My Tapestry Looms

 These looms, apparently, multiply the way spinning wheels do!

After seeing a friend's tapestries, I was enchanted. It was one of those epiphany moments when you know what your next creative step is will be.  One of the things the friend had was copper pipe looms. Having a touch of the steampunk in me, I wanted to own one!

I took Rebecca Mezoff's "Little Looms" class online. I recommend her classes. Learned the basics and a bit more, and figured out that I did not need to use classic tapestry wools but I could use my stash.None of my looms here have a shedding mechanism to make opening the shed faster, so it must be "picked". You CAN add heddles but I have not done that here.  I should note that there are many brands and styles of tapestry looms. You can also make your own from a sturdy picture frame!

Here is a weaving on a copper pipe loom:  she will be the orange goddess when I'm done. I purchased this loom (cheating!!)  because I could not wait to make my own... Copper pipe looms are tensionable, i.e., they can have a screw mechanism to loosen the weaving as you weave, because the weaving tightens up.  Here is Rebecca Mezoff's  blog post on making a pipe loom: https://rebeccamezoff.com/blog/2016/10/23/making-your-own-tapestry-loom-out-of-copper-pipe. You can either solder it or buy more expensive corners that will fit on your pipes.  If you take her "Little Looms" class you can learn how to solder one together (this one is soldered).

Here is a loom that I acquired for free from a Guild swap meet. I love it. The friend who I got it from thinks that SHE got it from a flea market.  I should give her a plug: here is Suzy's FB page for her fiber business:  https://www.facebook.com/SWHFiberWorks/. I found out later in a facebook group that this is an "Oola loom", not made anymore. It has a tension mechanism but I don't use it. The company that made it is now Cactus Flower Looms. They don't carry the same product anymore but have similar models here: https://cherry-creek-valley-farms.myshopify.com/collections/looms

I like this loom because I don't have to weave a header or a footer, I can just start at the bottom and weave all the way to the top.

Here is my homemade copper pipe loom. I cheated and rather than soldering I bought more expensive joints to fit my loom. Figuring out the size of threaded rod was tricky and required a trip to Home Depot in person. I did buy the little tool to cut copper rod, however!

If I were to buy another loom (this could happen) I may get a HelloHydrangea Loom with a shedding mechanism available  here:https://www.hellohydrangea.com/shop/looms.

 

Tapestry Weaving...Views of cardboard weaving and some inspiration from Kate

Done on a cardboard loom

Here is a "loom" purchased from amazon.  You could make this yourself but the precut slots are convenient. 

Warped

Half hitch header

Meet and separate

Basic Hatching

Some inspiration:

Here  are some weavings done by my friend Kate, she is on instagram as #kates_cottage_weaves. These show how Kates uses the vertical aspect of her weaving to create the appearance of a landscape. These were NOT done on a cardboard loom but could have been! Kate uses square or rectangular frame loom without a heddle, so she is picking out each shed. As Kate points out even horizontal sections of her weavings can be viewed as mini-landscapes.  Kate uses embroidery and fabric strips for warp. She also uses visible warp as a design element. 

Here is a small purse that Kate created from a weaving

One thing that I like about tapestry is that I am constantly making creative decisions. I'm not following a pattern...this is part of my definition of art. 

Here's an in-process weaving on a cardboard loom. This one is going around the loom to make a small purse. 

Here's one done on a purchased copper pipe loom. I later made my own (without soldering, but using expensive attachable joints.  I love the "mountains beyond mountains" look. I have the landscape bug too.

 This was done on a frame loom given to me by a friend.  I chose to sew tabs on it and back it with fabric. This is called "Virgo Rising"