Cardweaving, beginner class.

Cardweaving, beginner class.

History

Card woven finds as early as the 3^rd century. Edging fabric in the 6^th century. Bands have been found woven of wool, linen, silk, cotton, and combinations of these. Cards have been found made of wood, ivory, bone, leather and other substances with 4-8 holes.

Weaving

The only thing you need for card weaving are cards and thread. Other aids include shuttle, beater, comb and loom.

Patterns

Warping pattern and the turning pattern control the final result. The weft will only show a bit on the edges and diagonally. The kits are warped for this pattern with 16 blue, 10 red and 14 tan:

From Card Weaving by Candace Crockett. Isbn 0-934026-61-0

A common turning pattern is four turns forward and four turns back. Mix it up by turning in sets of six. You could turn all in one direction but ultimately you will either end up twisting the warp threads so much there will be no room to turn the cards or reversing the direction so they unravel.

Formula for warp length = 1.2 x final length + 50 cm http://www.stringpage.com/tw/basictw.html

Weaving the kit

Thread the cards in your pattern from front to back. Tie the four threads from each card in a knot and move on to the next card until they're all threaded in a stack spaced several inches from the knots. In your next project you can experiment with threading some of the cards from the back to the front (S vs Z threading) alternately or half of your pattern.

When you have threaded all the cards tie them all together at one end. Comb the threads with your fingers as you hold your cards, smooth them out as much as you can (a wide toothed comb can be helpful here) and trim and tie the other end in a knot as well.

Fasten your weaving so that it's under tension. One end tied to a doorknob or stationary object, the other end tied to your waist is one option.

Make sure all the cards are aligned with A-D on the top and you can put your hand in the space in the middle (the shed). Put your weft thread through this space and let it dangle about 4” out the other side. Turn your cards ¼ turn away from you. Slide your cards a little forward and back if you need to to clear space for the beater or your hand in the new shed and beat down the threads. Pass the weft back through the new shed and repeat until A-D is on the top again (you will have completed 4 turns. Now do 4 turns toward you. Repeat this 4 away and 4 toward once more and check to see if you like the pattern.

Happy Weaving! ~Adrienne d'Evreus adrienne.devreus@gmail.com 207-651-5837