The photo below is of a warp on my Harrisville Rug Loom. As I pull the beater forward, I can see immediately if the warps are pressing against the steel teeth in the reed and know whether the warps are out of alignment. The beater which contains a reed is a fantastic check for both draw-in and the tapestry getting wider. I weave my large tapestries on low-warp floor looms and I often use the beater on the loom. What if you use a floor loom with a beater? 12/6 cotton seine twine comes in many colors or you can just use some kind of brightly colored strong cotton or linen as your guide. If I do use guide strings, I use a different colored warp so that I am reminded not to weave it into the tapestry. But they work well for some people, so if it seems like an attractive option, give it a try. I find that they don’t give me enough precision. I don’t usually use guide strings myself. On a loom with beams, you could include the guide string when you prepare the warp and just sley them on the outside edges of the weaving. On a continuously warped loom with a warping bar like the Mirrix or Schacht Arras, I tie the guide string which is a different color to the warping bar, bring it around the loom, and tie it again with a sliding double half hitch knot so that the tension is adjustable. When adding guide strings to a warp, various methods might need to be used to apply them. There is more tolerance for wider tapestries because you won’t see slight differences in width as quickly. In general, I’d probably only use these on a wider tapestry because if I’m letting a 4 inch wide tapestry get wider or narrower enough that I’m seeing it with the guide strings, it has probably already gone too far. In the photos below, I have used guide strings on a narrow sample warp.
They serve as a visual guide for when your tapestry is getting wider or narrower. This is when you put a warp thread on each edge of the tapestry that you do not weave. Using guide stringsĪnother method many tapestry weavers use is guide strings. On most other looms, you’ll need to carefully measure as you warp the loom and before you start your header. Peg or slotted looms do and if your Mirrix loom has a bottom spring kit, that can make sure you start off with the warp spread evenly at the bottom. Some looms might have some method to keep the warps spread out at the bottom. Most likely that is the same width as you have at the top of the loom.
#Tapestry weaver full
As you’re warping the loom, make sure you spread the warps on the bottom to the full width you want your tapestry to be. I should also note here that if you don’t start with your bottom header at the full width you want the tapestry to be, you’ve lost the battle before you’ve even started. I think the class did very well with the theme and all left with inspiration and wanting to get together again next summer for another session.If you have difficulty remembering the measurement you’re aiming for, write it down. Bertie Smiley showed us a tapestry sampler she had woven from an issue of Handwoven. Cande Walsworth shared a photo of her pear tapestry she had worked on in a class this summer with Archie Brennan and Susan Martin-Maffei in Oregon which was organized by Pam Patrie. She presented both the finished tapestry and the photo she had used for inspiration. Marianne Sakik wove a small tapestry based on a sunset over the water. Ann Robertson brought her completed tapestry on a loom and we all enjoyed the cutting off ceremony.
We had some wonderful show and tell during the first day by students who had been working on tapestries over the past few months. After the class on the second day we visited local tapestry weaver, Christine Rivers, who spoke about her work, showed her tapestries and answered questions. The next three days were for weaving, looking at tapestries and discussing tapestry. The first day was spent designing a cartoon based on this idea and warping the looms. I had chosen the theme of Shapes and Shading. Eight people attended from the Pacific Northwest area. I just finished teaching an intermediate tapestry weaving course this past week.
0 kommentar(er)
