ends that occur in one inch, you will know your sett. Like this.

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Warp and weft: a cooperative relationship in tapestry weaving

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Warp and weft: a cooperative relationship in tapestry weaving

In tapestry weaving, the relationship between warp and weft is an important one. How to reach a happy consensus between these two elements of your piece is not immediately obvious.

These questions might sound familiar:

What warp should I use? How do I even decide with all those numbers?
Why is my warp showing?
Why does this weft yarn look so bad woven when it is so pretty in the skein?
Why is my fabric so loose?

The warp has a big job. Warp is the ground of your piece. It is the tightly-held strings upon which your image is built. The warp is completely covered in traditional tapestry weaving, yet it is the necessary core of the structure.

"Physically and metaphorically, we both weave in our ends."

"Physically and metaphorically, we both weave in our ends."

James Koehler was my mentor. I was his student and apprentice for about six years before he died unexpectedly on March 4th, 2011. 

I like to remember James on the anniversary of his death each year. And this year I think he would be pleased that I was able to celebrate his life with a mutual friend and someone who has been a mentor to me since he passed. Sarah Swett is an artist full of the joy and mystery of creation. And she takes that love of life and fiber right into her work and her writing.

Sarah wrote the forward to James' book, Woven Color. Though the imagery in their tapestry work is very different, there are many similarities in their approach to weaving. As Sarah says in her forward, they both experienced early adulthoods spent in isolation. James was a monk and Sarah worked alone in the Idaho wilderness as a forest ranger and caretaker... "experiences which forged lives of self-discipline, honed inner resources, and influenced, in one way or another, our subsequent work. Physically and metaphorically, we both weave in our ends."