Tag: West Dean College

Weaving course at West Dean College

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I returned to West Dean College nr Chichester, last week to teach a 2 day course ‘Weaving on a Body-tensioned Loom’. The 8 students wove on two prepared warps- the first all white wool to master the basic techniques and the second Black Welsh Mountain and White Ryeland wools to start their experimentations with pattern and colour. For their third warp, students chose yarns and colours then wound their own warps and threaded their looms. The diverse outcomes from these beginner weavers was amazing – some wove in just one yarn and colour, others incorporated material they had brought with them.

The relationship between the thickness of the weft and coverage of the warp.

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Work in progress at weekend Tapestry Beginners course at West Dean College
Work in progress at weekend Tapestry Beginners course at West Dean College

My application for a bursary to attend this course with Caron Penney was successful. We worked through a series of exercises which covered the core techniques of traditional tapestry weaving. Tapestry produces a weft faced cloth, where all the warp is covered, however it is experience (or trial and error) that the number of strands of wool used in each weft is chosen; if the weft is too thick it will not cover the warp, which is the opposite of what logic tells you!