Informative
Looming Large Tapestries – What to Consider?
Jun
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So you’re ready to take on a bit of a challenge?
I speak from experience when I say… challenging myself to go just a little bit further keeps me motivated and interested in the tapestry that I am creating.
The challenge may be to use more colours, a more intricate pattern, or a larger tapestry.
I know for a fact that challenging myself and going a bit further out of my comfort zone has helped me improve and develop my bead-looming skills.
It has also taught me a few things along the way…
My mission is to share what I have learned.
I aim to help you along in your bead-weaving journey so that you to can weave big!
Read on if you are ready to consider challenging yourself to go a bit further.
Why bead weave a larger loom tapestry?
There are so many reasons why a large bead tapestry is so much better than a small one.
The extra investment of time, effort, and money is well worth it, in my opinion.
I’m hoping you will think the same after reading through till the end of this blog.
Here is why large-scale tapestries are better…
In my opinion, the larger pieces… look so much better because they are less pixelated and result in a clearer image, they have more detail and colour, and last but not least they have a wow factor.
Less Pixelation
I’ve talked about this a bit in my blog post The Bead Weaving Journey.
But I’ll cover it again here. It is such an important factor in bead loom tapestries.
Picture this…
You have a low-quality image and trying to see it better by enlarging it.
Since it is low quality to start with, what you end up with is a grainy image that is not too clear.
That is what you get when you design smaller-size tapestries. The design is almost always pixelated and in need of modification.
Sometimes when converting the image in a bead software program such as Beadtool4, the converted pattern bears little or no similarity to the image or the photo.
Bead Tapestry Design
60 beads wide compared to 100 beads wide.
It is evident that the 100 beads wide tapestry is much clearer and in this example, the same number of colours were used.
30 bead colours in total. That is a lot of colors, right? But fewer colors and the 60-bead wide (60 Columns) tapestry would not have been clear.
If more colours were used the image would have been clearer still!
Of course the 100 beads wide tapestry will be wider and taller.
To give you an idea as to the size, here are some measurements
60 beads wide (or columns) will be 3.2 inches or 8.2 cm in width
100 beads wide (or columns) will be 5.33 inches or 13.56 cm in width
Less than double the size but so much better in image quality.
More Detail
Less pixelation means more detail!
The rendition of the image or photo to be made into a tapestry will be more true to form.
The beauty of it is the further you stand back the more clear the image is.
Even up close the image should be clearer if when the tapestry is larger.
More Colour
With bigger tapestries, you have the freedom to use more colours.
These colours will stand out because you will most likely be using more beads of those colours close together.
The more of the same colour beads used in an area, the more they will contrast with the rest of the surrounding beads. This depends on the colour of the adjacent beads of course.
Wow Factor
Most people are not really familiar with bead tapestries as an art form. They may have heard of Fibre Tapestries, but bead tapestries? Not so much.
Then when they come closer to examine the tapestry and see all these tiny, pieces of glass with all sorts of finishes that make up a tapestry… well then they are amazed and impressed and marveling at the skill needed.
Not to mention the time and patience it takes to complete this work of art.
Questions soon follow.
How much time did it take to complete?
How many colours did you use?
How many beads were needed?
What is the size of the tapestry?
How much does it weigh?
What happens if you make a mistake?
What are the beads attached to?
Challenge yourself just a little bit further
A little advice… speaking from experience.
Please don’t take huge leaps.
Say… from 80 beads in a row to 200. Or from 10 colours to 40.
It is so tempting to start on a tapestry that will surely be an amazing work of art.
While it can be done, you might get frustrated with developing the necessary muscle memory to easily handle the leap.
Doing this will lead to less enjoyment, which is the whole point of weaving bead tapestries.
You may decide to give up, and then put what promises to be a great piece and something so soothing and good for your mental health aside to be forgotten.
Having said that…
If you know yourself to be patient enough to allow time and patience for going over that learning curve, then, by all means, go for it!
You do not have to go it alone
If you are taking up this challenge please don’t feel that you will be going down this road all on your own.
There is support and guidance for you!
You can find other bead loomers on social media here…
There are active bead groups on Facebook.
Here are my favorites…. in no particular order…
Bead Tapestries (and other unique bead pieces)
Loom Beading & Square Stitch
The Bead Loom Room
Seed Beads and More
You can also check out our social media links below and Beading Treasures Online Learning (In the works)
Visit the VAULT where you will find gems from Beading Treasures created to help you along your bead weaving journey.
![Vault Cover-[Colour Chart-List of Bead Colours]](https://beadingtreasures.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Vault-Cover-Colour-Chart.jpg)
![Hidden Gem [Motivational Wallpapers-Creativity]](https://beadingtreasures.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Motivational-Wallpapers-Creativity.jpg)
Read this blog!
I cannot tell you how much I have learned just by reading blogs.
One blog, in particular, helped me immensely when I was starting my bead weaving journey and that blog is Beads Beading Beaded by Erin Simonetti.
I read every single one of her blog posts!
If you don’t know about Erin Simonetti, you should! She is an amazing bead-looming artist!
She is huge in the bead weaving on a loom world! Check out her Facebook page Beads Beading Beaded.
As for Beading Treasures blogs…
New ones will be periodically published.
Sign-up for the newsletter so you won’t miss out!
You can even send me a message at [email protected]!
Happy Weaving!
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Hi there! I’m Nedal.
I created Beaded Treasures to make information about beading large tapestries more accessible, and in doing so encouraging creating of this amazing art form.
Weaving big can seem intimidating but by using some techniques it is totally doable, no more than that it is really enjoyable!
If you’ve found this blog helpful, please support me by choosing the affiliate products on my blog and following me on my social platforms.
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Thank you!
Nedal Douaihy, Artist & Founder
