A&S 50 Six: Tablet Weave Satin Effect Band from London Dig MOL 423

The original braid was woven in fine silk and found attached to a bronze strap end which would have been used with a girdle.  Braids of this type gained in popularity and were used for belts up to the early Tudor period.  The satin pattern in accomplished by card idling – only some of the cards are turned with each pick.  While this is quite simple to do the process is actually quite time consuming and I found it very difficult to keep track of where I was in my pattern.

            The cards are all threaded with four stands of plied silk, alternating Z and S.  39 cards were used for the original band.  For my initial attempt at this band, I used size 3 DMC pearle cotton in a salmon pink and black and 24 cards total as I only had 24 cards of the same size at the time.  The cards were from Halcyon Yards, and measured 3 ¼ inches square.  The first two and last two cards were threaded in black, and the remaining 20 cards were threaded in the salmon pink, then all the cards were arranged so they alternated Z and S, as in the threading diagram below:

1
2
3
4
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
	Z	S	Z	S	Z	S	Z	S	Z	S	Z	S	Z	S	Z	S	Z	S	Z	S	Z	S	Z	S

The cards are turned as followed:

            Cards 1, 2, 23, and 24 turn forward every turn

            First turn: All remaining even cards turn forward

            Second turn: All odd card turn forward

I found this band problematic for a number of reasons.  First, I had a great deal of difficulty keeping track of where I was in the pattern when I left my weaving (and even sometimes when I simply looked away).  A more experienced weaver might have fewer problems with this.  I suspect part of the issue is that it takes two turns for any sort of pattern to being to emerge, so it is more difficult to read your weaving and figure out which turn you are on.

            Second, the cards were far too large for my hands, making the turning much more difficult.  Smaller cards would make working with two packs easier.

            Third, I could not sort out an efficient way of handling two packs of cards.  Separating the packs out (one in front and one in back) seems the most efficient but I had trouble getting a clear shed, and again because the cards were large I still had trouble manipulating them.  I ended up turning each card individually which was quite tedious.

            Lastly, the pattern does not show at all well in cotton.  I ended up weaving only a few inches of this band because of the difficult I had with the cards and weaving itself, and the poor appearance of the band in the fiber I had chosen.  I plan to try again using silk now that I have smaller cards and a better idea of how to work with two packs of cards.

Sources:

Crowfoot, Elizabeth.  Textiles and Clothing, c.1150-1450 (Medieval Finds from Excavations in London).  Boydell Press, 2001.

Carolyn Priest-Dorman.  Three Recipes for Fourteenth- and Fifteenth-Century Tablet Weaving.  (http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/3recipes.html) Last accessed Aug. 31 2010.