Medieval Living » Medieval Textiles

How to Grow Indigo . . . and Why

Scott — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 01:11:17 +0000

As noted in earlier posts, I had attended a workshop on dying wool using natural materials. I had been looking at the cost of buying dye materials, such as madder and indigo, and found that some of them are very expensive. Being the resourceful person that I am, I began looking for ways to grow my own. I came upon a website that might just have the how-to information I need. Sheep to Shawls is a blog written by Donna Druchunas. While much of her blog deals with knitting, she has several posts on how to produce quality wool . . and in particular, how to grow your own Japanese Indigo to make blue dyes. She give some practical advice and suggests ways to avoid damaging this gentle and fragile plant. Seeds can be ordered through Elizabeth Merrill at P.O. Box 972
Port Townsend, WA 98368
I look forward to planting a dye garden this summer . . . I will keep you posted on it’s results.

Medieval Fiber Works

Scott — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 22:44:59 +0000

The first day of the living history conference in Little Rock (well, actually it was considered a “pre-conference” day), I attended a workshop on using natural materials for dying wool. The smokey fire to heat the kettles of dye liquor provided a wonderful setting for workshop. I had no experience with dying anything, let alone using “old” techniques for dying wool, so the whole thing was a learning experience. By the end of it, I had two wonderfully dyed skeins of wool – both had used madder for the dying agent, but two different mordants, which produced two slightly different shades of apricot.

Since coming home from the conference I’ve been doing some more research on dying and spinning wool (cotton, flax, and hemp are later projects). I’ve come across some very nice internet sites. One is Pioneer Thinking - its more related to simple living styles. However, it has a very nice page giving reference to various plants used for producing natural dyes. Another site, a blog called “A Stitch in Time” focuses specifically on Medieval garments and techniques for making them. The author, Katrin Kania, is a “medieval archaeologist specialising in garment reconstruction and historic tailoring techniques”. She has some wonderful articles on spinning wool and the use of distaffs (the latter, being something I never see among the SCAdians using drop spindles. I’ve only scratched the surface of information in her blog – I will likely refer to her writings in later posts.

Another Inkle Loom Weaving Class

Scott — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:42:43 +0000

Oops – we have had a slight problem – the location will not be available as planned – due to “insurance” issues. Oh well . . . we will just have to work out some other arrangements. More to follow as soon as I know for sure!!!!!

Inkle Loom Class – A Very Nice Event!!!

Scott — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:40:29 +0000

Well we’re finally on the map! We have been working very hard up to this point . . . lots of planning and preparing. If today’s inkle loom class is any indication of things to come, Medieval Living has a very bright future!!! The anticipated numbers bounced around over the past weeks, but what really matters is the number of students who participated – in all, we had 12 students, accompanied by 9 or 10 parents. As an educator, one of my concerns is keeping my students engaged . . . I think we succeeded, as students were working up until the last minute to finish their projects. They truly seemed to enjoy their projects and worked very diligently to complete them. As a testimony to that, four looms found their way home with the students!!!

Scott assisting students during the inkle loom class.

During the class, while I was busy working with individual students, my assistant, James, played cheerleader and encourager . . . and also as promoter, encouraging students to come to the chainmail class in April. He also chatted with the students and parents about other upcoming events, including archery, tile making, and additional weaving classes.
In all, I would say that the class went very well. I have had some positive feedback from parents involved, as well as from the students. I was a little concerned, as several of the students were rather young . . . but they did a commendable job on their weaving projects and I think they will take home some new ideas and experiences . . . and that’s what Medieval Living is all about!!!

I want to thank all of the students and their parents for a wonderful class . . . the students were all very well behaved and respectful . . . something I miss seeing in the public schools. Hey, and the parents were well behaved also!!! So . . . happy Saint Patrick’s Day . . . and happy weaving.

Cheers!!!

The Challenge Has Been Met!!!

Scott — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 02:02:48 +0000

So the homeschoolers made me spend my day in the workshop building more inkle looms. (Darn!) With eight students, it should be a nice sized class – plus moms and dads hanging around. There are now twelve completed practice inkle looms sitting on the dining room table – just a little touch up with some steel wool to polish the urethane coating. The class can grow a couple more before I either have to put a limit to the class size or dash back into the workshop to make more looms.

Although I finished the “home projects” for Betty and Melissa, I never touched the archery bow – just not enough time. Maybe tomorrow afternoon I will head back out to the shop to begin tackling this new endeavor.

We had a brief team meeting – lots on the horizon for Medieval Living! Chainmail classes and more inkle loom and tablet loom weaving classes for April. James is working on archery, arrow making/fletching for June and July. If the bow making works as I am hoping it well, we might add that to the list. Melissa is working on the tile making process so that we can hold classes in May. A fundraising yard-sale probably some time in May or early June (see the Albuquerque Craigslist for more info on that). I am also hoping to get an introduction to tapestry weaving course set up in April or May. And then most of these classes will continue on monthly basis, as long as there is interest. (I’ve already been asked about the chainmail class, so I know some people are getting anxious for some of these offerings!) We are also hoping to start some dialogue with a local charter school – some of the things they are doing with their students may partner well with what we are offering. Yeah, the plate is getting full . . . and I like it that way! We met the challenge of the inkle loom homeschoolers – who else has something to challenge us with? Bring it on!

Inkle Loom Class Date, Time, & Location

Scott — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:43:17 +0000

Well it took longer to set up then I had originally intended . . . one of the problems of not having our own facility yet . . . but the inkle loom class has a date, time and location! We will meet on March 17, 2010, from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon at the Cherry Hills Library. The library is located at 6901 Barstow NE in Albuquerque. The class is currently rather small – only a few have expressed interest, but now that there is a firm date, I expect a few more will want to attend. The class is open primarily to homeschool families; however, as this is also spring break week for Albuquerque Public Schools, I am willing to entertain requests from other interested families. Contact me at scott@medieval-living.com if you are wanting to sign up.

One change of note: it’s our long-term goal to provide services to homeschool families free of charge. We will collect class fees from other groups who are interested in taking classes in order to fund the homeschool classes. With that stated, my previous comment about a $10 fee for this class is waived. If you have enjoyed the class and wish to make a donation, that is left to your discretion – it is neither required nor expected.

I will have several “practice” looms for students to work with – all materials are provided, and students will be able to take their completed projects with them. During the two-hour class, students will learn the basics of weaving on an “inkle” loom as well as a brief history of the loom and its Medieval predecessor. I will have a few full-sized looms available if anyone is interested in purchasing one to continue their weaving experience . . . however, the rules of the library don’t allow me to sell things there, so any loom sales would have to happen off library property – I want to be respectful of the library’s policies as they have graciously allowed me to teach my class there.

I hope that everyone who attends will enjoy themselves and have a pleasurable learning experience!

Tapestry Weaving

Scott — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:16:56 +0000

My latest personal project is a new tapestry that I am weaving for a “home” project. One might think that my house is full of all sorts of Medieval era decorations – actually, it is quite ecletic, with bits and pieces from around the world, both modern and not-so-modern. And then of course, we are in the southwestern part of the United States, so there is a significant Hispanic and Native American influence on the decor. Such is the case with my tapestry project . . . a Kokopelli character, which is a family favorite. However, the technique being used to make the little flute player is the same used during Medieval days.

I found a nice series of photos and video clips from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City portraying a tapestry weaver at work on her loom. I wanted to show this particular link to clarify “hand woven” tapestries done on a proper tapestry loom as compared to those done on a Jacquard tapestry loom – a more contemporary piece of equipment (circa 1804). While the Jacquard loom certainly produces some wonderful tapestries, it is missing the personal touch found on the earlier, more “period” type of loom. When you see a “hand woven” tapestry being sold for a very low price, you can probably assume that it was the product of the Jacquard loom. However, if you commission someone to weave a tapestry on a traditional tapestry loom, expect your price to be . . . higher . . . alot higher!

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Medieval Textiles

Scott — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:18:13 +0000

With my discussions about weaving, I felt I should offer some resources for anyone interested in Medieval textiles. I had mentioned some time ago about the Complex Weavers orgnization. They regularly published a newsletter which contained research related to Medieval textiles. An example of the type of information contained in these newsletters follows:

“Purpurae
By Nancy M. McKenna
Silks have always been luxury items. In Ælfric’s
Colloquy1 silks appear in the same context as gold
and gems. And yet persons of means used large
numbers of silk items. In c. 686 Aldhelm commented
upon the vogue for silk sleeves used by both men and
women. And when they could be afforded, silks were
also lavished upon bishops, abbots and the churches
under their patronage. Silks were used to adorn walls,
tombs and altars.
Although silk was highly prized, there was one fabric
that held still more esteem: purpura.
Purpura was clearly associated with the distinctive
and costly. For instance, because a cope given by St
Æthelwold was of purpura it was deemed appropriate
that it should be edged with gold. Purpura was also
referenced in medieval poetry ranging from Guillaume
d’Orange to Perceval.” Issue 31 March 2002

This is just a glimpse of the types of information available in these newsletters. Recreationists, authors, museum curators . . . anyone interested in the clothing people wore in Medieval days and the fabrics used to make clothing. Their archives are available at “Medieval Textiles“. The newsletters are from 1999 through 2003. Much more is available on their site – just do some digging and see what you find!!!

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First Inkle Weaving Class

Scott — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:42:57 +0000

I have a fellow teacher who has asked me to give some of his students an introduction to the inkle loom. The students are part of a vocational skills class, so learning about the process of weaving will be a good experience for them. I’m hammering out the national standards for visual art and also working on some occupational therapy applications so that the “administration” will be satisfied with the validity and rigor of the instruction. I’m planning on offering some classes to the homeschool community during my spring break in March, so getting the state and national standards defined and documented is something I need to do anyway.

Practice Inkle Looms

I’m also looking at offering a class to the local senior citizens center – they would benefit from the therapeutic aspects of weaving as well as the recreational and social ones. The photo is a quick snapshot of some of the practice looms I’ve assembled. They will only produce a woven sample 24 inches long and about 1 inch wide, but that should be sufficient length to allow students get the concept of weaving using minimal materials. I’m in the process of designing some low-cost inkle looms which will serve those students who want to take a more serious try at it . . . the first prototype is on the workbench waiting for the weekend to be finished.

Medieval Beads

Scott — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:33:32 +0000

I’ve seen quite a few articles on Medieval clothing, such as hats and tunics and funny pointed shoes . . . but I admit I have not come upon much discussion on the ornamentation of Medieval clothing. Meet Jen Segrest, a Medieval recreationist who has studied the art of embroidery using glass beads. Apparently this was a common practice in Medieval Germany. She provides some interesting history of German beadmaking throughout the Middle Ages. I will let Ms. Segrest describe this German beadwork to you . . . from her site, MedievalBeads.com . . .

Medieval German Beadwork

“Medieval German beadwork is characterized by beads couched with linen thread to animal hide parchment. No other culture doing beadwork seems to have executed it this exact way, yet for the Germans it was standard operating procedure. The Beaded parchment pieces are then appliqued to a ground cloth of red silk. The beadwork often contains natural red coral, pearls, gold, and at least one shade of blue glass seed beads. Bezants, thin gold-foil plaques stamped with myriad delicate designs, were sewn into the unadorned areas of the ground cloth or incorporated into the beadwork itself.”

The image here is an example of the level of ornamentation achieved through embroidery with glass beads. Jen’s website include numerous examples of beadwork and includes a discussion forum and some tutorials. Anyone interested in Medieval beadwork? Here’s your online resource! I encourage you visit Jen’s site and see what information she has to offer.

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