Leather Pouch with Tablet Woven Egdes

Introduction:

This is a sheepskin pouch sewn together with tablet woven edges. Leather pouches were popular in England in the 13th and 14th centuries, and several other types of pouches have been found with tablet woven edges. (Egan & Pritchard 348-350) These leather pouches were common among many classes of people. Adding silk embellishments denotes a wealthier owner.

The weft of the weaving is attached to a needle, which is passed between the shed of the weaving and then sewn on to the fabric. This is repeated in a circular manner, resulting in a seam of a tablet woven edge.

The design:

I decided to use sheepskin as Egan & Pritchard describe several rectangular pouches made from this type of leather. (Egan & Pritchard 344-347) The piece is made from a rectangular piece of leather, folded double along its bottom side. The size of the pouch is 9 x 11 cm. Pouches in Egan range from 8 x 7 cm, to 4 x 9 cm. (Egan & Pritchard 348) I used 8 cards of silk, size 60/2 for the weaving. The cards were threaded alternating S & Z. A plain weave for the design of the weaving was used, as found in many pouches of this period. The basic idea of the tablet-woven edge is to join the seams together forming a tubular woven edge, which gives a stronger edge than just sewing alone. (Crowfoot et al 161) I used a post loom for the weaving, as was common in the 13-14th Century. The weaving went up one side seam, and then was split into four cards for each side of the top of the pouch. At this point, I added a third post perpendicular to the first two to accommodate the splitting of the cards. The top seams were woven separately on each side. The two sets of four cards were then brought back together into 8 cards to go down the other side seam. (Egan & Pritchard 348) The extra string was then made into tassels, as was characteristic of the period pouches. The drawstrings are fingerloop braids worked in the same 60/2 silk. They are the 5 loop flat purse string braids, found on numerous pieces through out the period. (Swales & Williams 2-6)

This was my second attempt at recreating a pouch with tablet woven edges. Although I had more trouble with the leather streching due to the tension when I split the cards at the top, than with my first (linen) piece. I am quite pleased with the overall result of the project. I now have a quite useful, functioning little pouch that adds to the look of my costumes. I may end up making a few more of these pouches for my friends (or me).

Bibliography:

Crowfoot, Elisabeth, Frances Pritchard & Kay Staniland. Textiles and Clothing 1150- 1450. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. 2001.

Egan, Geoff & Frances Pritchard Dress Accessories 1150-1450. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. 2002

Swales, Lois & Zoe Kuhn Williams. The Compleat Anachronist 108: Fingerloop Briads. SCA Inc, 2000.