Experiments with Tablet Weaving
by
David Shackleton
I started tablet weaving when I joined my
first reenactment group a few years ago. The plan was to make just enough for
my Viking outfit and leave it at that. Then came the fateful words, "Could you
do some for me?" and I've been weaving ever since.
Like most people, I started with simple patterns where all the tablets are turned in the same direction at the same time. Althought the patterns look good, they essentially repeat themselves over and over again like these:
The pattern above shows two of the easiest motifs to work with: diamonds and waves. It gets a bit boring just repeating the same pattern over and over again but the result is very effective.
The piece below makes use of the natural colours of wool straight from the sheep:
Looking for new ideas for patterns, I came across the Yahoo tablet weaving group run by The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). I quickly discovered that there were all sorts of different ways of doing tablet weaving and that the most impressive stuff was done by turning individual tablets in different directions. I was so impressed by one piece (Guntram's Dragon's Breath pattern) that I tried working out how it was woven. As it happens I got it wrong (using 33 tablets instead of the original 20 that Guntram used) but its one of the most popular pieces that I have woven. This is in mercerised cotton.
The pattern still repeats itself but at least the tablets don't all go the same way at once! I eventually figured out how the original was woven. This one uses an entirely different colour scheme using naturally dyed wool:
The colours are, working from the outside: walnut, no mordant; weld, copper mordant; weld, alum mordant; onion skin, alum mordant and madder, alum mordant.
This is apparently a fairly modern technique using two colours. The background is fine diagonal stripes with the pattern made by turning chosen tablets in the opposite direction. The patterns can be changed at will and can make your eyes go funny:
This example is in fine worsted using 40 tablets. The next piece changes the rules slightly as I've altered the colours part way across the band. This is the first piece I wove using wool that I'd dyed myself. The colours are: Brown, walnut, no mordant; pink, madder with alum mordant and yellow, dyer's broom, alum mordant.
and on the reverse:
If you look carefully, you will notice that the edge of the pattern isn't quite as straight on the reverse as it is on the front.
Snatermo
This weaving uses four colours and mixes long and short floats to create rather psychadelic patterns. To the best of my knowledge, the technique is from Migration Period Scandinavia. It uses a mixture of long and short floats (the bit of the thread that lies on the surface) to create geometric patterns. This one is in 60/2 silk. The thicker lines that make up the pattern can be made with any of the four colours.
A variation of this technique uses three threads of background (gold) and one darker thread per tablet. This time, the patterns are made entirely with the darker thread.
Hochdorf Method
This method used square tablets with only two threads in diagonally opposite corners; in this case blue and pale gold. The pattern is taken directly from an Iron Age find at Hochdorf and dates from the Hallstatt period. I wove this in 60/2 Shantung silk, which is about the same as a fairly fine sewing thread.
I particularly like this method because its brilliant at doing knotwork:
Hallstatt
Of the techniques that I've tried so far, I found this the most difficult. Oddly enough, it is just as much trouble to weave the background as it is to weave the pattern. However, the method has the merit of producing a very complex pattern with a very small number of tablets. I refer to the style as Hallstatt because this is where the pattern below comes from. The method is also called 3/1 broken twill.
This piece is woven with a soft-spun wool which I hand dyed: Border - walnut, no mordant; Green - Weld, alum mordant overdyed with indigo; yellow - weld, aluminium mordant
tabletweaving@aol.com
I'm a member of a re-enactment group called the Vicus .
Like most people, I started with simple patterns where all the tablets are turned in the same direction at the same time. Althought the patterns look good, they essentially repeat themselves over and over again like these:
The pattern above shows two of the easiest motifs to work with: diamonds and waves. It gets a bit boring just repeating the same pattern over and over again but the result is very effective.
The piece below makes use of the natural colours of wool straight from the sheep:
Looking for new ideas for patterns, I came across the Yahoo tablet weaving group run by The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). I quickly discovered that there were all sorts of different ways of doing tablet weaving and that the most impressive stuff was done by turning individual tablets in different directions. I was so impressed by one piece (Guntram's Dragon's Breath pattern) that I tried working out how it was woven. As it happens I got it wrong (using 33 tablets instead of the original 20 that Guntram used) but its one of the most popular pieces that I have woven. This is in mercerised cotton.
The pattern still repeats itself but at least the tablets don't all go the same way at once! I eventually figured out how the original was woven. This one uses an entirely different colour scheme using naturally dyed wool:
The colours are, working from the outside: walnut, no mordant; weld, copper mordant; weld, alum mordant; onion skin, alum mordant and madder, alum mordant.
Egyptian Diagonals
This is apparently a fairly modern technique using two colours. The background is fine diagonal stripes with the pattern made by turning chosen tablets in the opposite direction. The patterns can be changed at will and can make your eyes go funny:
This example is in fine worsted using 40 tablets. The next piece changes the rules slightly as I've altered the colours part way across the band. This is the first piece I wove using wool that I'd dyed myself. The colours are: Brown, walnut, no mordant; pink, madder with alum mordant and yellow, dyer's broom, alum mordant.
Double Face Weaving
I like this method because you get the same pattern on both sides with the colours reversed. Some of these methods give a good pattern on one side but not the other. The basic technique uses two colours to give a variety of patterns and even writing. I made this piece for a 4th century Roman outfit:
and on the reverse:
If you look carefully, you will notice that the edge of the pattern isn't quite as straight on the reverse as it is on the front.
Snatermo
This weaving uses four colours and mixes long and short floats to create rather psychadelic patterns. To the best of my knowledge, the technique is from Migration Period Scandinavia. It uses a mixture of long and short floats (the bit of the thread that lies on the surface) to create geometric patterns. This one is in 60/2 silk. The thicker lines that make up the pattern can be made with any of the four colours.
A variation of this technique uses three threads of background (gold) and one darker thread per tablet. This time, the patterns are made entirely with the darker thread.
Hochdorf Method
This method used square tablets with only two threads in diagonally opposite corners; in this case blue and pale gold. The pattern is taken directly from an Iron Age find at Hochdorf and dates from the Hallstatt period. I wove this in 60/2 Shantung silk, which is about the same as a fairly fine sewing thread.
I particularly like this method because its brilliant at doing knotwork:
Hallstatt
Of the techniques that I've tried so far, I found this the most difficult. Oddly enough, it is just as much trouble to weave the background as it is to weave the pattern. However, the method has the merit of producing a very complex pattern with a very small number of tablets. I refer to the style as Hallstatt because this is where the pattern below comes from. The method is also called 3/1 broken twill.
This piece is woven with a soft-spun wool which I hand dyed: Border - walnut, no mordant; Green - Weld, alum mordant overdyed with indigo; yellow - weld, aluminium mordant
Contact Details
If you would like more information on tablet weaving generally, or if you have any specific comments or questions, contact me at:tabletweaving@aol.com
Links
I'm a member of a re-enactment group called the Vicus .
