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

Sheep to Socks in Ireland

This video from Ireland filmed in Kilcar and Carrick in 1978 has it all..bargaining for sheep, shearing, cleaning of the fleece, carding, spinning, and knitting. It is just a feast!

Dressing a Distaff with Wool

I love Lois Swales...she helps me to channel my Grandmothers of old and their fiber skills. This video I watched again today to prepare for a course I am teaching this week...

Fair Trade Textiles from Ethiopia

From Sabahar comes this lovely video on textile creation in Addis Ababa

The ancient art of felt rugs in Iran

Scroll down on the youtube site for translations!

Making Medieval Embroidery

The Victoria and Albert Museum is hosting an great exhibit:

Opus Anglicanum: Masterpieces of English Medieval Embroidery
1 October 2016 – 5 February 2017

to celebrate that, there are a number of videos on youtube.  Here is one, celebrating the skill of the present-day embroiderer

The Secret LIfe of the Sewing Machine

Tim Hunkin was unknown to me until I saw this video. He is, according to Wikipedia, an "engineer, cartoonist, artist and writer" from Suffolk, England. Between 1998 and 1993 he and Rex Garrod aired a series on Channel 4 of the BBC entitled "The Secret Life of Machines." The following fascinating video is entitled "The Secret Life of the Sewing Machine."   It is fascinating, and shows early sewing machine inventors that  predate Howe and Singer.