Tablet Weaving in Theory and Practice: July 2018

Saturday, 28 July 2018

Vines

This pattern was inspired by work done by Shelagh Lewins on a band from the Oseberg ship burial (buried in 834 CE). It's a simple threaded-in pattern and is woven by turning the tablets continuously forwards (or by turning the tablets continuously backwards to work out built up twist). It's reversible, so the pattern appears on both sides of the band and would make a great selvedge pattern as part of a larger band.

This is an easy weave, as the tablet threadings produce the pattern so there's no need to make turning direction changes or keep count of numbers of turns. A perfect pattern to work on if you're new to tablet weaving.

A simple tablet weaving pattern in green, white and black

A photograph of an example band woven using the pattern above

You can download the TDD file for this draft by clicking here

The text version of this draft is here:

Threading:

S threaded tablet
1. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
2. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
3. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
4. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
Z threaded tablet
1. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
2. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
3. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
4. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. Black (#000000)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. Black (#000000)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. Black (#000000)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
2. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
3. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
4. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
Z threaded tablet
1. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
2. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
3. Japanese Laurel (#009900)
4. Japanese Laurel (#009900)

Turning:

As with all of the free patterns on this site, you are welcome to weave them, sell bands woven using them, and use them to teach other weavers, just as long as you state where you found them.

Sunday, 22 July 2018

Tablet Weaving Draft Designer Updates

New additions:

Visual Scale control as part of the Display section of the Control Panel. This can be used to increase the size of the draft, without changing the size of the Control Panel. It will also increase the resolution when exporting an image of the draft to .png or .jpeg.

Image Quality control added to the .png and .jpeg export preview. This starts at the same setting as your Visual Scale control and can also be used to increase the size and resolution of the image of the draft.

Added a link to this blog to the main page, below the link to the Instructions.

Adjustments to existing features:

Changes to the wording of the Instructions Page and the addition of a link to this blog.

Changes to the way the Control Panel behaves with input from keyboards to the Picks control.

Close preview button in the export preview moved to above the image of the draft rather than below.

Friday, 20 July 2018

Basketweave

In 2015 I wove some fabric on my 8-shaft table loom (the "big" loom), with the intention of making a sideless surcoat. I completely screwed up the cutting and ended up with pieces of precious fabric that were unusable for what I wanted. These days I always make a mock up garment out of scrap fabric before I put scissors to the actual garment fabric.

When the sting of my foolishness had faded a year or so later, I used what pieces I had to make a satchel style bag. People who relied on hand looms for their textiles wouldn't have wasted such a resource, so I shouldn't either.

A bag with yellow tassels, made from handwoven red and yellow fabric in a basket weave motif

The almost finished bag, complete with tassels made from loom waste.

I designed a simple tablet weaving pattern for a strap to match the main fabric. This pattern is fairly straight forward, but does involve groups of tablets turning both forwards and backwards, so I would recommend it for an advanced beginner/ intermediate weaver.

You can download this draft as a TDD file by clicking here.

A tablet weaving pattern in red and yellow in a basket weave motif

A photograph of a tablet woven band made using the pattern above

The band woven in cottolin. The weft bumps along the edges disappear if the weft is pulled in tighter.

The text version of this draft is as follows:

Threading:

S threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
S threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
S threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Red (#ff0000)
Z threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
S threaded tablet
1. Yellow (#ffff00)
2. Yellow (#ffff00)
3. Yellow (#ffff00)
4. Yellow (#ffff00)
Z threaded tablet
1. Red (#ff0000)
2. Red (#ff0000)
3. Red (#ff0000)
4. Red (#ff0000)

Turning:

4F 2B 10F 2B 8F
4F 2B 10F 2B 8F
14F 2B 10F
14F 2B 10F
4F 2B 6F 6B 8F
4F 2B 6F 6B 8F
4F 4B 2F 10B 6F
4F 4B 2F 10B 6F
4F 6B 2F 10B 4F
4F 6B 2F 10B 4F
4F 4B 6F 6B 6F
4F 4B 6F 6B 6F

As with all of the free patterns on this site, you are welcome to weave them, sell bands woven using them, and use them to teach other weavers, just as long as you state where you found them.

Tuesday, 17 July 2018

A Weaver's Little Helper

When I weave, my cat Twist frequently gets bored and tries to turn my attention back to where it should be: him. He strums my warp like a guitar, flosses with fine silks and hunts any trailing weft threads as I work. I find that a squirt bottle of water is an essential weaving tool.

A photograph of a black and white cat poking his paws into a tablet weaving loom during the warping process

A photograph of a black and white cat standing over a loom so that weaving is blocked by his body

A photograph of a black and white cat sleeping belly upwards on top of a book about the history of tablet weaving

That's Nancy Spies' Ecclesiastical Pomp& Aristocratic Circumstance he's asleep on there.

Sunday, 15 July 2018

Rarity Trim

As part of an exchange, a friend once asked me to weave some trim based around Rarity from Hasbro's My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. I chose to go with Rarity's cutie mark, elongated pale blue diamonds on a white background and added borders of purple to represent her mane. To make the diamonds elongated, I offset the turning reversals by one pick. I started off using a purple weft, but it showed through the white yarn of the main pattern too much, so I swapped it to a white weft. To avoid white weft spots against a purple selvedge, I used a white floating selvedge (an extra piece of yarn not controlled by the tablets which the shuttle went over on the way into the shed and under on the way out of the shed). If I wove it again, I would add an extra tablet on each side of the selvedge, carrying all white yarns.

I would place this band's difficulty level at advanced beginner/ intermediate. The pattern repeat is in multiples of 8 picks.

A pattern for tablet weaving based on the cutie-mark of Hasbro's Rarity

Thread your tablets as above.

You can download the TDD file for this draft by clicking here

The text version of this draft is here:

Threading:

Z threaded tablet
1. Flirt (#990099)
2. Flirt (#990099)
3. Flirt (#990099)
4. Flirt (#990099)
S threaded tablet
1. Flirt (#990099)
2. Flirt (#990099)
3. Flirt (#990099)
4. Flirt (#990099)
Z threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
4. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
S threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
4. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. Azure Radiance (#0092ff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. Flirt (#990099)
2. Flirt (#990099)
3. Flirt (#990099)
4. Flirt (#990099)
S threaded tablet
1. Flirt (#990099)
2. Flirt (#990099)
3. Flirt (#990099)
4. Flirt (#990099)

Turning:

15F
15F
10F 3B 2F
5F 8B 2F
2F 11B 2F
2F 11B 2F
2F 8B 5F
2F 3B 10F

As with all of the free patterns on this site, you are welcome to weave them, sell bands woven using them, and use them to teach other weavers, just as long as you state where you found them.

Thursday, 12 July 2018

Ermine Spots

Is it possible to tablet weave ermine spots? Absolutely!

I've come up with two options, both in double-face and can be done using the same warp, so you can try both and see which you prefer. The first one, horizontal ermine spots, has a pattern repeat length of 12 picks/ rows.

You can download the TDD file for this draft by clicking here.

A pattern for weaving horizontal ermine motifs in double-face tablet weaving

A photograph of a tablet woven showing horizontal ermine spots

You will need to flip the threading direction of 10 of the pattern tablets (6, 8, 10 ,12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24) before you try the second version of the pattern. The second version of the pattern, vertical ermine spots, has a pattern repeat of 24 picks/ rows.

You can download the TDD file for this draft by clicking here.

A pattern for weaving vertical ermine motifs in double-face tablet weaving

A photograph of a tablet woven band with vertical ermine spots

The text version of the horizontal ermine spots is as follows:

Threading:

S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)

Turning:

5F 15B 10F
5F 15B 10F
8F 2B 5F 7B 8F
8F 2B 5F 7B 8F
7F 3B 20F
7F 3B 20F
8F 2B 5F 7B 8F
8F 2B 5F 7B 8F
5F 15B 10F
5F 15B 10F
30F
30F

The text version of the vertical ermine spots is as follows:

Threading:

S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
S threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)
Z threaded tablet
1. White (#ffffff)
2. White (#ffffff)
3. White (#ffffff)
4. White (#ffffff)
S threaded tablet
1. Black (#000000)
2. Black (#000000)
3. Black (#000000)
4. Black (#000000)

Turning:

7F 2B 2F 2B 2F 4B 2F 4B 5F
7F 2B 2F 2B 2F 4B 2F 4B 5F
5F 3B 1F 2B 1F 3B 1F 2B 4F 2B 6F
5F 3B 1F 2B 1F 3B 1F 2B 4F 2B 6F
5F 1B 8F 5B 2F 4B 5F
5F 1B 8F 5B 2F 4B 5F
7F 6B 17F
7F 6B 17F
5F 3B 4F 13B 5F
5F 3B 4F 13B 5F
9F 2B 19F
9F 2B 19F
5F 4B 2F 4B 2F 2B 2F 2B 7F
5F 4B 2F 4B 2F 2B 2F 2B 7F
6F 2B 4F 2B 1F 3B 1F 2B 1F 3B 5F
6F 2B 4F 2B 1F 3B 1F 2B 1F 3B 5F
5F 4B 2F 5B 8F 1B 5F
5F 4B 2F 5B 8F 1B 5F
17F 6B 7F
17F 6B 7F
5F 13B 4F 3B 5F
5F 13B 4F 3B 5F
19F 2B 9F
19F 2B 9F

As with all of the free patterns on this site, you are welcome to weave them, sell bands woven using them, and use them to teach other weavers, just as long as you state where you found them.