[velvetcloak]

metaousia

[banji-effect]

The ancient world was full of textile masterpieces we can only imagine… but most of them have rotted away. So few of them have come down to us in these days that we think of metal and stone as the primary mediums for the oldest artworks. But there were tapestries and fabric work that would have rivaled the finest wrought gold and iron and the first cave paintings.

[theyoungwaldschrat]

This is a incredibly rare find. A ball of yarn made from stinging nettle fibers in the Late Neolithic (5900 years old) in what’s now Marin-Epagnier in Switzerland. The thread has been preserved by being carbonized. Look at how much thread that is! And how fine and even it is spun! The skill going into this is absolutely incredible. Imagine the incredible textile work that must’ve been made with that. For a reference here’s a ball of nettle yarn I managed to make with a drop spindle. That took me 300 hours of work.

[gremlin-078]

That ancient ball of yarn was almost certainly spliced, not drafted! You can see from the picture that it has a very low twist angle, and the little diagonal lines that show it is plied are quite far apart. So basically it was made by overlapping the long nettle fibres and twisting just enough that they hold together, then plying two strands together to stop it from falling apart when put under tension, like weaving. This ball looks like it may not have even been plied yet.

This method is faster than draft spinning and it results in a more even thread thickness, as there is little chance for slubs and thin spots as all the fibres are exactly aligned vertically.

Splicing is mostly associated with linen production in ancient Egypt but it is known in Europe up until the bronze age, when the introduction of wool made draft spinning much more common. The Must Farm textiles are another beautiful example of preserved vegetable fibres, with balls of yarn just as fine as this one!

[visual-detox]

[redstonedust]

i do find the rules around clothes fascinating because of how made up it all is. we invented the idea of covering our bodies from the elements because we lack fur like other mammals and then made up all these rules around it and now people will unironically tell you "men cant wear skirts its unnatural" girl none of this is natural. we are born naked and made up the rest as we went along. hope this helps.

[aceinthetrap]

Dynasty Flowchart (Extended) – Nüwa Hanfu

An ultra extended flowchart for identifying dynasties! Even identifying sub-periods of each dynasty. As always, this is a general guide ther

does the makeup look sad or happy? >>> goth & sad >>> middle tang dynasty [lmao]

[timetowar]

[madnessofmen]

Kind of obsessed with this woman's freakishly modern jacket from 1904.

The complete lack of shoulder definition gives it the silhouette of an MA-1 bomber jacket, but bombers weren't even a thing yet. The Wright brothers barely achieved powered flight in 1903. The ribbing on the shoulder and the angular cutouts with the hexagonal mesh are so futuristic and cyberpunk, but even art deco wouldn't be a thing for another 15 years. The color is like a dusty NASA flight suit. All together it's giving lone spacefarer crash landing their tiny rustbucket ship on Mars.

Truly a visionary of her time.

[qwiddit]

[partlymadeofgold]

This map was designed by Kenyan artist Priya Shah.

You can read about it here: https://minds-africa.org/fabric-map-of-africa-the-art-of-storytelling/

and buy copies of the map here: https://www.miakora.com/fabric-map-of-africa

[awritersrejections]

saw your tags @did-sm1-say-catfish and yes, that link is broken! I looked into it, and it's because there are now multiple maps, including a map of India—

Here's a new link for purchasing purposes

[luckydiorxoxo]

Sam Smith wearing custom Christian Cowan & Stephen Jones millinery at the 2026 Met Gala.

[funstealer]

1930s Mine-found Zip-Up Jacket

[sillystigmata]

Does anyone know if I’m gonna make it?

[bookhobbit]

The first rule of sewing is you can fix anything if you have patience, creativity, and a little bit of extra fabric! The second rule of sewing is AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

[pmamtraveller]

"An Empire Built on Waste" by artist Emanuele (Jane) Morelli

[roostercrowned]

DON’T become even a casual nerd about historical fashion because you’ll start looking at pseudo-medieval fantasy and going “that jacket and those breeches are 200 years apart and reflect extremely different social movements” and “oh no they were NOT making shirts like that prior to industrialization” and “a fly front? in MY ~1500s???”

[afemalesebastian]

"Sewing is a gateway drug to thinking through complex problems. It seems really simple; culturally, we make it women's work. Let me tell you: real sewing at any kind of level of proficiency is a bloody magic trick. Sewing, like mold making, involves mental frames that require one to think inside out and backwards. It requires one to work on an order of operations that is often taking into account the reverse. It's a really, really important skill, and if you learn how to sew, you're mostly on your way to carpentry and welding and sheet metal work. I'm not kidding: these are planar forms meeting under rules and conditions. And if you can make a sleeve work, I swear to God, you could build a house."

--Adam Savage

[ancientknitter]

Astronomy Sweater (England, 1980s) designed by Jamie & Jessi Seaton. Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales.

[everfolk]

do u ever see someone in your notifs and think wow! i was sure you'd unfollowed me by now