Tablet Weaving

First some vocabulary: the warp are the threads that go through the cards and are in the direction that the band is woven. The weft is the single thread across the warp. The shed is the space between the upper and lower threads of the warp.

The tablets are threaded with one thread through each hole. They are stacked next to each other, as in a pack of playing cards. The threads are tied on both ends. The cards are positioned so that two threads in each card form the upper part of the shed and two the lower part. The threads in the upper and lower part of the shed are exchanged by rotating the cards, usually by 90 degrees. This brings one of the threads from top to bottom and one from bottom to top and this is the genius part - rotating the cards instead of pulling the individual threads as is done for example on a loom. The weft thread goes once through the shed every time the cards are rotated.

The weft thread is not visible except at the sides of the band. The patterns are created by the warp threads.

Thread all the cards, one thread through each hole. To start with, use threads of two colours and put two and two in each card (say, two violet threads in the holes next to each other and two green threads in the remaining two holes). Align the cards like playing cards in a pack. Tie one end of the threads to an unmovable spot and the other either around your waist or to a belt on your waist. Make sure that all the threads have the same tension and that all have the same alignment of colours: start with all the violet threads (or all green) on top. Also make sure that all cards are threaded in the same direction when looking from above - all the threads have to come from the same direction. Except, that is, for the first and last card, which should be a mirror images of the others. For example, if all the threads come to the cards from the left and leave from the right, the first and last cards are flipped so that the threads come from the right and leave from the left. This is so that the finished band would not twist. This first and last cards are also usually threaded with the same colour as the warp thread, it is orange in the pictures.

Take the weft and pull it through the shed. Turn the cards by 90 degrees and push against the crossed warp threads (this ensures the woven band is regular). Then pull the weft back through the shed, turn the cards again in the same direction, etc. See? You are weaving violet and green stripes!

Now that you have a nice striped piece of weaving, try to change the pattern. Omitting the first and last cards, either turn every other pair of cards (that is, cards 2, 3 and 6, 7 and 10, 11, etc.) by 180 degrees (in the same direction as you turn them when weaving), or flip them. Then continue weaving. Both changes will produce chequered pattern, but these will be slightly different, depending on whether you turned or flipped the cards. Examine your woven band carefully and you will understand why.

By turning various individual cards to change the pattern you can create many patterns and you are only limited by the number and arrangement of colours in the warp.

The band itself will not unravel easily, so the finishing is essentially a matter of tying all the threads in some way. You can plait them or twist them to make a fringe, or perhaps sew them to the back of the band or into a piece of fabric.

The photo below shows a band I wove with a design called ram's horns. It is finished by twisting the threads and making a fringe. Instructions for weaving this pattern can be found for example on Eve's page.