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112
Alpacas
Magazine
In Peru, the Incans wove fine cloth with beautiful
pictures of animals, birds, warriors, and other forms
of men and women depicting daily life. There are
samples of tapestries dating from 400 BC that have
been found. The Peruvians wove with wool, cotton,
and other animal fibers, like alpaca.
Tapestries can be woven face up or down, mean-
ing the right side is either facing you or away
from you. It is good to start a small project as
it can be quite time-consuming to weave a large
one. I spent a month working about 40 hours
a week, including spinning the yarns, and weaving
a tapestry for a local dentist. It was about 4
'
high
and about 6
'
wide. This tapestry was woven on
my 56
"
floor loom. This is what is so fun with
a tapestry, it can be made into any size and you
don’t need a special tapestry loom. I have woven
many large tapestries by weaving sideways, from
right front edge to left front edge, instead of
bottom to top or top to bottom. Sometimes the
design dictates the way it is woven. For example, a
tree with its large trunk can be woven sideways so
you don’t have large slits along the edges of a tree
that can pull apart. Tapestries can be woven using
pictorial scenes as designs, or abstract designs.
I have created a sample project design that uses
several tapestry techniques. I suggest you use
contrasting colors to enhance your design, for
example a dark color, a light color and a bright
yarn for your design.
Warp the threads in a simple twill pattern, 1, 2,
3, and 4. I suggest you warp the threads at 6 epi
or 8 epi. 6 epi is the best, as weft will not pack
down as well if warps are too close together.
I made one sample at 10 epi and it was too tight.
The 6 epi looks a lot better. You can use your
treadles to change the sheds, lifting up 1-3, 2-4.
Use a double warp at each edge, as this will
strengthen the edges. This double warp is to be
treated like a single warp, not a floating edge.
Place the weft threads across the area weaving,
making little hills with the yarns. This helps keep
the weft from drawing in too tightly. When beat-
ing down the weft yarns, a tapestry beater, or a
dinner fork, or a wooden Navajo tapestry fork can
be used. Only small amounts of yarns are needed
for some of the areas, and “butterflies” can be
made by using your hands to control the yarns,
instead of large shuttles. Small bobbins, specially
made for tapestry, can be used.
When making your design, draw a picture to
scale of your desired pattern. This is known as
a “cartoon.” Keep the tapestry cartoon you have
made near you or attach (pin) it to the back of
the warp threads, or the tapestry as it grows. The
design can also be painted or drawn on the warp
threads. This will not show as the idea of tapestry
weaving is to beat the weft threads tightly enough
so the warp threads do no show at all, unless it is
part of the design.
weaving wisdom
Wooden tapestry forks
for beating the weft.