Ancient fragments of textiles have been found in the Bronze and Iron Age salt mines of Hallstatt, Austria, dating back from 400 to 1500 BCE. I've always found it extraordinary when such fragile artefacts survive over such long periods of time. In this case, many of the fragments were preserved by the salt itself, which …
Tag: ancient weaving designs
Bog Fashion – Recreating Bronze and Iron Age Clothes
I have discovered an amazing book that I’d like to share with everyone. Bog Fashion, by Nicole DeRushie, was published in 2025 and is available through Chrono Copia Publishing. The author is a Canadian historian, and it is clear that this book is a labour of love. It is thoroughly researched with reference to historical …
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More about bog clothing
As archaeologists uncovered bog bodies in Northern Europe dating to the Bronze Age and Iron Age, there was quite a variety of clothing found on the bodies, often very well preserved. Evidence of woolen garments was widespread, along with animal hides and plant fibres such as linen. The acidic bog environment presents a preservation bias …
Bog Coat
I have been looking forward to making a bog coat for a long time! It feels like the ultimate combination of archaeology and weaving, and in the aim of making a useful piece of clothing. In fact I think I may make another different bog coat next month - I have a couple of blankets …
Nålbinding – learning to knit like a Viking
In Danish the word means ‘needle-binding’. And judging by some of the photos that you can find on Pinterest, there’s been quite a rediscovery of this technique by modern crafters. Nålbinding predates our modern knitting and crochet by more than a thousand years. It’s a method which requires the yarn to be threaded through the …
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Creativity and Inspiration
Creativity For as long as textiles have been created - whether by braiding, felting or weaving - craft-workers have been combining the functional requirements of the cloth with creative ideas. This may have been to enhance the textile's warmth or strength, to introduce different fibres, or to change the look of the textile with new dyes, pattern weaves, manipulation or sewing techniques, …
The Huldremose Woman has more to tell us
There is an interesting story I’d like to share - which has emerged from the research of Margarita Gleba and Ulla Mannering. Their articles are referenced below. It was sometime in the 2nd century BC, and a woman living in north-eastern Jutland, Denmark was about 40 years old - an advanced age in this period. …
Diamonds and Broken Diamonds
Diamond twill is an ancient weave which has been identified in textiles dating back thousands of years. I think it is a beautiful, symmetrical and versatile pattern that combines well with borders in a point twill, or with variations of beautiful 'bird's eye' designs. (It also works quite well with a stripey warp, as you can …
A warp-weighted Tablet Weaving Loom
I’m enjoying teaching myself about tablet weaving, through some reading and a lot of trial and error. Over the past few months I’ve spent quite a while experimenting with ways to make sure that I’ve got the right tension on the warp. And after a few false starts, the very ancient idea of using loom weights occurred …
Celtic Knots
I found an interesting pattern for weaving a Celtic knot design, so I am giving it a try. (Thank you Robyn Spady. http://www.weavezine.com/content/kiss-me-i%E2%80%99m-irish) Of course it won’t be authentic as far as Celtic weaving design goes. As I have written about already, Celtic weaving originated in pre-Roman Europe and consisted largely of checked patterns and …
Celtic Weaving 