Tapestry Techniques

Description

Fri 5 & Sat 6 Feb
10am – 4pm

Join textile artist Jo McDonald for a two-day exploration of woven tapestry techniques, working in the traditional Gobelin style. Suitable for complete beginners as well as those with some weaving experience who would like to refresh their skills and add new techniques to their repertoire, this hands-on course will introduce you to the fundamentals of tapestry weaving while giving you plenty of opportunity to experiment and develop your own approach. Working on a small frame loom, you’ll learn how to set up and warp your loom and build up a woven surface using a range of traditional techniques. Over the course of the weekend, you’ll explore different approaches to flat weaving, learning how to create simple geometric shapes, angles, curves and stripes, as well as ways of changing colour and working different areas of your design.

You’ll also experiment with a variety of yarns and materials, considering how differences in colour, texture, thickness and fibre can affect the character and surface of your weaving. The emphasis throughout will be on developing an understanding of the techniques through making, with time to practise, experiment and see how different methods can be combined. A wide variety of materials will be available to experiment with, including cottons, wools, linens, and some unusual yarns for creative weft blending. If you have your own materials you’d like to include—perhaps an old jumper to upcycle or leftover yarn from previous projects—feel free to bring them along. Sustainability is actively encouraged and you are welcome to bring along and upcycled or reclaimed materials to incorporate into your explorations.

By the end of the weekend, you’ll have created a woven sample that brings together a range of the techniques covered during the course, along with the knowledge and confidence to continue exploring tapestry weaving independently.

Over the two days, you’ll learn how to:

• Measure out and warp up a simple frame loom
• Choose appropriate thicknesses of materials to weave with
• Explore plain weave
• How to control the weft tension across the woven surface to keep straight sides
• Create simple shapes, such as rectangles, squares and curves, as well as angles and stripes
• Work with multiple weft bundles
• Deal with slits and interlocking wefts where shapes come together
• Explore colour blending
• Finish off and present your work

This course is suitable for complete beginners as well as improvers with some experience looking to deepen their knowledge. Jo will work with you to build on the techniques you already know or are interested in learning or improving on. Jo creates a warm, welcoming atmosphere where everyone can work at their own pace and enjoy the process of learning and making.

Your Tutor

Jo McDonald is a Scottish Visual Artist, who lives and teaches in Edinburgh. She has been teaching weaving workshops for many years throughout the UK. She offers regular tapestry weaving courses in central Edinburgh for all levels of ability, from beginners to the more advanced, as well as one-to-one sessions.

Jo graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with a first class BA (Hons) and MFA in Tapestry. She was short-listed for The Cordis Trust Prize for Tapestry (2015 and 2021), received two Hope Scott Trust Awards (2019 and 2013), granted a Creative Scotland Professional Development Award (2013), and won the Milly and Benno Schotz Award for best work by a young sculptor at the Royal Glasgow Institute in 2012. She has work held in Apex International Hotels in London, Amateras Foundation in Bulgaria, University of Aberdeen in Scotland and The Gallery of Szombathelyi in Hungary, as well as in private collections in UK, France, USA and South Africa.

• All tools and materials are included in the beginners tapestry weaving workshop cost, but you are welcome to bring along your own fibres to weave with if you wish
• Tea and coffee are provided but participants should bring their own lunch and utensils
• All of our classes are suitable for over 16s, younger crafters may be accommodated if accompanied by a participating adult but please contact us before booking
• If the workshop you were looking at is fully booked drop us an email and we’ll add you to the waiting list.
• You can pay for this course in two instalments, a non-refundable 50% deposit will be taken at the time of booking and you will be invoiced for the remaining balance three weeks in advance of your workshop.
• If you need to cancel or reschedule your workshop we need at least three weeks notice. Please read our cancellation policy before booking