Red&White

I have woven this band in a traditional way by rigid heddle. It is a traditional national costume band. I made it for Perä-Pohjola national costume.

Perä-Pohjola national costume includes two pockets fastened to woven band. I had the factory made band which I used before in the lack of time. Since that I have desired to weave it myself. You can see the factory made one that is the lowest on the picture above. Can you spot the difference and see the factory made is not like the original design. 

Paulat

I realized you have not seen these traditional rigid heddle bands as finished. They are very beautiful and important part of Sámi culture. They are called "paula" (1) / "paulat" (more than 1).

This is traditional design from my Forest Sámi region. These are part of men's costume but it is possible for a woman wear them in the need.

AtExpo

At work we participated in Rovaniemi Craft Expo 2024. We had a workshop there. I designed and made this Sámi tablet weaving band for the workshop to show what tablet weaving is all about. It was succeed and all the visitors were lovely and interested about it. 

Did you know that tablet weaving is the oldest weaving technique and origins all the way back to Egyptian times 3000 BC. In Finland it was known at least 500 AD, perhaps earlier. Rigid heddle weaving arrived 500-700 years after that  which means 1000-1200 AD.

SámiBandWeaving

Lately I've been back on craft. I am slowly progressing on Sámi band weaving. This is a traditional design of my Forest Sámi tribal costume. The band is for men to tie up their shoes to prevent the snow get in. This will be my husband's Christmas gift. Don't tell him. 😉

BandWeaving

This summer I got back to a skill I learnt already from my grandma as a child before she passed away by my 8th birthday. I remember how I thought the heddle (reed) is like a funny comb! It is band weaving and so fun to get back to it! I've been doing band weaving also on our deck in the garden and on the back seat of the car when travelling!