Paper Weaving Template Generator

What this generator does

Works out a mat that fits the printable area, divides the space inside its frame into equal warp strips, fits as many weft strips as the weaving area holds, and prints the mat, the strips and the weave. The stripe pattern planner plans colour order for yarn weaving; this makes the paper pieces and tells you how to interlace them.

How to use this tool

1. Choose the paper size and margin, then how many warp strips the mat has and how wide the weft strips are.
2. Choose the weave, press Make the plan, and read the summary and the check line.
3. Print the first sheet (the mat) on one colour and the strip sheets on another, then measure the 50 mm bar.
4. Fold the mat across the dotted line and cut each solid line from the fold to the frame line, or cut them flat with a craft knife.
5. Cut the strips apart and weave them in number order, following the O and U letters from the numbered end; glue the ends to the frame.

Understanding the controls

Paper and margin

Everything prints at true size, so the mat is sized from the printable area of the paper you choose. The top of each sheet keeps room for a heading and a 50 mm scale bar.

Warp strips

How many strips the mat is cut into, 4 to 30. Their width is the space inside the frame divided equally; the plan refuses strips narrower than 8 mm, which are hard to cut and tear when woven, or wider than 40 mm.

Weft strip width

8 to 40 mm. As many wefts as fit are planned, and any height left over at the bottom is stated. The same width as the warps gives square checks.

Frame

The uncut border, 10 to 40 mm, that holds the warps together. The weft ends lie on it and are glued there.

Weave

Plain goes over one, under one, alternating each row. Basket goes over two, under two, with rows in pairs, which makes large checks. Twill goes over two, under two and steps one warp each row, which makes diagonal lines; zigzag twill steps right for four rows and back, which makes a zigzag.

Worked examples

A4, 15 mm margin, 10 warps, 14 mm wefts, plain weave

Mat 180 × 241 mm with a 15 mm frame: 10 warps 15 mm wide made by 11 cuts, and 15 weft strips 14 × 180 mm, leaving 1 mm unwoven at the bottom. Strip 1 reads O U O U O U O U O U; strip 2 starts with U.

Same mat, 15 mm wefts, twill

14 wefts. Strip 1 reads O O U U O O U U O O, strip 2 U O O U U O O U U O — each row steps one warp to the right, which is what draws the diagonal.

Common use cases

• A classroom craft lesson where every child's mat and strips match
• Showing how plain, basket and twill weaves differ with paper instead of yarn
• Placemats and cards from two colours of paper
• A pattern exercise: predicting the finished check from the O/U rows

How this generator works

The mat's width is split into the frame on both sides and equal warps between them, and the mat is cut by one more line than there are warps: the outermost cuts free the first and last warp from the side frame, so every warp can be lifted. The weaving area's height is divided by the weft width to give the number of wefts. The weave is a table with a row for every weft and a column for every warp, and each strip's printed letters are that row read from the numbered end. A separate check then re-adds the frame and warps to the mat's width, confirms every cut is one warp-width from the last, confirms no other weft would fit, and reads every row and every column of the weave: each weft must go both over and under, each warp must be crossed both ways, and nothing may float over or under more than three strips in a row, because a long float is loose and slides out of place.

Assumptions this tool makes

• Ordinary printer paper or thin card; thick card needs a craft knife rather than folding and scissors.
• The printer prints at 100% scale. The 50 mm bar on each sheet shows whether it did.

Limitations and good to know

• Straight cuts only: wavy or diagonal warps, as some craft books use, are not drawn.
• Four weaves; custom over/under patterns cannot be typed in.
• The preview is a drawing of the finished pattern. It is not proof that printed, cut paper will behave the same: paper stretches, cuts wander, and the plan has not been physically made and measured here.
• Wefts are no longer than the paper is wide, so a mat can be no wider than the printable area.

Common mistakes

Cutting through the frame

Stop every cut at the frame line. A cut through the frame frees the warps at one end and the mat falls apart.

Printing with 'fit to page' switched on

Print at 100% (actual size) and measure the bar, or the strips will not match the mat's slits.

Weaving strips out of order

Each strip is numbered at its starting end. Weave 1 at the top and work down, starting each from the left.

Practical tips

• Push each new weft up against the last before gluing, so the weave is tight and no warp shows between rows.
• Basket weave hides mistakes least; plain weave is the easiest first try.
• Laminate or back the finished mat with card if it is going to be used as a placemat.

Privacy and your data

The plan is made in your browser and nothing you choose is sent anywhere. Usage counts record only that a plan was made and how many weft strips it had.