Weaving is the interlacing of threads and yarns into fabrics. The practice of weaving threads together to make cloth, ropes, and belts goes all the way back to our primitive ancestors. By twisting handfuls of grasses and plant fibers together, string was made. String was useful for all sorts of purposes, but it was soon discovered that by twining two length of string together into a double-ply string, it was much stronger (and more useful). This progressed into weaving narrow bands, and then on to weaving fabric.
Stick Weaving
The true origins of stick weaving are a mystery. Some people claim that it was brought to Western Europe by Crusaders returning from the Middle East. Others claim that the technique was used by the indiginous people of the Great Lakes Region of North America where it was picked up by French trappers in the 1500s. Some people claim that it was used as a training tool for children enterening the weaving trade in the 18th century. Still others claim that it was invented a new form of handicraft in the 1940's. We'll probably never know the truth, but we do know that it's a very simple form of weaving that anyone can master quickly. If you can holed the sticks used for stick weaving in one hand and weave yarn around them with the other hand, you can stick weave!
Stick weaving produces thin strips of woven fabric that can be used as is for belts, scarves, and such, or they can be sewn together along the sides to create wider pieces of fabric. All you need is some weaving sticks, your hands, and some yarn. The sticks can be of various thicknesses - most are about 1/4" - 1/2" in size. One end of the stick is tapered to a dull point. The other end has a hole through it, like a large, wooden needle. You need at least two sticks in order to weave, but you can use as many as you can hold in one hand! Some stick weavers even use special holders that allow them to hold more sticks that what fits in their hands.
The technique is the same, regardless of how many sticks you use:
Start by preparing the warp. You will need 1 warp yarn for each stick you will be using. Cut the warp yarns to twice the desired length of your finished piece, plus an additional 20-24". Thread the yarn through the holes in the sticks and pull it through until the ends are even. Once you've threaded through al the sticks, tie the warp ends together about 5' from the ends of the threads. Use a fairly loose knot as you will want to be able to untie it later. If your yarn is too thick to pass through the hole on your stick, you can tie on little loops of string through the holes in the sticks, and then thread the warp yarn through the loop of string.
Line up your sticks. Lay the sticks out first, then hold them in your hand so that they are all lined up in a row. If you are right handed, it's easiest to hold the sticks in your left hand. Reverse this if you are left handed.
Adding the Weft. Leave the weft yarn in a ball so that you can gradually unwind it as you go. You will want to start by unwinding about 3' of yarn - 12" for a "tail" to start with, and 24" for working with. Hold the tail firmly in the same hand with the sticks about about the 10-12" mark, then start weaving! Pass over the first stick, under the second, over the third, etc. When you get to the last stick, wrap the yarn around the stick and start back the other way. On this pass you will do the opposite of your first pass - so if the on the first pass you went under a stick, this time you will go over it. Don't pull too tightly or your piece will shrink in width once it's not held out by the sticks anymore. You want to pull the thread just tight enough to pass over an under the sticks smoothly, with no loops hanging or puffing out. Try not let the sticks get pulled together by the wefts.
After each pass, push the yarn down toward the base of the sticks with your free hand. The woven yarn will start to build up on the sticks. Once you start getting close to the end of the sticks, it's time to slide! Starting at one side, slowly slide the sticks up so that just the bottom inch or two is still in the weaving. It might help to roll the sticks back and forth a little while you push the weaving down. The bottom part of the weaving will start to rest on the warp threads.
Repeat the weaving process, sliding your work down periodically, until you reach the desired length. Pull the sticks all the way out and cut off the warp threads leaving a 10-12" tail. Untie the knot you put in the warp threads at the beginning. Lay your piece down on a flat surface. Use your hands to adjust the weft so that the fabric lies nice and flat. If the piece is bubbling, then you need to slide the weft threads closer together and make the warp threads tighter. If the weft threads are all smooshed together, you need to spread them out a bit by sliding them down the warp threads a bit.
Tie off the warp. The warp threads will all be in sets of two. Take the first THREE threads and tie them together, snug up against the weft. Now tie the warp threads in sets of TWO until three threads are left. Tie the last three warp threads together. Repeat this on the other end.
With a yarn needle (a large, blunt needle), take the tail of the weft thread and weave it into the weft so that it disappears. Do this on both ends.
Finishing. You can either trim your warp threads off to form a fringe on one or both ends, or you can use your yarn needle to weave the warp threads into the piece so that they disappear.
Learn more about stick weaving: