Out of all the looms available to use at Ruthie’s, the Inkle loom is one of the smallest and portable of them all. A book display about Inkle weaving in the library corner inspired me to learn more. One loom signout and an extremely careful bicycle ride later, and I was on my way!
The process of getting started on an Inkle loom is relatively speedy and simple. While there are several variations of the Inkle loom, the concept is the same. The warp is wound right onto the loom itself, and heddles are added as you go. All you need is the loom, a shuttle, and yarn in your choice of color!
The bands woven on an Inkle loom can be used to make belts, shoelaces, straps for accessories, you name it! I happened to use it to weave a set of bicycle handlebar tape.
Something that is quite beautiful about weaving on the inkle loom is that it’s small, semi portable, and so simple in construction that you can even make one yourself if you have the materials and tools!
I got started by reading through the book Inkle Weaving by Helene Bress. It’s one of the books on the shelves of the Ruthie’s Weaving Studio library, and super helpful in getting started. It is a comprehensive book that walks you through the process of setting up your loom and creating heddles specific to your loom’s dimensions.
Several pages of this book and a few youtube video tutorials later, I had successfully set up my loom! (I had a couple of false starts with the heddle size right, but it isn’t too hard to make more.) In another few hours, I had already woven most of the warp!
The result was a warp-faced plain weave with a simple stripe pattern about 1” wide. It was refreshingly quick for a weaving project, and had me excited to make more!
I’ve only scratched the surface of band weaving on the Inkle Loom with this exploration, but I’m itching to weave more!
If you’re looking for a good jumping off point to do your own deep dive, here are some sources for further reading (all available at the Ruthie’s Library):
Inkle Weaving by Helene Bress – A comprehensive guide on making and weaving with an Inkle loom. Includes a brief history of band weaving and shows inspiration.
The Weaver’s Inkle Pattern Directory by Anne Dixon – A collection of various drafts that can be woven on an Inkle loom.
Card Weaving by Candace Crockett – If you are looking to challenge yourself to weave more complicated bands past plain weave stripes, take a look through this book! I’m not experienced in card weaving at all, but researching card weaving is a good place to start.
Band Weaving: The Techniques, Looms, and Uses for Woven Bands by Harold and Sylvia Tacker – The Inkle Loom is not the only type of loom out there for band weaving. If you’re curious about band weaving and other methods, try this one!