I'm currently working on recreating braids on 16th and 17th century clothing.
Last night I figured out the first early 17th century tablet-woven braid in
Kölner Patrizier- und Bürgerkleidung des 17. Jahrhunderts. Die Kostümsammlung Hüpsch im Hessischen Landesmuseum Darmstadt (specifically, the braid on
the first doublet on this page, which is also no. 18 on pages 84-85 in
Patterns of Fashion; it's dated to 1615-1620, and has a shape very similar to late 16th century doublets). The book has a diagram and turning instructions, but the turning instructions were slightly incorrect and the diagram showed the S and Z warping backwards from how it's usually indicated.
I worked it up in heavy crochet cotton so I could see what I was doing, and didn't use an extra-heavy thread for the middle (the blue thread in my sample). Between all the threads being the same weight and me not having a shuttle to beat down tightly (or very good tension, since I was sitting on the ground with the other end tied to a camp chair), my braid is less compressed and looks elongated, but the structure is correct. I am very excited about this!
Sorry my photos are lousy; I'll take better ones when I have more samples worked up with instructions:
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yourlibrarian
