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  1. ada

    hello, I’m trying to mimic your 2/1 tapestry twill. I have looked at you ‘in progress’ pictures and your magazine article basically on color but describes your tapestry method evolution. but, alas, i haven’t found a draft so, I still am confused. for a 2/2 twill tapestry the following is the pattern:

    Shafts 1,2,3 – Background
    Shaft 3 – Inlay
    Shafts 1,2,4 – Background
    Shaft 2 – Inlay
    Shafts 1,3,4 – Background
    Shaft 1 – Inlay
    Shafts 2,3,4 – Background

    what would be the 2/1 pattern, using the above method style of description, to make your tapestries?
    thank you soooo much for sharing!

    Reply
    1. Laura Foster Nicholson Post author

      I discovered this simple twill when researching Kashmir shawls. They were woven very finely, but we’re not tapestry. The weave goes like this:

      I thread a straight 3 harness twill. You can thread on 6 harnesses if you prefer to be able to use other twill structures or tabby. I weave it as a discontinuous brocade, inlaid by hand. Brocade layer is woven with a single harness lifted, then ground is thrown with that harness plus the next one in sequence.

      Tie up on 6 pedals: 1, 2, 3; then 1-2, 2-3, 3-1.

      Brocade: 1. Ground, 1-2.
      Brocade: 2, ground 2-3
      Brocade. 3, ground 3-1.

      This way the brocade weft lies on top of the ground weft. Brocaded areas are weft faced, ground is warp faced.

      Doing brocading on more harnesses is great for texture, but it gets more complicated to pick up the edge thread for each brocaded insert. My dear friend Barbara Eckhart passed the brocade weft to the back, and brought it up to the next row from behind, which made this process simpler.

      I hope this is clear! Thank you for asking.

      Laura

      Reply

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