While pulling fabric off a loom always gives us a thrill, adding a final touch from a little loom can take a larger project over the top in the best possible way.
That’s how we feel about inkle band weaving. You can use it to weave custom hanging tabs for your handwoven towels, handles for your handwoven bags or totes, or trims for your handwoven aprons, clothing, blankets, or throws.
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If you’re feeling a little rusty on the inkle loom—or you’ve never done any bandweaving at all—we invite you to join us at the Weave Together with Handwoven retreat in beautiful York, Pennsylvania, March 21–25, 2027.
A one-day class in the basics will bring you up to speed. If you’d like to immerse yourself in all things inkle, you can follow that with a class in turned krokbragd, and finish up with lace-inspired techniques that add texture to these warp-faced bands.
Let’s take a closer look!
Weave Together 2027 Inkle Classes
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Inkle Basics and Skill Builder: Instructor Sara C. Bixler will lead you through how to weave narrow warp-faced bands, a technique that strethes back millennia. Our ancient ancestors wove them on simple looms for use as straps, belts, trims, and handles. We can weave those same bands on inkle looms, and use the results for modern straps, belts, trims, and so forth. You’ll learn the entire process from planning a simple band, choosing appropriate materials, and winding the warp, to weaving and finishing your first inkle band. And if you’re thinking of bringing along a non-weaver friend, no weaving experience is required.
Weave a Flock of Sheep on the Inkle Loom: Once you’ve mastered the basics of plain weave on the inkle loom, Joan Sheridan will help you take your bands to the next level with turned krokbragd, a warp-faced Scandinavian-inspired technique that you may be more familiar with in rug weaving. You’ll learn how to warp an inkle loom with three sets of heddles, how to read a pattern, and how to weave the krokbragd sequence. The magic of turned krokbragd happens in the setup, making the weaving easy. You’ll leave the class with a sweet sheep band and the knowledge you need to weave more turned krokbragd.
Lace-Inspired Explorations in Inkle Weaving: Branch out into a new direction in inkle weaving with techniques Angela K. Schneider adapted from. . . lace? Yes! Inkle bands are dense, warp-faced, and distinctly not lacy, but when you apply hand-manipulated lace methods to this unexpected medium, it opens up a range of fantastic textures. Weave lattices, bricks, little stars, and meandering trails. Learn how each technique works in a warp-faced context and weave multiple variations on your own loom. Break away from straight lines with wandering warp and weft, and make your next inkle bands unlike any other.
Click to find out more about the 2027 Weave Together with Handwoven retreat. But don‘t delay—tickets are going fast!
MAKE THE PROJECTS SHOWN ABOVE:
Prairie Bloom Towels, designed by Malynda Allen, May/June 2023, page 45.
Adventurer’s Sling Bag, designed by Rachel Simmons, Mar./Apr. 2022 issue, page 53.
Adventure Utility Squares, designed by Dorothy Tuthill, Summer 2025 issue, page 50.
Peter’s Apron, designed by Rebecca Fox (or in the Sept./Oct. 2014 issue, page 50).