By Laura Barritt
Weave together your surroundings and create a tapestry out of the seemingly strange and fractured world
Don’t forget to share your weave or post online and tag @natsatclub and @cardiffmetcsad
Overview
This project focuses on using materials found around the house to weave a tapestry that embodies ideas surrounding current issues in the world.
Materials needed
- Cardboard
- Scissors
- Tape
- Wool / String
- Could also use: plastic bags, magazines, plastic gloves, words, wool, show laces, ribbon
Activity part one – Getting started
Collect all your initial materials. This should be cardboard, a scissors, tape, wool/string and the materials you would like to weave.
Cut out a square from your cardboard (approx. 15cm x 15cm). This will be your loom.
Feel for the ridges in the cardboard and snip 0.5mm-1cm lines all along the top and bottom.
Use tape to reinforce the cardboard and even out the 0.5mm-1cm cuts.
Grab your wool/string and tie a knot in the end – make sure not to cut it off the ball.
Use the wool to weave up and down the cardboard (loom), making sure that you double weave each length of string.
Cut your weaving materials ready – a shoe lace size is good for this, so 1cm or less in thickness.
Activity part two – weaving
Begin weaving by using one strand to go under, then over, then under then over etc. and repeat this until you reach the end of the board. The next string will be the opposite – so in this case it would be over then under, then over then under etc.
Repeat until you complete the weave.
You can either tape the back of your weave or you can tie / stitch the sides to keep it secure before you take it off the loom.
Thank you for taking part in the Cardiff Metropolitan University Saturday Club Workshop.
Share your weave or post online and tag @natsatclub and @cardiffmetcsad
Resources & References
TATE Anni Albers
How to weave a basic wall hanging
Contributed by Laura Barritt, Cardiff Metropolitan University Art&Design Saturday Club
Laura has a background in Fine Art and Education. She is currently a PhD student at Cardiff Metropolitan University with a focus on adolescent artistic abstraction. She holds a Masters in research (MRES) from the university and has taught in a range of secondary schools for over 10 years. Cognition, abstraction and understanding abstract process of mind are core to Laura’s work.