The Process of a Tapestry

Carding and Spinning

We start with mohair from goats in the Eastern Cape. Carding and spinning happens in Eswatini, often as homestead work. This gives the women flexibility. They can spin while looking after kids, farming, or managing other responsibilities.

Dyeing

Dyeing is a patient and intuitive process. We work with mohair because its natural sheen and lustre take colour with remarkable brilliance, giving our tapestries their signature vibrancy.

Cartoon Development

Once the artist has completed the design, a high-resolution image is printed to guide the annotation and weaving process. A second print is produced at the exact scale of the tapestry, this becomes the “cartoon.” In tapestry making, the cartoon is the full-sized template placed behind or beneath the warp threads, serving as the weaver’s visual map for colour, form and detail throughout the weaving.

Charting the Colours

Over the years the studio has developed several hundred colour charts, with each colour assigned a number. These numbers are written onto the cartoon to indicate where it needs to be woven and in what shape.

Weaving

Teams of up to six weavers weave the intricate shapes translating and amplifying the artist’s original design into tapestries that hang in museums and private collections around the world. Depending on the size and intricacy of the work the weaving process can take between a month and six months.