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Cardweaving

 

Cardweaving, or Tablet Weaving, is an ancient craft by which people wove the narrow bands and straps needed in everyday life.   

Woven Blue Flame
blue flame

Detailed information can be found on the Cardweaving Wikipedia Page:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablet_weaving

 

Cardweaving can be worked on a variety of looms but a loom is not required, all you really need is thread, cards, and something to use as a shuttle to hold thread and pack down the weaving rows.

Rainbow Ram's Horn
Rainbow Ram's Horn

 

Arch Reactor periodically offers classes on Cardweaving.   Watch the AR Calendar for class opportunities or reach out if you have a small group interested in a custom class

Iris, Diamonds, and Butterfly Cardweaving samples
Cardweaving Patterns

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Custom Oversize Demonstration Loom:

 

To help demonstrate the awesomeness that is cardweaving, and knowing that it's hard for people to see tiny threads, several members of Arch Reactor helped to make a Giant Surfboard CardWeaving Loom to weave 325 Paracord.     

at KC Maker Faire
Giant Surfboard Loom at KC Maker Faire

8-inch Oak "Surfboard" loom to weave 325 Paracord.    

Tablets are laser-cut 1/4" acrylic

Shuttle handmade at Arch Reactor

Please note first Paracord Band to the immediate Left of the loom

Please note the Schacht Inkle loom threaded with 10/2 Perle Cotton on the left of the picture - same pattern as is on the Paracord loom

Cardweaving must be done under tension.   In this case, each of the four-strands of paracord per card is weighted by a 1/2 liter water bottle

 

A laser-cut acrylic "comb" mounted to the end of the board helps keep the weighting even by spreading the bottles apart so that they don't "stack" together.    

 

Excess warp length is chain-crochetted together so it does not drag

Weighting each card of the loom with water bottles
Cardweaving "threads" require weights. In this case, 1/2 liter bottles of water!
22 cards - 88 threads - nearly 5" wide!
Paracord makes for WIDE bands!

The first Paracord Cardwoven band!

 

22 Cards - 88 Strands of paracord

 

Over 5.5 inches wide

 

Estimated to hold upwards of 10,000 pounds (assuming we could find and attach appropriate hardware)

 

In 10/2 Perle Cotton - band is only 3/4 inch wide!

Cardweaving Poster
Cardweaving Poster
Cardweaving Poster
Cardweaving Poster

 

Posted by
Di Sudduth's picture
Di Sudduth
on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019
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