• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

  • Hi! I’m Kelly!
    • Disclosure
  • Online Weaving School Class Index
    • Common account issues
    • Common technical issues
    • What do I get with a membership?
  • New to rigid heddle weaving? Start here!
    • Never heard of the rigid heddle loom?
    • How to weave neat edges on the rigid heddle loom
    • Rigid heddle weaving
    • Rigid Heddle Weaving Patterns
  • Patterns
  • Subscribe

tapestry

Making pictures with your loom

by Kelly 10 Comments

Something that really captivated me before I even started weaving, was the idea of using artistic creativity in weaving.

When I was younger I loved to draw and paint. In my adult life, I have not made a lot of time to devote to making art, but I have been happy to discover that there is a huge crossover with art and weaving.

This post contains affiliate links.

One of the most obvious forms of weaving that this crossover takes place in is tapestry weaving. In tapestry, the weaver can have total artistic licence through the use of colours and shapes. The shapes can be basic or complex. Colours can be blended on the loom. And, tapestry can be woven on many different types of looms.

I purchased a Mirrix Big Sister last year, as I wanted to develop my tapestry techniques and also have a dedicated tapestry loom. It is an excellent loom for tapestry, as even though it’s small, I find the available weaving room quite spacious and the tension is awesome.

Before I bought the Mirrix, I wove tapestries on my rigid heddle loom.

I had a lot of fun using different yarns and styles. My most popular Youtube series details how to weave in a free and unplanned style with a variety of yarns and colours.

I’ve also explored more tradition tapestry techniques on the rigid heddle loom. I particularly enjoyed taking my Sampleit on vacation, which enabled me to sit on the beach, watch the kids enjoy the waves and weave. What bliss!

My adventures with tapestry on the rigid heddle loom gained so much interest on social media, that I developed a course to show others how to do it! The course includes all the basic tapestry techniques you need to know, plus how to use all of these techniques to weave a finished project. If that sounds interesting to you, the course is available here.

Another way to get started in tapestry without breaking the budget, is with a more affordable tapestry loom. Depending on your budget, you could opt for something like the Schacht Tapestry Loom, or even just an el cheapo like a Melissa and Doug simple frame loom. Some people choose to make their own by building a simple frame or repurposing a wooden picture frame or similar. Just be aware that the more tension the loom holds, the better it is for tapestry and if you go down the cheap route, well, you tend to get what you pay for.

A resource that I found to be great when starting out with tapestry, and still use for inspiration, is Kirsten Glasbrook’s book, The Art of Tapestry Weaving.

Aside from tapestry, are there other ways to make pictures with your loom. Oh, yes indeed!

If I haven’t already gushed about krokbragd on this blog enough times, here I go again! If you’re interested in going down my blog rabbit hole on this topic, start with this post. Krokbragd is a weft based, most of the time but not always 3 shaft, weft faced weave. You repeat the same order of treadling over and over, but can vary your yarn colour combinations to produce simple and complex shapes and images. It is seriously cool, and that is why I’m always gushing about it.

Many of the shapes are open to interpretation, as they can be slightly non specific, but there is really so much to explore. One of my goals for this year is to weave a striking krokbragd wall hanging using my floor loom. Can’t wait for that one! Debby Greenlaw has written a terrific book, Krokbragd: How to Design and Weave.

I have a number of Youtube lessons on krokbragd using my rigid heddle loom, but if it’s new to you, start with the above video.

Boundweave is another weft faced weave that is very adaptable and versatile. It can be woven on 4 or more shafts (so it’s possible on a rigid heddle loom). The picture possibilities are endless. I have been playing around with bound weave on rose path threading and 6 shafts recently on my floor loom.

I’m using Nancy Arthur Hoskins’ Weft Faced Pattern Weaves book for guidance. My goodness, what an extensive book – so much to learn! This was my first attempt and I’ve now branched out with some more random designs, which is all very interesting. Slow, but interesting.

There is a lot more to be said about making pictures on your loom, but I hope this post has inspired you with some of the possibilities. Have you tried any of these techniques? Which is your favourite? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Filed Under: 4 shaft weaving, 8 shaft weaving, Floor Loom Weaving, Krokbragd, Rigid heddle weaving, Tapestry Weaving, Weaving Tagged With: boundweave, pictures, tapestry

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.
*This post contains affiliate links. For further information, please see my disclosure policy.


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!
 
 

 

Filed Under: Tapestry Weaving Tagged With: Kelly casanova weaving lessons, my youtube channel, rigid heddle weaving, tapestry, tapestry 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!
 

Filed Under: Rigid heddle weaving, Tapestry Weaving, Tutorials Tagged With: my youtube channel, rigid heddle weaving, rigid heddle weaving tutorial, tapestry

Primary Sidebar

Categories

Archives

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2025 Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons on the Foodie Pro Theme