New Year, New Project

This month everyone came prepared to launch a new tapestry project. Sandy has been doing tapestries for some years and has studied with some of the best instructors. She was prepared to get us all started. This included building our own copper looms from parts she had assembled into a kit for each of us–which even included a handmade carrying pouch that could accommodate the loom and necessary tools.

When the loom is assembled it can stand upright and has adjustments on the side bars to tighten or loosen the warp.We spent the first hour assembling our looms.Next came the warping instructions. Sandy had pre-cut enough 12/8 warp strands to make a three inch warp width. We half-hitched each doubled strand to the top beam of the loom and tied the strands together with a square knot around the bottom beam (as opposed to using a single strand that wrapped back and forth around both beams) .And finally it was time to weave. We established a base and wove a few rows. Next month we will start exploring shapes.