Comanche Weaving Techniques
- A hand-and-finger technique called finger weaving or knitting allow items to be created without the use of a loom. The Comanche use this technique to create belts, bag handles, sashes and decorations for other clothing. Today, woman like Comanche artist, Josephine Wapp, use finger weaving to create beautiful wall hangings. There are three different finger-weaving techniques; a basic weave, a diagonal and a chevron weave.
- The bead weaving or brick stitch is an off-loom technique of weaving beads into a decorative pattern that looks like a brick wall. Also known as the Comanche stitch or Cheyenne stitch, the wearing uses thread and seed beads to form decorative jokers or jewelry. Another type of bead-weaving is the Peyote stitch technique. The Peyote stitch uses an even-and-odd bead count that makes it easy to form a round or tube shape for decorative fan handles and bottles.
- The backstrap loom was easy to transport and simple to create. One end of the loom was attached to a tree line and the other to a rod that was held in place with a cord that was wrapped around the weaver's waist. This technique involved the weaver leaning back and forth as needed to put tension on the threads and adjust tautness.
- Plants like yucca, river willow and bear grass provided the fiber need to create tightly woven baskets. The Comanche, Shoshone, Kiowa and Apache had similar basket techniques and styles. The most common was the multipurpose basket made of willow. These were coiled baskets with one- to three-willow rope foundations. The baskets were woven with a gap-stitch or open stitch weft.