I am totally new to weaving and I bought a Ashford 24" weaving loom that is on the way to me. After spending hours on the internet searching and trying to learn a little before it gets here, I have about decided to go the tapestry way of weaving. I just can't see spending a lot of time making scarfs and dishtowels. I need a little more creative things to make and I think the tapestry would fill that. I have a long time invested in photography and I have a very good printer that I could make the patterns or cartoons to go by. Now my question. Can I use the weaving loom to do tapestry. I know the heddle could be used to change the shed. I also need to know about what size warp yarn could I use for this. The one coming has a 7.5 heddle. Any help on this would be very much appreciated. I also think I need to order a good book on tapestry. Thanks for any help. Richard

Comments

Wed, 12/11/2013 - 02:39

SallyE (not verified)

There are several tapestry experts on this site, and I'm hoping some of them will chime in here.   In the meantime. . . 

You can do tapestry on pretty much any loom.  Looms built specifically for tapestry hold the warp vertically, rather than horizontally, so that you can better view the warp as you work on it - like a painter would view a canvas.  Your loom is meant to be a table loom, so will hold the warp horizontally.  But if you are handy, you might be able to rig a way to raise the back to make it more like a tapestry loom.  

My understanding is that tapestry is usually done at 9 epi, and your loom is 7.5, but I don't think that is a hard and fast rule.  The smaller epi just means that you won't get as much resolution on your design.

As for the warp, any strong rug yarn will work fine, cotton or linen.   On tapestry you don't see the warp anyway as it's a weft faced weave, so it doesn't even matter what color you use.  

Books - two good ones are Tapestry Weaving, A Comprehensive Study Guide by Nancy Harvey and Weaving a Tapestry by Laya Brostoff.  My suggestion would be to get the harvey book and do a sampler first, so you can practice the various kinds of stitches. 

Good luck, and welcome to the addictive habit of weaving!

 

Wed, 12/11/2013 - 09:47

Richard Haas

Thanks SallyE for the info. I bought the stand for it also and hope it will tilt enough to use it for tapestry.

Wed, 12/11/2013 - 15:41

tommye scanlin

Hello Richard,

As SallyE indicates any loom can be used for tapestry.  That said, some are better suited than others.  For tapestry, one uses a tight warp tension so the loom should be capable of having the tension held tightly.  I haven't used a rigid heddle loom for tapestry weaving myself but have seen one small one used in a class I taught.  The student struggled with the loom's tension--the pawl kept slipping out of the ratchet (both were plastic).  I think the size of the one you have coming may be more easily adpated to tapestry, though.  I just looked at the Ashford website and see that the pawl & ratched seem to be plastic so that may be a factor that might cause potential challenges.

The stand should be nice to allow you to tilt the tapestry to a bit of an angle.  Most of my tapestry looms are upright structures, with the warp at a vertical.  However, some tapestry makers use a floor loom (Erin Riley and Rebecca Mezoff are two who do beautiful tapestries on floor looms, for instance)--and of course, the Aubusson tapestry tradition is with low warp, so the position of the warp isn't that critical.

Being able to design your cartoons from your own photographs is a great way to go about it.  One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the warp/weft ratio is similar to pixels--the smaller/closer the sett, the more detail available in the design.  That said, I think there is a tremendous value in designing for the medium... making the image to be woven "weaverly" and enjoy the stair-stepping that occurs when moving a curve along, for instance.  Or figuring out how many passes (two picks, over and back again) will be needed to create a particular angle.

For warp, cotton seine twine is a good choice. Other cottons (mercerized cotton and Maysville cotton rug warp, for instance) aren't as strong as the seine twine and I don't recommend them.  Linen and also wool may be used, as well, just be sure it's either for rug or tapestry weaving.  Sett varies and depends on the degree of fineness of detail you want.  The 7.5 reed should be fine with a 12/12 or 12/15 size cotton seine twine, for instance.  I usually purchase my warps from Glimakra USA (owner, Joanne Hall is here at Weavolution and she also teaches tapestry).  Wefts I use are wools from Norsk Fjord Fiber, or a smaller wool from Fine Fiber Press.  Of course, one may use any fiber for weft.

The books SallyE mentions are good.  You might also want to take a look at Carol Russell's Tapestry Handbook and Kathe Todd-Hooker's Tapestry 101.  Joanne Soroka's book about tapestry was published a couple of years ago and has both technical info as well as beautiful examples of contemporary tapestry.  The American Tapestry Alliance has a wonderful website with lots of resource links:  http://americantapestryalliance.org and the British Tapestry Group also has an excellent website.  

Archie Brennan & Susan Martin-Maffei have a DVD set that's an excellent resource.  It's available through their website--just do a search for Archie Brennan to find the address.  You might also want to see the YouTube preview of the DVD set (again, search for Archie Brennan YouTube)... and you'll be interested, I think, in hearing/seeing a series of interviews with Archie called Weaving Illusions... it's in 3 parts and is on YouTube.

Tapestry weaving is an endlessly fascinating experience.  I have been weaving tapestry for twenty-five years now and I find it to be challenging every day.  Good luck in your immersion!

Tommye

Wed, 12/11/2013 - 19:10

Richard Haas

I am going to keep my eyes out for a dedicated tapestry loom. Thanks for the good info and I have just ordered the 12/12 twine and also went to the fellow that makes the brass tipped bobbins and in the process of ordering some from him. Thanks Richard

Wed, 12/11/2013 - 20:25

tommye scanlin

Richard, You might want to take a look at the diagrams that Archie Brennan has for looms at his website. Brennan makes the plans available for one to build a loom for oneself (asks that one not build and sell them). Using his loom design as take-off point one can make almost any size loom one wants. I've built many copper pipe looms that I take with me for teaching, letting students use them while in class. I keep them broken down and stored in plastic bins in my studio when I'm not using them. I've also built a larger black pipe loom on which I can weave 32" wide by about 40" tall. His diagrams even include much larger looms that one can put together with scaffolding parts. As far as commercial looms for tapestry, Ashford makes a nice standing tapestry loom. Larger looms from Fireside--either the Cantilever tapestry loom or the Traditional tapestry loom are both good. Leclerc has a Gobelin-style tapestry loom that one may request either with or without two shafts. Occasionally, a once produced by Leclerc tapestry loom called the Tissart may be found and very, very occasionally a Shannock tapestry loom is advertised. John Shannock hasn't been making the rock-solid looms he once did for several years now, I think. There is a Glimakra tapestry loom, also, that some people like a lot. Tommye
Wed, 12/11/2013 - 21:22

Richard Haas

Thanks Tommye, I am fairly good at woodworking and have thought about building one. I'm also a retired electrician and very handy with tools. I do know someone that has a lot of scaffolding just laying around he doesn't use anymore. I really don't think I would have any trouble building one. About what size do you think I would make good use of????? I have enough room for a 32 wide one. I do want to try rag rugs someday so a good sturdy built one would work for me. This is starting to sound to much like fun. HAHAHA. I have looked at pictures of others and the thought has crossed my mind that I could build one. They don't look that complicated. Just a good frame with the extra stuff added. You've just got me inspired to look into it. I have a bunch of PVC that I was going to make a warp frame from but haven't started yet. Thanks and you have been a big help and inspiration. UPS is bringing the RH loom tomorrow and I will try it out first to see if it will hold the warp tension. I have some mason twine to use just to give it a try until the twine I've ordered arrives. Thanks Richard

Wed, 12/11/2013 - 22:25

tommye scanlin

Hi Richard, You asked about size loom that you might make good use of... and the answer, of course, is it depends! Tapestry is extremely slow to do compared to some other kinds of weaving. If you wanted to weave a 32" square tapestry it might take up to 6 months to do it (more or less) depending on the complexity of the design and the amount of time you could devote to it on a consistent basis. Tapestry moves along best when one gets into a rhythm, just like any other kind of weaving. The rhythm of tapestry is a slower one than when one throws a shuttle from selvedge to selvedge, but still a consistency of practice makes everything easier in some ways. Working up to the rhythm after being away from a tapestry for days or longer can be somewhat frustrating. So I always encourage anyone who wants to weave tapestry to do it daily, even if only to do a few pick at a time. Notice on the Brennan loom diagrams that there is a way to increase or decrease tension on the warp through the threaded rods that go in the side pieces. Also, the warping is done directly on those frames rather than on a warping board. On my Tapestry Share blog I've shown steps of warping a small frame loom at one of the posts... you could find that post in the link of posts at the left side. The blog is http://tapestryshare.blogspot.com At my other blog I posted about a black pipe loom I built a few years ago. I've woven several pieces on that loom, putting it together in different dimensions (that's another nice thing about the black pipe looms... sizes can vary with the way the components are put together). Here's the post with that pipe loom shown: http://tapestry13.blogspot.com/2008/05/im-weaving-againat-least-headera-start.html Again, good luck with this all! It will indeed be fun. Tommye
Wed, 12/11/2013 - 23:51

Richard Haas

Tommye, you have helped so much. I am off to my old workplace and get the pipe and fittings for the loom. If I get to go to a class next year, I'll make a copper or wood one for that. Thanks for the help. One more question, and you don't have to answer right away, How do you set your sett when just wrapping it around the pipe. Masking tape marked off with pencil?????? and what do you try to work around???   8, 10, 12 per inch.  Thanks again.     Richard
Thu, 12/12/2013 - 13:54

tommye scanlin

Richard,

I do either use a masking tape strip at top and bottom of the frame, marked in 1/2" increments, or I mark right onto the frame with a Sharpie. I make every-other 1/2" mark longer so that I can see the 1" spacings easily.  

My work is usually done at either 8 epi or 6 epi.  For smaller tapestries, I usually use 8 but sometimes will do 10 or 12.  If you'll take a look at the Tapestry Share blog, on the left side there's a group of links, each of which will take you to posts that give further info about several technical issues.  There are a couple of links shared with other tapestry weavers there, too.

Please post your progress so everyone can see how it's going for you! And good luck with it all!

Tommye

Thu, 12/12/2013 - 14:36

Richard Haas

I am going today and get the stuff for the copper frame and leg. I don't think I am going to try tapestry on the Ashford RH loom. I'll set it up for strictly weaving. That way I can swap back and forth and see which way I want to concentrate on. You've been a big help and inspiration to me. I'll post something soon. Probably the tapestry loom after putting it together. Thanks Richard