Navajo Weaving (Rugs) Double-Faced by Tammy Martin

Description

Double-faced weaving is notoriously difficult to do Navajo-style which makes rugs woven that way rare to boot.  As a result, when Tammy Martin brought this small double-faced weaving in, we gladly acquired it.   

Navajo weavers use the same vertical loom for double-face weaving as they do for plain weaving.  The warp setup is different (and tricky).  Instead of one stick and one pull shed, two-faced pieces have one stick and three pull sheds.   This means that the weave employs a four-harness loom set up on a closed, continuous Navajo warp.  

One side of the piece features multicolored asymmetrical crosses. The second is a more traditional double-diamond pattern.  Importantly, there’s one side of this piece that Tammy couldn’t see without turning the loom around.  You’ll understand if you try it sometime!  When asked how she managed the patterns on both sides, she said “I just wove it!”  However she did it, we think that you’ll just love it! 

Tammy (born for Tl’ashchi’i, born to Tabaaha) lives near Navajo, NM., and is a single mom. She is enrolled in the BFA Navajo Culture program majoring in Navajo weaving and is an apprentice textile conservator here at Weaving in Beauty.