I seem to have slacked on my desires to post more art rantings and long winded descriptions of processes, but let’s see if I can’t resurrect it once more!
This is a topic I’ve been meaning to breach for a while now, my tiny tapestries!
They were kind of an accidental idea to begin with, stemming from wanting to make patches of my work to sell as an extra on a booth table or what have you. As most of you probably know, I currently work at a screen printing shop, so it’s kind of a big part of my life working with printmaking. While I don’t really do a lot of creative work during the day, I’ve always wanted to marry my art and my work. It just kind of fit.
While I was brainstorming for this project, I had happened on a picture of a printed pennant with some crazy artwork on it, and I fell in love. So that afternoon I came home and made the first tapestry! It was a crude little thing, and I will forever treasure it in my closet.
For the process, it’s fairly straightforward. I use 100% cotton fabric, and I start by cutting it into squares of 4 tapestries. I set up my screens to print four at a time to save screen space, as well as time (printing 4>1 at a time). I print the fronts and backs, and then take them home for assembly!
Once home, I get back to the cutting board and cut everything out, fronts, backs, and the little tabby things (that’s a technical term, right?). I like to have everything cut out before I start sewing them because it’s SO much easier to piece work them together then doing one at a time. It sounds like this all is a lot of work (and when you’re doing 100+ it definitely is), but I’ve learned how to break it all up so it isn’t so bad to do.
I’ve completed my largest project so far with these tapestries, all of the Zodiac signs! I’m hoping to eventually make larger, taller ones as well, and possibly even custom ones! I have a feeling these little guys are going to evolve a few more times into something more exciting.
If you’d like to check them out, I have all twenty (yes, 20!) designs up in my etsy shop, and will be happily carrying them with me to the Mutton and Mead Ren Faire in June, and the Massachusetts Ren Faire in July! Huzzah!
I Myself, am strange and unusual 