The use of Tapestry Wool in needlework began when the art of needlepoint was young, and most people thought of it as tapestry work. And it can be even harder to purchase yarn that has those characteristics. But they do sell these yarns in 64 colors. When it comes down to it – it’s all about the interaction between warp and weft. The Four Best Weaving Techniques to Use with Chunky Yarn. Our brains design better in analog. The interesting thing about this yarn is that many of the colors are intentionally dyed to give it that slightly variegated, hand-dyed look. The result is a hard wearing, robust woollen yarn with little or no elasticity or 'bounce'. This yarn comes in a lot of colors, so that is an advantage and I have seen it in shops in the USA. I wrote a blog post on this subject in 2013 and you can see it HERE. Harrisville yarns don't come in a wide range of colors, so look carefully at the pallette if you're not a dyer. Because it is a fat single (it isn't plied), it creates a strong diagonal effect when woven in weft-faced tapestry. Paternayan comes in a loose bundle of three strands of 2-ply yarn. The undyed version makes a beautiful, consistent yarn. Some yarns are very shiny and reflective. Many commercially dyed yarns don't come in that many colors. They also make a thicker yarn. How does the yarn serve your design ideas? If you are new to tapestry and want to use just one strand of yarn at a time, you're going to have to look for a fatter yarn that matches the warp sett you want to use. It was taken over by her granddaughter, Teresa Loveless, and for various reasons is closing in March of 2019. https://timeless-textiles.com/. Kathe says she uses 4 strands at 10 epi. If you are weaving something for which you want 5 reds in gradation, most commercial yarn sources are not going to provide that (with the notable exceptions of Weaver's Bazaar, Australian Tapestry Workshop Yarn, Appleton crewel, and Paternayan). It has a little more shine than the Harrisville due to the kind of fleece used. Lamb's Pride Worsted is a fat single (it is not plied) that works woven at 8 epi by itself. I use one strand at 12 epi or two strands at 8 epi. I tried some of it while teaching at Penland a few years ago and I thought it was way too soft for tapestry especially in large-format. If you are new to tapestry and want to use just one strand of yarn at a time, you're going to have to look for a fatter yarn that matches the warp sett you want to use. Wool Needles Yarn Needle Tapestry Needle Sewing... Best Price. (The Weaver’s Loft just told me that they are selling this yarn in 1 ounce balls in a couple different color palettes.). It is also widely available in the USA and will be come even easier to get very soon. There are many people who make beautiful tapestries from cellulose fibers. Many of the recent weavers on frame looms use these yarns along with roving and rya knots and that is fine. The 9.5/2 is twice the size of the 18/2. We have a whole series all about tapestry weaving that we have previously ran on our blog! Those include Tuna, Mobelatta, Mattgarn, and Mora. You can also search out bamboo, linen, and even synthetic fiber mixes. Their 2-ply tapestry wool weaves well with one strand at 8 epi. So this shows that with a cotton thread your weave should stay in the same shape as when it was on the loom (that is assuming what you’re doing with your weft doesn’t affect the shape once cut from the loom). This is great news. It can also be split in half and replied with a different color. Traditionally used for suiting fabric and upholstery, a worsted yarn is ideal for weaving tapestry. You can bundle singles (yarn that is not plied or consists of only one twisted piece of fiber) or plied yarns (yarns that have two or more bits of fiber twisted together in a consistent way) if they are thin enough to use more than one together. Below are a few tapestry yarns that work well for beginners. I do gradual color gradations and like the blending effect I get with plying the yarns. Tapestry is a type of fiber weaving. Kathe sells this yarn by the ounce, so if you want to buy some small amounts to play with, that is an option. This has become one of my favorite yarns for small format tapestries. It is not at all soft. You can also purchase their yarn along with other lovely yarn choices from THIS amazing lady. For churro, contact Shepherd’s Lamb in Tierra Amarilla, NM. Rebecca Mezoff Tapestry Studio, POB 273131, Fort Collins, CO, 80527, USA, Design Solutions for the Artist/Weaver, Season 1, Warp and Weft: Learning the Structure of Tapestry. You can also purchase their yarn along with other lovely yarn choices from THIS amazing lady. This yarn has been used and loved by many tapestry weavers over the years. Luster longwool such as Lincoln creates a strong and reflective yarn. Can you use knitting yarn for tapestry weaving? These chunky or thick-thin yarns are beautiful for other projects, but they are not appropriate for tapestry weaving as I am discussing it in this post and on this blog. Many commercially dyed yarns don't come in that many colors. 196m/50g | 80% Pima Cotton, 20% Merino Wool 13 Colourways Sport / 5 Ply The surface of the tapestry is not as smooth when you double the yarn than if you use one strand of Highland or if you split the Highland strands and reply two colors together if you’re into color mixing. The tapestry yarn ("tapestry" is often used in Europe to refer to embroidery) is fluffy and rather like a thicker version of Paternayan. Susan Bates Steel Weaving Needle, 5-Inch (my personal choice – the longest needle pictured above) This 5-inch needle is an extra long tapestry needle that works great for getting across your warp quickly. Their yarns come in three sizes. Using a yarn that is very thin that you can bundle in the weaving gives you more color options. Fortunately, their product is fantastic and well worth purchasing. This doesn't work as well as it does with the singles yarn because Shetland is plied already and the singles aren't. It comes in the same 64 colors that Highland does. Frid Vevgarn in balls, pinks are hand-dyed by me. Weaving Southwest yarns lined up behind this color wheel at the recent Taos retreat. All kits come with a digital download of a PDF, and all yarn necessary to complete the project. They have a lot of air in them which makes them lovely for knitted garments but terrible for weft-faced weaving. You can unsubscribe from my emails at any time. The... Paternayan. The Art of Tapestry WeavingBook ReviewsChange the ShedDesigning for TapestryFrance Tapestry TourLoomsMakingTapestry DiaryTapestry ShowTapestry WeavingYarn. One strand of the worsted weight works well at 8 epi. It is weft-faced (ie: the warp does not show at all), the wefts are generally discontinuous (they do not go from selvedge (edge) to selvedge (edge)) and it is generally pictorial (like painting a picture with fiber). If you are weaving something for which you want 5 reds in gradation, most commercial yarn sources are not going to provide that (with the notable exceptions of Weaver's Bazaar, Australian Tapestry Workshop Yarn, and Paternayan). Their website is HERE. This yarn will not cover the warp at 10 epi. But it was used by the Scheuer Tapestry Studio in New York in the 80s and if it is good enough for them, it is probably good enough for the rest of us. They are easy to pull apart, but if you’re weaving large tapestries, it can be a pain to manage that process to mix colors. This yarn is sold in the USA by Norsk Fjord Fibers. Weaving yarns in just the right colours At weaversbazaar, we offer wool, silk, linen, goat and nettle yarns, warp, weaving kits and equipment through our online store for weavers and textile artists. It is a good idea to use more toilet paper as a means of holding the threads in place until the completed project has been removed from the loom. I use about 6 strands of the fine at 8 epi. The colors are amazing and the amounts will last you for multiple tapestry designs. Some are duller and fuzzier. This yarn is sold in the USA by Norsk Fjord Fibers. I use their 18/2 and 9.5/2 yarns mostly in my little looms projects, but they would also be marvelous choices for large format work. I think it is important to buy a small amount of a new yarn and try it out in a sample or a small piece before you invest a lot in it. This is a singles yarn which means it is not plied. Halcyon Yarn Rug Wool, a thicker yarn that will weave up very quickly and create very strong hardwearing projects. Thin and thick yarns interact, compress, and behave differently. The old owners did make a version of this yarn called Paterna. It dyes beautifully and comes in 74 colors. It is similar in size to ALV and Appleton crewel. It is made by Harrisville Designs, a wonderful small mill in Harrisville, NH. It was one strand and could be easily bundled. It is a singles yarn. These yarns are great for bundling at whatever sett you'd like. This yarn is sold in the USA by Norsk Fjord Fibers. You will not get clear, pure colors from this company though. This is a yarn made in the UK. It works well at 8 epi with one strand. Through my students and my own testing of various yarns, I’ve found a few sweet spots in tapestry yarns over the years and I hope these ideas are helpful for you, dear tapestry friend. From our archives, an inventive piece how to weave on a cardboard box. This yarn is made by Brown Sheep Company, a marvelous small mill in western Nebraska (I highly recommend stopping for a tour and to visit their shop if you’re in the neighborhood. Lamb’s Pride is a fat single and it has mohair in it. In fact, there is so much variety in yarns it is rather hard to qualify what are the best combination of characteristics. Whether you’re crafting for baby, the bedroom or for the family, we’ve put together a collection of yarns that have a strong ply to minimize pilling and increase durability. Before placing the dowel, I fulled the tapestry pretty vigorously by hand and then laid it flat to dry. It is made in Norway and is a 2-ply yarn which is slightly thicker than the Harrisville Shetland. It is a stiff yarn, but if you want a hand-dyed look to your yarn and you don't want to dye yourself, this yarn may be right for you. They dye this yarn in the way that it has been dyed since Rachel Brown herself did it: in tubs over wood fires. Analog. You can see the different specks of colors in it. Tapestry is a weft-faced weave. Filament – Silk is the lone member of this category of weaving yarn. They are now selling wholesale again and they say that within a few months they will be selling retail directly from their website. Tell us in the comments! This is another thin yarn that I like a lot. This yarn comes in 400 colors and can be found in embroidery shops in the USA. But, during our time of confinement, you may need to make do with something from your stash, something that is the closest size possible in a non-stretchy, strong cotton or wool rug warp. With some plied yarns like Harrisville Highland and Weaving Southwest 2-ply, you can take the plies apart and put two different colors together like THIS. Elizabeth says that it is similar to the Persian yarn that Paternayan used to sell many years ago (or to one strand of the more recent 3-stranded Paternayan yarn—see above for details). A few years ago Cheryl Riniker did a lovely guest post where she talks about her favorite tapestry yarns and shows the woven samples she did with each of them. I’ll briefly tell you what makes a good tapestry yarn and then I’ll tell you which ones are my current favorites and where to get them. I also do a lot of plying on my spinning wheel. It’s pretty darn cheap to buy too! We will miss the 2-ply tapestry yarn and especially the churro. Harrisville Highland yarn, hand-dyed in balls, commercially dyed in brown and orange cones behind. They are thin and come in many colors and are often used for weaving functional fabrics. An old Weaving Southwest yarn card: contact them for a new one. It is a beautiful yarn that has some spelsau in it... ALV. One strand works at 8 epi. Thin yarns you can use multiples of in a weft bundle versus a thick yarn you'd only use one strand of. So let’s get started! It has a little more shine than the Harrisville due to the kind of fleece used. Unfortunately it doesn’t yet come in many colors at this point (12 at last count). Use on an 8, … Do you like ones I haven’t mentioned here? Let’s look at which characteristics are important in a tapestry yarn, why they are important, and which yarns have these characteristics. My large-format tapestries are all woven with Harrisville Design's Koehler singles. So when I combine those strands, it creates a bundle that doesn't have a lot of extra texture in it. Ask around. It's chief advantage is that it comes in more than 400 colors including many gradations. Anahera yarn, 3 ounce hanks photo credit: Elizabeth J. Buckley, This 100% New Zealand wool yarn is being sold in the USA by Elizabeth Buckley from her website: https://www.elizabethbuckleytapestryartist.com/anahera-yarn. This yarn works well with 3-4 strands at 8 epi. The Shetland is much thinner and I use one strand of it at 12 epi or doubled at 8 epi. This yarn has been hard to get for a few years since the original dyehouse closed. Weaving Yarns: Find the best weaving yarn for your next project! I have dyed this yarn myself, but in general I just buy their colors because there are so many available. Mountain Meadows mill in Wyoming does some lovely hand-dyed yarns which are quite similar to the base yarn that Weaving Southwest was using for their 2-ply tapestry wool. I have a few possible combinations at the end of this post, but there are many other possibilities. I take your privacy seriously. Yarn. They dye very well and this option makes a nice, even yarn. It comes in 3 ounce hanks of approximately 420 yards. This is the yarn they use in their monumental tapestries. It is one of the gold-standard tapestry yarns on the planet though and if you live in Australia, I would look into it if I were you! Google for sources. This yarn is available in many places and might be the easiest yarn to lay your hands on in your LYS, which is exactly why I’ve included it on this list. Some easily create a very flat surface depending on the warp size you use, others will show every weft relay pretty clearly. This is a thin yarn which will need to be bundled. Harrisville Highland is an example of a 2-ply yarn that works with one strand at 8 or 10 epi. Some very common yarns to use for your tapestry warp are either 8/4 cotton, or 8/2 linen. It is a fat single and it has mohair in it. They have a lot of air in them which makes them lovely for knitted garments but terrible for weft-faced weaving. It is a beautiful yarn that has some spelsau in it (sheep breed) that makes it very shiny. Color choice. Look for cotton and silk fibers to start with. The same yarn is being made by the person who originally developed this yarn and sold as Colonial Persian. I explain how to do this in Warp and Weft. It is an embroidery yarn, and as such, is a little fluffier than I'd like for tapestry weaving. 2-3 strands at 8 epi. Most of them have a very heathered appearance because of the way the colors are mixed. Harrisville makes the yarn in 64 colors. This yarn is fairly “grabby” and many beginners do well with it. Not all yarns are good for tapestry weaving. Unfortunately it doesn’t yet come in many colors. You can see a whole lot of amazing photos on their website HERE. It is the Harrisville Koehler Singles, but it is only available in white. Bouncy yarns also stretch a lot and that makes managing your weft tension difficult. This yarn dyes very nicely, comes in 108 colors, and comes from HiilesvÃ¥g Ullvarefabrikk, a spinnery on the west coast of Norway. This tapestry was woven at 12 epi with two strands of Weavers Bazaar 18/2 fine wool. Kathe says she uses 4 strands at 10 epi. I’ll also let you know which yarns have the widest array of color choices. In my early tapestries, this was the yarn I used though I dyed it myself. Our collection of Blanket Yarns offers you a great selection of yarns that are perfect for snuggling up in. Though I love the Brown Sheep Company for so many reasons, their embroidery yarn, Waverly, is very bouncy to be used for tapestry. Weaving is normally done on a loom. My favorite brand of cotton yarn is Lily Sugar’n Cream (affiliate link), which is what I used in my normal spun cotton warp example. The yarn is 2,700 yards per pound and it works well at 3-4 strands at 8 epi. This yarn was unavailable for a few years after the company owner passed away. EPiC is a yarn made in Portugal that was not being sold in the US for a few years after the original owner died. You can find it through many dealers in the USA. Though I recommend two embroidery yarns above, many embroidery yarns are not great for tapestry. If you're not a dyer, color choice is going to be very important to you. UPDATE 2020: Weaving Southwest went out of business in 2019 and these yarns are no longer available. Fleeces: Sheep Feathers Farm… A tapestry needle is a hand-sewing needle that is useful to needleworkers who do a variety of different craft techniques: cross stitch, embroidery, sewing, crochet, knitting, and others. Highland is twice the size of Shetland. This yarn dyes very nicely, comes in 108 colors, and comes from Hiilesvåg Ullvarefabrikk, a spinnery on the west coast of Norway. My thoughts have changed a little since then, but the yarns I talk about there are still solid choices. It is now back in production. If you want a tighter weave that doesn’t show the warp then I recommend using a DK or worsted weight yarn. If the weft is super bouncy, fluffy, or soft, it will pack in excessively. They dye this yarn in the fleece which means that they get huge bales of dyed fleece and then mix that fleece when the yarn is made. Inspiration Everywhere: Handspun Yarn in Tapestry Weaving. With these size yarns you are able to weave a standard 6 EPI for tapestry with a lot of different weft yarns. What are your favorite tapestry yarns and why? Flax, ramie, and hemp are some of the more popular weaving yarn fibers in this group. If you like to bundle yarns for maximum ability to mix colors, you’ll want a thinner singles yarn. Mallo Cotton Slub Weaving Yarn. I use 2-3 strands of the bundle at 8 epi. Other excellent tapestry yarns Vevgarn Frid. Faro. Additional Bockens yarns: Though I have mostly only used Faro, this company also makes other yarns that are great for tapestry. If you're newer to weaving, you may not realize that not all yarns are made equal. Paternayan, Waverly from Brown Sheep, and the ball to the right is Appleton Crewel. All of the yarn that I am using is from Love Fest Fiber's amazing weaving pack. The Frid is a stiffer yarn. Click on thumbnails to enlarge, hover for captions, use arrows to scroll. If you don’t dye your own yarn, Faro is a yarn that is virtually identical in size to the Harrisville Koehler singles. Explore all of our rigid heddle weaving projects here. It comes in 127 colors. Those of you who love hand-dyed yarn but don’t want to be dyers yourselves may well have been fans of the marvelous yarns created by Weaving Southwest. Rebecca Mezoff Tapestry Studio, POB 273131, Fort Collins, CO, 80527, USA, Design Solutions for the Artist/Weaver, Season 1, Warp and Weft: Learning the Structure of Tapestry, https://www.elizabethbuckleytapestryartist.com/anahera-yarn. It is made by Bockens in Sweden. Balls of hand-dyed Harrisville Highland for tapestry weaving, This is the yarn I use for my in-person workshops for students. Their website is HERE. This yarn is made by Brown Sheep Company, a marvelous small mill in western Nebraska. A yarn that doesn't have a whole lot of end-to-end stretch in it. It worked well at 8 epi with one strand. This means that much of the yarn has a very heathered appearance. There are wonderful tapestry yarns all over the world that I know nothing about, so if you know of one, please leave it in the comments. You can use a couple strands together at 8 epi (I've heard of people using as many as 4 together at this sett depending on your warp and your tolerance for lice). When the knots at the ends of the piece are tied, the tapestry is complete. This means that it is rather shiny and a fun thing to try for tapestry weaving. It dyes beautifully and I like the way the yarn acts in the weaving. The weft needs to be firm enough that it can maintain the structure of the textile. It is a 2-ply thin yarn which is bundled for color variation. Yarn Needle Tapestry Needle Sewing Needles Weaving... Editor's Choice. Rebecca Mezoff, Bootsy. Tapestry yarn can be made of wool, silk, linen, and cotton fiber. It isn't easy to get in the USA since the only North American dealer went out of business. I especially don’t recommend it for beginners. It is worth a look HERE. It is made in the USA by Saco River Dyehouse in Maine. by J.K. Best Choice. Not every tapestry yarn listed here will be liked by every weaver. Really thin yarns aren’t always ideal for tapestries unless you are weaving something intricate – unless you want to be weaving forever. Does it come in colors you like? It is 900 yards per pound and if you buy it on the cone for tapestry weaving, you will need to scour it first as the coned yarn still has machine oil in it from the manufacturing process. If you’re a beginning tapestry weaver, you like to weave very graphic designs, or you’re weaving rugs, you want a yarn that is big enough to use just one strand at a time. It is too fat to use two strands at that sett. Of course to use sewing thread you will be weaving at very close setts, so don’t try this if you’re brand new to tapestry weaving. I have had many people tell me they’ve used Jaggerspun yarns for tapestry. That is a simple process and I will have a video about it soon on my YouTube channel. (So sorry to my British friends… may it get better soon.). A yarn from the same spinnery in Norway, HiilesvÃ¥g Ullvarefabrikk, this is a much thinner yarn with a softer hand. Of course there are various sizes of yarns for tapestry. It was easy for needleworkers to manage small amounts of the yarn to make tiny color changes (about 40 to 50 different colors) as they stitched. It is sold by Kathe Todd-Hooker at Between & Etc. Do you have other things you look for in a tapestry yarn? The yarn is made in Portugal and sold in the USA. Weaving Southwest in Arroyo Seco, NM is the only place I know where you can buy hand-dyed yarns in gradation. Many of our most popular weaving yarns are available on easy-to-use cones - many on convenient minicones. See my terms and privacy policies  HERE. I find the ALV quite a lot thinner than you can see visually here as compared to the Frid. When a yarn wants to bounce back on itself (as a nice knitting wool will do), it will want to do that in your weaving which causes problems with weft tension and makes your edges draw in. I have successfully used Cascade Ultra Pima Cotton which comes in solid and variegated colors. Rebecca Mezoff shows us the difference between using three and four strands of a popular singles yarn for tapestry weaving. Many of the colors are slightly variegated like hand-dyed would be. Thin yarns you can use multiples of in a weft bundle versus a thick yarn you'd only use one strand of. The colors for both yarns are the same, so the only advantage of using Shetland would be if you want to use two strands together to mix colors. I dye my own yarn and I sometimes dye for my workshops and I will tell you that the work is fiercely difficult labor. Rebecca Mezoff, Winter Trees, Weaver's Bazaar 18/2 wool at 12 epi on a 6-dent Hokett loom. You can unsubscribe from my emails at any time. This is a new yarn for me and I’ve only played a little bit with the colors (see the images at the end of the post). This is the yarn that I use for teaching my workshops. Here are a few options for singles listed generally from thickest to thinnest. They are doing a fantastic job serving the tapestry community all over the world and we should support their efforts. This yarn is made in Portugal but sold in the USA and can be purchased from their website. Don't be fooled into ordering the Appleton tapestry yarn though. See my terms and privacy policies  HERE. Both yarns are made for embroidery, but the crewel yarn is much thinner and firmer. Churro yarn can be purchased from Shepherd’s Lamb: https://www.organiclamb.com/, This is a very thin yarn that I dropped from my list years ago because I had so much trouble getting it. But if you don’t have any loom, you can still … Combining yarns is also a great way to add texture and interest to your weave. If you’re a dyer, this is a fantastic choice. I use one strand of Highland at 8 or 10 epi. Find the posts here: Tapestry Weaving Adventure, all about planning color and picking yarns from your stash. The gallery below has more photos of some of the yarns I’ve mentioned above. If you're interested in weaving rugs, they also sell a singles churro yarn in a rug weight. Here are some things to look for in yarns used for tapestry weaving. Using a yarn that is very thin that you can bundle in the weaving gives you more color options. Most tapestry weavers do not ply their singles--they just lay them in in bundles. The shipping of this yarn to the USA is very reasonable—pretty comparable to ordering something from across the country. They come in a wide variety of colors including gradations. Cotton is also a great choice, but should be chosen a little more carefully for beginners. It is a beautiful yarn that has some spelsau in it (sheep breed) that makes it very shiny. Let us know in the comments! This yarn works well with 3-4 strands at 8 epi. Is it easy to work with? A yarn from the same spinnery in Norway, Hiilesvåg Ullvarefabrikk, this is a much thinner yarn with a softer hand. I often will use the Highland instead and take the plies apart to mix two colors. This can be an attractive characteristic in tapestry. This also created the pocket for my dowel to go through. I have woven a little with this yarn and love the feel of it. 4. Consider what type of weaving works well with the yarn you have. Sample woven with Frid Vevgarn, 2 strands at 8 (or maybe 10) epi. Our most popular yarns for weavers: While most any yarn can be used for weaving, some are better suited than others. The yarn I use for my own tapestries is made by Harrisville Designs. Lofty yarns pack in too much which means you have to weave many more picks to fill in your forms. If you’re interested in it, they sell a couple sample packs with small amounts of all the colors. A yarn from the same spinnery in Norway as Frid Vevgarn, Hiilesvåg Ullvarefabrikk, this is a much thinner yarn with a softer hand. A new yarn on the scene, this one works well with one strand at 8 epi. I take your privacy seriously. The crewel yarn can be bundled for a very nice woven tapestry surface with color variations. It is a beautiful yarn that has some spelsau in it... Harrisville Shetland. This yarn comes in over 400 colors including gradations and having a source that carries all the colors is important to tapestry weavers. For bundling I love 18/2 fine and if the sett is wider, I’ll add a strand or two of the 9.5/2 medium sized yarn. A teacher can help you with this information but this post should help get you started. Further Reading. It felt a bit like painting with yarn, which made me feel immediately hooked on this style of weaving. These are yarns that can be used with just one strand or are grabby enough to make two strands fairly easy to use. This yarn is sold in the USA by Norsk Fjord Fibers. Don't be fooled into ordering the Appleton tapestry yarn though. A firm yarn that is not lofty. Search Rebecca’s blog with the search box below or via categories. The company is run by two tapestry weavers who are producing yarns specifically for tapestry weaving. These are great setts for a beginning tapestry weaver, so this yarn is a good introductory yarn. Mountain Meadows mill in Wyoming does some lovely hand-dyed yarns. This can be a gorgeous option for tapestry weaving. Staple – Sheep, goat, rabbit, camel, yak all produce hair that is processed into weaving yarn. The crewel yarn can be bundled for a very nice woven tapestry surface with color variations. I always recommend starting with just one yarn. You can get all sorts of gradations, so enjoy the options! You also need to know which fiber is best suited to your project. Search Rebecca’s blog with the search box below or via categories. The following are ten of the best tapestry needles you should consider buying: ... Knitting; Arts & Crafts; 10 Best Tapestry Needles Review & Guide. I have used pearl cotton, a common weaving cotton, for small tapestries with good results. In fact, my Beginner Rigid Heddle Weaving course project uses the popular US cotton, Sugar n Cream. Little Known Facts About Tapestry Needlepoint Yarn . I have not used this yarn much at all. Yes, I’ve tried it. A sumptuous blend of pima cotton and merino wool produces a light and resilient yarn ideal for summer wardrobe staples and textiles for the home. If you like texture, you can bundle a plied yarn of course!