Band weaving forms narrow, decorative pieces of woven fabric that can be used for a wide variety of purposes, from embellishing clothing and jewelry to pet collars, lanyards, leashes, guitar straps, and yoga mat carriers. The bands are also incredibly strong; I once had an instructor use their woollen tablet-woven belt as a tow cable to retrieve a stranded car from a ditch. The enduring appeal of this craft is how little space it takes up as a hobby and how modest the material needs are to get started. Typical looms (though not required) fit easily on a coffee table and can be stored on a standard shelf. Bands can be woven using a variety of home set ups. One of the most popular options is using a typical inkle loom which can fit easily onto a coffee table for use and then stored on a standard bookshelf. Band weaving also does not require a significant amount of fiber, which makes exploring more luxurious yarns appealing.
My introduction to band weaving was a class at a medieval recreation event in 2000. The instructor had us select colours from a riotous pile of acrylic yarn. Once we had organized our threads, we tied one set of ends to a table leg and the other ends to our belts. We leaned back and started weaving. It took time to adjust to the rhythm; the diamond pattern we sought sometimes forming chevrons or crude fish instead. But I was hooked. Back home, eager to start but short on resources, I flipped over my ironing board as a make-shift loom and started weaving my next piece using crochet cotton on hand (the ironing board never fully recovered!).
Tablet-woven bands inspired by Iron-age Finnish patterns.
All photos by Zoe McDonell unless otherwise noted.
