straw-crafts-msg - 5/4/98 Medieval straw crafts. Plaiting straw. Sources of info. NOTE: See also the files: basketweaving-msg, headgear-msg, bees-msg, Beekeeping-AS-art, drinkng-strws-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Subject: Re: BG - knitting Date: Thu, 30 Apr 98 07:42:55 MST From: clward at mmm.com To: bryn-gwlad at Ansteorra.ORG Annette asked: >Another [class] is on straw plaiting, is this appropriate for SCA time periods? I have a wonderful book on medieval straw-plaiting in Sweden, "Skapa med Halm" (of course, the text is Swedish). Folks made shoes, hats, children's toys, rugs and mats, Jul-bucks (and other holiday ornaments), courting gifts, and many other items out of straw in period. In many later period paintings you can see straw items in rural scenes showing peasant life, and I'd guess that even the upper classes used certain straw items as well. ::GUNNORA:: Subject: Re: BG -straw weaving Date: Thu, 30 Apr 98 12:02:25 MST From: Aceia To: bryn-gwlad at Ansteorra.ORG I have a whole bunch of plain colored Raffia that I was using to make baskets and hats following the instructions in a book I have. It is very easy but time consuming and hard on the hands. I would be interested in any new material you learn as well as teaching what I know. (Conner would be very pleased if the raffia found its way to somewhere other than our garage) According the the book, when you make hats, you have to coil the braid in a careful manner and then iron it with a wet cloth on it (steam it) in order to flatten and set it as you go. You can also dye the material for various effects. She says the dyes come out different than on cloth, but that natural dyes as well as Rit work well. Raffia is available pre-dyed though... Subject: BG - Straw and Wheat Weaving Date: Thu, 30 Apr 98 10:08:01 MST From: clward at mmm.com To: bryn-gwlad at Ansteorra.ORG Stefan li Rous asked: >What is straw plaiting? What is it used for? >Is this the braided strands that you often >see wrapped in spirals to make a straw hat? Gunnora replies: Straw plaiting is exactly what it sounds like. You take hay, straw, wheat stalks, rye stalks -- any type of grass stalks. These are soaked and usually cut to uniform lengths. Then you braid them in any of a number of ways, from a two strand twist, to the familiar three-strand braid all the way to a sixteen strand complex flat plait. Usually the strand of braid is then sewed or laced to other braids to form flat or even three dimensional items. This is a hand-craft, as far as I am aware no one ever used any type of loom with straw weaving. Today you can see any number of straw plaited items just by going to Pier One, including place mats, sun hats and the like. Near Christmas time Pier One imports Swedish Jule ornaments, tiny straw buck-goats (Julbucks) and pigs and swans and gnome-like straw men and women (Tompte). The Ojos de Dios that you often see in bright-colored yarns can also be done in straw plaiting. I once saw a gorgeous wheat-weaving of the Virgin de Guadalupe where the heads of the wheat were used to make the full-body corona-halo around the Virgin, and the entire figure was done in the wheat stalks. I've also seen examples from both Mexico and from Ireland of elaborate crosses done in wheat or straw weaving. There are many items that can be made using these simple materials and techniques. In the medieval period in some places summer shoes were made this way - they resembled the Dutch wooden shoe in shape, and were used to walk in boggy areas -- the water runs in when you step in the bog, and the water runs out when you get out of the water and you still have padding and a protective wrapping around your foot. At times plaited straw "boots" were placed on horses' hooves to muffle them, especially when you were attacking by night. People used straw weaving to make mats and rugs - different types of grass/stalks have different characteristics - those wiht lots of pith are softer and make a softer mat that's more comfortable to stand or sit on, while sedge or other tough stems will make a tough, rough mat that can be used to wipe mud off your feet on. Straw hats of many shapes can be made in this technique - the type of braid determines the "texture" of the surface, and the shape is determined by how the loops of braid are coiled and sewn. I have a tall, peaked "Witch Hat" of straw, and I've seen Phrygian caps done in straw as well. The easiest way to control the shape of a hat or basket etc. is to use a rigid form to help guide the construction. The Norse used staw and wheat weaving to create the Bridal Crown in many places, especially rural areas (for more info on bridal crowns, see my article on Viking Weddings at http://www.realtime.com/~gunnora/ -- I have a picture of a bride wearing one of these crowns, made of wheat and interlaced with summer flowers). In pagan societies, rituals were sometimes performed sacrificing straw men or straw animals rather than using the real thing -- the intent was shown to the gods, supposedly, and you still had Grandma and your herds when it was done. I am uncertain of the exact reference, but I believe that I've seen accounts of the Celts doing this, and I strongly suspect that the Norse customs of using straw pigs, goats, Tompte-figures etc. probably originated as a sacrifical substitute. I know that in the orient rice stalks were used to make everything from shoes to hats to tatami mats to simple insulated coats for peasants. The technique is simple, versatile, and best of all, cheap. The materials can be gathered in any field, though you will get better results if you get better materials. I especially like weaving with wheat or rye which has the grain heads present, as the grain can be worked into the design (for instance, the beard on a Jul-buck, the mane on a straw horse). ::GUNNORA:: Edited by Mark S. Harris straw-crafts-msg Page 3 of 3