The Oldest Weaving Technique: Sprang (Recreated)

We are delighted to have our friend Barb Whelan join us to talk about sprang weaving.
Many of us may have seen this weaving technique in the form of the silk crimson officer sashes from the 18th and 19th century!
A bit on Barb:
Barbara Whelan is a textile artist living in Eastern Ontario.
She learned to weave in 1988 while serving as a Medical Officer with the Canadian Military in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. When she left Nova Scotia for Ontario in 1989 the demands of being a mother to two small children and managing her Medical practice left little time for textiles so she donated everything to a beginning weaver.
Ten years ago however, when her children were nearly grown and having focussed her professional work on Medical Psychotherapy, she picked up her weaving interest where she left off and hasn't stopped learning since.
In 2017, having been exposed to fingerweaving and Sprang in her concurrent hobby of Historical Reenacting, she travelled to Winnipeg Canada to spend a weekend with Carol James, Textile Artist, to learn fingerweaving and sprang and in May 2022 she took early retirement to pursue her interest in weaving and textiles.
Having a particular interest in historic textiles she was approached by Reenactors to recreate the Sprang woven sashes worn by Military officers and Sergeants in the 18th and 19th c , a challenge which she readily accepted and which has introduced her to the very deep rabbit hole of the fascinating textile world of Sprang.
The links that Barb referred to:
Notable sprang Artists:
www.spranglady... Carol James
www.krosienky-... Sylva Cekalova (Prague)
www.textilecur... Edith Meusnier
www.sprangart....
sprangria.jouw... Ria Hooghiemstra
www.solrhizaar...
#historysymposium #weaving #sprang #militaryhistory #epichistory #epichistorytv