How to Tapestry Weave

Tapestry weaving is a style of weaving that dates back to the beginning origins of weaving. This style can create complex images and extremely detailed images with the colors of your yarn. This is done by ignoring the normal method of weaving from back and forth from end to end continuously and done by adding color to your work by blocking the colors together within the weft. Read on to learn more.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Loom
• Yarn in various colors
• Image to weave
• Toilet Paper
• Pencil
• Ruler

1. Choose your project. This should involve picking both what you want to make and the image that you want to weave.

2. Gather and prepare your yarn. You will need to determine the amount of yarn that you're going to need for your project. Pick the yarn you want to use for your warp and calculate the amount your going to need. For your warp, you will want to pick a color of yarn that will go with all the colors of your weft and not distract from your project. You will also need to determine how much yarn you will need, and all the colors that you will need for your weft.

3. Warp your loom. For tapestry looms, you will automatically have either rigid heddle loom or a limited number of heddles. If you're working with a floor loom, warp the loom using only two heddles. The pattern of the piece should be simple so it doesn't distract from the overall image of the piece.

4. Increase the size of your image. If you can, make the image that you're going to be weaving as large as your actual piece if you can. This is extremely helpful to beginning tapestry weavers. You can also make the image larger and then carefully draw in rows of weft into the image with a pencil and ruler so that you can see the colors you will need for each row to create the image that you want.

5. Weave in your header. This section should be done using the toilet paper and will even out your weft so that all the threads are evenly separated.

6. Begin weaving. With tapestry weaving you don't have to weave in one piece from one end to the other. You can go in a section to add a color in the middle of a row. To do this, simply create a shed and decide where a color should start. If this is in the middle of the piece, simply slip the shuttle in between the threads that create the top of the shed. Pull the yarn to where that color should stop, and slip the shuttle out through the threads again. If you're using the enlarged image, tape the image directly behind your weft so that you can clearly see what colors to weave as you move.

7. Place an entire row of color and then beat it into place. Move on to the next row of color. Continue weaving and beating the yarn into place until you have the entire image done.

8. Beat into place a few more rows of the toilet paper to hold the threads in place and remove the finished piece from the loom.

9. Carefully remove the toilet paper and knot the ends of the piece in place to hold everything together. You're tapestry is finished.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember that the top of the piece that you are weaving is the correct side. Make sure that you don't have any yarn hanging out the front of the piece. If this does happen, simply take a needle and thread the piece of yarn down to the back of the weaving.
• Feel free to be creative with tapestry weaving. The way that the colors are woven together may not look correct when you first begin this technique, experiment on how to achieve the look of the image you are trying to create to get a tapestry piece that you can be proud of.

Resources

• A great resource for articles on all aspects of weaving.