macrame-msg

Stefan's Florilegium

macrame-msg

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macrame-msg - 4/3/01

Period macrame. Referances.

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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
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From priest at vassar.edu Tue May 13 12:10:58 1997
Date: 3 Apr 1997 18:03:30 GMT
From: Carolyn Priest-Dorman <priest at vassar.edu>
To: sca at mc.lcs.mit.edu
Subject: cording: Macrame and Lucet

Greeting from Thora Sharptooth!

This will be a long but specific response.

Alys Katharine (alysk at ix.netcom.com) wrote:
>I believe macrame is out-of-period by a few years.

According to the Abegg-Stiftung, there is at least one sixteenth-century
macrame piece in Western Europe.  Mechthild Flury-Lemberg, in _Textile
Conservation and Research_, discusses the conservation  at the
Abegg-Stiftung (Bern) of an eighth-century tablet-woven girdle, the "Relic of St. Peter," Salzburg.  The girdle was encased in a netted cover sometime in the
11th-13th century, and both pieces were encased in a silk macrame tube in the 16th century.  There are photos and diagrams in the book.

<snip of lucets info - see lucets-msg>
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Carolyn Priest-Dorman                    Thora Sharptooth
priest at vassar.edu                        Frostahlid, Austrriki
          Gules, three square weaver's tablets in bend Or
*********************************************************************

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: cording
From: una at bregeuf.stonemarche.org (Honour Horne-Jaruk)
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 97 07:34:37 EDT

alysk at ix.netcom.com(Elise Fleming ) writes:
> Eric & Lissa McCollum <ericmc at primenet.com> writes:
> >I'm looking for some information on how to
> >make my own fine cording.  (deletion)  So...can anyone help? How
> >period are the various macrame techniques? Are there books
> >I can look in for how-to's and documentation?
>
> Greetings.  I believe macrame is out-of-period by a few years.  A
> leather thong or a ribbon would work.  If you send me your mailing
> address I can send you directions on how to make "lucet" cord but you
> would need a lucet tool.  These are sold at Pennsic and some other
> places.  It produces a square cord, the fineness of which is determined
> by the original material...crochet yarn, sewing thread, knitting yarn,
> etc.  Lucets/lucettes, which are lyre-shaped, have been found in
> late-Saxon Thetford according to an archeological magazine.
>
> Alys Katharine, who has made "miles" of lucet cord

        Respected friend:
        Macrame' as it is usually used today (endless processions
of plant-holders...) isn't anything like the period Macrame' I've
seen- but the technique itself, producing a open-patterend fabric
completely from knotted threads, is. The Arabs made "modesty
screens" for windows out of fine, lace-weight macrame'; I don't
know when they started, but surviving scraps from 15th-century
Spain show quite sophisticated technique.
        To repeat the important point: the _technique_ was
macrame'; the _result_ was lace.

                                Alizaunde, Demoiselle de Bregeuf
                                Una Wicca (That Pict)
                                (Friend) Honour Horne-Jaruk, R.S.F.

Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 13:56:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: Gabrielle Bombard <KiaraPanther at excite.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Macrame

>  Okay, I've never really looked into this before.  Is macrame period, and if
>  so does anyone know where I could get a source book.
>
>  I have found sites on Romanian Antique Macrame, but no mention of
> historical presedence.
>
>  Bianca

There is a picture of an Italian WOman in Late Renn dress that has macrame
overlay on the bodice. I will try to photocopy it tonight when I go to the
library

--Kiara

Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 23:24:40 -0700
From: <lilinah at earthlink.net>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: macrame

Lord Stefan li Rous wrote:
>I'm not sure what the differance is between the resulting product of
>macrame and lucet? Can someone explain this to someone who has only
>done a little lucet cord stuff and no macrame?

Well, a lucet is a cord composed of interlocked loops.

Macrame, whatever the finished product looks like, is composed
entirely of knots.

The oldest stuff i am familiar with is from the 19th century and was
done by sailors, although macrame-like knotwork is used to finish
Mexican rebozas (a reboza is a type of shawl). And of course,
Victorians found ways to use macrame for draperies on tables,
furniture and windows. DMC used to publish a wonderful booklet of
Victorian macrame (i have a copy...) Macrame can be incredibly fine
or rather thick and coarse, depending on the type of cord or rope one
uses. Entire pieces can be made with half-hitches. Square knots and
lark's head knots are also common. Of course there are other knots
involved, but very complex pieces can be made with just one or two
types of knots.

For technique only there are a couple wonderful old books with 19th
c. sailors' stuff and lots of knots, such as "The Ashley Book of
Knots".

I have no idea where to look for period information, though. I'd love
to here about extant pieces or technical resources...

Anahita al-shazhiyya

Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2000 09:11:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: Gabrielle Bombard <KiaraPanther at excite.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Macrame

Okay, I photocopied the picture of the Italian Renn lady with the macrame
fringe cover the entirety of the bodice area. It was in a reference book
and the photocopier at the library is horrid so I am not sure how well it
will scan in. The book is a compliation of the English magazine THE
Embroideress from the 1920-1940 so I don't think giving you the Interlibrary
loan info would help any.

--Kiara

Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2000 09:24:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: Gabrielle Bombard <KiaraPanther at excite.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Macrame Bodice

>  My apologies...I was referring to the other post, talking about the
>  macrame on a bodice.
>  --Maire

The article says it is macrame.  I'm not an expert on macrame though.  It is
a 1920-1940 embroidery magazine that usually has one historical article in
every issue.  I wouldn't have even thought about it being macrame if the
caption hadn't said so.  I've never paid much attention to macrame until I
ran across this picture.  I now have a copy of my very own and plan on
comparing it to some modern books on macrame technique.

Considering that this is the British Embroiderers' Guild we are talking
about, if they say it is macrame, there is a good chance it is. Not that
they are perfect, but I trust thier opinions more than others.

--Kiara