Wall Tapestries from Europe

I was visiting our mill this weekend, and I got to see just how complicated looms are.  I witnessed the setup of a loom for a single tapestry size and design.  I only saw them finishing it up - they had been working on it for days.  Days!  No wonder custom tapestry work is so darned expensive.  Just setting up the weft for one color took hours.  I couldn’t believe it.  Seeing all the work go into the setup, before a single weave was woven…it gave me a whole new respect for weaving and all other fabric arts. 

I was so fascinated by the whole process, that I did some research when I got home.  The loom they were using is probably the most modern and it still took days to set up.  It got me to thinking about the more “archaic” loom styles that are still used today.  I mean, let’s consider the Jacquard loom.  This style of loom is still widely used today because it can make extremely intricate designs - perfect for wall tapestries.  But, these looms can take up to three weeks to rethread for a new design.  Weeks!  Most Jacquard looms are set up for one design, one size, one time only.  Those looms can be used over and over again to create the same design, but that’s about it. 

So, when you look at a tapestry, or are shopping for one you know one thing for sure…it took days to set up the loom to weave that tapestry.  Just imagine how long it took to set up the loom for these unicorn tapestries! 

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Posted by admin under Tapestry History |