Once called the “…willful pursuit of complexity,” tablet weaving is a craft that embodies both madness and triumph. Its sumptuous range of delicious angular designs and pattern diversity remain timeless and richly diverse. No other form of band weaving bursts with such life and complexity. From ancient Egypt to Europe, Asia to South America, evidence of its historical popularity spans three millennia. Its uses have been diverse, and include treasured silken embellishments on clothing, structural borders on larger woven pieces, stand-alone belts, and binding for the edges of fourteenth-century European clothing.
There are several distinct forms of tablet weaving. The warped-in method presented here encourages newer weavers to use their creativity in colour choices paired with classic patterns while building the muscle memory needed for more complex techniques. I hope this tutorial forms the basis for your own willful pursuit of complexity.
Some definitions:
Shed: temporary opening in the warp threads through which the weft is passed.
Warp: threads that are held under tension, usually on a loom.
Warp-faced: when the patterns and colours in the finished band are derived from the warp threads (i.e., not from the weft).
Weft: the thread passed across the width of the fabric through alternating sheds. Wefts can be structural (passing across the entire width of the warp, securing the structural integrity of the band), or decorative (passing across only a portion of the weaving, contributing visually to an overall decorative motif).
Figure 1. A variety of tablet-woven patterns that can be made using this tutorial.
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Zoe McDonell:
Email: historysciencefiber@gmail.com
Website: wildcraftdyeing.com
YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@wildcraftdyeing
Photo credits Zoe McDonell except where indicated.
