Before you start weaving the tapestry body, several preparations are necessary to provide structural stability to the tapestry and improve the final appearance.
In this article, I will present my usual preparation procedures as follows:
- Warping your loom
- Attaching heddles to the warp as needed
- Attaching an ordering code or making space from the bottom ends of the warp
- Weaving waste yarn
- Weaving a header
Here are the details of each procedure.
1. Warping your loom
The first step is to warp your loom.
Both sides could be double floating selvedges when threading the warp so that the finished weavings look sturdy.
For example, if you are stringing 39 warp threads, double stringing both sides would result in an additional 2 warp threads, for a total of 41 warp threads.
2. Attaching heddles to the warp as needed
The heddles are useful because they increase the speed of the weaving process.
If there is a device to attach heddles, they will need to be attached to each warp thread. If you do not have the device, you can still attach the heddles as shown in the photos.
Photos 1-6 show a type of loom without a heddle attachment device, and only the even-numbered warps have heddles attached. A flat wooden stick is inserted in odd-numbered warps.
Photos 7 through 9 show a type of loom with a device for attaching heddles.
3. Attaching an ordering code or making space from the bottom ends of the warp
An ordering code serves as a foundation for weaving and at the same time helps to make fringes of the finished piece by leaving extra warp ends.
Photo 1 shows a postcard inserted instead of an ordering code.
Photos 2 and 3 show an ordering code is attached.
4. Weaving waste yarn
Weaving waste yarn helps to even out the spacing of the warp threads. I usually weave 6-8 picks of weft as the waste yarn. It can be untied at the end and saved to be used over and over again.
Photo 1: After weaving two picks, ensure that the width of the warp is the same from top to bottom.
Photo 2: Using a needle or thin stick, adjust the warp threads so that they are evenly spaced.
Photo 3 shows evenly spaced warp threads. After that, weave additional 4-6 picks, as shown in Photo 4, then make a pigtail and secure the waste yarn as shown in photo 5 and 6.
5. Weaving a header
Headers will be woven into the bottom and top ends of your tapestry to provide structural stability to the tapestry.
I usually weave a line of twining and 6-pick plain weaving using the same yarn as the warp.
There is also a way not to weave headers, so it is your choice, but I think the finished pieces look nicer together if there are headers using the same thread as the fringes.
Cut enough warp yarn for 9-pick weaving for both 6-pick weaving and twining weaving.
Photos 1-6 show weaving with the twining technique.
Photos 7 to 10 show the first tailing. After that, as shown in photos 11 and 12, continue with 6-pick plain weaving, followed by another tailing as shown in photos 13 and 14, and in photo 15, the bottom header is completed.
Remember to weave the top header in the reverse order of the above after weaving the body.
FYI: See the following article for more information on tailing processes:
Ready to weave
Now you are ready to weave the body!
Thank you for reading to the end!
