Weaving for Fun: Mini Tapestry for Beginners | Amy Plante | Skillshare
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Weaving for Fun: Mini Tapestry for Beginners

teacher avatar Amy Plante, Multi-Passionate Creative

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Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Welcome!

      1:35

    • 2.

      Class Project: Mini Tapestry

      1:17

    • 3.

      Tools + Materials

      3:44

    • 4.

      DIY: Make a Cardboard Loom

      1:22

    • 5.

      Planning Your Design

      2:56

    • 6.

      Setting Up Your Loom

      2:46

    • 7.

      Weaving a Header

      5:57

    • 8.

      Stitch 1: Rya

      1:35

    • 9.

      Stitch 2: Tabby

      4:34

    • 10.

      Stitch 3: Soumak

      2:43

    • 11.

      Joining Edges

      1:45

    • 12.

      Finishing

      11:41

    • 13.

      Problem Solving

      2:30

    • 14.

      Where to Go From Here

      1:10

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About This Class

Learn the simple craft of weaving and add a fun and relaxing hobby to your life! This beginner-focused class will gently guide you through the basics of loom weaving and give you all the tools you need to create a wide range of woven designs.

Working from a small loom that you can buy or make out of cardboard, you’ll weave a mini tapestry and in the process learn essential skills like:

  • Planning your design
  • How to choose yarn
  • How to make a loom out of cardboard
  • Setting up your loom
  • How to weave three important kinds of stitches (rya, tabby, and soumak)
  • How to finish your piece for display

As a multi-passionate creative, I dabble in a lot of different arts and crafts, but weaving is the one I go to when I’m looking for something quiet and meditative. I find the simple repetition of over under over under incredibly relaxing, and I think you will too.

Because this project is small and simple, you can finish it in an afternoon, or work on it a little at a time when you find moments to yourself. Working in the small scale of a mini tapestry is particularly nice because the loom is small enough to sit on your lap as you weave. So find yourself a cozy spot and come weave with me!

Meet Your Teacher

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Amy Plante

Multi-Passionate Creative

Top Teacher

Hello, I'm Amy. I'm a multi-passionate creative, which is just a fancy way of saying I've never met an art technique or craft I didn't like! A few of my favorite skills are painting, illustration, sewing, and fabric dyeing.

I've always loved picking up new skills and teaching others what I've learned. My approach is always to keep it simple and let my students impress themselves with what they can do.

Follow me on Instagram to see what I'm up to with my own work and be sure to tag me when you share your projects!

See full profile

Level: Beginner

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Transcripts

1. Welcome!: Weaving is one of those crafts where even as a beginner, you can make something exciting and inspiring. Hi. My name is Amy Flint and I'll be sharing my love of weaving with you in this beginner course. I've been a fiber artists for over 15 years, mostly in the fields of garment sewing and fabric dyeing, but I didn't try loom weaving until recently in 2020. Working on a big loom that my dad helped me convert from a wooden drawing table, I became hooked on creating tapestries row by row, stitch by stitch. While working at this skill is exciting, it was a bit daunting for me as a beginner. So I've designed this class to allow you to easily jump into weaving without feeling overwhelmed. Working from a small loom that you can buy or make out of cardboard, you'll leave a mini tapestry and in the process learn essential skills like planning your design, how to choose yarn, setting up your loom, how do we have three important kinds of stitches, and how to finish your piece for display. As a multi-passionate creative, I double in a lot of different arts and crafts. But weaving is the one I go to when I'm looking for something quiet and meditative. I find a simple repetition of over, under, over under incredibly relaxing and I think you will too. Because this project is small and simple, you can finish it in an afternoon or work on it a little at a time when you find moments to yourself. Working in the small scale of a mini tapestry is particularly nice because the loom is small enough to sit on your lap as you weave. So find yourself a cozy spot and come weave with me. 2. Class Project: Mini Tapestry: Class project. In this course, I'll show you how to make a mini tapestry from start to finish. You'll learn beginner weaving skills, as well as three types of stitches, Riaa, Tabby, and Sue mac. I've created a digital download to accompany this course that has a list of recommended materials as well as links for where to buy them online. This graph doesn't require a lot of expensive tools and materials. In fact, you may already have everything you need to get started right in your home. In the digital guide, you'll also find templates that you can draw or design on top of to plan your tapestry, including some that I've designed for you where you can simply choose your own colors and materials to use. Throughout the class, there will be opportunities for you to study the stitch I'm making. I encourage you to pause the video at these moments so you can take your time to replicate what I'm doing. Take as much time as you need and remember that you can always pull out your stitches and start again if you need to. As you work through the class, keep me posted on what you're doing, from the early design stages to your finished tapestry, by posting photos to the project gallery. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out in the discussion section and I'll help in any way I can. Without further ado, let's get started by learning about the tools and materials of weaving. 3. Tools + Materials: Tools and materials. Weaving doesn't require a lot of special equipment. In fact, you might have everything you need already. The most important tool you need is a loom. Looms come in a wide variety of sizes and styles, but the basic function is the same. They consist of a frame with either notches are pegs at the top and bottom to allow you to attach your warp strings to. Looms can easily be DIY-ied. My dad helped me convert his drawing table into an easel style loom that can sit on a tabletop. I added evenly spaced snails to the top and bottom to turn it into a loom. This smaller lap style loom was purchased and has notches at the top and bottom that can be adjusted to change the tension of your warp strings. A loom in the region of 12-15 inches in length is ideal for our mini tapestry projects. If you don't want to purchase a loom, you could make your own using a wood frame and nails, or even a piece of sturdy cardboard with notches cut into the top and bottom. Just make sure your notches or nails are the same width apart, about a quarter of an inch to three-eighths inch apart, and are well aligned from the top to the bottom. In the next lesson, I'll show you an easy way to make a loom out of cardboard. Another essential tool you'll need is a tapestry needle. This is a larger blunter needle that you'll need to weave in loose ends and will make the overall process a lot easier. I have a variety of tapestry needles that I switch out depending on my mood. I prefer longer ones for weaving and shorter ones for tucking in loose ends. The final tool you'll need is a beater. We'll use this to beat down our rows as we work. If you're thinking that a beater looks like a comb, you're absolutely right. That's all it is essentially, and you can absolutely use a wide tooth comb or even a fork as your beater. When I'm leaving something small, like a mini tapestry, I'll also just use my fingers to push my yarn down. But it's worth having a beater on hand for beating whole rows down at once. There are several other tools in the weaver's toolkit, but for this mini weaving project, these three are the only specialty tools you'll need. Let's move on to our materials. There's really no limit to what kinds of yarn you can use for weaving, but there are a few things to bear in mind. For your warp yarn, which is the yarn that goes up and down in the tapestry, you'll want something that doesn't stretch and is quite sturdy. I recommend cotton yarn for this purpose. It's up to you how light or heavy your yarn is. But just keep in mind that a heavier warp yarn will give you a tighter weave, while a lighter yarn will give you a looser weave that is harder to control the tension of. You'll probably experiment a lot before you find your ideal warp weight. Also keep in mind that your warp yarn will probably show in your final weaving, so consider that when choosing a color. For your weft yarns or the yarns that you'll leave onto the warp, have fun and choose a variety of textures and materials. This project is a great opportunity to use up any small amounts of yarn you have leftover from a knitting or craft project. Cotton, wool, and acrylic yarns are all easy to handle when weaving and come in a variety of textures and weights. Anything too big or bulky will swallow up this small design though, so save that for your next larger tapestry. I'll go into more detail about planning your design in an upcoming lesson. Let's recap the tools and materials you'll need for this project. You'll need a small loom, either one you've made or you've purchased, anything in the region of 12-15 inches in length will work great. You'll also need a tapestry needle for weaving your yarn. The last specialty tool you'll need is a beater, which can also be a wide tooth comb or fork if that's what you have on hand. For yarn, I recommend a sturdy cotton one for your warp string, as well as a variety of others in different materials for your weft strings. Next, I'll show you an easy DIY for making a loom out of cardboard. 4. DIY: Make a Cardboard Loom: DIY, make a cardboard loom. If you don't want to purchase a loom here's an easy way to make one out of a recycled cardboard. Start with a piece of rectangular cardboard that's around nine by 15 inches. If you can find a piece where the grain of the corrugation runs up and down the length, your loom will be even sturdier, and should last you longer. Using a ruler, mark your notches at the top and bottom of your loom, starting about an inch in from the sides. Your notches should be equidistant and aligned from the top to the bottom. I'm making my notches a quarter-inch apart, but you could also make them three-eighths inch apart if you're planning on using chunkier yarn. Next, draw a line a half inch away from the top and bottom edges. This is your guide so you don't cut the notches to deep. Finally, using scissors or a utility knife cut your notches making sure to not pass the half-inch guide. When you attach your warp to a cardboard loom, make sure you're wrapping it around the notches, and keeping the yarn in the front. If you need to, you can insert strips of cardboard at either end of the loom to keep the yarn away from the back so it's easier to weave. I'll go over exactly how to add warp yarn to your loom in an upcoming lesson. Next, I'll give you some tips for planning your design. 5. Planning Your Design: Planning your design. For this project, you may want to plan ahead or just go with the flow and improvise as you work. Both approaches to weaving are valid so choose the one that best matches your creative style. As a beginner myself, I found it much easier to create a rough plan for my design so as not to become overwhelmed by possibility. I recommend at least sketching a basic idea of what you want to do so you have something to refer back to if you get lost. Abstract, simple geometric designs work better for the small dimensions of this weaving. In the PDF guide that accompanies this class, you'll find blank weaving templates that you can design over to help you visualize the final look of your piece. In weaving, we typically design in a grid pattern, but the grid will change depending on the weight of yarn you're using so you may find relying on a grid becomes a bit complicated. I recommend just focusing on the shapes you want to make and then tracing your design right onto your warp strings so you can use it as a template. A good tip is to draw in a color that will match or blend in with your weft yarn. You can also just attach your template behind your warp and work over it. This is especially easy to do if you're working with a cardboard loom. Keep in mind that if you're working with a variety of yarn sizes, you may have to modify your design as you go, as your template may become warped. Try to be open to adapting your pattern as you discover things along the way. When choosing colors for your design, it can be overwhelming trying to narrow down a selection. For this project, two to four colors is plenty, but feel free to work with as many colors as you want. I usually get overwhelmed if I have too many colors to choose from, and find it helpful to restrict myself to three so I can focus on other aspects of the design. If you're feeling stuck, here are a few ideas you can use to build a palette from. Choose two or three shades of the same color plus one complimentary color as a bright accent. Create a serene look by using the same color in a lightened dark shade. Pick two different colors that you like together and compliment them with a neutral color like cream or black. Don't overthink it. Choose colors you're attracted to and have fun experimenting. You'll also want to think about the weight and textures of the yarns you've chosen and how they'll fit into your design. Chunky yarn will have more dimension and will use less rows to fill a space. Thinner yarn will produce a flatter look and requires more rows to fill a space. I recommend being flexible with your designs so you can adapt as you discover the different effects you can achieve with your yarn. Before we set up our loom, let's go over our design tips. Keep your design simple, abstract and geometric designs work best in small weaving. If you'd like, draw directly on your warp strings to help guide your stitches as you weave. If you're overwhelmed by color choice, stick to multiple shades of the same color or add a contrasting hue to highlight certain elements of your design. Consider the weight and texture of the yarns you choose and how they'll fit into your design. Next, we'll start our weaving by preparing our loom. 6. Setting Up Your Loom: Setting up your loom. Before you begin weaving, you'll need to set up the warp on your loom. In a woven fabric there are warp and weft strings. The warp runs parallel to the finished edge or salvage and will be the vertical strings on your loom. The weft runs perpendicular to the salvage and will be the horizontal strings you weave with. As I mentioned in a previous lesson, your warp string should be cotton. This is so it doesn't stretch too much on the loom and provides a stable foundation for our weaving. If your warp strings are stretched out when you take the weaving off the loom, it we'll scrunch up and become misshapen. It's important that you maintain even tension on your warp strings. To begin, take the end of your yarn or string and tight it around a notch. We're going to use one continuous piece to form all the warp strings. Since my weaving is only going to be 10 notches wide, I'm going to start closer to the middle of the loom. Keeping the string taut but not pull too tight, guide it down to the corresponding notch at the base of your loom so the string runs straight up and down. Bring it around the next notch and backup to the top of the loom, maintaining even tension as best you can. The width of your weaving will be affected by your weaving tension and the weight of your yarn. But overall, the distance between your first warp string and your last warp string will be the width of your final weaving. The templates I've provided for you, are size for 10 warp strings that are about three-eighths inch apart. For quarter-inch notches, you'll need 12 warp strings. However, if your loom differs from mine, you can string as many warps as you need to to fit the width of the template. An even number of warp strings is easier to design around. I definitely recommend sticking to that. When you get to your last string, cut the end free and do another check to make sure your warp has even tension pulling individual strings as necessary. Then tie off your end as you did in the beginning. Now do one final check on your warp tension, trying to distribute it as evenly as possible. This can take practice, so just be patient with yourself. You now have the foundation for your project and we're ready to start weaving. But first, let's quickly recap the tips for setting up your loom. The first step is to add your warp strings which run vertically through your design and are parallel to each other. Cotton yarn works best for this as it won't stretch. Tie off the beginning and end of the warp string while maintaining even tension as you wrap. Use one continuous piece of yarn to make 10-12 warp strings. With a warp ready to go it's time to start a design by adding a header. 7. Weaving a Header: Adding a header. The first and last element to your tapestry will be a header. This is something we add for stability and as a way to keep our warp strings evenly spaced out. If your loom has notches, this may be less of an issue for you. However, I find that when working on a loom with nails, the header is essential for establishing evenly-spaced strings early on. Now that you've attached your warp, decide how much room you need for your design. You don't need to factor in the length of any friends you may have. I'll be working from one of the templates I designed for you so my weaving will only take up a few inches of the warp and I can work somewhere in the middle. We'll be weaving the base of our design first and working our way up. If you start at the top of the loom, you'll be fighting gravity. A neat trick to make weaving easier is to set a piece of card stock at the base of your loom. Weave the card in and out, alternating warp strings, and align it with the bottom of the frame. The top of your card should sit where you want the base of your weaving to start. This will allow you to work in the middle of the warp strings and will prevent your work from sagging when you beat down your rows. To add a header, you'll need a length of yarn that is eight times the width of your weaving plus several extra inches for the tail. Don't use a chunkier yarn for this. From the middle of your length of yarn twist each end once around your first warp string with the tail that's closest to you on top. Feel free to pause the video here to make sure you have it right. Proceed to twist the yarn in this way around each of the warp strings, making sure they are evenly spaced and vertical rather than cinched towards each other. When you get to the last warp string, make one more twist then bring the lower yarn tail behind the last warp string and in front of the second-to-last warp string. Bring the other tail over the last warp string and behind the second-to-last warp string. Continue to make twists as you did before along the row. At the end of this row, you'll switch directions in the same way you did before. Again, pause the video if you need to at this point. I'd like to do four rows for my header. After your fourth row, tie your ends into a knot around the warp string, doing your best to cheat and knot towards the back of the weaving. Now we have a stable foundation for our weaving and we're ready for the fun part. But first, let's recap some tips for adding a header. Headers are added at the beginning and end of a weaving to add stability and keep the warp strings even. Use a yarn that isn't too thick or thin and it's easy to work with. Evenly spaced out the warp strings as you twist the header yarn around each one and four rows. Tie off your header yarn with a knot in the back. Next, I'm going to show you three different weavings stitches that are easy for beginners and yet can be used to create lots of texture and variety in your piece. First up is the rya stitch. 8. Stitch 1: Rya: Stitch 1, rya. The first weaving stitch I'm going to show you is the rya knot. This is one of my favorites and it's usually the first stitch I add to my tapestries to create fringe at the bottom. To make one rya knot, you'll need a length of yarn that is twice the length you want your fringe to be. You'll also want to add a little extra to the length so you have something to trim when you even your edges later. Chunky yarn works well for this, but if you're working with thinner yarn, you can use multiple pieces for one knot to bulk it out. The rya knot goes around two warp strings. This is one of the reasons I prefer to work with an even number for warp strings in my design. To make the knot, take one end of your yarn and bring it behind the right warp string pulling until you have centered the middle of the yarn around the string. Now take the other end of the yarn and bring it around and under the left warp string, pulling through to match the ends together and gently tighten the knot. Make sure not to pull the knot too tight and keep the warp vertical and knot synced together. Continue adding rya knots to the rest of the row. To secure our first row of rya knots, we'll add a row of tabby stitches, which I'll go over in the next lesson. 9. Stitch 2: Tabby: Stitch 2, tabby. The tabby stitch is probably the stitch we'll use most often as a weaver and it's usually the stitch that comes to mind when we think about weaving at a basic level. It's a versatile and multipurpose stitch that's also great to use if you need to stabilize your design and make your warp strings more evenly spaced. The amount of yarn you'll need will depend on how much of a particular color you are using in this section. But it's not a big deal if you cut your yarn too short and need to add more. I tried to strike a balance between how much I need and how much is reasonable for me to pull through the warp strings. You can pull your yarn through with your fingers, but you'll find weaving the tabby stitch easier if you use a tapestry needle. I like to start working left to right with my first stitch over the first warp string but you could do under if you prefer. Alternate over and under each warp until you reach the end, pulling the yarn through while leaving a tail at your starting point. It's absolutely fine to weave a row in sections, pulling the needle through as you go. Beat down your row with your beader or comb. For the next row, you'll work your way back from right to left, this time alternating your stitches from the first row. If your last row ended on an understitch, your next row will start on an overstitch and so on. Your first row of tabby will likely bead down with an even tension. But as you add rows, you'll need to be careful about not pulling the yarn through too tightly and syncing your warp. An easy way you avoid this is to create a bubble with your yarn before pulling it through. Hold the yarn at the end of the row to keep it in place. Use your fingers to push the bubble down, making smaller bubbles if necessary, and then bead the yarn down. For my design, I'm going to complete two rows of tabby and then one more row of rya knots. When you're creating fringe with rya knots, it's nice to have multiple rows to create a full effect. Just make sure you're adding a row or two of tabby stitches in-between each row of rya for stability. After my second row of fringe, I want to use the tabby stitch to fill in a mountain shape. When working the tabby stitch, you can stop and switch direction in the middle of a row as often as you'd like to create different shapes. Just be sure you maintain an even tension and don't pull your yarn through too tightly. Speaking personally, the more I change direction in the middle of a row, the more my tension seems to get tighter and tighter, so I try to be extra conscious of it as I work. Before we move on to the next stitch, I want to talk about yarn ends. When you start a new color or end a length of yarn, you should always leave a tail. These tails will be woven in on the back of your weaving and hidden from sight. To weave in a tail, thread your needle and pull the tail through several stitches in the back of your piece, ideally in the matching yarn color. You can check from the front of your weaving before pulling the yarn all the way through to make sure it won't show. If your needle is mostly or totally hidden in the front, then your tail will be invisible. Clip the end of the tail to finish. Ideally, you'll weave in your tails vertically through your stitches so that they're invisible from both the front and the back. But depending on your design, this may not be possible. So just focus on keeping the tails invisible from the front. Since this piece will likely be hang on a wall, it's not a big deal if the back of it is a little messy. I tend to wait until the end of my project to weave in all my tails but that's overwhelming for some people. So weaving in your tails as you go is another option. Now, let's learn another one of my favorite stitches, the soumak. 10. Stitch 3: Soumak: Stitch 3, soumak. The soumak is another great stitch to have in your arsenal. It creates a twist or braided effect in your design and looks great with chunkier yarns. It's also ideal for outlining irregular blocks of color because it's easy to sneak the soumak into the shape you want. Start two or three stitches in and wrap your yarn around the warp string. Repeat this again for the next stitch. As with the Rya stitch, be careful not to cinch the warp strings when you pull the yarn through. As you add your stitches, adjust the row to wherever you want it to sit along the warp. It's easier if your row can fall against any rows or shapes below it. You can wrap your stitches three or even four or more warp strands apart. But for a small weaving such as this, two is just right. At the end of the row, you can stabilize your soumak with more tabby stitches or add another row of Soumak to create a braided effect. Working in the opposite direction from your previous row, wrap your stitches from left to right rather than right to left as you did before. This makes the diagonal stitches sit at an opposite angle to create the look of a braid. When you switch from a chunky row to a thinner yarn, it can be difficult to know how many rows of the thinner yarn to use next to one row of the thicker yarn. You can measure and get really precise with counting if you wish. But when I'm working on a project this small, I prefer to just eyeball it and fill in the rows in a way that looks right to me. Remember that this is just a fun project to get you practicing with weaving and doesn't need to be perfect in any way. Next, I'll show you how to join edges to avoid gaps in your weaving. 11. Joining Edges: Joining edges. When you switch yarns in the middle of a row, you might find that you have gaps in-between your sections. There are several ways to avoid this, and I will show you two methods. The first is called interlocking. When you come to an edge in your row before bringing the yarn around to switch directions, thread your needle through the loop at the edge of the row you are on. Continue weaving and repeat as necessary. The second method is called the dovetail technique. When you meet an edge, weave the next stitch around the last warp string of that section, stacking over the edge stitch. The edges of your sections will share a warp string and prevent gapping. These joins are mostly used for vertical gaps. If your shapes have diagonal or stepped edges, you probably won't need to pay too much attention to the join. These techniques are good to learn however to prepare you for working larger. We've come to the end of our design, so next, I'm going to show you how to finish your piece. 12. Finishing: Finishing your weaving. Once you've decided your tapestry is complete, you can start the finishing work. As I mentioned in the header video, I like to add a header as a last step to stabilize my work and create a nice clean edge. I'm going to follow the exact same steps I did at the start of this project. Cut a piece of yarn that is eight times the width of your tapestry plus several inches extra for a tail. Find the middle of the piece of yarn you just cut and twist it around the first warp string so that the tail that's closest to you is on top. Continue to form one twist around each warp string. When you get to the last warp string, make one more twist, and then bring the lower yarn tail behind the last warp string and in front of the second-to-last warp string. Bring the other tail over the last warp string and behind the second-to-last warp string. Notice that the twists are now in the opposite direction to create a braided effect. We've four rows of header and tie a knot to finish just as you did at the beginning. Now, if you're like me, you'll need to weave in all the tails you left in the back. Go back to the tabby stitch video for a refresher on weaving in tail ends if you need to. I like to use a smaller tapestry needle for this, as I find it more nimble to use. Once all the ends are hidden and trimmed, we're ready to cut our weaving from the loom and tie off our warp strings. If you have a fringe on your tapestry, you may find it easier to do this from the back. Remove the card from the bottom of the weaving. Remove the warp strings on the bottom of the loom. All we're going to do is make overhand knots using two warp strings at a time. Make sure you tighten the knots slowly so you don't distort your weaving. The knot should sit right next to the header, not push it up. Continue until all warp strings have been knotted. Now you can weave in the tails as you did before. I usually weave two warps at a time if they're attached in a loop. But you could also cut them apart and weave in one at a time. When you're finished, you can repeat this process with the warp strings on the top. Because I tied on and tied off my warp strings on the top of my loom, I have to cut the warp strings off and separate the loop so that I can group them into pairs. Weave in your warp tails as you did before. Now your weaving is free from the loom. You can lay it flat and comb the fringe if you have any. It's at this point that I like to trim it to a length I like and even it out. A trick I use to make sure I cut straight is to lay a piece of card stock or a stiff paper at the base of the weaving and trim along the edge. One last thing you can do to make your tapestry easier to display is to attach a dowel or small stick to the top. Cut a length of yarn about two feet long and tie one end to a warp string from the back of the weaving with a double knot. Leave yourself a tail that you can weave in. The reason we attach this to a warp rather than a weft string is because these loops we're about to make will hold weight, and if we tie them to a weft yarn, the tapestry would pull and distort. Lay the weaving flat and arrange the stick or dowel at the top to your liking. Push the needle through from the back to the front, catching the top row where you made the warp knots. Make as many loops as you like around your stick. As I'm moving along the top, I like to occasionally anchor the thread around a warp string for stability. Although this isn't a big concern on lightweight weaving such as this. When you've added all your loops, tie off the yarn around a warp string and weave in the tail. There you have it, a mini tapestry ready to hang and enjoy. Don't forget to share your weaving in the project gallery and post a discussion if you've any questions about the process. We've covered a lot in this lesson. So before we move on, let's quickly recap the process of finishing. Finish your weaving with a header for stability and to create a nice, clean edge. Weave in any tails you have in the back. Starting at the bottom, tie knots, two warp strings at a time to prevent your stitches from falling. Tie off your warp strings at the top of your weaving in the same way, cutting them free from the loom if necessary. Weave in your warp tails, tie loops around a stick or dowel at the top of your weaving, anchoring each end with a knot around a warp string. Now that you know how to weave a tapestry from start to finish, let's go over a few problems you might encounter and how to solve them. 13. Problem Solving: Problem-solving. Before we wrap up, I just want to highlight a few common problems that you might run into and how to deal with them. These are things that I myself run into and knowing what to do makes the weaving process a lot easier. Problem number 1. My tail is too short to weave in with the needle. While you should always aim to leave yourself at least five inches of tail, this isn't always possible and you might run into the situation of threading your needle only to find that thread pops out because it's too short when you try and get the needle into the tapestry. Luckily, there's an easy fix for this. Without threading it, insert your needle into the stitches you want to hide your tail in, making sure the eye of the needle is still sticking out. Now thread your needle and pull it the rest of the way through. Problem number 2. My weaving is tighter in spots or cinched in the middle. This happens when your attention is too tight on your weft. Ideally, you'll be totally relaxed when you weave and use a gentle touch when you make your rows. This is a little unrealistic in my opinion. For people like me that get a little overenthusiastic when pulling their stitches through, the bubble technique is essential. If you remember from the Tabby stitch lesson, this is when you make a little hill as you pull your yarn through, making sure to hold the edge of the weaving gently in place. Push down the hill into smaller hills if you like and then beat down with your comb. It's great to get into the habit of making these bubbles as you work and eventually you'll get a feel for the right tension to weave with. Problem number 3. My edges are uneven. This is something that I hesitate to call a problem, but it is something you might notice in your work. I'm not a perfect weaver and I usually have some unevenness to my edges. Personally, I'd rather air on the side of some rows being a little looser on the ends, than pull my weft too tight. It's something I've come to accept in my work. It's also in the nature of a hand-woven piece to be imperfect and that's part of its beauty. As with any craft, you'll improve the more you practice. 14. Where to Go From Here: [MUSIC] Congratulations on completing your mini tapestry. I hope you had fun learning the craft of weaving. Believe it or not, you've now learned everything you need to know to weave have a wide range of designs and patterns. Here are a few prompts to spark your creativity. Make a tapestry using only one stitch in a variety of yarns and colors. Notice how different the stitch looks depending on what material you use. Try several rows of tabby and alternating colors to create stripes. Get creative with your materials and incorporate thin strips of fabric or beads into your weaving. Start a daily weaving practice where you leave for 10 minutes every day as a way to calm your mind and improve your skills. The more you practice, the more you'll be inspired to create. As you experiment, be sure to keep me posted by uploading photos of your work to the project gallery. If you share your weavings on social media, tag me on Instagram and TikTok @art.witch_ so I can cheer you on. If you enjoyed this class, please take a moment to leave me a review. It really means a lot to me to hear about your experiences with the courses I create for you. Until next time, keep in touch and happy weaving.