Our fifth Advent calendar post 2021 is:
A selection of glass spindle whorls. All from the city of Sigtuna, Sweden. The world are all dated to 11-10th century. The vary in shape and weight. But are still pretty small.
When spinning we like to have different sizes. When spinning a thin thread a light whorl is good.
The whorls can be found in the collections of Sigtuna museum.
/ Amica and Maria
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Our third Advent calendar post 2021 is:
One dark blue seal bag dated 1376 from Björnsäter Sweden. The blue wool seal bag itself is spectacular but this time we pay attention to the sewing thread. A 2-plied linen sewing thread, white.
White linen sewing thread is like the bread and butter of the historical sewing kit. Not only the medieval kit. Often the thread is a lot coarser than one would expect. Don’t fear to use a thick sewing thread!
Today in the collection of the National Archives.
/ Amica and Maria
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Our first Advent calendar post 2021 is:
A tablet found in Uppsala, Sweden. Dated to the late medieval period. It’s made of wood. We don’t know what kind of wood. It measures 6cm x 6 cm. The corners have been damaged over time and we guess it have been less round when it was new.
Today it can be found in the collections of the Swedish History museum.
We find this size very handy when weaving.
/ Amica and Maria
Fulled fabrics. The fabrics during the Middle Ages were often fulled. When fabrics from that time is found in the ground, the majority of the nap is often gone. That means the fabrics that we find give a different surface then the fabric originally had. Also fabrics other than archaeological, may have lost a lot of its fulled surface. Here we can see some evidence of that.
The examples are both from gilded leather coverlets, where the gilded strip ( or a twisted linen strip) has fallen off and exposes a fabric that has significantly more nap than the rest of the fabric.
Both fabrics are dated to 15th or 16th century.
The first fabric is from the Ilsbo embroidery. Now in Hälsinglands museums collections.
The second fabric is from Dalhem II embroidery. Enlarge photo to get a even better view of the nap. Now in the collections of The Swedish History Museum.
/ Amica & Maria
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Today we would like to raise the idea of a perfect result. That seems to be a fairly modern approach. We see repeatedly during our analyses that the perfect result is a non existing thing during the Middle Ages. This embroidery from Ärentuna is a good example of that.
Check out the blue square with the yellow pattern in. During the sewing someone ran out of yellow yarn. And continued with a light orange yarn instead. That someone, was also a bit unfocused and turned one of the wings of the pattern upside down.
Misstakes happens all the time when people are doing crafts. But during the Middle Ages people seemed less interested in fixing them. We find this very heartwarming and would like to strike a blow for not correcting things too often. It’s a bit like live TV. Don’t mention it, then the audience will notice it, just move on and everything will be just fine.
The embroidery is dated 14-15th century.
/ Amica & Maria
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Today we return to the Grödinge double weave.
But today we focus on the animals of the middle section. We got lions, eagles and the animal combined by the two, griffins. At first sight all animals looks the same, but at a closer look, all the animals have some small individual parts. That menas that the pattern have been picked by hand during the weaving.
The weave is made out of white and dark blue wool and is dated to the 15th century.
Today the double weave can be found in the collections of The Swedish History Museum.
/ Amica & Maria
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Today’s post is a very basic but very important item, a band or a ribbon. This small band in linen have served it’s owner well. Today it’s very little of it left. Woven in single spun linen thread. Most likely in a rigid heddle. Just 8 mm wide.
It’s a small find from the Secret Italian collection.
Dated 1470-1530
/ Amica & Maria
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Today all swedes celebrate a saint. St Lucia. So let’s go for a saint today. Or two.
This lovely chasuble in blue velvet decorated with embroidery on the back. A magnificent piece! Check out the piecing on the bottom of the chasuble.
Dated late 15th century. In the collections of National museum, Danmark
/ Amica and Maria
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When we analyse old textiles we use simple equipment. Phones, a clip on magnifier, glass magnifier, measuring tape, ruler and in special cases we use a USB microscope.
Here you can see the benefits of using a clip on magnifier. It’s a simple thing that you can buy at any IT shop that sells mouses or charger for phones.
This piece is a linen fragment from the so called The time capsule . You can find more finds related to it at our blog.
The linen fragment have got lovely decorations at the edge.
We don’t know what it was before it became a fragment. A part of a veil? A towel? A table cloth?
It you have any suggestions- please write them in the comments!
/ Amica & Maria
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Today we want to show you some spangles/ sequins and some mini-mini pearls.
It’s a top of a sudarium. The top is silk, metal thread, linen thread, spangles and pearls.
The linen is also embroidered with red and blue silk. The seams are covered with silk ribbons, woven in a rigid heddle.
Dated to 15th century.
Today in the collections of The Swedish History Museum.
/ Amica & Maria
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