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Sewing Implements
#16
im not sure if there is any remaining evidence of 'fine ' needles which have survived.<br>
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<span style="color:red;"><strong>[url=http://pub55.ezboard.com/btalkinghistory" target="top]Talking History Forum[/url]</strong></span></p><i></i>
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#17
I agree, professional seamstresses today can do a stitch to rival a machine. So, does 'hand sewing' have to be sloppy? <p></p><i></i>
Richard Campbell
Legio XX - Alexandria, Virginia
RAT member #6?
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#18
Having just finished a pair of Vindolanda type sandals, I found that I crushed the eyelet of two needles in doing this. Maybe I"m hard on them with leather, but the eyes bent. I wonder how strong Roman needles were. I did insert a small knife blade in the eye and pry it out a bit, but one broke off, and the other metal won't survive another prying.<br>
One needle per shoe, but I can buy them easily enough. Imagine drilling them out to make another!<br>
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Richard Campbell
Legio XX - Alexandria, Virginia
RAT member #6?
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#19
Ave<br>
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The question is, what did you make the holes in the leather with first? Did you make the holes with the needle? Did you cheat & make the holes with a small drill (Dremel thing) as I did with my first shoe attempts? Or, if you used an awl, what shape was it?<br>
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I have found that even on quite thin leather, if you try to make the holes with the needle you get very sore fingers, a bent needle and not much else. The needle wont go halfway in. If you cheat & use a v small drill you get nice round holes, but they tend to stick to the needle, closing in and crushing the hole at the end.<br>
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If you do it the traditional way, with an awl (use a v sharp diamond cross sectioned one) it will cut through quite easily, leaving a nice slot shape rather than a round one. Then if you use 2 needles, passing through from both sides simultaneously, they will cross nicely in the slot without sticking or crushing the head.<br>
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Also, if you look at leather remains in museums (eg possible tent remains on display at Ribchester) you will notice that the holes on these are slots rather than round, suggesting the diamond shaped awl rather than a round one, so there is provenance for this method too.<br>
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As to the possible thickness of roman needles, bear in mind how finds come to be in these museums in the first place. People are more likely to find big chunky artifacts than tiny ones, and preservation on the big objects will always be better than on the tiny ones too. The level of technology possessed by the Romans suggests that they may well have been capable of making tiny needles, but they would not necessarily be frequent finds.<br>
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Claudia (prefers to hit it with a big hammer) Crisis <p></p><i></i>
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#20
I cheated and used a 1/16" drill bit, but I was going through two layers of leather, one 4 oz, one 8 oz. That ought to be big enough but it does bind the needle.<br>
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I should add, Deb, that this was your pair of sandals I ruined all these needles on, but they do look pretty good now that they are finished. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub27.ezboard.com/bromancivtalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=richsc>Richsc</A> at: 9/18/03 10:50 am<br></i>
Richard Campbell
Legio XX - Alexandria, Virginia
RAT member #6?
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#21
I've asked some other spindlers about spinning flax and most have only dabbled with it and not done much beyond that. But they have gotten some very fine thread from drop spindling flax, about the weight of sewing thread.<br>
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I also went back through my info on Egyptian cloth and they had very fine linen long before the Romans were around. So I don't see any reason why the Romans wouldn't also have had finer cloth than the more burlap stuff that has survived.<br>
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Also on the flax thread, one lady mentioned that she had to wash her thread after she spun it or else it was almost too stiff to work with. It takes a lot more processing to get linen nice and soft so a lot of the weaving thread hasn't been processed all the way since it's assumed that you'll be doing it after you finish weaving. So Rich, that might have been why the linen you worked with was stiff. Personally, as much as I like the fabric, it seems like a huge pain to get it from plant to stolla.<br>
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I think I'm going to just stick with wool and be a peasant.<br>
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deb <p></p><i></i>
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Deb
Sulpicia Lepdinia
Legio XX
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