Decorations on tunics - woven in or created how?

[damianlz]

Hi all,

I've been looking at the the decorations on roman tunics, from the simple striped clavii topi what looks to be very impressive and intricate decorations on late roman tunics. I was wondering how this was made? were the patterns woven into the tunic, or were they made on separate pieces of fabric and then stiched on? Would anyone have patterns or a tutorial on how to make this for existing tunic or from scratch?

Regards
Damian

[jvrjenivs]

It depends. Simple plain clavii were woven into the fabric, as well as simple designs. More elaborate (later) designs were woven onto the tunic directly or onto fabric placed onto the tunic. It also looks like the decorations were recycled. E.g. cut out of the first tunic and placed upon a newer one.

[Urselius]

Probably the simpler designs were tapestry woven, the more complex produced by embroidery. See; Greek and Roman Textiles and Dress: An Interdisciplinary Anthology edited by Mary Harlow, Marie-Louise Nosch, Oxbow Books, 2014.

[Thomas V.]

Would anyone have patterns or a tutorial on how to make this for existing tunic or from scratch?

I came across an interesting thesis about "Coptic" textiles:[hide]Textile Bilderwelten. Wechselwirkungen zwischen Ägypten und Rom. Untersuchungen an `koptischen´ Textilien unter besonderer Berücksichtigung unbearbeiteter Sammlungsbestände in Nordrhein-Westfalen.[/hide] Abb. 2 (p. 31) of the linked document illustrates techniques used to weave decorations directly into the base weave. If techniques were used that resulted in gaps betwwen warp threads, the gaps were stitched up. The techniques "hatching" and "flying needle" were used to further fashion the woven-in decoration patches of "Coptic" tunics.

Decorations designated to be sewn onto the tunic—a technique allegedly appearing in the middle of the seventh century—were woven into a seperate base weave (Abb. 4, p. 34). The decorations were cut out in a way that left a rim about 1 cm wide. Said rim was folded under the edges of the actual decoration and the decoration was sewn onto the tunic by means of z-twined linen (seldom wool) yarn. Two types of stitches were used to attach the decorations, namely the overlock stitch and the running stitch. The first type was used along the rims, the second one within the inner part of the decoration. Small medallions are fixed through one vertical and one horizontal seam and large ones als have two diagonal ones; rectangular patches are fixed by two diagonal seams stretching from corner to corner (Abb. 5, p. 34). Clavi and sleeve stripes only have a vertical midseam.

[Martin Moser]

Probably the simpler designs were tapestry woven, the more complex produced by embroidery.

Embroidery like using thread and needle on a piece of linen cloth and embroidering a pattern etc.? If so, almost certainly no for coptic tunics with elaborate decorations of the 3rd to 8th cent AD if we go by what survives as per all the literature I've come across so far. The patterns are always part of the weaving process of the ground cloth, which is mostly linen, but can be wool as well. The pattern itself seems to be wool throughout (because it is easier to dye?). Ground cloth can be either the tunic itself or a ground cloth from which the decorative elements were then cut out and sewn on to the tunic.
There is embroidery of a very simple nature on some tunics I'm aware of, but that is different from what is typically meant by decorated coptic tunics.
I'll try and get hold of the book you mention and find out more!

[Martin Moser]

Could read a bit in Greek and Roman Textiles and Dress on Google Books already. Looks like there is at least one piece where they think some facial features where embroidered versus the "normal way of executing facial features in Coptic fabrics [...] by means of a weft that moved in all directions ..." Interesting. So striek the almost certainly no for coptic tunics. There are very complex woven in decorations, though, no doubt about that.
Munich state library has ordered the book, but it can't be accessed yet...

[M. Val. Naso]

Martin: there is embroidery but only nonfigurative, mostly spiral decorations. Basically they have 'sewn them on' the plain background, not even special embroidery techniques, just plain.

[Martin Moser]

Thanks, Mark. I was thinking along these lines, but there is possibly more. We'll see once the book can be loaned from the library ...