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Contents IntroductionIndigo Tapestry Papestry Tapestry with Lace Woven Fabrics Shibori Wild Silk Pina (Pineapple) Banana Plant Dyes Raku Contact Contact Us |
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Tapestry Tapestry is a special kind of art. Whereas the painter communicates through paint on canvas, tapestry's craft begins with the warp. Tapestry is basically a regular weave, but one in which the warp remains hidden, like a skeleton. Only the weft is visible. The weavers try to follow, through their mind's interpretation with the weft, the dictates of Nazah's painted pictures. The artist and the weavers work closely together. Thus are the tapestries of Indigo created. |
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Rather than yarns, Indigo uses exclusively raw silk for its tapestry production. Cocoons are dyed after being degummed. The weaver has a basket of cocoons, and she produces her own thread by pulling on a cocoon and turning it very slightly while weaving. Through that process, the colours are not regimented but appear in hundreds of hues. Every cocoon absorbs the colour in a slightly different way, and thus the colours are as alive as they are in nature. It takes many months to weave a regular-size tapestry. Carpet knotting is a different technique from tapestry. Threads are first spun and then cut into regular sizes. Then they are knotted into the warp threads with the so-called Ghiordes knot. Every two rows, a woven thread is crossed to keep the knots in place. |
© 2002 Fidel Seehawer |