Jahanara, Order of the Laurel - Weaving Magic

Damask cowl

Jahanara — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 20:23:58 +0000

Damask cowl Jahanara Fri, 07/30/2021 - 21:23

Notes

8 meters 21"

Pattern Notes Rose pattern from Spies 7th C Egyptian pg. 131.

30/2 gemstone silk

36-40 epi

First sample 40 epi in 15 dent reed 2-3-3, see reed substitution chart

Second sample 20 epi reed 2-3-3

177 units of 8

15-20 pattern shafts

8 threads per Patten Shaft

Tie up see notes from Asheden video

189 pattern units @ 8 ends per unit

Time

Winding the Warp about 7 hours

Threading pattern heddles approximately 14 hours

Threading Ground heddles approximately 6-14 hours (The Prisoner of Azkaban...)

Currently 30" wide.

This textile is based on several historical examples; one roman damask from the 1st C, a Syrian damask from the 8th-11th C, and a Sasanid samite textile (for the motifs). This textile was woven to be made into a Sasanid cowl and wrap, based on several Sasanid silverworkds. The motifs were chosen from Sasanid samite to represent the heraldry that I use in the SCA and my membership in the Order of the Rose. As a member of the Order of the Rose, Jahanara would be a member of the Royal family and therefore would primarily wear red and/or purple, thus purple was chosen for this cloth.

The Roman Damask

A piece of a tunic was found in Didymoi, a small Roman fortress in the Eastern Desert in Egypt. Didymoi was on the carvan road leading from Koptos to Berenkie located on the Red Sea Coast. This tunic is one of three damask fabrics that used damask to weave in a checkerboard pattern. Another such fabric was found in Palmyra, Syria. The piece is noted to be well worn and dated to being thrown out in 81-96 CE. (Cardon ed. Walton Rogers Roman Textile Industry). This tunic fragment shows that damask was being woven well before the Sasanid Period, it's sister textile found in Syria shows that damask weaving was known to Sasanid weavers well before the 7th C. The ground weave of this textile is a 3/1 brocken twill, which informed by choice of 3/1 brocken twill for my own damask woven textile.

The Syrian Damask

I studied the Syrian Damask fabric on one of my trips to the Clothworkers Centre, London. This fragment measured 10" tall by 5" wide. I estimated the sett at 40 epi, the same sett used for this textile. The Syrian Damask is also in purple. This piece is woven with the pattern in warp faced satin and the background in the weft faced sateen. Though the textiles are reversible, so either side can be used as the face. It is common to weave the cloth with the satin pattern side up, as this is facilitated by pulling the cords for each pattern block, rather than pulling the cords for the background blocks.

http://thepurplelotus.org/node/237

Motifs

The lotus motif appears in a more abstract form in one of the Antinoe Samitum silks (held at Le Musee Historique des Tissus in Lyon. The coat itself was found in Egypt but is widely accepted as an import from Sasanid Persia. I noticed in my Here be Wyverns book that the central portion of a larger lotus (from a 16th C carpet) was a slightly more detailed version of the lotus and shares some common elements. As the 8th C Damask I studied at the Clothworkers entre has far more complex designs, I felt it acceptable to go with the more elaborate lotus motif.

Yarn calculations from Weavolution's calculator

Warp:

Warp length is 113 inches (3.1 yards)

Length to weave each article is:
43 inches (under tension)
40 inches (relaxed)

Width in reed is: 43.2 inches
Number of warp ends: 1571

Total Warp Required: 4870.1 yards (3.8 ozs.)

Total Weft required is 1936.0 yards (1.5 ozs)
Weft Calculations

Cowl: 30" 2/12 Gemstone Silk

Total Weft required is 500.0 yards (2.9 ozs)

Short Sasanid robe 3 yards 2/12

Total Weft required is 1950.0 yards (11.1 ozs)

Sasanid wrap: 126" 2/12

Total Weft required is 2100.0 yards (12.0 ozs)

Sett

40.00epi

Warp and Weft

30/2 Silk Patrician Warp and Black Weft

Weave Structure

Damask

Portfolio Images

Cover Image

Handwoven Persian Robe

Jahanara — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 20:15:24 +0000

Handwoven Persian Robe Jahanara Fri, 07/30/2021 - 21:15

Notes

I set out to weave cloth to make a 7th C Persian Robe based on several extant robes I have found online and seen depicted on many Sasanian Silverworks. When I began my costuming research I found a number of images of Sasanian women in a variety of sources. I began tracking the stated status of each woman and what items of clothing they were depicted wearing. Of 17 noblewomen depicted in a variety of sources, 3 were depicted wearing robes or coats, of the 17 images of non-noble women or those whose status was not specified none were wearing this clothing style. Below is one of my favorite depictions of a noble woman wearing a coat/robe.

I rarely put on a warp to weave just one item. Rather I prefer to put on longer warps and weave a variety of items from the same warp. I, therefore, put on a point twill warp and wove fabric for my son, my husband, and this robe. The blue wool for the robe was woven at 20 ends per inch and 20 picks per inch. I finished the fabric in a normal cycle and warm wash in my washing machine. I had woven with this Shetland wool a number of other times and knew that in my machine on this wash the wool would not felt, but would full nicely. Before cutting the cloth my husband and I had tried a variety of cutting techniques to see which pattern best provides the same shape of the robes depicted on Sasanian woman. We cut the robe using our chosen pattern, which is essentially geometric construction. I sewed the robe together by hand and flattened and sewed down each side of every seam. Finally, I was left with deciding how to finish the cut edges that made up the hems. In order to make this final decision I conducted further research into Sasanian coats. I discovered a note inThe Metropolitian Museum's analysis of a 7th C Persian Riding Coat stating "patches of fabric in plain weave of undyed linen to reinforce armpits and hemline". This analysis indicated that the hems of this coat were reinforced with linen bands on the inside. This method can be used to both reinforce and finish the seams. As I had already woven my own cloth for the robe it seemed only fitting that I weave the linen bands to use as the hem finishing. I warped 8.7 meters of 4"/10.16 cm wide linen and wove it in plain weave. I sett the linen at 20 epi and wove with a firm beat to give the final cloth an overall sturdiness to be suitable for the final purpose. My son also helped in the weaving. I remembered that linen is best woven when wet, so I kept a wet town on the back of the warp as I was weaving. I felt a wet towel or plain cloth placed on the warp would be a more authentic method for keeping the warp wet than using a spray bottle. Plain weave is very fast to weave so the weaving went quickly. The final steps of the project to date was to sew bands down to the right side of all remaining cut edges, then press the band back to the inside of the fabric. Lastly I sewed along the fold and sewed down the linen band on the inside.

Warp and Weft

Shetland Wool

Weave Structure

Twill

Portfolio Images

Cover Image

Trim for a Princess

Jahanara — Sat, 25 Dec 2021 14:52:08 +0000

Trim for a Princess Jahanara Sat, 12/25/2021 - 14:52

Body

We were fortunate to be able to hold the Insulae Draconis Coronet Tournament this summer. My friend Siridean won the Tournament and bestowed the honor of being the Princess of Insulae Draconis on my Laurel Rogned. Although I have already woven her damask for a headdress, I wanted to weave something special for her while she is Princess.

I weighed the purple silk I had purchased from Treenway Silks. It is very nice quality and the purple is particularly royal. After weighing the yarn, I calculated the total length. There was enough yarn to weave another 3.5" wide piece of trim 3 meters long! 3.5" would give me enough blocks to put on another 12 block point pattern damask that could be tied onto the waste yarn from the trim I wove for my husband. While I was winding the warp and getting it tied on the loom. I needed to decide on a pattern.

So I began researching 10th C. Rus clothing and in particular textiles, embellishments, and motifs. I found the article Women's Clothing in Kievan Rus in The Medieval Textiles Study Group Newsletter from March 2001. I found my first damask drafts when I began learning to weave on my drawloom, so it was nice to go back to the group for further information. This article and other research confirmed that the crescent moons which appear on the Insulae Draconsic heraldry is a fitting motif for a Rus noblewoman. As the most luxurious decorations/trims in the Rus period are also richly beaded/pearled, I decide to keep the motif woven into the trim simple to leave room for further beaded embellishments.

I know that Mistress Ysabella-Maria has specialized in graphic heraldic motifs, I asked if she already had a graphed crescent pattern. She asked what type and how many squares. I initially asked for 12 squares wide. However, when she sent me the motif I scaled it down to six squares wide and centered each one of the point reversals 1 and 12. This allows each row to have crescents that alternate positions giving more options for the pearled/beaded embellishments.

I wove a small sample of several repeats to show to Her Celestial Highness, which I was able to present to her at Yule Ball. She loved the sample but did ask what adaptations could be made to make the bottom a bit more round. I eliminated the first row of the pattern and this created a wonderful crescent in the woven trim. I am now weaving along and look forward to finishing this piece and seeing what Her Highness does with it.

Damask is commonly woven with the reverse side up. This makes for the simplest weaving and is best for the threads and the weaver's body. Weaving with the reverse side up means the weaver lifts the fewest number of pattern shafts, which means less stress on the yarns and the weaver themself. This trim will be one of the highlights of my January Learned Discourse talk hosted by the Shire of Myndd Gwynn.

Linen Hem Finishing

Jahanara — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 06:58:35 +0000

Linen Hem Finishing Jahanara Sat, 07/31/2021 - 07:58

Notes

For technical specs, see my <a href="https://www.weavolution.com/project/jahanara/linen-hem-lining">Weavolution Project Page.</a>
I wove this plain linen band to finish the cut hems on my blue handwoven Sasanian Robe. This project was inspired when I discovered a note<a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/70021242?exhibitionId=%7B60853040-AE7E-4162-8FA7-525505D6B633%7D&oid=70021242&pg=4&rpp=60&pos=185&ft=&fbclid=IwAR04vWJLAFIzaDRb7e7_Yq8ogk7EdhuYErwgHWTCiSCqO0A0Rgg-65ORk7s">The Metropolitian Museum's analysis of a 7th C Persian Riding Coat. </a>.
This description of the hem finishing technique inspired me to weave my own linen for this purpose. Weaving the band was very fun, because I knew the end result was going to give my handwoven robe a final touch of authenticity.

Sett

20.00epi

Warp and Weft

Euroflax linen

Weave Structure

Plain Weave

Portfolio Images

Cover Image

Damask Trim

Jahanara — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 06:59:47 +0000

Damask Trim Jahanara Sat, 07/31/2021 - 07:59

Notes

185 warp threads

Wound separate waste warp of various cotton yarns to ensure I could weave as much of the silk warp as possible. This technique worked really well, I had very little waste of the silk yarn!

Draft comes from Nancy Arthur Hoskin's Tabby to Taquete pg. 281 this design comes from another Roman Burial Pillow excavated from Antinoe Egypt. #26.812/21 Musee Historique des Tisus, Lyon, France.

Sett

60.00epi

Warp and Weft

30/2 Silk Bordello
30/2 Silk Patrician

Weave Structure

Damask

Portfolio Images

Cover Image

Egyptian Tunic with Tapestry Bands and Roundels

Jahanara — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 14:51:31 +0000

Egyptian Tunic with Tapestry Bands and Roundels Jahanara Mon, 08/02/2021 - 15:51

Time Period

7th C AD

8th C AD

9th C AD

Weave Structure

Plain Weave

Tapestry

Cultures

Egyptian

Museum

The Clothworkers' Centre for the Study and Conservation of Textiles and Fashion

Museum Number

275-1891 to 303-1891

Notes

Height: 131cm
Including sleeves width: 209cm
Excluding sleeves width: 124cm

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O119593/tunic-unknown/

Glory to our lord the sultan

Jahanara — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 14:40:13 +0000

Glory to our lord the sultan Jahanara Mon, 08/02/2021 - 15:40

Time Period

14th C AD

15th C AD

Weave Structure

Lampas

Cultures

Spanish

Museum

The Clothworkers' Centre for the Study and Conservation of Textiles and Fashion

Museum Number

830-1894

Notes

"The weaver of this silk from Muslim Spain has accurately reproduced the flowing lines of an inscription in Arabic, a task requiring enormous care. The phrase ‘Glory to our lord the sultan’ has been repeated within the widest band in the design, creating the illusion of a long frieze of calligraphy."

Length: 78cm
Height: 47cm

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O109205/woven-silk-unknown/

Peacock samitum

Jahanara — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 14:35:27 +0000

Peacock samitum Jahanara Mon, 08/02/2021 - 15:35

Time Period

12th C AD

Weave Structure

Samitum

Cultures

Spanish

Museum

The Clothworkers' Centre for the Study and Conservation of Textiles and Fashion

Museum Number

828-1894

Notes

"Rectangular fragment of red, cream and blue silk compound twill, depicting confronted peacocks and unicorns around a central palm tree, Arabic inscriptions in beaded cartouches at top and bottom"

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O84930/woven-silk-unknown/