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Inkle Bands: Elevate Your Motifs with Three-Color Pickup

Instructor: Annie MacHale

Add color and complexity to your speckled or Baltic pick-up pattern motifs using the three-color pick-up technique. First, you will look at samples and discuss what makes this different from typical Baltic patterns, then learn the difference between asymmetrical and symmetrical threadings. You'll get tips for choosing colors to make your patterns pop before warping your loom and weaving motifs using pattern charts. Annie will share tips for warping, making heddles, fixing mistakes, starting and stopping, and keeping selvedges straight. She’ll also demonstrate how to temporarily remove and replace a warp, as well as how to cut a project off the loom and handle it when it is complete.

Playing With Color
in Inkle Bands

Instructor: Annie MacHale

Dive deeply into color! Explore different approaches to using color effectively in a warp-faced band as you learn how to design bands that pop. You will examine woven samples, discuss pattern elements, consider yarn choices, experiment with color selection tools, and learn to create patterns on paper and with an online tool. Annie will demonstrate how she looks for palette inspiration from her everyday life and incorporates it into her work. In the afternoon, learn to warp your loom for color experimentation: clasping your warps, adding or subtracting warps, and changing weft color.

Weave Landscapes on the Inkle Loom

Instructor: Annie MacHale

Capture the essence of the natural world as you learn how to weave landscapes on an inkle loom. Explore creative techniques to use plain weave or simple pickup to evoke scenery and terrain. Experiment with variegated yarns and novelty yarns, clasped warps, knotting, fringes, wrapping, slits, and other unusual techniques to enliven your landscape.

Tablet Weaving
Anglo-Saxon Style

Instructor: John Mullarkey

Come learn how Anglo-Saxons wove with tablets more than a thousand years ago. Bands originating in the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. were woven using this very specific technique, which differs from the way we weave with tablets today. Although it’s similar to threaded-in patterns in the way tablets are set up, the weaving produces a thicker, stronger—and reversible—band that is perfect for bag straps or belts. You’ll learn to set up your tablets and then you’ll weave a band using this technique. If you’re a tablet weaver, you’ll want to add this style to your repertoire.

Tablet Weaving:
3/1 Twill

Instructor: John Mullarkey

Yes, Virginia, there is twill in tablet weaving. In this class, you’ll learn a double-faced weaving technique that also produces beautiful twill lines in your bands. Used by medieval weavers to create elaborate designs, 3/1 twill opens up a whole new world of design for the adventurous tablet weaver. Start by learning a quick circular warping technique, then discover how to weave 3/1 twill patterns. Previous tablet weaving experience is necessary, and concentration is required.

Two-Sided Tablet-Woven
Delights

Instructor: John Mullarkey

Have you ever wished you could take almost any design and weave it into a band? Or how about weaving a message—without pick-up? Then double-sided tablet weaving is for you! With double-faced tablet weaving, you have the freedom to design patterns as you weave and go wherever your imagination leads you. This requires focus and concentration, as you’ll be following charts to turn individual cards to produce patterns.

Findings and Finishings for Inkle Bands

Instructor: Jennifer B. Williams

You’ve woven a beautiful band—now what? Learn to transform a warp-faced band into a finished, functional, and professional-looking piece. Explore a wide range of finishing techniques and findings as you discover how simple, thoughtful choices can elevate a woven band from sample to completed object.

You'll learn methods for finishing band ends, joining and managing selvedges, and adapting bands for different end uses. Get the scoop on a variety of findings—where to source them, when to use specific types, and how to attach them securely and attractively. Leave with the skills needed to finish your inkle bands with intention and a professional touch.

Backstrap Rigid-Heddle Bandweaving

Instructor: Jennifer B. Williams

The Scandinavian-style rigid heddle makes backstrap weaving simple and joyful. With nothing more than a warped rigid heddle and a cord secured around your waist, you are ready to weave. Working on a backstrap rigid heddle offers a uniquely tranquil experience, one where the weaver is quite literally connected to the loom.

Learn how to warp a rigid heddle and tension it using a simple backstrap setup, weave plain-weave bands, then try your hand at pick-up patterns. By the end of the class, you’ll have the skills and confidence to continue weaving patterned bands independently using this elegant and portable loom.

Aso-Oke: Nigerian Inspired Inkle Bands

Instructor: Jennifer B. Williams

Learn how to make beautiful inkle-woven bands inspired by aso-oke (ah-SHOW-kay), a highly prized warp-faced Nigerian narrow strip cloth known for its rich surface texture and visual complexity. Traditional aso-oke weavers use distinctive warp manipulation techniques, such as supplementary weft inlay floats, lace-like open areas, and elongated warp floats to create these effects.

This class explores how to apply these design elements in aso-oke–inspired inkle bands. You will learn to weave with multiple supplementary wefts and practice inlaying pattern wefts onto the surface of an inkle band to add texture, contrast, and emphasis.

You'll learn about the cultural significance of aso-oke and examine aso-oke cloth samples. Leave class with a deeper understanding of both the weaving methods and the design possibilities inspired by this tradition, as well as the skills to continue exploring these techniques in your own inkle work.

Breaking all the Rules:
Uzbek Jiyak

Instructor: Stacy Schlutsmeyer

One of the few living tablet weaving traditions in the world is found in Uzbekistan. The tablet-woven trim they make, called Jiyak, breaks all the rules of typical tablet weaving. Using cards with only two holes, you will learn how to weave cablework designs by rearranging the cards. Jiyak is simple to weave but produces dramatic effects. This class welcomes novice tablet weavers who want to explore new techniques.

Sulawesi
Basics

Instructor: Stacy Schlutsmeyer

Sulawesi tablet weaving is a flexible and elegant technique that creates crisp diagonal lines on a textured background. The bands created by traditional weavers on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi are renowned for their beautiful patterning and color interactions. Learn how to set up a warp and weave Sulawesi patterns, then discover the mechanics of the structure in order to design your own patterns and troubleshoot problems.

Over the Rainbow:
Tablet Weaving Basics

Instructor: Stacy Schlutsmeyer

Jump-start your understanding of tablet weaving with a rainbow warp that reveals the technique’s mechanics. In this introductory-level class, you'll learn to set up a warp, weave, read a pattern, and make your own designs in the 4x4 technique. At the end of the day, you will make a new warp to weave at home. The concepts learned in this class will help you comprehend a variety of tablet-weaving techniques. No previous tablet weaving experience is required.