How to Weave a Tapestry

First the design. It may be abstract or representational.
Consider the orientation carefully: straight lines
align easily with warp, but weaken the fabric
unless interlaced. Curves lie smooth
across the warp.

Draw it small.
Scale up. Use graph paper
or go to a copy shop and set the machine
to 150 or 175%, whatever works. Mark the colors
and note at each border: turning far, turning near, alternating.

Set up your loom
warp in each notch
tighten as you go
don’t cross the strings
keep even tension
lay in the weaving bar
use it to lift one shed
insert the spine rod

Start with a footer in a yarn of some ugly color.

Weave at least one inch you will throw away
or turn under and use as a hem, out of sight.

Pull out the spine rod so the sheds lie flat
slide your scaled-up cartoon under the warp
and copy the lines onto the warp threads.

Use colored felt-tip pens. A different color
for each design element, to keep them clear
and mark each warp thread at the point
where it crosses a line in your cartoon.

Lay your first weft atop the footer. Comb it down.
Reverse the shed. Bring the weft back. Comb down.
Reverse. Every few rows, beat instead of combing.
Pay attention to your turns—don’t let them bulge
or pull the sides in. Check your color lines.

You weave from the bottom up. You build
the image weft by weft. You build it from
the bottom up. You weave it row by row.
You weave what your imagination willed.
You will the image and the weaving comes.
Your hands are deft. The image grows.

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