Tapestry Weaving

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Warping for various setts on a peg loom with this one simple trick (plus a discount code!)

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Warping for various setts on a peg loom with this one simple trick (plus a discount code!)

Schacht Spindle Company has a selection of tapestry looms that I use. Their peg looms are sturdy and easy to find in the USA and in some places around the world. While I love their new Arras tapestry loom (reviewed here), their peg looms are great for travel or for small projects at home. These looms include the Schacht Lilli Loom, Easel Weaver Loom, and School Loom. The pegs used on these three looms are all the same and the sett is about 5.5 ends per inch. Most of us don’t want to weave at 5.5 ends per inch when weaving small things because we want more detail, so how do you warp these looms to get closer setts?

Arriving in Iceland

Arriving in Iceland

The Textile Center in Blonduos, Iceland has an artist residency for fiber artists. I have wanted to make my own trip here since my colleague Cornelia Theimer Gardella started coming here for residencies in 2015. I wasn’t sure the residency would happen until not long before we left because of covid, but I am now in Iceland. I’m currently watching the ice float by on the river Blanda and contemplating some designs to turn Icelandic fleece into small tapestries.

I flew into Reykjavik of course and had a couple days in the city before getting a bus north about 150 miles to Blonduos. Reykjavik feels walkable and fairly small though I realize this is just because they have a defined city center and there are extensive suburbs. I enjoyed walking the path along the harbor and watching the Esja massif across the water in the changing light.

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Shed Stick UPDATE! More options for your small-loom tapestry weaving

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Shed Stick UPDATE! More options for your small-loom tapestry weaving

I wrote a post a couple months ago about using shed sticks which included the few options that I could find readily available. Since then I’ve had several updates to the shed stick situation and I now have a healthy list of great options. I am quite sure there are more great tools out there. Here I was focusing on makers who have their work in stock all the time or at least with good consistency.* These are all US makers, but there are woodworkers all over the world and I am sure there are small tool makers in your neighborhood also if you do not live in the US.

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Archie Brennan: Tapestry as Modern Art

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Archie Brennan: Tapestry as Modern Art

This new book about Archie Brennan (1931-2019) and his life as a tapestry weaver is a wonderful mix of Archie’s voice and art, images of his work, and thoughts of his friends and colleagues. I heard rumors this book was happening many years ago and have been hoping they were true for a long time. I have not been disappointed. This book has far exceeded my expectations. Brenda Osborn has taken what has to be a rich collection of Archie’s spoken and written words and created a wonderful picture of an artist who had a huge influence on the trajectory of a very old art form, tapestry weaving. The book is by Archie Brennan, but the second author, noted as “with Brenda Osborn” deserves a standing ovation for her crafting of this masterpiece.

Weft bundling tricks and tools

Weft bundling tricks and tools

Color use in tapestry weaving is an unending source of exploration. When you’re first starting out you’ll probably use one solid color at a time. But the world of color can be vastly expanded by mixing weft colors in a bundle.

Most tapestry yarns are thin enough that you can use several strands at once. This practice is called weft bundling and is of great benefit if you want to mix colors. The video below talks about various aspects of weft bundling including:

  • how to match up multiple strands of weft

  • why you might want to use a weft bundle

  • possible tools to carry your weft bundle including some you may not have considered

A new tapestry falls from the loom

A new tapestry falls from the loom

It isn’t a common thing to say in the USA, that a tapestry falls from the loom. But that is the translation from other languages and I like it. One of you will remind me where I have heard this. I believe it is the French that say it, but please correct me if not!

I’ve started a new tapestry series and I am still so excited about weaving large tapestries again. I’m forging ahead with the second piece and hope to get it on the loom in the next couple weeks. Those of you who watched me weave wildflowers on Change the Shed know that I started the sampling in October of 2021 and the tapestry began on my rug loom in mid-November.

For me to have woven a piece like this in two and a half months is a bit astounding to me. You see, I work full time and tapestry is slow. It usually takes me a year to weave a larger piece. But I am determined to spend more time on the loom and so I have made choices this year to allow me to do that. To finish this piece in that time which included almost two weeks away from home visiting family, I just wove every day. Most days it was only an hour, but that adds up to 7 hours a week and that was enough. This piece was not complicated weaving and so I was able to roll right along fairly quickly. There were few decisions and it was a joy to see it grow so quickly.

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Finding the right shed stick for weaving tapestry on small looms

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Finding the right shed stick for weaving tapestry on small looms

I have used shed sticks made by Jim Hokett for my whole little looms weaving career. So when he retired in 2019, I was sad to lose this source of wonderful tools. There are other people making similar looms, but I have struggled to find a replacement for his shed sticks.

Today’s video does a deep dive into this humble tool. Shed sticks are particularly useful on small tapestry looms without shedding devices. I use them as a simple way to open the shed, prevent abrasion of my weft yarn, and to check my shed for errors. And on narrow setts, they can pick up warps that my fingers cannot.