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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.

In which I talk about all things "tapestry" on the Weave podcast with Sarah Resnick

In which I talk about all things "tapestry" on the Weave podcast with Sarah Resnick

Sarah Resnick has launched a new podcast about weaving. I have been listening to it all this year and have been inspired by her interviews. I also appreciate the variety of people she interviews and the things I can learn about other parts of the world as well as other parts of my world that I wasn't aware of.

A couple weeks ago she interviewed me and the interview is now up. You can find Weave on iTunes or wherever else you get your podcasts. Or you can go straight to the show on her website to listen and see the show notes and images.

A day chasing UFOs (unfinished objects)

A day chasing UFOs (unfinished objects)

At some point I realized that not everyone is like me in how they approach project completion. Astonishingly, there are actually people in the world who start one project at a time and then they finish it before moving onto the next one. Though this seems like an admirable trait when I have four different fiber projects on my studio table, it seems unlikely I will ever be the sort of person who works that way. I always have multiple projects in the works just like I am always reading more than one book and dreaming about more than one future.

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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.