Tapestry Weaving
I have been teaching tapestry weaving since 1972 and have woven many tapestry commissions. I teach several kinds of tapestry weaving and use different styles of tapestry depending on the design of my piece and the size.
My largest tapestry was 8' x 20' and this size requires a different approach than the size normally woven for a wall in someone's home. Traditional tapestry as woven centuries ago was very fine and these techniques are suitable for small tapestries. Today time is a factor and some techniques are faster than others. Traditional techniques can be adapted for larger pieces or for faster weaving. And very large tapestries need some other timesaving changes to the way they are woven.
Tapestry can be woven on many kinds of looms, and perhaps on the loom you already have. The use of a large floor loom with treadles and a beater has been used by many cultures to produce folk tapestries. These tapestries were often hung on the wall but also were used for pillows, rugs, chair covers and other practical uses. They are woven with the use of the beater and often take advantage of this by incorporating geometric patterns. These time saving techniques can also be used to weave pictorial designs.
Mexican Tapestry Weaving is a book I wrote about the tapestries woven in Mexico. The tapestries are a mix of Spanish and native design and some European designs can be found among the Mexican designs. In this book I have a chapter on weaving a sampler. If you want to learn some basic tapestry techniques, this chapter has many diagrams, which will help you to learn to weave them. The book is currently out of print, but you may find a copy through interlibrary loan.
For information on tapestry weaving from my book visit Mexican Tapestry Weaving
If you want information on classes in tapestry weaving, visit Glimakra-USA.
The background tapestry is Montana Sky, 6' x 6',woven by Joanne.
Glimakra-USA... 866-890-7314 or 406-442-0354
update 1/08