Thursday, January 26, 2012

Signatures of Domythic Living: Day 4, Tapestries

Tapestries!! I love them. And it's so easy to get the look of them at any price point.

I'll start with a few examples from a tapestry seller's website:







And another example from my entry, scored on Etsy for an unbelievable $30 (it's large!).


A gorgeous example recently posted by the Frouds on their fan page on Facebook. (dreamy eyes)


And another example in Terri Windling's studio space:


And of course there's the ultimate example...the Gryffindor Common Room. I can hardly focus when they have a scene in here, because I can't stop staring at those FULL WALL Lady and the Unicorn tapestries.


Now for a little advice. Pyramid Collection sells a lovely set of two Mucha tapestries we also have in our house. For $89.95 for two, you get a lot of bang for your buck, and the hangers are included.


It's also possible to buy unfinished panels of tapestries on Ebay, or to just find a repeating pattern tapestry fabric you like and make a large wall hanging from it.


Or, if you have no sewing skills at all whatsoever, a nice and ultra-inexpensive way to add the medieval tapestry feel to your walls is to purchase a lovely brocade or patterned table runner with pointed and tasseled ends. Cut the table runner in half, and use fabric glue or iron-on adhesive strips to create a "pocket" on each of the cut ends. You're left with two small "banners" ready for a hanging rod to add a touch of medieval flair to your wall! Buy two or three table runners, and the banners can cover a whole wall!

5 comments:

  1. I was catching up on some of Theodora Goss' journal posts and am so SO happy to have found your blog! It's everything I love in decorating, absolutely perfect! Thank you so much for what you're doing :).

    Would you be interested at all in photos of my own space? It's just one room but it's about as packed with mythic as I can make it :P. Tapestries for sure!

    Thank you again - can't wait to try the paper butterflies as well!

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  2. Yes please, Brittany! I love to see any examples anyone wants to send along! My email is feysidhe@gmail.com :) So glad you enjoy it!

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  3. One way to have tapestrys on a small budget, is to paint them. You can find illuminated mss pages on the web now-I need to find those again myself-pick some of the simpler images, print and enlarge, then copy onto heavy canvas, and paint with acrylic paints. A canvas dropcloth is heavy, inexspensive and alot of canvas to work with. Tip: Coat the canvas with white interior house paint and let it dry BEFORE you transfer your copy onto it. You can pick up leftover paint alot of times on Freecycle. And thin your acrylic paints mainly with medium, and a little water. Cheaper student grade paints will work well for this. I've seen folks in re-enactment groups do this for house/heraldic banners and tapestries to fancy up their tents.
    Leigh

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  4. Another way, is to use felted wool in appropriate colors, a simple heraltic design-like a dragon-and do a simple silhouette. I saw a pretty decent one in a search on etsy. If you live somewhere where wool clothes/cloth is common, check at used stores like GoodWill. Felting it isn't hard at all, just stich it around the edges of your design BEFORE you cut it, as the wool WILL stretch like crazy.

    Anyway, enough, hope I'm not being a nuisance.
    Leigh

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