Reenactors Clothing

Living History Museums Clothing and Pastimes

French and Indian War Clothing and Pastimes

Revolutionary War Clothing and Pastimes
Civil War Clothing and Pastimes
Colonial History Clothing and Pastimes
Early Setlers Clothing and Pastimes

A Tape Loom is There!

Weaving outside is easy. I measure warp on my tent pegs. I hang the loom from one of the posts.
All I need is a chair or stump to sit on, my compact loom, shuttle and some wool yarn.

The loom above is a replica of a Scandinavian style gate loom. This one can fit in my hand bag on the plane. I have woven on this in the truck, a passenger across the state of Utah.

And weaving is so simple, I set one up for others to try out.  If you go to google images and type in "Tape Loom", you will find hundreds of antique styles, painted, carved, simple, elaborate... they are wonderful pieces of folk art created by average folks, (most people made their own, usually a man would carve one for his sweetheart or wife).

There are many folks catching on to reviving this old tool and you will find places to buy a new one.

The old ones are pretty sturdy. My paddle loom is based on a board I found in my attic, mid 1800s probably cut out by a farmer for his wife.

My attic loom on the left. Probably made by Nathaniel for his wife Olive. They lived in my house in the 1800s with their 3 girls.

The girls would also learn how to weave on this loom. One could weave yards of tape ready to use for hats, bag ties, apron strings, any article that needed a narrow band of cloth. 

In my area of Connecticut, people then were growing flax. Nathanials grandmother, Mary lived across the street and had 3 sons in the war. She was a weaver and wove a tent for the Revolutionary army....

"For the comfort of the militia when they should go into the service the assembly directed that each town should provide one tent for every 1,000 on the list and Torrington standing 5,816.15 was required to provide five if not six tents Hence Dea John Cook then town treasurer paid one order to the widow Mary Birge by the hand of her son John Birge for tent cloth amounting to five pounds and six shillings and also paid Capt John Strong one of the selectmen seven pounds and sixteen shillings lawful money for tent cloth" ... History of Torrington by Samuel Orcutt

A box loom like the one on the right, is bulky to carry around, but in a way is easier to use in a situation where you have to get up and talk to people or move around. This one is contained in the box and the woven tape is wound inside.

No matter what loom you buy or make, each one is an individual piece of folk art. You will become attached to it in many ways, and it will be something you can share producing tapes you can use.

Check out my book at:


http://www.eastknollpottery.com/tape-looms.html

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