What yarn/material is best for tablet weaving a belt?

I have a belt buckle that was my grandmother's, and I'm thinking it'd be nice to tablet weave a belt for it. Problem is, I don't know what type of yarn/thread/cord I should use. I have some sock-weight silk/wool blend yarn, but I think I want something more durable and less prone to fraying. I'm thinking linen is probably what I want? Any tips on what weight of linen yarn (cord?) that I should get?

Thanks!

I found this waxed linen cord . Would it be a good option? I'd been thinking of buying some for leather working...would it work for a belt, or would it be too stiff and thick? I've never ordered yarn/cord/thread without having seen and felt it first.

It says it's "Crawford Waxed Irish Linen Thread/Cord 18/4 ply -0.82 mm- approx. 110 yds."

It's good to avoid fuzzy yarn.

For the first tablet weaving sample (sadly, you'll want to sample to get the width right, but if you have kids it makes great friendship bracelets) try Pearl Cotton (also called mercerised)

A waxed line could work well too as it won't have many/any little hairs.  But expensive.  

ooooh! The name "pearl cotton" was ringing bells, but I couldn't quite remember where I'd seen that term before. I looked on etsy, and found out it's that "embroidery floss" that I never liked as a kid! (It was always sold in the same area as embroidery floss, and so I bought some a few times, only to realize that I couldn't unravel it to embroider finer things. I never really did know what it was intended for).



Those seem to be size 3 (meaning smaller thread). It looks like it's also in bigger balls. These ones are size 8:



What size would I want for a belt? I'm thinking for my first tablet weaving, a thicker strand would be better, so it doesn't take forecver and I never finish it!

Hi Nicole. Those balls of yarn you show in the last photo, it looks to me like yarn for doing fine crochet work. I remember it being sold in different sizes (thicker / thinner), both glossy (mercerised) and untreated. Yes, I think you can use that for tablet-weaving a belt.

Nicole,   from my wife who does this sort of weaving . . . silk if it a belt you will use for occasional use and unwaxed linen, or hemp, for everyday wear.      Rod
ps.   beautiful buckle!

Rod Endacott wrote:Nicole,   from my wife who does this sort of weaving . . . silk if it a belt you will use for occasional use and unwaxed linen, or hemp, for everyday wear.      Rod
ps.   beautiful buckle!

Thank you! I'd be interested in knowing what linen and hemp she usually uses--I'd hate to buy the wrong type!

After spending over an hour at the computer trying to find thick linen thread (thin linen cord? thin linen yarn?), I've decided that thread/yarn/cord manufacturers are cruel people. They all have different measurements for their...string.

When you look at cord, they measure things as 18/4 (18 weight and 4 ply?) like this Irish waxed linen cord. It has 95 yards in 50 grams. That linen thread/cord looks pretty thick...but then I find this listing linen thread, I'm even more confused. This one comes on a tiny spool, but somehow is 50 gram with 135 meters, and "According to the manufacturer, the No. 332 thread is 0.77mm thick which makes is slightly thicker than NeL 18/4 thread"--so is this the same size as the waxed linen thread up above? It looks a lot thinner!  Maybe the picture is just lying?

And then there's this warp line linen thread/yarn (they call it both) and it's 150 yards for 50 grams. And that's called "0 lace weight."

And this euroflax yarn. It's "2 sport" weight. And this stuff 185 yards for 50 grams. They say, "This is a 4-ply yarn (14/4) and has 1225 yds/lb." I think this means that it is thicker than than the waxed linen cord I saw earlier...but probably fluffier and less durable because it's yarn and not cord?

And then thread is measured really differently. Here I found silk thread, and they give it letters. I wanted to find sewing thread, and I don't even know if this is thin enough or too thick "Size O is 0.152mm diameter--1 spool 600 yards" I'm looking at my own normal sewing thread, and it doesn't have any letters, or mention the diameter. The thicker of that thread is "Size FFF is 0.4191mm diameter. 1 spool 92 yards" But, they don't say how much a spool weighs, so I'm totally lost in trying to compare it to other cord or yarn.


I'm basically typing this to try and wrap my head around all these crazy measurements. If anyone has a favorite linen yarn/thread/cord/string-thing that they like to use for weaving (thicker being better, as I don't want to spend forever weaving the belt), I'd love to hear about it!

Etsy is quite the rabbit-hole!

I'm wondering about this fingerling linen yarn: Gorgeous & Shimmery GOTS Organic Fair Trade Entwined Linen Embroidery Thread/Yarn (37 Color Choices). Apparently fingerling=sock weight, and I've made things with sockweight yarn without getting utterly depressed and abandoning the project.



The description of the yarn says a lot of things that make me happy and wish to support them...but if the belt falls apart because I used weak yarn/thread/cord, then I'm going to be really bummed. Here's the description:

• Entwined Organic Linen Yarn
• The finest linen yarn in the world
• Available in 36 Beautiful Colors
• 100% GOTS Certified
• Fair Trade & Vegan Yarn Ⓥ
• Colors marked ** are Handcrafted in small batches, including Agave & Fig
• Handharvested, Naturally Retted & Wet Spun North Sea Flax
• From Belgium, Holland & France & Spun in Italy
• The linen is uncoated & unmercerized.
• Lace 7/2 Pullskein Approx. 55g/157yds or Cone approx. 125g/357yds
• 1 kg cones available upon request
• Average Needle Size: #4 (6sts/9rows=1")
• Average Crochet Hook Size: E (3.5mm)
• Lace weight available in a separate listing
• The sample color card is for color purposes only and has at least 1 sample in both weights.
• 33 low impact dyed colors, Winter Birch & Snow Owl, whitened w/ H202 only & Roan Heather (undyed natural linen).
• We do our best to detail each color, but since monitors vary, we highly recommend purchasing a color sample card.
• Rustic, crisp w/ a pretty shimmer that softens beautifully w/ every washing.
• The finest, hand harvested North Sea Flax from Belgium, France & Holland
• Perfect for weaving, knitting, crocheting, beadwork, embroidery & more
• Perfect for sweaters, wraps, bags, home decor, spa accessories & more
• One of the oldest textiles used by man, linen is incredibly versatile.Though natural hemp has many similar qualities it can be very difficult to tell it apart from natural linen. In the end linen has more to offer especially when GOTS certified. It has a high healing frequency, some elasticity (where hemp has none) & is less labor intensive compared to hemp, leaving less environmental impact where textiles are concerned.
• A high frequency healing fabric, as long as it is not next to wool. It is anti-bacterial, anti-mildew, reflective for cooling properties, with breathability & highly absorbent.
• We do our best to detail each color, but monitors vary, so we highly recommend purchasing color sample cards. They are well worth it!
• Everything we offer is offset with Carbonfund & then some!
• 99% of the packaging is 100% Post Consumer Waste Material & Sustainable Cellulose. No plastic Ever!

Would this work for tablet weaving a belt?

Nicole -- having done tablet weaving before, I highly recommend you start out with #8 mercerised cotton (cotton perle). I wrecked the first two pieces I tablet wove through beginner errors (and, unlike knitting, tablet weaving is very difficult to undo!) While linen would be an option, it is my experience that linen has inferior abrasion resistance, and that is really a killer with tablet weaving. Historically, tablet weaving was done with silk, which I have not tried, but friends of mine who are masters at it say that it's definitely much better than any other material they've worked with.

Once you've done a practice piece in cotton, you could consider linen. Ask the seller if what they have there is "line linen" or "cottonised linen". If it's the latter, I wouldn't bother, as it will be likely to break on you in this application. My other piece of advice is that blue dyes damage the structural integrity of plant-based fibres. Historically, linen was very difficult to dye, and many surviving fragments are undyed, tan, and yellow. I have run experiments (unintentionally!) and found that both cotton and linen with blue dyes have 1/2 or less the working life of undyed or yellow fibres when in high-abrasion, high-stress situations. This means I'd advise you avoid blue, purple, green, and most blacks. Undyed, unbleached linen will be the strongest, but a combination of that, white, yellow, and red would also work, and happen to match the lovely colours of the buckle you've shared.

Having now made two practice belts (one for each kid), I totally understand how hard it is to undo a mistake in tablet weaving! I was in tears last night when I couldn't figure out which way to spin the cards to fix the mistake, and I was almost done with the belt.

The cards also seemed to fray the wool I was using, so I can imagine what they'd do to non-sturdy fibres! I used worsted weight wool so I'd have a quicker time making the belts--I'm glad I did. The kids got their belts faster, and I got to feel some level of success a lot sooner than if I'd used thin threads!


I did end up buying the flax thread/yarn in my previous post. It's lovely stuff, but does like to fray and fall apart when not waxed. (I've been using it waxed for sewing and leatherwork). Maybe I'll test using it to make a watch band and see how it performs. If it works well, maybe I could manage a belt out of it.

Three years ago I got some hand spun linen from R. Ranson. I used it for tablet weaving, it worked well!