Post to another blog: Tapestry Share

I started another blog last year along with several others who have been students of mine at one time or another as fellow contributors.  For the first few months we shared the blog privately but then decided to open it for others to view.  I haven't publicized it through this blog, although I've had it linked at the side bar of "Places to Visit" for quite awhile.

The blog is called Tapestry Share and is intended as just that... a place where we can put thoughts, links, ideas, helpful hints and more.  I've just posted some new photos at the blog that I've recently taken for my class handout, asking for any readers to give me feedback, if they wanted to.

I use small copper pipe frame looms when I teach workshops, as I'll be doing in the upcoming John Campbell Folk School class.  These looms are adaptations of Archie Brennan's frame loom design that he's graciously posted to his website.   The ones I take to classes for students to use while they are there are made of 1/2" copper pipe and are smaller in overall dimension than those in the diagram Archie has shown.  For the amount of weaving done in a week's time and the weight of the 14 looms I take with me, these have worked just fine. For individuals who want to build one for their own use, I'd certainly recommend following Archie's design to the letter.

Warping for tapestry weaving sometimes is daunting for folks as they begin, especially if they have no other weaving experiences.  Although having previous weaving experience certainly is NOT necessary for beginning with tapestry, sometimes it seems to be helpful.  Kathe Todd-Hooker has taken on the task of reviewing many existing tapestry looms and methods for warping those and has written a new book about that.  Her book, So Warped, will be available in May and she describes it in more detail at this link on her Fine Fiber Press website.