I received a Mirrix loom for Christmas so I have been trying to learn tapestry weaving. I took a class a year or so ago… that didn’t go so well. It was a different technique and it just didn’t mesh with the way I think. The thread was very large and rough, so many things I did not enjoy. However, I like some tapestry weavings so I knew I wanted to try again one day.

Fast forward to Christmas 2020 and my new loom arrives.

The only suitable tapestry yarn I had was some I found at a garage sale, so I was limited to two colors but it was enough to let me start getting the feel for this new adventure.

Our guild library had recently added Rebecca Mezoff’s new book ‘The Art of Tapestry Weaving’ to their collection. I checked it out and tried several of the techniques she talks about – hill vs valley to get a straight line, adding butterflies (separate pieces of yarn to allow the color changes).

Overall not too bad for a first attempt. …and yes, now I own my own copy of Rebecca’s book!

Then I ordered some ‘real’ tapestry yarn. When it came in I just had to try a little… as you can tell from the color change at the top of the piece above!

Now I had some colors to play with. I pulled out the iPad and started sketching out a few designs. I didn’t want it to be too hard, but I wanted to work on my lines some more. So I came up with this…

A ribbon doesn’t have to be in any specific spot, so I could be off my lines a little and at least it wouldn’t look too bad. So I warped my loom and picked out my colors.

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It was a little slow in the beginning. The furry creatures in the house didn’t appreciate me spending time at the loom. They thought sitting in my lap was more important.

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Finally I’m weaving…. so my ribbon looks like it might have a picot edge instead of being nice and smooth… and the shadows didn’t start all the way under the ribbon… but hey this piece is all about learning!

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Here it is off the loom and ready for finishing. Look at all those ends sticking out of the back…

What is finishing you ask? Finishing is all the steps you have to take after it comes off the loom to make it ready to display. After the piece is off the loom you need to steam it to set the fibers, some will shrink a little as well. This also makes it have a softer hand. Directly off the loom it is pretty stiff, but after it is steamed and dry it is much more pliable. After it has dried completly you need to deal with all those warp ends (the threads that were on the loom).

Finally you have to decide if you care if you have a ‘messy’ back. All the weft threads (the colored yarn that you wove into the warp) have ends… and they are sticking out of the back. This thread is too smooth to just cut flush and expect it to stay. Over time it would work it’s way to the front and ruin your finished piece. So you either have to run all the ends in or cut them off a little just to tidy it up.

And here is the final piece. All the threads have been run in on the back side!

I hope you enjoyed following along with my first two tapestry projects. I’m having a blast learning the art of tapestry! Now on to the next project… what will it be? Mirrix is having a ‘weave along’ so I think that might be just the thing to learn a few more techniques.

Thanks for reading this far! If you want to be updated when I add another post be sure to sign up. I’ll be back in a few weeks with my latest project(s). Who knows the next one might also have something from the floor loom! (See the very end for the warp that is on the loom)

My goal is to post as I have something to show. More than likely it will be every 6-8 weeks (or more). My weaving time is limited due to work and other commitments so there won’t be a lot of activity. I will only post when I have made progress on a project and have something that you might like to see or have something fun to share. Trust me, you won’t get a ton of email due to posts if you sign up.

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