Tapestry Weaving
Rebecca Mezoff
Testing out the Duet tapestry beater from ...

It is no secret that I love my tapestry forks/beaters with metal tines. Many people make them with dog combs. The metal tines slide through the warp easily and if the handles are shaped well, they provide a nice snap for work on tapestries large or small.

Over the years I’ve purchased many tapestry forks from Magpie Woodworks, Thomas Creations (Threads Thru Time), and Timber and Twine. These are beautiful hand-crafted tools and every tapestry weaver should have at least one of these in their toolbox.

But I have had so many students who were unable to get one of these forks or had to wait many months just because when a tool is hand-made one at a time, it takes a long time to produce them and more people want them than can get them.

Testing out the Duet tapestry beater from Schacht

Season 2 of Design Solutions for the Artist/Weaver

Season 2 of Design Solutions for the Artist/Weaver

Last year I started an online course about designing for tapestry weaving. This is a subject that I find students frequently struggle with and there are many things about design that are particular to tapestry weaving’s techniques, tools, and materials.

We had a great deal of fun last year in Season 1. Season 2 of the course is about to start. The class is now open for registration with more information on my website here: https://rebeccamezoff.com/design-solutions-season-2

The course content opens on Monday, January 11th and you’ll want to register soon to maximize your time with Module 1’s material before registration closes the end of the month.

The video below is a short look at what you’ll see in the course.

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What do you need to get started with tapestry weaving?

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What do you need to get started with tapestry weaving?

Tapestry weaving can seem like a pursuit that requires A LOT. A lot of equipment, materials, and knowledge.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Weaving tapestry can be quite simple and your materials and equipment do not have to be complicated. If you want to learn tapestry weaving, below are some suggestions for how to get started. There are also many resources for people already deep into the tapestry experience, but this post is for people who are pretty new to tapestry weaving.

At the end of the post is an actual list you might use to shop with.

Making hue and value decisions as I weave

Making hue and value decisions as I weave

Those of you who have been following me on Change the Shed on YouTube since March have seen first hand how I make decisions as I’m weaving. For me, many of my tapestry design decisions are made before I start the weaving. But often color choices aren’t really clear until the tapestry is underway. In a small piece I am unlikely to weave a sample, so I am experimenting while working on the actual tapestry.

In the December 9th episode of Change the Shed I was struggling with a value choice that I didn’t trial before I turned the camera on that morning. After briefly considering (silently) how embarrassed I was going to be when I made live “errors” to a fairly wide audience, I decided that letting it play out on camera was just fine with me.

Keep up the wonder

Keep up the wonder

Curiosity.

Is it the key? To everything?

As an annoyingly persistent optimist, I am feeling a little blue of late. It isn’t new, it comes and goes, and I blame it on 2020 entirely. It is hard to watch this pandemic flatten my country when we could have managed it so much better. It is hard to see people dying when they didn’t have to. And there is a lot of fear in the unknown future. I do feel a measure of hope (that is the persistent part of the optimist in me), but some days I need a little reminder.

Fyber Monday: All tapestry classes on sale

Fyber Monday: All tapestry classes on sale

The Monday after Thanksgiving in the USA is often called “Cyber Monday.” It is a day created by marketers to get you to buy online products. I hardly think we need days devoted to convincing us to buy more stuff, but I do value education. And since my online courses are digital programs and it fits with the Cyber Monday theme, I have chosen it as the one day a year I have a sale.* Fyber Monday of course being a play on “Cyber Monday.”

This year I’m offering all my current classes for sale.** Each of these codes will only work once, but you could get three classes during this sale! Choose Design Solutions, Season 1, Fringeless: Four-selvedge warping, and any third class you want.

Fiber books: a brief look at my favorites so far this year

Fiber books: a brief look at my favorites so far this year

In the northern hemisphere, winter is bearing down on us. With COVID and colder weather keeping us home, I am digging through my “to be read” shelves and making stacks around my favorite reading spot.* I thought you might like a few possibilities for your own favorite reading spot so I’ve listed some of my current favorites below. These are fiber-related books but I definitely have a good mix of other types in my stack. These books are also all more process-oriented. I have some history-of-fiber or tapestry books queued up to talk about soon.^

How to Weave a Navajo Rug and Other Lessons from Spider Woman

How to Weave a Navajo Rug and Other Lessons from Spider Woman

Lynda Teller Pete and Barbara Teller Ornelas are sisters and tapestry weaving and teaching powerhouses. I’ve had the pleasure of talking to them at various events over the years and I’m always delighted to connect with their knowledge, insight, and fantastic sense of humor. They are not only wonderful human beings, but they have a passion for teaching that I seldom see matched. Before COVID they traveled extensively to teach most of the year. They teach workshops for Diné (Navajo) students frequently as many families lost their weaving knowledge due to racist and repressive practices of the US government two generations ago (and more). There are young Diné weavers working again today thanks in part to Lynda and Barbara’s work. (See the resources guide in the book for how to contact some of them about purchasing their artwork.)