Bulgarian Tablet Woven Belt

Tablet woven wedding belt.  Made of wool as part of a traditional Bulgarian wedding costume. Tablet weaving (often referred to as card weaving), does go back at least to the eighth century. The tools or tablet used in this weaving is typically shaped as regular polygons with holes near each vertex and possibly at the center as well. The number of holes in the tablets used is a limiting factor on the complexity of the pattern woven.

Early examples have been found in Europe as well as in Asia.   Most tablet weavers produce work such as belts,ribbons or selvedge borders for larger textiles.