Thread count, length of yarn for 1 sq yard?

[richsc]

Just wondering what the thread count for ancient fabrics was, as we want to give an idea for the amount of labor to produce an tunic, say one sq yard. Modern muslin is about 75 x 75 or 150 inches of fabric per sq inch. A sq yard at 36x36" is 1,296 sq inches, so 194,400 inches or 16,200 feet. A good wool drop spinner can do 1 ft /sec, or 4.5 hours to do that?

[Martin Moser]

Just wondering what the thread count for ancient fabrics was

It varied :-)

For example the original of this woolen tunic:



has 13-24 threads/cm (clavi: 11-18 threads/cm) warp and 30-52 threads/cm (clavi: 78-84 threads/cm) weft.

By contrast, a linen tunic picked at random from the finds I know of has 26-32 threads/cm warp and 13-16 threads/cm weft in the base material.

[richsc]

Thanks. I asked the lady who is teaching me dyeing, who also is an expert at drop spinning, and she said when she gets going she can spin two yards per second!

[M. Demetrius]

That's really pretty fast. I'd call her an expert for sure!

And that is a very expensive looking tunic. Fit for an Emperor's family, but not a plebian.

[Martin Moser]

And that is a very expensive looking tunic. Fit for an Emperor's family, but not a plebian.

I wouldn't go as high as that, but certainly not the cheapest stuff around back then. Mind you, it wasn't exactly cheap to have it woven these days ;-)