As I still don’t have my own copy of Textiles & Clothing, by Crowfoot, Pritchard, et al, I have a quick question:
Should the cardwoven edge I’m planning for both the neckline and the lacing edge of the bluebonnet be of wool or linen?
I currently have on borrow the color card from Rainbow Linen, so I can order any of these colors – my preference is to match as close as possible, but perhaps that’s erroneous? I will use drawn threads for the seamwork, eyelets and buttonholes*, I think, but for cardweaving I’ll need longer threads and the strength of a plied thread. Which these are.
If I use wool, obviously I have much more color precision. I made up a little linen bag with wool cardwoven edges and tried tossing it in the wash, with good results, so I think the wool will wash fine. In fact, I think wool will be more durable, because it WILL felt a bit, than a linen cardwoven edge. But I have no source to consult! Help.
*I have not tried eyelets and buttonholes with a non-plied, i.e. single thread yet. It may be a terrible idea. I will give it a whirl on the Eyelet Redo.
My preference would be to match fibers and colors, but that’s personal taste, YMV. I think using same linen or wool fibers, matching or similar or contrasting colors are all historically defensible, though I’m not looking at a source in support of that ATM.
The other reconstruction I’ve seen employing cardwoven edges made do with cotton embroidery floss, but that was quite reinforcing enough that it (Charles of Blois cote) could have buttons & buttonholes right at the edge of the fabric.
If you ever manage to card weave with unplied threads I shall bow down before you.
And I had a thought looking at your eyelets–I blanket- or buttonhole-stitch mine and don’t snag aiglets (though admittedly I use metal ones rarely, preferring thread-bound); perhaps it’s because I bind them more densely than the ones in your picture? Mine come out more like the ones at the URL I linked.
Looking at T & C, looks like the only one listed fully is of silk tablet weaving, and maybe there was linen one too, but it did not survive. I’ll bring the book to Magna Faire-maybe you can find something I didn’t.