”Pirtanauha” is Finnish and translates literally into ”a rigid heddle band”. However, in English you may know this type of band or ribbon as ”inkle band” or even ”woven tape”. They are all the same thing, a narrow band woven with either a rigid heddle or string heddles. In Finland the prevalent tool for weaving these bands is a rigid heddle, and thus the bands are named after the tool.
Currently, all the weaving patterns on this website can be used for any band weaving tool. It will also contain instructions on how to weave with a rigid heddle and with string heddles in Eastern European style, but you’ll have to go elsewhere to learn the inkle loom basics. All the discussion on tools, references, terminology, and history is of course valid independent of which tools you prefer to use.
If you have questions or comments, feel free to contact me through the contact form. Besides Finnish and English, I’m also fluent in Swedish and read Danish and Norwegian without problems (but will answer in Swedish or English). You can try Italian and German, too, but the answer may not be grammatically correct!
Pirtanauhasivusto 