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Class given at Drachenwald's Ten Year Celebration, June 2003 Guntram von Wolkenstein, Shire of Adamastor
Doubleface Doubleface is so called because the front and the back of the band are reverse images of each other. At least, sort of - more complex doubleface patterns can look rather different on the back! This technique was used extensively in the middle ages; bands woven in this way are very strong and durable and were often used as straps, bridles, fillets etc. The beauty of doubleface lies in the huge variety of patterns that can be created. Take graph paper, divide it into blocks two or three times as long as they are wide, and anything you can draw by filling in the blocks can be translated into a doubleface band. Well, almost. The 'blocks' of colour on a tabletwoven band are not rectangles but parallelograms, so the pattern won't come out quite the same. However, with a bit of practice this feature can be used to excellent advantage to create intricate patterns. To weave doubleface, the tablets are all threaded in the same way, with two light and two dark threads: For most patterns, the tablets should be alternately S and Z threaded, but there are also many period examples that are entirely S (or entirely Z) threaded. The primary advantage of alternate S and Z threading is that it results in smooth diagonal lines.
I will not go into detail on how to weave doubleface patterns, but in brief: each tablet is always turned twice in the same direction. Turning all tablets 2 x forwards, then 2 x backwards gives a band with a solid colour on each side. Changing the sequence for a tablet (e.g. 2x forwards, then 2 x forwards again) will swap the colours of the two sides, so you will have a light section followed by a dark section of band. Patterns are formed simply (!) by deciding whether to turn a tablet twice forwards or twice backwards. This may sound complicated, and it is if you want to do it on the fly. I have never tried it that way; I always work from a pre-designed pattern, and I think most other tabletweavers do so too. Once you have worked out the pattern on paper, the actual weaving is really quite simply. It is quite slow though since after every two picks you have to check the pattern and determine which tablets to turn forwards and which to turn backwards; practice improves the speed but it is still vastly slower than a threaded-in pattern. Here is a very simple example of a double-face pattern: Block Pattern Front of Band Back of Band Turning Sequence
Although this example is a symmetric shape, doubleface is highly flexible and for that reason ideally suited for weaving heraldic images, letters, pictures etc. 3/1 Broken Twill This is a difficult technique, in fact it is often considered to be one of the most complex tabletweaving techniques. Once mastered, however, it gives beautiful results. It was used widely in period, and many of the most well-known pieces were woven this way. 3/1 broken twill is a variation on the basic doubleface. The basic sequence is again 2 x forwards, 2 x backwards, while alterations provide the pattern. However, there are several additional features to broken twill. Firstly, the tablets are threaded in a staggered pattern: The tablets should be all S-threaded or all Z-threaded; variations on this are possible but require a bit more care when the pattern is designed. Furthermore, as can be seen from the way the tablets are threaded, turning them all together will not give the same result as the basic doubleface. Try to do it that way, and you will get a bizarre zigzag pattern. Each tablet has its own rhythm which is out of step with the other tablets (ok, the basic rhythm is the same for every four tablets, but still), and furthermore the sequence can be altered so that a tablet turns say F, F, B, F instead of the expected F, F, B, B. Whereas with most other techniques the tablets will be back in their starting position after four turns, this is not the case with broken twill. So if you lose track of where you are in the pattern, it can be very hard to undo your mistake or figure out which part comes next. The good part about broken twill is that is in some ways even more versatile than basic doubleface, and with a bit of practice it is possible to create very intricate and delicate patterns.
Egyptian Diagonals Egyptian diagonals are so called because a) the patterns consist entirely of diagonal lines, and b) the first examples of this technique were found in Egyptian tombs. The tablets are threaded with two adjacent light colour and two adjacent dark colours in a staggered pattern:
Usually, the first half of the tablets in the band is S-threaded and the second half Z-threaded; this makes the pattern nice and symmetrical. If the tablets are turned forwards all the time, a chevron pattern results. By changing the turning direction of specific tablets, the direction on the lines can be altered at almost any point in the pattern and bands like the example above can be woven. Although similar to threaded-in patterns in that the threading of the tablets is important, the technique is different because the weaving does not take place in fixed sets of turns. Rather, the turning direction of individual tablets can be changed once and then remain like that for any number of picks before it is changed again. Another difference is that because all tablets are threaded with two light and two dark threads, mistakes in the threading can be fixed quite easily by turning or twisting the tablet until it is in the right position. Snartemo This technique is named after the place where the first examples were found Snartemo in Norway. The tablets are threaded with a different colour in each hole (the Snartemo bands had red, green, yellow, and blue wool). Patterns are based on diagonal lines chevrons, lozenges, spirals etc and by careful manipulation of the tablets both narrow and wide lines or one colour can be created. Unfortunately I have not practiced this technique yet so I have no first-hand information I can impart. Brocade The last technique I will deal with is brocading. This was also used very widely in period; it came into fashion once fine silk and linen threads became available which could be combined with highly expensive gold or silver metallic threads. Thicker yarns such as wool could not be used as effectively since they were much wider than the metallic thread and this would cause unsightly gaps in the brocade. Metallic brocaded bands were used primarily for church vestments and royal clothing; it was too expensive to be widely available to less wealthy people. A wealthy merchant might be able to afford some, but clothes decorated in such a fashion would have been counted amongst their best finery. What precisely does 'brocaded' mean? Basically, it is a general term applied when a fabric is decorated with an additional interwoven thread which is not necessary for the structural integrity of the material. In other words, the fabric is woven in the normal fashion and extra threads are woven into it purely for decoration. Often these threads were metallic, but brocading with silk thread or ribbon was not uncommon. In terms of tabletweaving, the theory behind a brocaded band is simple, although the actual weaving does require a lot of care. Most bands are woven in a single colour, and all tablets are just turned forwards all the time. This will give a plain, single-colour band. The brocading is done with an additional weft of metallic thread that is treated just like the normal weft, except that in some places it passes over the warp instead of through the shed. At those points it becomes visible, and the pattern is formed by deciding exactly which threads it should pass over.
Shed: The shed is the gap between the upper and the lower threads of the warp. The weft is passed through the shed before the tablets are turned, and this is what holds the entire band together. Turn: Tablets are turned either forwards or backwards, usually by 90. A forward turn means that the tablet is rotated away from the woven part of the band. A backward turn means that the tablet is rotated towards the woven part of the band. Warp: The threads that run through the tablets and create the pattern. 'Warp' is also used generally to speak of a band in progress, e.g. 'a silk warp of 30 tablets'. Weft: The thread that is passed through the shed as weaving progresses. The weft goes back and forth from one side of the band to the other. Structurally, this is all that actually holds the weaving together.
Patterns
Simple Patterns
These patterns are all woven using two light and two dark threads in adjacent holes (except for the selvedges, which carry the same colour in all four holes). The chart below is a typical way of showing how each card would be threaded: each column represents one card, from left to right, and each square indicates the colour to be threaded in the hole. The letter at the bottom determines whether the tablet should be S- or Z-threaded.
Top, away from start of band Bottom, away from start of band Bottom, towards start of band Top, towards start of band
Chevrons All tablets turn forwards The reverse (all tablets turning backwards) looks like this:
Wavy Lines 2x: all forwards 2x: First two, last two tablets forwards All other tablets backwards
Diamonds 4x: all forwards 4x: First two, last two tablets forwards All other tablets backwards Large Diamonds 8x: all forwards 8x: First two, last two tablets forwards All other tablets backwards
Doubleface Patterns
Doubleface is an incredibly versatile technique with which a vast variety of patterns (and even pictures or letters) can be woven. Tablet setup:
Thick Lines 4x: All forwards 4x: First two, last two forwards All other tablets backwards
More Doubleface Patterns Because double-face patterns can be quite complex, the turning sequence of the tablets is usually shown as a chart indicating the direction for each tablet. In the patterns below, a white square means turning the tablet forwards, and a black square means turning the tablet backwards. Chevrons Chequers
In the patterns below you will notice that every second pick is the same as the preceding one, i.e. pick 2 is the same as pick 1, pick 4 is the same as pick 3 etc. This is one of the defining features of doubleface tablets are always turned twice in the same direction. Lozenge Another Lozenge
Knotwork
Hollow Knot
To contact Guntram: email eckhargd@afa-systems.co.za, or send snail mail to PO Box 443, Rondebosch, 7701, Cape Town, South Africa.