Tapestry Weaving

Tapestry Weaving

The classical Tapestry was usually a structurally simple fabric in which the highly figured and elaborate design was produced by the placement of colored threads within well-defined areas of cloth.The warp was normally comparatively fine and of a neutral hue to prevent interface with multi colored wefts in which the design was developed.The ends were operated in the plain weave order and into each shed small portions of weft would  be placed,each short length conforming in color with the painted design positioned directly behind the warp threads.Each equivalent of a pick in a normal cloth would,therefore,consists of discontinuous length of wefts and the design would be built up,row by horizontal row,with the differently colored length of weft occupying increasing or decreasing spaces in conformity with the changes in the dimensions of the figures. 

The warp sheet in the hand tapestry loom was frequently placed vertically and in broad tapestries several weavers would be stationed side by side,each responsible for a vertical strip of design of a given width and each armed with a set of small shuttles containing the requisite colors of weft.The cloths produced in this manner usually consisted of single repeat,large picture panels used mainly as wall hangings,and similar techniques were employed in tapestry weaving in most of the ancient civilizations.

Although the making of tapestries in the manner described above is still practiced in various countries as a studio activity,the modern machine produced tapestry fabric has little structural affinity with the classical picture panel.The tapestry construction has been used for hangings,sofa rugs,upholstery work,table covers and carpets.At present fabrics of this type are mainly employed for upholstery purposes for which the hard -wearing quality of the structure particularly suited.The figuring elements may consists of cotton,wool or man made staple yarns:the ground warp,if present,is almost invariably a two fold cotton yarn,whilst the stitching elements are frequently fine, two fold cotton yarn or filament nylon.The stitching yarns are important element in the construction as they ensure cohesion and wear resistance of the fabric by preventing the formation of long floats whilst they may add to the structural variety which can be enhanced  by deliberately altering the appearance of similar color areas by the changes in the order of the stitching.Despite performing a vital role the stitching yarns must be unobtrusive and they must not interface with the color values of the main figure areas.For these reasons they are very fine and may be either black or be entirely transparent as is the case with the fine filament nylon yarns.

Simple Weft Face Tapestries

These represent the least complex of the tapestry structures and consists of a grond warp ,the lifts of which determine the disposition of the figuring wefts,the stiching warp,and a number of figuring wefts.The wefts,of which there are usually between two and four,interchange between the face and the back of the cloth thus producing a design in the number of colors equal to the number of different wefts.

In conclusion,in a 2 weft tapestry it takes two picks to complete a horizontal row of the design,in a 3 weft structure-three picks,and in a 4 weft-four picks.Thus if other conditions remain equal,a 2 weft tapestry is produced at twice the rate of a 4 weft fabric with an obvious advantage in respect of the cost of production.The stitching warp operates in a regular order stitching the weft floats both on the face and on the back so that no long floats are formed in any part of the fabric.Occasionally,the ground warp is also used for figuring on the surface thus adding another ornamental feature without increasing the cost of production.