Linen production in County Donegal

What a lot of work! 

Warp weighted loom weaving in Norway

This silent video was created in 1956 by Marta Hoffman, a textile curator. This is courtesy of the Norske Folkemuseum in Oslo.  Skip through the introductory material with Norwegian titles unless you read Norwegian!

Creating a Viking Dress

I am fascinated with these two  videos in which Ingrid demonstrates measurement and creation of a Viking Style dress.   Don't be put off at the beginning where Ingrid is sipping a glass of wine to steel her nerves, there is some seriously talented sewing going on here.

Part 2...

Recreation of an Iron Age Dress

On my next trip to Denmark, I am going to the museums in Hernings. The http://www.museummidtjylland.dk/ produced this exquisite video reconstructing the making of a dress from an excavation in Hammerum. I am stunned with the complexity of the warp weighted loom.

Hammerum Girl from Ole Malling on Vimeo.

Contemporary Indigo Culture in South Carolina

I live in South Carolina.  Ours was the state where enslaved Africans helped Eliza Lucas Pinckney to develop indigo culture and dyestuff production in the 18th century.   It is a fascinating topic, and here is a video from Caroline Harper on contemporary production.

Revival of Indigo from Caroline Harper on Vimeo.

Spinning and Weaving in the Colonial US

Apparently documenting history in film (now video) is not a new idea. Here, via the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1920 or so (!) are some reenactors showing us how spinning and weaving were done closer to Colonial times in the US.   (How many reenactors were there in 1920?) Impressive!

Navaho carding and spinning

This lovely video features Clara Sherman, a master spinner and weaver from the Navaho Nation, which is located in northeastern Arizona, southeastern Utah, and northwestern New Mexico (I had to look that up!). 

I was unsure how long the Navaho had used sheep for textiles, turns out it's a long time...have a listen to this courtesy of NPR...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127797442