#the loom that sca built

[cottonkhaleesi]

Finally at a stage of actually trialling out this loom (despite all my weaving accoutrements being in storage and reverting to a slapdash cereal box shuttle)! It has a few niggles; namely that the designer clearly doesn’t weave herself, thus didn’t know the practical differences between a 4-shaft and rigid heddle loom, just the cosmetic ones. But unexpected side effect I do love: being able to balance my laptop on top of the whole thing because the shaft controls are on the sides! Wooo!

It works!! Look at that beautiful zigzag pattern.

[suspected-spinozist]

unopenablebox hat auf deinen Eintrag geantwortet “@interested parties, I nerd-sniped myself, does anyone have a...”

there is a video of this person doing some warp-weighted loom weaving in this blog post

http://hrolfr.blogspot.com/2017/07/blog-post_13.html if that helps idk

maybe you could use it to help estimate a rate? 

sigaloenta hat auf deinen Eintrag geantwortet “@interested parties, I nerd-sniped myself, does anyone have a...”

I know this research exists because I heard a lecture about bronze-age sail manufacture and this was part of it. I bet that Danish institute that specializes in early textile archaeology has published something.

https://ctr.hum.ku.dk/

You two have both hit on one of the weirder features of practical ancient textile research, which is that it’s completely dominated by Scandinavians. 

My problem is that there’s this viral reddit post by a man who’s annoyed because his wife built a warp-weighted loom during quarantine and has since woven multiple full-length dresses, which she wears at least once a week. That’s three or four months, max. Interpersonal dynamics aside, I’m really skeptical! Weaving in the ancient world was incredibly time-consuming. So I decided to do some digging, which is when I found out that almost everyone writing about warp-weighted looms is mostly interested in vikings. (As far as I can tell that this has to do with a combination of SCA/more and better preserved textiles in the archeological record/the fact that Norwegians are apparently just really into traditional handicrafts). 

But this ended up being less of a problem than I thought! The basic warp-weighted loom is pretty much the same everywhere, and evidence suggests that ancient Greeks, Romans, and Scandinavians used the same basic weaves for their everyday fabrics: plainweave or tabby for linen, and tabby, basketweaves, and diamond twill for wool. So I spent a while digging into that and learned a lot about the pitfalls of knitting heddles and got absolutely nowhere with my original question. 

@sigaloenta, I did end up finding the Danes, and their official publications weren’t that useful either, but they did lead me to a blog post by Dr. Mary Harlow, an ancient textile researcher at the University of Leicester. She thinks it would have taken at least a month to weave a standard toga. Of course, a toga is an enormous garment, but that estimate assumes fairly intensive work by multiple people. Even if the dresses this woman is making are half the size, it’s an enormous amount of effort. 

So I think I was right to be skeptical – the kind of output this post is describing is possible, but just barely. If I were in that dude’s position, I’d be less concerned about what my wife is wearing in public than the fact that she’d suddenly picked up a full-time job. 

[phgq]

Unity, cooperation sustain Itogon’s weaving livelihood group

#PHinfo: Unity, cooperation sustain Itogon’s weaving livelihood group

ITOGON, Benguet,Dec.  23(PIA) - - The Golden Livelihood Association in Poblacion  is one inspiring  story   of being  able to rise again and rekindle interest in the weaving craft utilizing the fabric produced and sewn into an array of products.

The association’s endeavor may not be that profitable yet but the unity and cooperation among the members bond them and keep  them going. This is coupled with the support of concerned agencies, the municipal and provincial government and those who patronize their products.

Milagros Fermin, the association  president, is grateful for the unity and cooperation of  members which has kept them together with the Divine Providence’s intervention despite the struggles that have  beset them through the years especially during the COVID pandemic.

Some of the group members do the weaving while the sewing of the woven fabric and turn them into array of products such as bags, pouches, purse, apparels, masks, decors, throw pillows, foot rugs and caps.

The two-storey shop where they do the craft is quite small. It was originally built out of galvanized iron and later improved into a concrete structure through the municipal local government’s resources. The lot was donated by Carmencita Wakit, one of the members.

“Our first output was a blanket when a certain Mrs. Bugnosen came to teach us how to make wall décor, foot rug, throw pillow,” said Wakit.

In 2006, they were trained to weave cloth but due to  limited stocks of thread with  the  surge of prices due to low supply,   they decided to stop because it will not pay off even their labor if they pursue, said Wakit.

On July 16, 2013,  the association regrouped  and rekindled  their interest. This they attributed to the Department of Trade and Industry’s grant of some units of sewing machines under the Shared Service Facility livelihood assistance which seeks to improve productivity and efficiency of small enterprises.

They also  changed the group’s name into Golden Livelihood Association dividing the group into weavers and sewers.

Through the DTI and the Department of Agriculture, their products are being displayed in trade fairs like the  Adivay Festival and also that in Abra.

Though they are being patronized by the community and schools in the locality, market outlets are  still wanting, according to Fermin. They want their products to reach  other areas.

This year, the  Itogon Negosyo Center provided basic training for the maintenance of the sewing machines so they know how to do simple repair if something goes wrong.  They were also  trained  on embroidery  to  enhance their finished products.

NC Business Counsellor Lydia Alhambra of DTI said their office is also training the association members on  book keeping.

Last December 16, the provincial government provided two units of weaving looms through the efforts of Councilor Clint Galutan. He hopes  that the group will have more members to learn about the  craft.

Wakit  said  they need to train others - members who really have the passion and dedication for the venture to prosper. They also need  high-end sewing machines to  improve their craft.(JDP/SCA-PIA-CAR, Benguet)

***

References:

* Philippine Information Agency. "Unity, cooperation sustain Itogon’s weaving livelihood group ." Philippine Information Agency. https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1062385 (accessed December 23, 2020 at 03:02PM UTC+08).

* Philippine Infornation Agency. "Unity, cooperation sustain Itogon’s weaving livelihood group ." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1062385 (archived).

[cottonkhaleesi]

Finally up and running! Further updates to follow.