Tapestry Weaving

Weaving on my new tapestry loom!

You may recall from this blog post or video that I have been quietly longing for a dedicated tapestry loom for some time.

The Mirrix looms were appealing to me for many reasons, so my dream tapestry loom was a Mirrix.

After interviewing the CEO of Mirrix, Claudia Chase on my blog recently, I was even more convinced that this was the right type of tapestry loom for me.

So, I started saving!

Then, a few days ago, this box arrived. A “Knit Spin Weave” card plus a “Mirrix Tapestry Studio” sticker on the front of the box was just the kind of mail I love!

I followed the Mirrix Youtube instructions for warping the loom, which was pretty straightforward. My mind was so focused on getting it warped that I hadn’t really considered what exactly I was going to weave!

So, instead of having a grand plan, I drew some rough lines onto the warp and started weaving with some of my handspun. Then I introduced some hand dyed wool from my stash.

The end result is OK, not brilliant, but it was more about getting to know the loom than weaving a masterpiece. And I certainly did learn a lot, particularly about the kind of tapestry I want to weave in the future.

I still had room on this warp, so I decided to weave a planned sample, following Kirsten Glasbrook’s book Tapestry Weaving.

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This is a great book if you’re interested in getting started in tapestry weaving, it covers all the basic techniques and includes detailed information on completing the finished piece, including mounting options. I used Kirsten’s sampler on page 40 as inspiration – though her sampler is much more detailed than mine.

I used some very bright and colourful wool and focused on achieving clean, straight lines. No lumps and bumps this time!

Starting from the bottom and working up, these are the techniques I used (these are all listed in fabulous step by step demonstrations in the book).

1. Pick and pick

2. Vertical slits

3. Pick and pick

4. Soumak

5. Diagonal shapes

6. Hatching

7. Distorted weft

And here is the finished piece! I had some challenges with uneven draw in (you can see that my edges have a slight curve rather than just straight lines), but all things considered, I’m pretty pleased. It’s almost a shame to contemplate removing the warp from the loom, the beautiful luminosity of the copper pieces adds to the overall aesthetic!

Update: If you’re interested in learning more about this loom, watch my review here-

In the meantime, if you’re interested in Mirrix Looms, you can read more about them in my interview with CEO Claudia Chase and visit their website for more details.

And, just to let you know, this post is not sponsored by Mirrix in any way, I’m just sharing the love.

Tapestry weaving on a rigid heddle loom

by Kelly 9 Comments

Tapestry weaving is something I like to do just sometimes, when the mood takes me. Well, the mood did take me recently and I decided to follow one of my favourite themes that I haven’t really explored yet – House on a hill, by the sea.

I wanted to do just small tapestries, as I planned on doing several variations on the one theme, and as a tapestry is a time investment, I thought the smaller, the better. I also have a soft spot for little things.

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I warped my Sampleit loom with Ashford tapestry cotton, which is my go to tapestry warp. I used a 7.5 dent heddle/reed because that is the only size I have for the Sampleit, but a 10 – 12.5 dent heddle/reed would be preferable.

Each tapestry measures approximately 3.5″ X 4″.

Tapestry 1 was woven with scraps from my stash bag. My very messy, tangly stash bag! It has smaller pieces or balls of all sorts of yarns from past projects, but mostly fingering to worsted weight.
Incorporated into this piece are pieces of wool, cotton, bamboo, silk, alpaca and some unidentified freebie from long ago.

For Tapestry 2 I was going for a “twilight” look, so I chose a limited colour palette of greens, blues, greys and muted colours.

Tapestry 3 was woven entirely with 8/2 size weaving thread in cotton and cottolin. I also chose a muted colour palette for this one.
It ended up being my favourite of the three, I like the look of the finer yarn and details. It took a good deal longer to weave due to the thin yarn, but it was so relaxing, I didn’t mind at all!

I plan to do a couple more little tapestries on this warp, but they will have to wait until I have a bit more time.

A book that really helped me get started with tapestry is Tapestry Weaving by Kirsten Glasbrook. It is not a highly detailed book, which I think makes it great for beginners. She shows the basic techniques, gives projects for you to try and then later there are examples of her own work in a gallery. I have had this book for years and still refer back to it for information and inspiration.

Rebecca Mezoff has a detailed book, The Art of Tapestry Weaving which is also a terrific resource.

Tommye Scanlin’s book Tapestry Design Basics and Beyond is a great book, but if you’re just starting out in tapestry, I would go with the either both or one of the above to begin with.

I also have an Tapestry on a Rigid Heddle Loom online class, which is easy to follow and a great place to start out.

Also, in this Youtube video, I discuss why tapestry can be done on a rigid heddle loom, but why it’s not entirely ideal:

I hope you enjoyed this post.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Tapestry style weaving on the rigid heddle loom

by Kelly 4 Comments

Another busy day where my thoughts turned to weaving and the temptation was to declare myself “too tired to weave”. I couldn’t bear to think of calculating and planning a project.

So I didn’t.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on the link and purchase, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

I put a short warp on my rigid heddle loom and started to weave.

No real plan, just wanted to weave. I liked what I saw, so I decided to share with you in video format so you too can weave like this.

There are three videos in total, here is the first one for you!