Non-woven tapestry: technology. Tapestry carpets and paintings

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The art of creating a tapestry originates in the work of the ancient peoples of various countries and religions. It has been formed and developed over the course of several centuries from simple woven carpets to collections of famous craftsmen who created works using special technologies, zealously guarding them and passing them down through the generations from father to son or from master to apprentices. It is customary to call a tapestry a carpet woven by hand or with the help of special equipment, which has a pattern applied by interweaving multi-colored threads, where a picturesque or ornamental composition is created with stitches.

The main function assigned to tapestry carpets was to protect the premises from drafts and frost. A strong woven base and a voluminous woolen layer of stitches of multi-colored threads made it possible to keep warmth and comfort well in the stone walls of ancient houses and castles. The artistic or design purpose of tapestries was widely used later, with the development of production technologies and the need for a person to be surrounded by beauty.

Themed tapestries

Starting from the Middle Ages and almost to the present day when creating a tapestrythe craftsmen tried to adhere to the manufacture of products for the placement of one, specific theme. This direction in creativity made it possible to create unique ensembles that support the decor style and maintain a single image. The ensemble included not only tapestries for walls, curtains, canopies, canopies, pillowcases, bedspreads also continued the design theme. Tapestry paintings were distinguished by a special technique of execution, extremely accurately conveyed images in color, complementing it with volume, which made it possible to emphasize beauty and originality. Such work was carried out mainly to order, had a high cost due to the laboriousness of weaving, and not everyone could afford them. Tapestry wall paintings in the genre of monumental painting were often commissioned by the royal court. They served as decoration in the royal chambers of palaces and estates.

Non-woven tapestry as one of the painting elements

During the development of tapestry production technology, craftsmen have come up with numerous techniques and methods for applying stitches, with the help of which paintings of amazing beauty and quality are created. These include both the lint-free one-sided tapestry or trellis method, as well as a special technique - non-woven tapestry, or carpet technique. Its result is a canvas with one-sided soft pile of different lengths. It allows using colored woolen or silk threads to create three-dimensional pictorial paintings. Many master artists believe in the advantage of colored thread or wool when applied to fabric with a needle compared to paints and brushes in work performed oncanvas.

Materials and tools suitable for making tapestry using the carpet method

Non-woven tapestry is a widespread technique for making original interior decorations. The technique does not require any special skills, patience or great difficulty in work. This method is more often used in home needlework, so materials that are easy to find in any household are suitable for making a tapestry with your own hands:

1. Dense fabric.
2. Rigid frame for fixing the canvas, buttons or nails.
3. Special hollow needles for carpet non-woven tapestry with different lengths and different inner diameters.
4. Wool yarn or threads of wool, silk or linen in various colors.
5. Scissors, grid or carbon paper, thumbnail image.

Using these simple tools, you can make a tapestry of any size with a variety of artistic images and decorative focus.

Basis for non-woven tapestry

The technique of non-woven tapestry is to apply stitches with a special needle on the wrong side of the fabric base. The result is a colorful picture with a soft pile and volumetric contrast on the front side. As a basis for such work, strong pile cloths with harsh material, such as beading, are best suited. The ideal option is considered to be a linen fabric with a loose weave of fabric fibers, which allows a thick needle to pass freely, but at the same time quite tightly.thread.

The color for the fabric base under the tapestry should be chosen dark. The light base in carpet technique often shines through between the loops, giving the product an untidy look, while the dark one avoids such troubles, regardless of the color of the thread of the image being created. In any case, when making a non-woven tapestry using the carpet method, one must adhere to high-quality stitching. The loops formed by them should fit snugly against each other, providing sufficient elasticity of the pile of the product.

How to prepare the base

For high-quality performance of the image, a drawing is applied to the canvas of the tapestry base. This allows you to maintain the accuracy of the image without deformation, especially if the drawing is not copied, but transferred to scale. It is convenient to do this with carbon paper, copying the image with a pencil, and then transferring it to the fabric, tracing the outline on the back of the paper with a solid object. But if the drawing is large, then simply copying it may not be enough.

To enlarge an image uniformly and without distortion, it is best to use a grid. It will help to transfer the drawing in small parts from the sketch to the base fabric without changing its main parameters. The pattern transferred to the fabric can be painted in the desired colors for the convenience of applying stitches in color. If the elements in the tapestry image are large, then they can be transferred to the fabric using paper or cardboard, after cutting them out and creating templates of the desired size.

How to choose needles for nonwoventapestry

The carpet technique used to make tapestry carpets can be made with a special needle. Such a needle allows you to leave loops of a given size in the base fabric for a non-woven tapestry. It is a hollow needle with an inner diameter corresponding to the specified parameters, cut at an angle at the end, at the tip of which a hole is made for the free movement of the thread. Typically, a hollow needle is attached to a handle of some form, which is comfortable to hold in your hand when sewing stitches that create pile on the right side of the fabric.

Needles can be of different diameters and lengths, which can be additionally adjusted by limiters. This design allows a change in the length of the pile produced by the stitches. For the manufacture of one tapestry, different needles with different diameters can be used. The more threads used in the manufacture of products, the brighter and more voluminous the created tapestry paintings look.

Threads for carpet method

Since non-woven tapestry is a carpet technique, products made using this technology are often decorative. Therefore, the threads for doing the work can be any - from thick woolen to silk or gold and silver. When performing work, it is important to take into account the texture of the selected thread. The artistic volume in a non-woven tapestry depends not only on the thickness of the thread, but also on the degree of its twist and composition, and the stable color of the material will help to avoid fading of colors in the finishedproduct.

Easy fixing of the fabric (non-woven tapestry needle technique)

You can fix the canvas on a rigid frame after drawing a sketch. As a material for the frame, you can choose both metal and wood. Its dimensions must be taken into account based on the size of the pattern applied to the base. The frame should slightly exceed the dimensions of the image that will be made with it. If, after tensioning the warp, the edges of the pattern come into contact with it, it will not be possible to apply stitches with a needle.

The frame can be in the form of a hoop that is comfortable to hold in your hands, or it can be placed on a stand with legs of different lengths. It is very convenient to work on the creation of a tapestry on such a frame stand. It can be placed in a certain place, specially prepared for creative work. At the same time, if the legs of the stand are decorated in a certain decorative style, then the whole structure will advantageously complement the interior of the room.

Getting started. Stitching methods

Before you begin to embroider an image, you need to prepare the needle for work. To do this, select the thread with which the embroidery will be started. Non-woven tapestry can include threads of different diameters, so you need to take this into account when working. You need to thread the thread through the hollow handle and needle, and then thread it into the hole at the tip. Next, you need to determine the length of the pile on the front side of the tapestry and adjust the needle to the desired length of the looplock. There are two ways to apply stitches:

1. Line method. It is a parallel arrangement of stitches from top to bottom and then up. The ties are applied strictly in the given sequence and fill the entire canvas from left to right.
2. Contour method. It consists in imposing stitches along the contour of the color segment. In this case, the cut of the needle is placed in the direction of travel, the direction of which goes from top to bottom in a spiral tapering towards the center.

When using the needle, do not leave too long a thread to avoid tangling. If the work on embroidering the segment is finished and you need to change the thread, then, having made the final puncture, you need to remove the needle and cut off the thread, leaving the tip, the length of which should not be less than one centimeter.

Finishing work. Tapestry Form Fixation

After embroidering on the base fabric, the tapestry must be removed from the frame to secure the stitches, and finish the edges. In order for the manufactured tapestry to serve for many years, pre-prepared PVA glue must be applied to the wrong side. The glue is diluted with water, and then the rug is impregnated with a sponge, well smearing the stitches from the wrong side and not allowing the solution to seep to the front side. Carefully treated with glue, the rug must be dried well by stretching it on a flat surface to fix the desired shape. When the glue dries, it will securely fix the stitches and prevent the fluff from falling out. In conclusion, it remains only to crochet the edge of the tapestry - and the product can beconsidered completed.