Posts

Early Medieval Tunic found in Glacier to be Recreated

reconstructed-early-medeval-tunic-650x433

Astonishingly well preserved Iron Age tunic will be recreated (mostly) using the ‪spinning‬ and ‪weaving‬ techniques available at the time.  You can read about the examination of the wool fibres, method of spinning, the diamond twill weaving pattern and other factors which have been revealed by this project.
Click on the link to read this fascinating article.
http://www.medievalists.net/2014/11/24/early-medieval-tunic-recreated-norway/

 

 

Waulking and Art Fair and more…. oh my!

July has been a month filled with one event after another!  

Starting with demonstrating in the Textiles Tent at the Saline Celtic Festival which combines my 2 artistic loves…. stories and weaving.

IMG_20140712_090647_303    IMG_20140712_090704_412

The weather was sunny and relatively cool for a Michigan summer so attendance was good for the festival.  Mary Underwood and CJ Kohoyda-Inglis organized the Textile Tent filling it with fabulous fiber folk so besides my weaving demonstration, there were members of The Spinners Flock demonstrating different forms of spinning and knitting.

One of highlights of our tent is ‘Waulking the Tweed’ with Frances Acar leading us in song.  ‘Waulking’ is the Scottish Gaelic word for fulling.  Woven woolen fabric needs to be ‘fulled’ when it comes off the loom.  Pressure, warmth and moisture creates tiny pockets of air that lift up the woolen fibers making the surface softer, thicker and more weather resistant.  Before the days of machines this was done by hand with friends and family in a community event – each bringing fabric that needed to be fulled.  If there was not a table long enough for the fabric, doors were often taken off hinges and set on the ground or saw horses for the work surface.  Songs were sung to set the pace, rhythm and coordinate movement.  By measuring the woolen fabric after every 2 or 3 songs controlled shrinkage can be achieved.  The songs are call-and-response with the leader singing the verses and everyone else singing the refrain.  Many of the songs were about how wonderful, intelligent or handsome a husband/lover is OR how that husband/lover is a no good rogue and lowlife.  (Some things haven’t changed over the centuries!)

Right on the heels of Celtic Festival came the Ann Arbor Art Fairs.
For 4 days more than 1,000 artists sprawl over 27 blocks of Ann Arbor as 4 separate nationally recognised art fairs are going on simultaneously.  The weather was fantastic and nearly 500,000 people came over the 4 days.  My work, along with 15 other guild members, was part of the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild booth in the State Street Area Art Fair.  It certainly ‘took a village’ or in this case a guild (16 sellers and 20 volunteers) – to build, man, and take down our booth.

IMG_20140715_092843_564  IMG_20140715_092854_482

IMG_20140715_095055_809   IMG_5885 felt jacket silk purses small purses  IMG_5878 IMG_5843 IMG_5838

And finally…. the month closes out with the National Storytelling Network Conference in Mesa, Arizona filled with master classes, keynotes, workshops, storytelling concerts and swaps.  Here I’ll connect with storytellers from across the country and help with the 8th season of the Fringe Performances.

FireAndLight400

 

Weaving in Wales – Summer School winds down…..

One of the best things about summer school is the ‘Walk About’ on Saturday afternoon.  This is when we all get a chance to see what everyone else has been doing all week.  It’s always a bit of a scavenger hunt adventure to find them all and this year was no different = 16 courses were held in 6 different buildings spread over the entire campus!  Turkey Red Dying won the prize for most creative dirctions by using ‘Follow the String’ to lead us through a labyrinth of hallways, in and out of the building (due to wet paint!) until we arrived at their location.

We got our classroom cleanup and table displays ready.

10_workstation  classroom_2

Here’s a sampling of the work produced in the Tapestry course woven by
Sally Bohlings    ——     Alison Coates    ——–   Sandra Combes
Sally Bohling  Alison Coates Sandra Combes

Rita Corbett       ————        Andrea Cross
Rita Corbett  Andrea Cross

Elizabeth Hancock     ——–      Barbara Wright
Elizabeth Hancock  Barbara Wright

Here’s a quick tour of some of the other courses…..

Bags_1  Bags from Bits

Breaking rules_1 breaking rules_2  Rule Breaking Weaving

Damask weaving  Pick-up Damask in linen

Designer spinning_1 Designer Spinning

Eco dye_1 Eco Dye_2 Eco Dying

Garments_1 Garments_2 Sewing Handwoven Fabric

Ikat_1 Warp Ikat

string bags_1 string bags_2 String Bags

Turkey red_1 turkey red_2 Turkey Red & All That Madder