Tapestry Math: The Building Blocks of Understanding and Planning Design
With Emily Trujillo
This program is part of Handwork 2026, presented by Craft in America
Take your tapestry weaving to the next level with precise planning!
Learn how to calculate basic shapes within a tapestry that can be applied to your weaving, accounting for chosen epi, weft, and personal technique.
You will break down the fundamentals of weaving angles using linear design in a very basic and applied way.
We will start by calculating a perfectly proportioned Vallero Star (eight pointed star) using your chosen weft, warp, epi, and set-up (and how to alter them for changes in setup and materials going forward).
Afterwards, you will then execute your calculations using nothing but plain weave and supplementary weft in order to understand why and how these equations are working within your piece.
The focus of this class is designing/understanding design, and not weaving techniques, but you will leave with at least one weaving showing what you learned that you can take home with you.
- Skill level Beginner +
- Age appropriate 16+ (minors must have a parent on site)
- Materials fee None
- Students should bring
-a warped 2 shaft/harness loom (rigid heddle with single heddle warped for up/down sheds, tapestry loom with shedding device, or multi-shaft loom with 2 shafts warped).
-a minimum of two colors of weft yarn (thinner worsted weight), but preferably 3-4 colors. Wool is traditionally used, but not required.
-weaving tools.
Instructor
Emily TrujilloEmily Trujillo is an award winning eighth generation Rio Grande/Chimayo weaver from Chimayo, New Mexico, who specializes in the techniques and logic of Chimayo weaving. Her parents and mentors are internationally recognized weavers Irvin and Lisa Trujillo, who started teaching her when she was only five. While her technique and design training is very traditional, she blends her love for music, media, and her own modern experiences into her one-of-a-kind contemporary pieces that are still rooted in the traditional styles. She has been published nationally in magazines such as American Craft Magazine, the New Mexican, The Albuquerque Journal, and many more, and even in international magazines such as Hali Magazine and Cover Magazine.Currently, Emily teaches six different Chimayo weaving programs in and out of New Mexico, lectures on history internationally, and creates programs for preservation, all in and out of New Mexico. All of her work is an effort to preserve her family’s dying 400 year old family weaving tradition while also following her own path. She currently lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her two cats, two Rio Grande walking looms, and an unreasonable amount of energy. Her life’s mission is to share her passion for her family tradition and culture in hopes that will touch others and bring an appreciation for her family tradition to the world, including new demographics through new ways, such as fashion design.
