Experimental Tapestry Weaving at West Dean

I was a little nervous about starting the weaving part of the module, so was very pleased to get a place on the Experimental Tapestry Weaving course at West Dean College.  We were shown how to warp up the frame and how to get the right tension.  I marked off 10 cm on the frame and warped up 3 threads per cm to end up with 30 threads, finishing with a double half hitch.  I then tied a warp thread on the left side of the frame to hold both sets of thread together and fastened it onto the right side of the frame.  I wove another two weft threads and finally added one length of twining, used a double piece of yarn and securing at either side of the frame.

I spent a couple of days being shown various techniques and then trying them out.  I tried Soumak, reverse Soumak, Wrapping (round cord).  I also tried supplementary warps – weaving a flap which can then be woven back into the tapestry.  We were shown how to cut a shaped piece using a card template.  Lastly we were shown Tufting, wrapping the weft threads round a ruler after every warp thread, knotting and then cutting and removing the ruler.

Here is the finished sample from the weekend.  I enjoyed trying out the techniques but wish I had thought more about the colours used!