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Glossary/Tapestry WeaveTechnique

Tapestry Weave

A weaving structure in which discontinuous weft threads create the pattern by turning back at colour boundaries rather than passing across the full width of the warp.

Definition

In tapestry weave, each colour area is worked separately: the weft thread of one colour passes back and forth within its own area of the composition, turning at the boundary with adjacent colours. This allows precise, complex pictorial or geometric patterning but creates structural junctions between colour areas that must be handled carefully, either as slit-weave gaps (which are cut and sometimes sewn), interlocked joins, or shared warp threads.

Most Moroccan kilim compositions use tapestry weave principles. The quality of the colour joins, how the boundary between two colour areas is resolved structurally, is one of the primary indicators of a weaver's technical skill.

Why it matters for buying
In examining a kilim, the colour joins are where quality shows most clearly. Clean, tight joins with no slits or gapping indicate careful craftsmanship. Loose or gapping joins may indicate rushed work or a lower quality piece.
Related Terms
KilimA flatweave with no pile. The weft threads carry the pattern and the structure at the same time. What you see is what the weaver decided, row by row.FlatweaveAny woven textile without pile. Flat, reversible, lighter than a pile rug of the same size. Made from a single decision repeated thousands of times.Slit-WeaveA kilim construction where adjacent colour areas meet at a shared warp thread, creating a literal slit in the textile. The source of the sharp geometric edges in classic kilim patterning.Weft-facedA weave structure where the weft threads completely cover the warp. The surface is entirely the weft. The warp is the skeleton underneath, invisible.
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