4.05.2013

TAPESTRY TUTORIAL

Tapestry weavings are everywhere right now. I see it as an easy project for yarn lovers that may not know how to knit or crochet but want to make something beautiful. There are a lot of tutorials out there, but you know how I love a good use of cardboard, so here's how I made my textile...

I used a piece of cardboard, 9" x 18"
Cut tiny slits, a half inch apart, across the top and bottom.
Then wrapped the cardboard, front to back, with string.
I used yarn I had, twine, and bright colored rope.
Then started at the bottom and weaved long pieces,
over, under, over, under, over, under, TURN. and repeat!
And as you can see, tied on new yarn/twine/rope as each piece finished.
I made the row of shag with tiny pieces of cut yarn.
Keep going until you reach the top!
What you're looking at while you're working is the back, with all the tied on pieces.
  • MAKE NOTE // There are no rules, no yarn measuring needed.
  • As you turn, don't pull the edges too tight. You want the outside edges to stay as straight as possible to be able to hang well.
  • And smoosh down the rows as you go, to keep all the colors close together so there are no holes.
When finished, cut through the strings in the back of the cardboard.
Tie together every two pieces of string, at the top and bottom, to keep everything from unraveling. Then trim the excess string. If I had a dowel rod, I would have tied that to the top to hang it nicely from. But since I did not, I used a hanger. :)

Done, done!

The back. Just trim and tuck all those ends, maybe a little neater than I did. :)

This is up there with pom poms as being one of the least technical things I've made with yarn. Which I love and appreciate as a break from the very technical counting of crochet. I finished this in a day, and it felt super satisfying to hang up the finished product. I was originally inspired to try weaving by my sweet friend, Rachel. See her weave work HERE. And there's a pretty black and white one I'm in love with that can be seen HERE.
.......
Let me know if you try it! Would love to see and be inspired. xo!

 // see my other cardboard-turned-tool, tutorial HERE