I went to Dublewars with a mission. To make a Bronze age sprang loom from what I could find in nature, like they would have done. All equipment from that time for making of sprang is gone of course, but we do have pictures from antique vases.
Like this one.
Its long and narrow bottom part has a certain use, you put it between your legs and could therefore work without holding the loom. Loom by the way, frame might be a better word...but its purpose is also to hold the warp, so it might be okey to use both word...anyhow... You put it between your knees and it is stable.
So I went for a branch hunt. I chose to use a branch instead of four pieces of thin wood. Just because it was the least amount of work and therefore something I think they would have gone for too. You just need a round or squared shape. I wanted something bendy that did not brake. Here I am on my hunt, in my not even close to bronze age clothing... And I found a good one.
If we should talk about my outfit too, this is after all more a 16th century blog than a bronze age one... Im wearing the undergarments for my 16th century German peasant outfit, with a peasant jacket on top. Really like it, it feels like me, more me then many of my everyday clothes... Undyed wool stockings with garters of sprang, undyed unterrock, very short, as the dresses of peasant were, a undyed stuchlein and a hat. Perfect for branch-hunting. Love it!
Could not resist taking a picture in these beautiful surroundings. All of these pictures are taken by Sigrid Tunberg.
And here is were I should show you how I made it...but, it was fun, I got lost in the creative process and I forgot to take picture...but just bend it, and secure it with string. And after warping it looks like this!
Its not as long and narrow at the bottom as the one on the antique vase but I tried it and it was very stable.
To make sprang on this loom, compared to using my modern one, was a bit slower. Otherwise its more or less the same. The tension is not as firm and it take a bit longer to work with it therefore, the threads move around a bit more. Its also not as easy to loosen the tension, you need to unwind the threads the warp is wrapped on. I use a think string made of hemp, both to secure the branch and to warp around. According to my (very fast) checkup about hemp they did grow it here during the iron age and it might even have been a little earlier. And it works fine with linen thread too of course, this was just what I had at home that was historically correct and had the right undyed feeling to it.
The making of this loom was easy and quick. For me the fun part was to use it, to see that it was familiar but not exactly the same like working on a modern one. We cant know if they would have used a squared loom like the one from the vase or just a round quick one like this, but it do work, and when its used and no longer working you just walk out and make yourself a new one. The only advise I have is to not make the bottom part to short, you need it a little bit longer for it to be stable.
Mission completed!
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