Introduction to Tapestry Weaving

Welcome to the wonderful world of tapestry weaving! This course is your introduction. It was designed to give you the very basics of tapestry weaving and get you started creating in this exciting medium.

Tapestry weaving is a fun art form in which we use yarn to create images. It is based on a simple plain-weave structure. This combination of simple structure and multi-colored yarns allows creation of a huge range of images and effects. It is also a lot of fun to do!

In this course, Introduction to Tapestry Weaving, you’ll start by learning some of the core weaving concepts:

• how to warp a simple loom,

• how to make a header,

• shedding and bubbling.

Then you have three projects to practice your skills including:

• meet and separate,

• hatching,

• making and sewing slits,

• creating square and rectangular forms.

And finally a bonus project that introduces you to weaving diagonals. Then you’ll learn about ending your tapestry, taking it off the loom, and finishing your piece.

Pricing

This course is $39.

Kit for the course

If you’d like to purchase a kit with most of what you’ll need to take this course, Gist Yarn has one for you. It contains the Introduction to Tapestry Weaving course, 5 colors of Array tapestry yarn, cotton seine twine warp, and a Mirrix Saffron Pocket Loom. You can find that option on Gist’s website HERE. You can also get this bundle without the loom or without the course in case you have purchased it already.

Course Outline

(Expand each section for more lessons.)

Materials List

You’ll need a small tapestry loom, warp and weft yarn, a tapestry fork (or a real fork!), and perhaps a shed stick and/or yarn needle. There is more information about these tools in THIS blog post.

• Warp yarn. 12/6 or 12/9 cotton seine twine or 12s seine twine are wonderful warps.

• Weft yarn. Harrisville Highland, Gist Yarn’s Array, or weaversbazaar make great choices. THIS blog post walks you through how to choose.

• Small tapestry loom. Simple peg looms or pipe looms are great for beginners. I show you how to make a simple copper pipe loom in the course. Other loom options include but are not limited to: Mirrix Saffron Pocket Loom, Mirrix Chloe loom, Handywoman Shop looms, Schacht Easel Weaver or Lily Loom, Glimakra Freja, or Lost Pond Looms.

• A yarn needle (or two or three). I love the Susan Bates 5 inch Weaving Needle. Any needle with a larger eye that you can put your weft yarn on is fine.

• A shed stick. This is a flat stick with a pointy end that can be turned sideways in the shed. Schacht’s 9 inch weaving stick is a good option. A bamboo skewer can work or even a strong popsicle stick. THIS blog post has a list of shed sticks I like.

• A tapestry fork. You can actually use a heavy dinner fork for this, but in time you might want a tapestry fork/beater made for tapestry weaving. Magpie Woodworks and Threads Thru Time make some of my favorites.

Note: I do not have an affiliate agreement with any of these businesses. The materials and businesses I’ve linked here are just ones I like and use. I do get paid for the course if you sign up for this online course through the Gist Yarn kit bundle.

I’m interested in learning all the basics of tapestry weaving. Is this the course for me?

This course, Introduction to Tapestry Weaving, is an introduction to tapestry weaving. I wanted to create an easy entry into tapestry weaving for weavers who want to dip a toe in. Click to register now.

If you want to dive into the deep end and learn all the basics in a course format, you’re going to want to take Warp and Weft. You can find Warp and Weft: Learning the Structure of Tapestry right here.

The Gist Yarn kit has three different colorways in the bundle that includes this course. The further two colorways look like the images below. When ordering the kit from Gist, you can always add other colors to your order if you’d like other options! There are no wrong color choices.