Okay, so it's been ages. Here's an excuse…
And there's going to be more…
These are reproductions of tablet-woven trim from
The completed gray above is Page 163, "Based on the amice of Andreas Sunesson, Archbishop of Lund, 12th/13th century. The black warp is for Page 182, "Band on a relic bag, 13th century." All thread is silk, or silver 'jap' thread (real silver that will tarnish!). Technique is brocade – which means there are two weft threads – one that is the same as the warp, for background structure, and a 'float' thread that makes the pattern.
Any figure that can be graphed can be woven in this way. And it's not even very difficult!
I've been wanting to learn tabletweaving ever since I stumbled upon Linda Hendrickson's site – with whole sentences woven into bands. That's next, and I plan on collecting everybody's colors and mottos and being really pesty about name spellings…
Sources:
The silk thread is called Splendor, and is a strandable 12-ply silk. For the 38" long piece of gray trim above, I needed 3 8-yard packets, which cost 3.50 each. I over-estimated the warp length, and have enough left over to do some more. It might be possible to use just two. I got mine from Thread Express.
I haven't measured the silver thread, which is a shame, because it's pricey. I got a whole spool from TL Barnes, which was $80 – I figure it will last a long time. Looking at the completed trim, it estimates out as:
10 picks (rows) per cm, each row = 0.7cm long = 7 cm silver/cm of trim. It's #7 jap thread. 38"~96 cm, so 96*7 = 672/91cm in a yard = about 7.5 yards silver jap thread per yard of 0.7cm wide trim.
Loom: borrowed from Maudey – has about 25" clear between the castles, but could be less – 18" would be easier to carry around and deal with. I WANT ONE.
All of this is for the splendor of a certain Important Person, for a certain Exciting Event coming up soon, but I really had a lot of fun learning how, and will happily do more in future.
(Since I just finished clearing out the wardrobe room, and it's amply clear how much raw material I have just waiting to be made into wondrous things – expect more of this. And send me your colors/mottoes/name spellings. But I must also sew garb, because if I get any more fabric I will drown.)
Is the other end of the board loom the same as the castle end you show? or is it a peg? Is Maundy an individual who owns the loom or the maker?
I like it a lot too… Any clues on obtaining one? If not do you have some better pix of the castle end. I have a few boards left over from a bunk bed that would be good bases.
Thanks!!!