Instructions for hanging a Tapestry

  1. Carefully unpack and unroll the tapestry and lay it face down on a clean sheet or similar suitable surface. You will need to take a clothes brush or similar prior to hanging to the back of the tapestry to brush down the ends in the direction it is to be hung. Now turn the tapestry over.
  2. Make sure that you do not hang the tapestry in direct sunlight or close to a heat source.
  3. Having considered the position in which the tapestry will be hung take the “Hanging Bar” on which Velcro has been attached and secure it to the wall. This can be done using two mirror plates or simply by screwing through the bar using the holes already drilled.
  4. Check that this bar is level – use a spirit level.
  5. With an assistant offer the tapestry to the bar and make sure it is straight. Carefully smoothing along the length of the bar will result in the Velcro taking a firm hold.
  6. Stand back and check that it is straight. …and take a little time to admire the tapestry! Because it has been rolled, it will take some time for it to settle and smooth out any creases.
  7. At the top, bottom and sides check that no ends are visible. If any can be seen simply push them behind the tapestry.
  8. I recommend that every six months that you lightly “hoover” the textile in situ. Check that it is still securely held at the top, check its overall condition and finally lightly brush the front.
  9. According to the dyers, the chemical dyes will fade on the front of the tapestry in approximately three hundred years time. At this point the tapestry is reversed by threading the ends from the back to the front. The back will not have faded to the same extent. This reversing will give a mirror image of the design with the original colours.
  10. My initials “MC” are woven into the bottom border.

If you count the number of warp threads to the point the initials start this will give you the year in the 20th century that it was woven, i.e. 85 threads will indicate 1985.

From 2000 they start at 100 warp threads from the end, this indicates the new millennium, and the bottom of the C is extended by one extra threads for each year, i.e. three warp threads will  signify 2003.

From 2013 onwards my initials will begin from the edge of the tapestry and allowing one warp thread for each subsequent year.

15 threads in from the edge will signify 2015.

The tapestry is hand woven on a High Warp Loom using woollen warps and wefts. The yarns are chemically dyed and are moth resistant. 

Woven in the “Gobelin” style of high warp tapestry weaving the characteristic slits are stitched on the reverse using a cross-stitch with a knot at each side to secure the fabric.

Michael Crompton