I became fascinated recently while browsing pinterest by examples by different weaving techniques. I began researching one method in particular called card weaving or Tablet weaving. Evidence shows it was used as far back as about 3,000 years in Europe. The fascinating part is that it is one of the earliest methods of algorithmic programming.
To do tablet or card weaving, you need to have some cards with holes in the corners. Through these holes, you pass threads of different colors. With every pass of the horizontal thread, you’ll spin the cards either forward or backward depending on what your pattern is. These designs are typically used to create belts or edging material for garments. Jess said this method was similar to making friendship bracelets. I wanted to build a ukulele strap for the ukulele Jess and I built a couple of years ago.
The first thing to do is create some cards. I used some larger-than-normal playing cards I got at the dollar store. These aren’t the best quality paper but they are glossy and slide across one another easily. Cut them to be square and I even rounded the corners with a corner punch to make sure they don’t snag on the corner when I spin them. I then used a hole punch to pinch a hole in each corner. I started with regular playing cards, but quickly realized that the larger the card is, the easier it is to use.You can see the steps below and the beginning of the cutting of the larger cards.
The next step is to have a loom. There are many different designs of looms. Some people simply tie one end of the strings to the back of a chair, and the other end to their belt which is the simplest method, however it isn’t easy to use. If you are just starting, this might make a lot of sense, but I was not successful with getting quality results this way.
Another loom design essentially uses a wooden box (box loom or rigid heddle looms) of some type that keeps about 2 feet of the threat taught, allowing you to weave easily. Here’s a version you can make out of PVC. Here is yet another PCV design. When you weave longer pieces, you can roll the threads onto spools at each end of the loom keeping the portion you are working on tight.
The loom style I chose to build was called an Inkle Loom.(Here’s a PVC inkle loom). This is a traditional loom design that allows you to wrap the threads fully around a zig-zag path and tie the ends together to make continuous loops. To build this, I used the left-over parts from our Ikea Snigler crib hack shown here. I had half of the crib wall sitting in the garage so I made a couple of cuts and screwed them together with 3” long screws (drilled pilot holes first of course).
It isn’t the most sturdy design as the dowels are mostly friction fit. A few have staples that somewhat hold them in. I can use it for this project and a few more without having to add additional support.
The next part that is required is the shuttle which holes the thread which is passed back and forth during the weaving process. I cut a piece of scrap clear acrylic on my bandsaw to look like a kite string holder and sanded the edges so they had a smooth radius. This makes sure it won’t catch other threads while weaving.
Now for the design I wanted to weave. I came across this particular pattern on pinterest from user Silvia Dominguez who has many great designs available.
The way to read this chart is to look first at the little design on the bottom. It is 4 blocks high by 26 columns long.
Each column refers to one card or tablet. This means we will need to use 26 card (or tablets) each with 4 holes and threads through those holes. Each hole on the card should be labeled A, B, C, and D respectively and the color of each hole is listed from the bottom up in the design. i.e.
D
C
B
A
The design refers to the colors of each of the threads that are threaded through the each hole of the card. I used 2 color of size 10 crochet thread. I got a light green and a darker green color to represent the grey and black of the design. Pull the strands out to the length of the finished object plug an extra 12-18 inches or so. For example, starting at column 1, it will use 4 strands of the light green in my case so I cut long lengths of thread for that card. Looking at a more complicated column, you can see column 4 uses two light threads and two dark threads, etc.
The next step is to thread the cards or tablets. It is very important how threads enter the cards. This is listed below each column. Depending on how they should be threaded, it is referred to as either a Z or an S. If you imagine your card on edge, the threads should come from the top of the loom into the card (top to bottom in the image below) If a card is a S card, all 4 threads enter from the left and exit the card on the right side. Here is a close-up of the rightmost column. You can see how all 4 of the threads enter the card with this angle “ \” like the middle of the letter S. This page (use google translate to read it) shows in detail with better graphics how this works. 
Z cards of course enter on the right side and output on the right with an angle like “ / ”.
The Z or S will allow the weave to be tight and you can actually tell the difference when looking at the end result. If you have some of the threads on one card S and some Z, then the cards won’t spin and you can’t weave so be careful when doing this. Also, make sure to keep the cards in order.
Next wrap each set of 4 threads on the loom, zig-zagging on the dowels until you can just tie the ends of the strings together to make a continuous loop. The cards should be in the clear area (not inside the zig-zags). The threads should be a little taught. Not so tight that the cards can’t spin and not too loose that there’s a lot of slack in the threads. I actually ended up using a fisherman’s knot (basically two slip knots tied together) which allowed me to adjust the tension of each set of 4 threads as needed throughout the weaving process.
Once you put all the threads on, align the cards so that the A-D sides of the cards are facing you all facing you. Next wind some thread on the shuttle. I did about 4 times the length of the other threads. You only need one thread on the shuttle.
A little weaving nomenclature: The long threads on the cards are called the Warp and the thread on the shuttle is called the Weft.
Image Source: https://buddhajeans.com/encyclopedia/warp-weft-diagram/
The area of space that is lofted by the cards is called the Shed. To weave, you pass the shuttle through the shed, then spin the cards to zig-zag the warp over and under the weft. Once you’ve done this that horizontal line is called the Pick. To begin, literally just leave an extra 6 inches or so of thread off the shuttle and just pass the shuttle through the shed. Once you do this you need to turn the cards. That’s where the larger portion of our design comes into play.
Start at the bottom at row 1. Once you’ve passed the shuttle through the shed, you’ll spin the the cards either forward or back based on which pick you are working. In the yellow section it will tell you which cards will move forward and which will move backwards. I chose this design for its simplicity.All the cards are moved in the same direction. More complicated designs get really crazy and hard to follow. In this case, pick 1 rotates all cards forward. Once you spin the cards, you need to beat the previous pick with the shuttle to make it tight, then pull the slack out of the weft thread before doing the next pick.
I came across this site which was this person’s first tablet weaving project as well using the same design. She linked to a dead link to where she first saw this design. I found the wayback machine’s cache of the site and it turns out they used the same colors I did! I found NorseGirl’s website which did this design and uses the same colors. so much for being original, haha.
Once I wove about 4 feet of material, I cut off the excess leaving about 1 foot on the end where the cards were. Jess braided these into a cord (which seems to be a traditional method of finishing the end). One the other end, I sewed a hem so it wouldn’t fray on that end and then sewed it to a 1.25 inch strap slider. I only needed 1 and was able to get it at the local outdoors store for less than $1.