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BASIC TAPESTRY WEAVING TECHNIQUE

STARTING TO WEAVE A TAPESTRY

This drawing shows you how I explain tapestry weaving on a graph paper.
I imagine all vertical rows to be warps and all horizontal rows to be 2 wefts (2 picks). That means that one black square represents the crossing of 2 weft yarns (2 picks) over one warp.
Before I start weaving I lay a cardboard strip in to each shed to give my weaving a base.
I ensure that the strips are pushed down as far as possible (they will not move further down when I start beating the weft down) and that both strips are at perfect right angles to the warp ( at 45% .)
First I weave a strip of plain tapestry weaving, usually 1.5 cm (1/2") high. at 12 epi,- if you use a lower epi it would be better to weave about 2.5 cm (1" ) high. (epi = warp ends per inch). I weave this plain strips at the start and end of each tapestry - even if I end with a knotted fringe. It establishes the weft tension and helps to make the finishing of the tapestry more easy and neat.
It is never a good idea to weave tapestry over the entire width as the weft would pull the warps too tightly together. I divide my strip into sections about 10 cm ( 4" ) wide. I start on the inside of the first section, so that the end of my weft yarn will not hang out at the selvedge. After every row (2 picks) -one weft towards the egde of the tapestry and one weft back to where I started) I miss one warp. When I start the next section, I overlap the second section one warp over the first section in every row. Repeat to the other edge of the tapestry. I tuck the weft ends to the back of the tapestry, leaving ends 5 cm (2")long.

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