Tapestry Talking: Understanding the Language of Handwoven Art with 326 Works from Around the World

This gorgeous guide uses 326 works from around the world, arranged by 13 simple “four-letter” weaving words—from “size” to “yarn” to “woad”—to help weavers and others see how each one affects the finished tapestry.

“[Sidore] knows her subject and is passionate about it . . . Tapestry weavers and non-weavers interested in the art of tapestry should not miss it!”
—Beatrijs Sterk in Textile Forum

Featuring 326 intriguing tapestries from around the world, many not viewable elsewhere, this guide does not teach you how to weave. Instead, it shows you the wide range of results possible from 13 of the most basic weaving concepts.

It solves a common understanding gap for weavers, who are mostly educated in techniques, but not in what results each one enables you to weave.

This book’s unexpected, entertaining new way to look at the simple language of tapestry has surprising results. Seeing tapestries more clearly and understanding what you see is just the start. Weavers will find an immense range of techniques they can play with, themes they can pursue, and much to inspire them.

• Learn from tapestries by 286 talented weavers from 6 continents; many are well-known, while others are underrepresented so especially important to discover.

• Learn new strategies, whether you’re a weaver or onlooker, for clearer thinking about what you make and/or see.

• Understand the components that make up any tapestry, to more cleverly use each one.

• Go beyond knowing a technique to knowing what results it can lead to.

• Visually unfold answers that matter to your making: What are some of the effects that various techniques can create? What themes that appear regularly in historic work are still pursued by today’s tapestry weavers?

Micala Sidore runs Hawley Street Tapestry Studio in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she weaves tapestries and gives workshops. She has woven and exhibited tapestries for over 45 years. She studied at the renowned Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins in Paris and she lectures and teaches throughout the world. She is the author of The Art Is the Cloth: How to Look at and Understand Tapestries (Schiffer). www.hawleystreet.com