Very Interesting Velvet.

Sorry for the unannounced blog silence yesterday - I was off on a field trip, and I had planned to blog on the journey in the train either going there or coming back, but both trips were spent doing other work-y things instead.  

It was a lovely trip, and it included a brief but intense visit to the BNM - where we had a look at the garments from a noble grave crypt in Lauingen, dating to the 17th century. The textiles are very well preserved, and they are rather spectacular due to a number of reasons - but what fascinated me most was the fabric used for the garments worn by Pfalzgraf Philipp Ludwig.

The fabric looks a little like a herringbone pattern fabric with a lot of bands sewn on - but it's woven in one piece, and the bands are a kind of uncut velvet, construction-wise. Here is a very bad close-up picture:

It is beautiful, and fascinating, and the three of us spent a good while in front of it trying to figure out how it might have been made. I'm again and again intrigued by the creativity used to make so, so many different kinds of fabrics...