Tablet weaving

Tablet Weaving is a process of weaving where tablets, also called 'cards', are used to create the shed the weft is passed through. It is generally used to make narrow work such as belts or straps.

The origins of this technique go back at least to the early Iron age. Examples have been found at Hochdorf, Germany and Apremont, France.

How to Do It

One of the best things about tablet weaving is that the equipment is cheap, and easy to get.

In the past, indigenous weavers used bark, split wood or plaited (mat, or basket-like) tablets. Commercial cardboard tablets are available with two, four (square) and seven (hexagonal) holes. Before commercial tablets were available, most weavers drilled a set of playing cards. This is still one of the easiest ways to get a sturdy set of plastic tablets, customized tablets, or large numbers of inexpensive tablets.

The basic idea is to turn the tablets to lift selected sets of threads in the warp. The tablets are not twisted continuously in one direction, but rather moved forward, then back by the same amount. Twisting the tablets often creates a ribbon that curls in the direction of the twist.

Traditionally, one end of the warp was tucked into, or wrapped around the weaver's belt, and the other is looped over a toe, or tied to a pole or furniture. Some traditional weavers weave between two poles, and wrap the weft around the poles. Commercial "tablet weaving looms" adapt this idea, and are convenient because they make it easy to put the work down.

Some modern weavers thread each card individually, but this is time consuming. The traditional threading method is to put all the threads through the holes of an entire deck. Then, starting at the pair of cards farthest from the bobbins, the threads are pulled from between each pair of cards out to the length of the warp, and hooked or tied on each end. If the cards remain "paired", so that alternate cards twist in opposite directions, continuous turning does not twist the ribbon. Some weavers in some patterns flip alternate cards, "unpairing" them. This makes it easier to turn individual cards.

A shuttle about twice as wide as the ribbon is placed in the shed to beat the previous weft, then carry the next weft into the shed. Shuttles made for tablet weaving have sharp edges to beat down the weft. The best shuttles have plates to cover the bobbin, and keep it from catching the warp. Simple flat wooden or plastic shuttles work well for weaving with large yarns, but weaving with finer threads goes more quickly with a tablet-weaving shuttle.

Patterns are made by placing different-colored yarns in different holes, then turning individual cards until the desired colors of the weft are on top. After that, a simple pattern, like a stripe, small diamond or check, can be repeated just by turning the deck of tablets.

Tablet weaving is especially freeing, because any pattern can be created by turning individual tablets. This is in contrast to normal looms, in which the complexity of the pattern is limited by the number of hettles available to lift threads, and the threading of the heddles.

Tablet weaving can also be used to weave tubes or even one-piece clothing such as pants or gloves. To weave tubes or clothing, tablets are made to have four levels in the warp, and then two sheds are beat and wefted, one in the top pair of warps, and the other in the bottom pair, before turning the deck. Since groups of tablets can be turned separately, the length, width and joining of the tubes can be controlled by the weaver. After the tubes of clothing are woven, they are hemmed along the seams, and then cut apart and turned seamside-in.

Tablets with more holes can be used to weave more complex patterns because they carry more colors, and the deck can be programmed with more shapes. Some artists and crafters use tablets with as many as sixteen holes. These tablets are usually marked with colors or stripes.

Traditional tablet weavers sometimes say that the real reason why they prefer playing-card tablets is so that they can see the orientation of the tablets more easily.