I have seen what you all think about the lacing technique – whip lacing vs. cross lacing, on our bliauts. I have a question I never thought to ask before, and do not remember discussion about this here. Does anyone have advise, documentation, etc. on the holes that the lacings go through? I am sure that eyelets & grommets are not period. I have heard from fairly reliable folks in the SCA that in other periods, I think a bit later (but don’t ask me specifically), small rings (most likely made of bone?) were sewn on and the lacings go through those. Or is the “button hole” method more accurate. Does anyone do anything to reinforce these side lacings, as they do endure some stress.
~ Katerina la Bisbetica / Denise Pulgino Stout
Message #951, March 24, 2003
Actually, sewn eyelets are period (See MOL Textiles and Clothing for photographs of extant fabric with sewn eyelets – OK, they may not be 12th century fragments, but the book does cover that time period, supposedly), and it’s not unheard of to reinforce them by putting a small metal ring around them and sewing the ring in with the eyelet stitching.
What Angus and I do is use a blunt awl (or a large nail) to push a hole between the fibers, rather than cutting any, then overstitch with silk. It can be helpful to ring the awl with Fray Check first, so that the hole doesn’t disappear as you handle the fabric. It takes a while to figure out how to get a good-sized hole; my first ones were minuscule, and I still can’t get them as big as Angus does, but they are better.
I put a small facing at the edge of the fabric. We’ve been using a second layer of linen, but silk shows up more frequently in the documentation, and would certainly help to strengthen the fabric.
~ Brangwayna
Message #952, March 24, 2003