Tablet Weaving Gallery

I've decided to try to break up some of my projects into seperate galleries so it's a little more organized *gasp*. I'm also trying to actually take pictures & post them in a timely manner.

Finished Pieces

More of my interpretation of motif's from the finds in Birka. This is 23 cards wide. Silver brocade on purple 60/2 silk. Woven at a rate of about a half an inch an hour. This is the 9th piece of brocade that I made to go on a Viking man's tunic. I hope to get a photo of the completed tunic up here soon. (May 2008)

Silver brocade on purple 60/2 silk. This pattern is my own interpretation of the motif's found from Birka. It is 21 cards for a widith of 3/8 inch. This is the #8 piece of brocade to go a Viking's man tunic. Woven at a rate of around an inch every 2 hours. (April 2008)

Another one of my patterns based on the finds from Birka. Silver brocade on purple 60/2 silk. 60/2 silk 21 cards wide for a widith of 3/8 inch. This is the #7 piece of brocade to go a Viking's man tunic. Woven at a rate of approximately an inch every 2.3 hours. (April 2008)

The finished product of the House Sable Maul trim I designed. This piece is done in 20/2 silk, 48 cards wide for an approximate widith of 1.20 inches.

I did a mock-up of this design to see if I wanted to change anything before I started on making several yards of it. I'm glad I did, as I wanted to change a few things... add more black to the borders and embattlements, move the hammers closer together, etc. The mockup piece is done using 10/2 & 8/2 cotton thread. It uses 40 cards for a width of 1.30 inches. The weaving was done in a hurry as I wanted to get the demo done in time to get opinions. The scan of the mockup is below... (March-April 2008)

3/1 Broken Twill done in 20/2 green silk. 39 cards wide. (Feb-March 2008)

3/1 Broken Twill Wolves done in 20/2 silk. This is 39 cards wide. If you look carefully, you can notice the twill changes between the wolves. I'm thrilled that I scaled the Mt Everest of tablet weaving known as 3/1 twill. I'm doing a happy dance! (Dec-Feb 2008)

Red 60/2 silk with silver brocade. This is a modified design of the Birka 7 pattern. It's 9 cards wide + 2(2) card borders. This piece is very, very narrow. I don't think I'll make another piece this tiny again... I like the wider ones where the pattern can be seen futher away (and without a microscope!). (Dec 2007)

Silver brocade on purple 60/2 silk. This pattern is a modified version of the Birka 20 and is 27 cards wide. The orginal Birka 20 is located below. I'm much happier with this version. It has fewer long floats, a geometric from other Birka finds, and I think this version turned out much nicer. This was woven at approximately an inch every 2.3 hours. (Oct-Nov 2007)

This is a piece of silver brocade on 60/2 silk. The pattern is known as Birka 20 and is 34 cards wide. I do not like the wavy borders. They are definetly different... and causes an optical illusion to make the piece look not straight. I wove it at about a third of an inch an hour. (Sept-Oct 2007) Below is a picture of it in progress on the loom.

Some more trim I'm making to go on field garb. Vairation of Blue Eternity pattern, done in 60/2 silk. (Dec 2007- in progress)

This is a piece of trim I made to go on some of my Viking underdresses. My goal is to trim out all of my field garb with hand woven trim, which is going to take awhile. The pattern is a variation of the "blue eternity". It's 16 cards wide, woven with a 10/2 linen / cotton blend. It's was nice to weave something that went relatively fast compared to all the brocade I've been doing lately. (Dec 2007)

Another piece to go on my field garb project. This pattern is called "eternity", it's 14 cards wide, and is woven with 10/2 cotton. Again, it was nice to weave something that went relatively fast compared to all the brocade I've been doing lately. (Nov 2007)

Brocade pattern known as Birka 6, with some slight alternations. I removed the swastika from the exemplar & replaced with a simliar geometric found in other Viking brocade patterns. This piece is 24 cards wide & has a staff border. 60/2 silk with silver weft. It is about a half an inch wide and it took me around 2 hours to weave an inch of this pattern. (August-Sept 2007)

60/2 red silk with silver. 17 pattern cards + 2(2) border. The pattern is known as Birka 21. It's 1/2 a inch wide. It took slighty more than an 1.5 hours to weave a single inch. (July 2007)

This piece of brocade is the pattern known as Birka 9. This piece is 21 cards wide and done in 60/2 silk with silver. It's about .40 of an inch wide. It was woven at a rate of about an hour an inch. (July 2007)

The infamous fish fillet. (Or, fillet 'o fish) This fillet was made with 60/2 silk and silver. It's 36 cards wide for a woven widith of approximately 2/3 of an inch. It was made for a friend who likes fish. The brocade was very slow, taking around 3 hours to complete an inch. The fillet is 18 inches long and has four square-braided ties. The design was from Master Valgardr & myself. (May-July '07)

Twist pattern garters I made for a friend, done in 20/2 silk. 20 cards wide for a woven widith of about 3/4 of an inch. The garters are each 17 inches long with braided ties. (July '07)

Brocaded wolf garters I made for Valgardr. Valgardr & I both designed the wolves together. The center ribbons desings are from Master Guntram von Wolkenstein. I'm not entirely pleased with the total "product", as I had problems estimating the length of the actual brocade, which required some unweaving of plain weave after I had wove the first garter. The brocade itself I'm half-way pleased with. This weaving went really really slow, about 3 hours to weave an inch. It's 60/2 silk, 52 cards wide and about 1.5 inches wide. Follow-up: I'm very happt to say that I won the Kingdom A&S Championship (June 07) with these garters. (April- June '07)

This is some double face trim with 2 different knotworks I made for an apron dress. I was going to have the black side up, but when I saw this side (the white side with black pattern) I liked it much better. It's 20/2 silk and 46 cards wide. (April '07)

This is a double face belt that I made for myself. The colors are my favorite (can you tell I like purple?) and also choosen to coordinate with my caftan (see below). I interchanged 2 different styles of knotwork, and I'm very pleased with it. The belt is made with 20/2 silk and is 42 cards + 2 (2) cards borders. (April '07)

This is a favor that I made for my love. It's a piece of double face which says "Amor, Juliana" (love, Juliana) in gothic script. It's in 20/2 silk and 46 cards wide threaded alt s/z. (March '07)

This is a piece of double face that I wove to go on a Viking calftan. It is 48 cards wide done with 60/2 silk, threaded alternatively s/z. It is 23 inches long. It was woven at an approximately rate of .75 inches an hour. The pattern is my own twist to one designed by Master Guntram von Wolkenstein's & can be found here. After doing these pieces, I was dreaming of the pattern changes in my sleep. Probably never a good sign. This section will be sewn on the chest & I'll post a photo of it soon.

This piece is of the same warp as the last piece, however the pattern is somewhat different. (See my above comment) Actually, I think these turned out really well, I especially like the contrast. These 2 seperate pieces, both about 12 inches long will be sewn on the sleeves of the calftan. Altogether this project took about 70 hours to complete. (Jan- Feb 07)

This is 2 seperate pieces of red silk & gold brocade I made to go onto cuffs of a linen underdress. It's the pattern known as Birka 22 done in 60/2 silk threaded alternatively s/z. Each piece of brocade portion is 9 inches long and 29 cards wide. When I get a chance I'll get a photo of the finished cuffs of the dress. Below is the photo I took while still on the loom. It took about 47 hours to complete both pieces for the cuffs. (Nov 06- Jan 07)

This is a piece of brocade done in green 60/2 silk with silver weft. It's the pattern known as Birka 22 (yes, I really like that pattern), and it's 29 cards wide. This piece was done as a thank you gift for a freind & the brocade portion is 8 inches long. It took approximately 25 hours to complete this project. (Dec 2006)

This is a piece of brocade from the Mammen finds. This piece is done in 60/2 red silk, with 2 brocade wefts of Kreinik Japan #7. Gold foil wrapped around a silk or linen core (called 'spun-gold') was one of several types of brocading threads used in the Viking era. It is 35 cards wide, for a widith of 3/4 inch wide. I wove this at approximately .60 inches an hour. (Sept 2006)

This is a piece of double face tablet woven trim made to go on a Birka style riding coat for a Viking man. The 60/2 pre-dyed silk (.33mm diameter, s-plied) was chosen for its similar characteristics to original thread (.25mm diameter, s-plied). Both single and plied threads were used in period tablet woven pieces. The original design of the laurel leaves was by Mistress Thora Sharptooth, but was modified by Master Valgardr and myself to suit his individual taste. The piece is 57 cards wide for an approximate woven width of one inch. A small staff border was also added to hide thread when the finished trim was sewn onto the coat. It was woven at approximate .75 inch every hour, for a total length of 60 inches. Altogether it took approximately 100 hours to start & complete this weaving project. Below on the right is Valgardr wearing the finished riding coat, which is his "laurel cloak". (Summer 2006)

This is the scan of my second warp at a double weave heraldic pattern of the Kingdom of AEthelmearc populace badge. It's already sewn on an apron dress in this scan. This piece was a real experiment in design & "stupid weavers tricks" to get this pattern to work in tablet weaving. Believe it or not, this piece was extremely difficult to weave. It calls for intentional mistakes in order to make the escarbuckles look correct, which can get hairy at times. It was designed by Valgardr, and was a collabration of sorts in practical application of how to represent a a symmerical diagonal symbol in a more narrow band (under 80 cards). It is done in 60/2 red, white, and gold silk. It's 30 cards wide and about 1/2 inch wide. I wove about 70 inches, at about 1.25 inches an hour.

Below is a photo of my first attempt at the pattern. I had to cut this piece off pre-maturarly after a weaving accident. I got about 18 inches done before taking it off the loom.

This is my first piece of brocade. The pattern is the common Viking-Age pattern known as "Birka 22", so named where it was found. This piece is done in 60/2 black silk, with 2 brocade wefts of Kreinik Japan #7. Gold foil wrapped around a silk or linen core (called 'spun-gold') was one of several types of brocading threads found in the Birka finds. This piece is 29 cards wide for a woven width of approximately 1/2". I had some difficulty getting the piece to a consistant widith when I started, but after a few inches, things really improved. This piece was a real learning experience for me & I'm very happy to say that it taught me patience. Unfortuantely this piece was destroyed by our 2 new kittens. :( But, I'm working on some new and better brocade. I'll call this a "practice piece" and move on. I'll probably end up putting this on a pouch or in the bag of weaving goodies I show when I teach classes. The brocade portion is about 6.5 inches long. My Documentation is located here.

This is a piece of double face tablet woven trim made for a female Viking. The style, color and designs were a personal choice. Unfortuantely this piece was also destroyed beyond repair while still on the loom by our 2 new kittens. (Argh...The pains of having pets.) I finished about 14 inches before the incident. The 60/2 pre-dyed silk (.33mm diameter, s-plied) was chosen for its similar characteristics to the original thread (.25mm diameter, s-plied). Both single and plied threads were used in period tablet woven pieces. The two alternative patterns are knotwork pieces that were designed by Master Guntram von Wolkenstein & can be found here. The piece is 52 cards wide for an approximate woven width of one inch. A small staff border was also added to hide thread when the finished trim is sewn onto a garment. It was woven at approximate .75 inches an hour.

Blue & Red (though it looks pinkish) knots in double face. I made this out of 8/2 cotton for a "working" apron dress that is "Pennsic wear". (I'm not putting silk on something that will get muddy!) It's 23 cards + 2(2) card border threaded alternatively S/Z. This is going on a blue linen apron dress, though I'm not entirely which side is going face up. :) The design is my own twist to a pattern from by Master Guntram von Wolkenstein & can be found here.

Red & Gray knot work in double face weave. The desgin is the same as the blue & gray I wove before, however I changed the design slighty ever other knot. I like this pattern & the small knots in between the larger ones. I plan on getting fittings to make this a belt. I wove quite a bit of this, probably a little too much. :) 8/2 cotton threaded alternatively S/Z, 28 cards + (2) 2 card border. Pattern by Master Guntram von Wolkenstein & can be found here.

Gray & Blue Knot work in double face. 8/2 cotton threaded alternatively S/Z, 28 cards + (2) 2 card border. Pattern by Master Guntram von Wolkenstein & can be found here. This piece is currently being used as a shoulder strap on one of Valgardr's drums.

This is my first attempt at double-face weaving with 8/2 cotton. It didn't quite turn out exceptionally well, but it's a learning piece. I designed the letter pattern.

This is some small trim I wove just playing one summer day. It was done with 60/2 silk threaded alternatively S/Z with 16 cards.

This is some silk trim that I wove, experimenting with a pattern. I ended up using it as drawstrings on a sprang and assorted pouches.

Photo of my first belt done in 8/2 cotton plain weave on a back strap loom. First & last piece I'll do on a backstrap loom. This was done in 2002, and ouch, my back still hurts!