Tablet: Silk Squire's Belt

Sir Carlyle of House Stagsdale (aka my husband) had chosen to take as a squire Lord Leone D'Amore of Storvik; as lady of the household I was delighted to welcome him. A household tradition of Stagsdale is to provide both a red leather belt to a squire for fighting, and a red woven belt for formal wear. I decided to use the occasion of Leone's squiring to make a special tablet weaving project in a a new material to me, silk, in a 14th century pattern. 

Materials Used: 

This pattern was arranged by Silvia Consolini, an Italian medieval reenactor and living historian. Her website is: https://www.emeluna.com/

The pattern is based off of a dress trim detail from a stone carving depiction of the Madonna dated 1322, "Stone of peace that records reconciliation between Senate of Bologna and students." 

Bridgeman Images. n.d. “Image of Stone of Peace That Records Reconciliation between Senate of Bologna.” https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/a-villani/stone-of-peace-that-records-reconciliation-between-senate-of-bologna-and-students-1321-relief-middle/relief/asset/623872.


Warping: 

This is, to me, the necessary evil of weaving. I really enjoy weaving; I dislike warping. 

In warping my weave, I tie the ends of the warp to a large gage fishing swivel. The swivel helps to dissipate the tension that builds up as you turn the cards forwards and backwards; see my class on how to use the fishing swivels in your weaving. In order to have each card's tension independently adjustable, I tie the opposite warp ends in a taut-line hitch knot. 

Beginning of the warping process. 

The finished product! About 69 inches of woven belt produced on my inkle loom.