Soumak Tapestry Weaving
On The Loom
As an experienced weaver, I had found I preferred plain-weave items when I was planning a design. I was very drawn toward Navajo weaving, and struggled for a couple of years with trying to weave in the Navajo style while fully respecting that I am not Navajo and that perhaps only the Navajo truly know their own style. I stopped weaving for a time after that - until a few days ago when I discovered a technique called Soumak Tapestry weaving. It fits with my artistic style, and it is done by hand with no tools. Individual knots as weft on warp, an exciting new way for me to paint with fibers.
Here are two wonderful links for Soumak Weaving - I personally have combined a couple of the stated techniques to follow what seems to be the more traditional way to Soumak Weave.
Soumak / Sumak Weaving Techniques (scroll down the page)
Soumak Weaving For The Beginner
I use two sizes of Ojibway looms, a vintage Lily Mills Lilette loom, handmade frame loom (from Germany), a pvc pipe loom, and various fibers in my weavings.
Soumak Weaving No. 6
I am using a small simple peg loom for this piece. This loom was made in Germany by a woman's cousin. The loom is 8 x 10 and has a weaving width of 5-1/2 inches.
I have warped this piece with pink acrylic worsted-weight yarn.
I wasn't sure what I was going to describe in this piece, but it is going to be about lightning. Shown at the left in progress.
This piece is very small, I am using fingering-weight yarns, and am not using a shed-woven row in between the knot rows.
Progressing
Soumak Weaving No. 6 "Lightning"
Finished.
This is a fun, comforting piece. When I got hit by lightning, it wasn't fun, and it changed me and my thinking. But, now I can at least carry around a picture of myself- lol.
Previously on the loom-
Soumak Weaving No.4 - "The Color Of Trees"
I am weaving this piece with the traditional method of a woven row in-between each row of knots. This gives more strength to the finished piece, and has the normally present slits that are between colors held more closely together.
I am using my 35-inch narrow Ojibway loom for this piece, and have twined a stick of bamboo at each the top and bottom. I used a worsted weight green and red yarn to twine the bamboo, and those colors become a part of the piece.
In Progress
"The Color of Trees"
finished.
Soumak Weaving No.3 - "How Do You Describe Lung Cancer?"
A depressing title? Over a year ago, we lost my Mom - now another family member is being tested for lung cancer. My Mom died of a massive stroke that the doctors referred to as a peaceful way...
Now possibly lung cancer for one of us- how do I describe it? It doesn't seem that if true, it will be peaceful.
The photo at left shows my Ojibway loom with a cotton warp on it, and the upper and lower bamboo pieces twined in place.
The initial rows are white Navajo-Churro wool and a red wool blend yarn.. The grey square above the red is grey hand-spun cotton, and above that I've started to use wool-blend or acrylic yarns. So far, this piece looks "calm"
The grey cotton reminded me of a lung , and the two-toned wool above it would represent cancer in the upper part of a lung. The pink and green areas are a healthy body around the lung.
Progressing into questions - from a pink healthy body, how does this happen?
Progressing into the chaos of cancer - the blue represents oxygen, healing, gathering the person into themself.
Progressing again into the questions - the person, who could be anyone, is surrounded by black to show a lack of knowledge or information. The soul (or the heart) of the person is intact, shown by a white center square.
"How Do You Describe Lung Cancer?" finished
The family member's CTScan was clear- no sign of cancer.
"Bailey Goes to Cambridge"
This piece is about a dog named Miss Bailey who moves to Cambridge, and life is suddenly more posh! Had I known their new house was yellow, I may have planned it differently- I had been thinking "brownstone", but so it is. Funny, my house is yellow too. And so was Vincent's.....
I started this piece with brown Navajo-Churro hand-spun wool, and red knitting worsted in a plain weave. The areas of light beige are the beginning of the Soumak technique.
What is so very exciting about the Soumak Tapestry technique is that it truly is more like painting than weaving for me. With traditional rigid heddle, backstrap, or floor loom weaving, a row is completed at one time. In Soumak, it is like I have areas to "paint" where my paint doesn't dry up too soon, the blending is simple, and the piece speaks as itself simply because the knots are where they are. It is similar to true pointillism, and very enjoyable to work with. The primitive look I have in this piece speaks as a minimalist oil would.
"Bailey Goes To Cambridge" is progressing. Using different weight wool yarns has the center of the piece bulging a bit. I had been concerned it would pull in, as in two-shed weaving. I'll have to wait until it comes off the loom to see how it finishes.
I place bamboo sticks at the top and bottom of each piece. This will be twined at the bamboo before I remove the piece from the loom. At left, two tension sticks under a bamboo stick at the top of the piece that will remain.
Bamboo stick at the bottom.
"Bailey Goes To Cambridge" - finished
The Ojibway loom I use is a simple frame loom that is similar to the Ojibway bead loom. After owning and using several types of looms, this simple loom seems perfectly suited to Soumak tapestry weaving.
I do have two tension sticks at the top of the weaving, but I don't need heddles or a shed changer because the warp is far enough apart to simply work by hand. In fact, Soumak weaving is worked by hand. Here is a link to basic directions:
Soumak Weaving For The Beginner.
