New officers Sagum

[Cheyenne]

Thought i'd post some pictures of the new officers sagum made from shuttle loom woven lambswool in the pattern of one of the vindolanda textile fragments.

The sagum is dyed with a subtle colour of weld. It is hard to make out in the pictures as my camera seems to record colours lighter than reality. The dimensions are 2.5 x 1.7m and all couching and seam work including the fringe are made by hand.

[M. Demetrius]

Applause again!

Very beautiful cloth. Do you plan to make others in other colors, or just make what someone orders?

That's pretty close to a "standard" 72" x 90" blanket, but appears to be a little lighter weight. Looks like long staple sheep wool. Am I right?

[Cheyenne]

Hi David,

It is a very light weight cloth. I developed this with a weaver here in the UK. I gave him the specifications of cloth weight and weave size based upon known examples from both Egypt and on Hadrians wall. It is closer to the accurate weights of cloth which are available to view in the stores at the Whitworth Art and Textile gallery in Manchester.

The wool is lambswool, probably from a blueface or welsh blackface - they are consistent with the length of the tops. It is not a worsted however in the true sense (much of the yarn made in the ancient world wasn't either unless you were very rich. The makeup of this wool is 90% lambswool 10% cashmere (so it's extra soft to the touch)

Although it is fine wool, it is still very warm - it has been sprayed with some lanolin too to give it a bit of water resistance

I'll be making some stock ones of these in time for the chester Roman festival I think.. I quite enjoy creating them... I'm also thinking of doing some with hand embroidery around the edges of the garment for parade purposes

[Doc]

Hi Claire,

That is beautiful. I was wondering in one of the photos why it appears that there is a stitch coming down the center of this cloak. Is it two halves put together.

With regards to the weight, using something heavier then would be a guess since the weight appears to be what you have used based on fragements.

I have also sent you a PM.