Blocking your tapestry canvas

You will need

  • 1. Blocking mats

    Milwards mats are great, they have 1" gridlines and are made from good dense foam. You can find them here

    Blocking mats

  • 2. T-pins

    These are large, sturdy pins in a t-shape for ease of inserting and removing. Strong enough to withstand the stretch of the canvas. Easy to find in haberdashery shops, will be available here soon.

  • 3. Cool water in a spray bottle

    Choose a spray bottle that has a fine to medium misting spray to enable a good, even coverage of water.

  • Step by step

    1. Layout some foam blocking mats in a larger area than your canvas.

    2. Lay your tapestry face down on the mat and give the wool a spray with some cool water. The wool should be damp, not soaking. Leave for a minute to let the water soak in to the fibres. Use might want to use a towel to mop up any excess water. 

    3. Whilst holding you canvas in your hands, gently pull your canvas into shape as best you can.

    4. With your canvas face down on the mats, line up one of the edges against a gridline cross section and pin a corner with a t-pin about one inch away from the edge of your stitches.

    5. Pin the opposite corner. You may need to stretch the canvas a little to reach the desired width.

    6. Put a t-pin roughly half way along this edge, lining up against the gridline. 

    7. Pin the other corners and work along each edge, gently pulling the canvas into shape and pinning. You might need to give the wool a light spray with water if it's difficult to stretch.

    8. When you have pinned all four edges you can give the canvas another light spray and then leave to dry overnight.

    9. When thoroughly dry, remove the t-pins and check that the canvas is square. For extremely warped canvases, you may need to repeat this process until you have good straight edges.