Sámi Tartan and shawls

This lovely cushion is made by Stoorstalka.  The colours are delightful and it brightens up the room. It is very comfortable.

A beautiful cushion from Stoorstalka

Tartan as a fabric has travelled around the world, not least because of the entrepreneurial spirit of Scottish men. On our travels in Finland, we discovered in 1820 James Finlayson established a cotton mill because he recognised the potential of the fast flowing river.  We started to notice the number of times in the history of places we visited the importance of Scottish immigrants.

Close up of the material

A postcard from the Stoorstalka shop shows the delightful shawls which look just the thing to wear in such cold weather. Shawls are such a practical and yet decorative item. Their brightness is very visible in northern climes when sunlight is very low in the winter.  I think it is a shame that scarves have taken their place.

Bright cheerful shawls

Addition to post

I have had some beautiful pictures sent tome by a friend who is cruising the Norwegian coast.  here is a great picture of a Sami shawl.

Canada

First Nation and Métis women across Canada also took to wearing tartan shawls which were worn up until the 1950's. The wearing of shawls was also very meaningful in other ways. With a shawl, you can lift it up to hide or conceal your face which can indicate a willingness or unwillingness to communicate. Shyness, modesty and concealment can all be conveyed with a simple gesture of the shawl. With the lower part of the face concealed behind the shawl, eyes alone can communicate and can show emotion surprisingly well.
Look at this web site for a picture of the tartan shawl being worn by a Métis woman.

http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_metis/fp_metis1.html

The Aran Islands

Inishmaan in the 1940's

The women of the Aran islands off the coast of Ireland, also appreciated the bright tartan patterns. The black and white photograph cannot show us the colours of the tartan but the pattern is clear. Tartan travels everywhere.

Italy

In the wonderful textile museum in Prato, Italy  which I visited last year, had a book about tartan which was written to accompany an exhibition in 2004 (See my blog entry for June 1st 2017). The booklet is called, 'Tartan: the Romantic Tradition - Plaid, a fabric and a cultural identity.'

The exhibition was 'a gesture of gratitude towards a textile design that accompanied, from the mid 18th century, the destiny and success of our industry and thus of our company'. They describe the long and intense bond which grew up over the decades between a fabric and a distance culture:

 'The tartan is a reference point in western taste and for the aesthetics of all time.'

Tartan is everywhere.  

STOP PRESS

This week in my Sunday newspaper, The Observer,  there is an article by Morwenna Ferrier about tartan with the headline;

 'Loud proud and rebellious: tartan is back as designers celebrate the spirit of punk.' 

It seems that fashion has appropriated the tartan yet again, with labels such as' Balenciaga to rising star Loverboy.' The article finishes with this:

'Wilton believes that the resurgence in popularity of tartan reflects something deeper than a designer's heritage, or even a colour scheme. "It represents rebellious youth but, at times of uncertainty, people want to feel like they belong. Tartan is a good visual identifier - and provides a sort of security."

The Observer, 11.02.18 pages 16 - 17.

You can read the article here: 

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/feb/11/tartan-balenciaga-loverboy-catwalk-fashion

Tartan is back.

Susan J Foulkes Feb 2018

Durham Guild Open Day for spinning

Using a spinning wheel

Our Open Day for Spinning was a chance for us to demonstrate and teach.

Drop spindle spinning

One visitor was Hannah, a skilled spinner who loves all things to do with textiles.  She showed her considerable skills by using a spinning wheel with which she was not familiar.  Her spun yarn is very fine and even.

Hannah spinning expertly

a very fine yarn

More spinning

But not every one spins, so several members brought their looms.

Jane has an Ashford Knitters Loom on which she is weaving a leno scarf.

Leno lace weaver

Her yarn is a crepe vintage and it will be very interesting to see the final scarf.

Yarn from New Mexico

She loves her Ashford loom and brought along a selection of the scarves that she has woven. These two scarves were from yarn brought in a charity shop.  The yarn came from Hope, New Mexico and has a lovely feel.

Even plain weave can produce some wonderful effects.  Look at this clasped weft scarf with the wavy pattern.It is really unusual.

The wavy line is produced by the 'clasped weft' technique.

Douglas loves tartan and brought his four shaft table loom to finish threading his latest piece. He only weaves tartans and is a knowledgeable specialist.

Threading takes time and patience.

Hannah's mum and her unique crocheted blanket.

Hannah's mum was crocheting a beautifully designed blanket.  The inspiration was Seaham harbour and beach.  The colours and pattern are lovely and this unique design is for two special friends who appreciate the love and care which goes into handmade articles.

A tapestry piece.

The Guild has many other skills as well.  Here is a tapestry piece.

The Guild had a busy day and we enjoyed meeting new people interested in craft.

Weaving Open Day.

Durham Guild Weaving Open Day on Saturday 15th October 2016

Our next open day is about Weaving and is on Saturday October 15th in St Oswald's Institute. Put it in your diary.

There will be a number of looms ready warped and plenty of people on hand to help.  Do come along.

I will be bringing my backstrap and a number of heddles ready warped for anyone to try. One loom I will be bringing is my Swedish Band Loom. This was the first loom that I bought once I became hooked on weaving.

My first loom

Weave a friendship bracelet.

To see this loom in action go to my YouTube video:  Five Ways of Weaving Narrow Bands  
https://youtu.be/ZzhuDomPtxE

I will warp up this loom so that visitors can have a go and weave a friendship bracelet.

I am researching friendship bracelets at the moment and should have a good supply of examples to show. Here is my first idea which I wove on my Swedish band loom.

drawdown for friendship bracelet

This band is woven in 16/2 Swedish cotton used double using four colours.  The weft is a blue cottolin yarn.  There are 35 warp ends in total.  The band is 1.4 cm in width.

Close up of woven band

To finish the bracelet, the warp ends were plaited.  At one end, I divided the warp ends into two groups and plaited them separately.  The ends were whipped to finish.

At the other end, I divided the warp ends into two groups but only plaited them for a short length.  I then overlapped the two groups and plaited them as one.  This gave a loop at one end for fastening the bracelet.  Here is the result.

Friendship bracelet

I love the effect of a wavy stripes.


To see the another Swedish loom in action at Skansen, the open air museum in Stockholm, go to Slöjda med Skansen: Bandvävning   https://youtu.be/jPeBqxW6ZUw

Next post:

My next post in April will be about the colour green.  Do follow my blog to get updates.

Happy Weaving

Susan J Foulkes April 2016

Tartan Pink

Last month I visited Moffat in the Borders. It was very cold and frosty but the weather for the two days we were there was perfect.
There were many lovely walks and we enjoyed following the river around the outskirts of the town. I  love taking photographs and keep a file on my computer with images which I think might be useful for inspiration  for weaving.  Close up pictures of flowers can transform into colour studies. The texture of tree bark and moss covered walls can translate into weaving ideas.

snowdrops by the river

A moss covered wall

 This lovely little town has a strong weaving tradition and in the local mill shop this loom was set up to weave.

Moffat mill in Scotland

I have just finished the FutureLearn course about Robert Burns so I was delighted to find this information on the outside wall of a pub.

I love tartan. After seeing a shop full of tartan products, I went home inspired to design my own variation.  I decided to use up some of my yarn stash and weave an unusual version of my own.  I chose two colours of wool, pink and red, and devised a pattern. The weave structure is plain weave on four shafts. Using only two colours it is really a check pattern. I used a tartan pattern as the basic outline and reduced it to the two colours.

This weave draft shows 1.5 repeats.  Look at the actual scarf for the pattern.

Drawdown for tartan pattern in two colours

Here is the finished scarf. It was quick to weave.  It has been washed carefully as it is pure wool and will felt if treated harshly. The ends were knotted to form the fringe.

My pink and red tartan.

I like the two colours.It is very bright and cheerful for a cold, dull winters day.

The latest edition of the Swedish Weaving Magazine

I have just received the latest Vav Magasinet.  The editor travelled to the Shetland Isles, Elgin and then on to North Uist and Harris and Lewis.  Quite a trip!  It is a lovely edition with lots of fascinating details about tweed and the people who weave this sturdy cloth.

Happy weaving

Susan J Foulkes March 2016

The Durham Tartan and another tartan mystery

I mentioned the Durham tartan in my last blog so I thought that I would give you more details about this lovely fabric. But first of all I must tell you the story of how I found it.

My friend Richard sent me a picture of a set of Northumbrian small pipes.  These pipes had been made in 1800 by R Reid in North Shields which is just north of Durham.  They had been in a museum in London but unfortunately they were stolen and all that is left are two black and white photographs of the pipes.

The description of the pipes shows that it must have been a special commission because of the materials used.

The stolen pipes

This is a luxurious object.  The chanter and drones are made of ivory and there are 7 silver keys.  The ends of the drones are carved in a lovely thistle pattern.  The bellows are silver mounted. The two photographs were taken using different processes so the black and white images are slightly different.

The stolen pipes picture two.

The picture is not very clear. The description of the bag says that it is an old velvet tartan.  I scoured the books about tartans but could not find anything resembling this pattern.  Tartan velvet was and is a luxury fabric and although the photograph is in black and white it is possible to make out the plaid pattern. The warp and weft are different but it has a very distinctive set of white or light coloured stripes which may make it possible to identify a particular tartan or plaid pattern.


I tried to make a drawdown from the black and white photographs of the pipes.  This is not an accurate tartan pattern but gives some indication of the distinctive white stripes. This may help in identifying a possible pattern. Of course, there is no indication of the actual colour of the velvet tartan bag. The white stripes are the only feature which could assist in any identification. The warp and weft colour order is different, which is also unusual.

My attempt at a drawdown from the black and white photographs.

These pipes were a luxury item made as they are from ivory, silver and tartan velvet.  It would seem probably that they were made for a specific client but who and exactly when we do not know.  If the tartan could be identified this may give another clue as to the reason these pipes were made.

If anyone has any idea what the tartan might be, do get in touch.

If we could identify the tartan, it might give some clues as to where the pipes were used.  Velvet is a luxury material so the velvet tartan might have been a special commission. It is probably made of silk. Nowadays, velvet tartans are used for the waistcoat to match a kilt.

The Durham Tartan.

What I did find in my search for the old tartan pattern, was the Durham tartan.  There is no reason why Durham should have a tartan. The Durham district tartan first appears in the record books of Wilsons of Bannockburn in 1819.  It is an early tartan.

Why it is called the Durham tartan is a mystery.  It may have been named after a person not the county of Durham or Durham city.

Here is the pattern.

The Durham tartan

It is in 2/2 twill.  The warp colour order is as follows.

Red                            4
Blue                     12      12
Black             12                   12
Green       12                               12
Black   4

It is a lovely pattern.


County Durham has not made much of use of this tartan, but I gave the pattern to Douglas in the Durham Guild and he has woven it many times.
Click here for a useful link which shows the range of District tartan patterns:
http://www.scotclans.com/scottish-clans/tartan-pattern-book/district-tartans/


Susan J Foulkes August 2015

A Tartan Question

Northumbrian Pipes

My friend Richard plays the Northumbrian pipes and also makes them. Recently he was given a set of old pipes which are Border or Lowland pipes.  They are over 100 years old.  Richard is going to make a copy of them and donate the originals to a museum.  However, he is trying to find out as much as he can about them. The pipes were carefully packaged with the fragments of a tartan cover.

As a weaver I was particularly interested in the fragment of tartan which came with the pipes.

First of all I need to describe the Northumbrian Pipes. Here is a picture of a set of pipes that Richard is restoring at the moment. He supplied the descriptions of the different types of pipes.

The Burleigh set of Northumbrian Pipes made by David Burleigh of Longframlington c. 1976

This shows a set of "standard" Northumbrian small-pipes which is currently undergoing restoration by Richard.  These are typical of what most people would understand by Northunbrian pipes.  This layout has the chanter coming out of one stock (the socket that is tied into the airbag), and three drones all coming out of another different stock.  They are bellows-blown so they have a third stock that takes the blowpipe.  They are played with the drones across the chest rather than over the shoulder.  The leather air bag is usually covered in fabric - in this case blue velvet - and it is this bag cover that gives us the fragments of tartan in the sample. 

They have the same general layout as "large Northumbrian Pipes" which have an uncertain pedigree and several names but are most commonly known as "Border pipes".

The Border or Lowland Pipes

This engraving is of a painting c.1822 by Thomas Sword Good (1789 - 1872) of Berwick.

This engraving shows exactly the type of Border pipes that the tartan came from, with two short tenor drones about the same length and a longer baritone drone. The engraving shows the piper as left-handed which may possibly be due to the reversal of the engraving process, although left-handed pipers were not unknown. This is a good representation of Border pipes. 

The Border (or Lowland Pipes) being researched

Lowland pipes in Museum

Played in the North of England and the Lowlands of Scotland from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, Border Pipes are quiet enough to play alongside other acoustic instruments but maintain the characteristic skirl of the Great Highland Bagpipe. Like Northumbrian small-pipes, Border pipes are bellows-blown, have three drones set in a common stock which lie across the chest. They have a nine note scale, and usually employ GHB fingering and gracing.  Their repertoire is drawn from Scottish and Northumbrian sources, not least the 1733 William Dixon manuscript which is the earliest surviving collection of bagpipe tunes in the UK.

.

The Tartan Cover

Fragment of tartan which originally covered the leather bag.

This is the tartan from the set of Border pipes probably dating from 1800 - 1850.  Originally, it

would have covered the leather airbag. As you can see by the picture the tartan is in a poor state.  Some of the holes are for the stock and drones but the material itself is extremely fragile. The scale is indicated by the ruler. 

Unfortunately the photograph that I took did not reproduce the subtlety of the colours.  The colours are: natural( beige/white), light olive and dark olive and a soft red.  (four colours in all). I counted the threads to find the pattern repeat.  The ruler gives an idea of the size of the tartan pattern. 

Pattern repeat:

red              24     24    24                         28

light olive         8     8      60               18       18            60

dark olive                             8       26                26     8  

natural                                      8                            8

Pattern repeat is 356 warp ends.   Selvedge is 8 threads natural which is in a tighter weave

In the book The Tartan Weaver’s Guide by James D. Scarlett  it is noted that 'As late as the 1840 a setting of 52 per inch was normal.' The sett for the tartan fragment appears to be 48 per inch square. 

Identifying the tartan.

We are trying to identify the tartan.  If you can identify the pattern, do let us know.  It would be lovely to present the pipes to a museum with as much information as possible. 

Just a note about tartans in general.  Clan tartans are an invention of the early 18th century.  Walter Scott wanted the Highlanders to pay homage to George IV on his first visit to Scotland in 1822.  One firm of weavers, William Wilson and Son of Bannockburn immediately saw the economic possibilities of selling more of their tartan patterns. They put together a Key Pattern Book so that Highland Chiefs could buy what they required.  Thus tartans became associated with Highland Clans. 

Susan J Foulkes
Richard
April 2015

Update August 2016

Richard has developed a web page of his findings about piping in North Shields.

Here is the link: http://northshieldsnsp.co.uk/

He will be following up the information about the likely origin of the tartan kindly supplied by Peter. He identified the tartan as probably one of Wilsons' numbered patterns c1820-40; specifically, a variation of the No 43, Kidd or Caledonia, of which there there were several.

He pointed out that my draft is faulty in the methodology used for recording tartans and the shades and he supplied the correct version.
Here it is: The correct method for the setting (per Wilsons') method is R/12 LB8 G50 K8 W8 LB16 R/34 - half pivot counts.
R = red
LB = light blue
G = green
W = white
K = black

Susan J Foulkes August 2016