Did the ancients appreciate textiles? You betcha! I've heard this lecture so many times at living history events. Clothing was an expensive necessity. It takes a lot of time and hard work to make one garment from scratch. In general people need more than one garment per person. Worst of all clothes wear out. This meant clothing production was a constant thing. To save time and extra work (or money if a person was lucky enough to have any,) fabric was recycled. This leads to another problem: people are all different sizes. The most common strategy was to make the first garment from a piece of fabric as big as possible and with the fewest number of cuts. That meant long tunics and dresses with huge skirts or trains and lots of big poofy sleeves. When the owner was done with it the garment it was cut apart and remade for somebody else. One bolt of fabric could pass through several members of a single family before the usable bits were just too small for even the little kids to wear. Even then the scraps were used as pillow stuffing. Textiles just were not wasted.

What always gets me is when I see a 9yard dress COVERED in embroidery that had to be done all by hand, I do cross stitching and it boggles my mind the time and patience that had to take!

I’m a 39 year old man that has to work tomorrow, yet here I am fascinated with Neolithic weaving

Loving the history content. Isn't it ironic how something we do for relaxation and enjoyment (most of the time) was once a necessity and most likely thought of as tedious

I love that you pointed out how expensive in time and labor every piece of cloth was before the spinning wheel and barn loom! And how that really was not so very long ago. It's hard to imagine just how much time and effort would need to go into a single outfit for a common person, let alone grand outfits for royalty. I hope to learn ancient spinning and weaving someday, and learn to create cloth from both linen and wool, and then to create a simple outfit from those layers, including dyeing with whatever I can find. My goal would not be specifically to recreate a particular historical look, but to experiment with how it would feel to wear such a handspun garment full-time, and notice what wear patterns would develop and see what options for decoration or patching might become important to me. I'm definitely thinking neolithic style, or at least as early as feasable, simply because I imagine earlier equals less difficult to achieve for a single commoner making do for themselves. I've heard of back frames and vertical frames for weaving, but haven't seen much about them being used for everyday clothing fabric. I've only seen them used to make rugs and fancy festival wear with intricate designs. Someday maybe it would be fun to branch out into that. But I'm mostly curious to learn how hard is it for a person to create something serviceable for peasant wear. Assuming they could grow or buy the fiber itself, how long would it take to spin/weave/sew one basic outfit? This would indicate how often a family might be able to provide new clothes for its members. Then I'd want to know how long each garment can be used/washed/mended/cut down and re-purposed before it is considered too raggy to wear, and figure out how many new garments could reasonably have been produced for a person in that time, given that each member of the family also needs garments. This would indicate how big of a wardrobe any given commoner might have been able to maintain. It's so hard to ratchet the mind backwards into times when cloth was hard to come by, and therefore kept, reused, and recycled as "precious to the last scrap". Today's easy wastage of fabric is such a different, virtually god-like reality compared to the past, only a scant thousand years ago or so. To consider cloth precious must have been the basic human reality for most of our evolution as humans.

Great, now I gotta learn how to make ceramic, carve stone/bone! Thanks for putting another awesome idea in my head lol

The sails thing is crazy to think about. Not only were they hand spun and hand woven, but completely hand sewn too!

I made a couple of flax spindles (maybe ten or fifteen years ago...yeesh. I'm getting old. ha.) when I was in the cast of a re-enactment/re-creation using some chunky glass beads and bamboo skewers. The shaft did not exactly fit the diameter of the hole in the bead, but I twirled some scotch tape around the skewer and jammed the bead on and that worked. I like using a hand spindle...it's very calming and it makes me feel very connected to my ancestors, and all the spinners who have come before me.

I love that your dream of time travel also revolves around being able to visit historical textile craftspeople or tailors or dressmakers. Great video!

What an interesting way to spin! Love how you bring history into your videos!

You're so right about how we take cloth for granted. I love how learning this craft has helped me cultivate gratitude more. Thanks for the history, I also love hearing about those interchangeable whorls/shafts. I might have to try those someday.

You spin beautifully. I taught my self to use the drop spindle thirty years ago and have never come close to your quality but I love watching you.

Amazing little bit of history thank you! like you I love to feel the connections to the past, as much as it is not recommended I ( with lots of help from hubby) restored an antique wheel, we think it's over a hundred years old and there are grooves carved into the wood where so much wool has passed over it, I love to think of the women who have spun on it over the years and dream of their knowledge being passed on to me (wishful thinking) but you make me realise that they would have most probably been poor and spinning for necessity! Thanks for all your inspiration 💕

I recently got myself my first supported spindle and was looking for instructional vids. And coincidently enough, it was made by the dancing goats! Very excited to try my hand at it.

I still haven't gotten the hang of spindle spinning! It's how I got started, but I find wheel spinning so much easier. You're totally right about how much we take fabric for granted - before getting into textiles, I never thought twice about all the fabrics around me. Now, almost every time I see a fabric I wonder how it was made, who made, how long it would take to reproduce myself, etc. etc. Weaving, spinning, knitting, crochet... it all gives you a brand new perspective.

Your videos are becoming really next level in terms of content and editing! Thank you for making this!

I love your channel! It is so full of fantastic historic information!

This was so interesting evie and love your spinning on them thank you for sharing your knowledge with us xx

Love the close up views! 💗🧶💗

Evie, you are adorable! I have watched quite a few videos now on spinning, and yours are simply the best! You explain clearly, and answer so many of the questions that have arisen from watching other videos (NOT made by you). So kudos to you on... well... EVERYTHING! ❤️

Your energy in this video is perfect

One thing I love about spinning is feeling like I’m communing with history. Also, I mentioned you in my latest video. I said you were a guru in the community and that you knew everything about drop spindles.

If I never spin ,I will continue to watch your site just for your history lessons on spinning and fabric creation! So much fun!! Keep up the great work!!🤩🤩

You are truly inspiring! Now I want to learn spinning and make my own yarn.

Wow, I love the history you bring to spinning. I am learning so much. I just received my first spindle and am about to embark on a new journey. Very excited. Thank you Evie

I am about to learn the supported spindle...I recently ordered on. This was a delightful demonstration.

Pretty cool! A friend lent me her new purchase: one whorl with three separate shafts which you can change when one fills up. Very fast system with no fiddling trying to adjust! Loved it!

Spinning while drafting! Your my hero.

Fascinating. Thanks.

I have spun with a supported spindle, but mine was with a bit of a twist. I saw somewhere on KZfaq a woman who used a long handled wooden spoon as her support. She tucked that into waistband and then could walk round her village. I thought that this was perfect for Rennaissance Fairs, since I certainly wanted to show my spinning prowess, but didn't just want to stand there with a drop spindle. And it worked wonderfully!

Thanks Evie history was this interesting at school. So will give this method a go. I want to appreciate yarn making more.

Do you imagine that the animal or vegetable fibers that were used in that time period were of a mixed lengths and density...so multiple breaks and adjustments were made... I loved the look of the supported spinning stick, spinning like a top and can fully imagine a crafters hands performing just as yours were.... yes, quite the sense of connection. Your personal connection to your craft is what makes your site so appealing. Thank you!

I use a tiny rubber band to hold my spinning whirl on the stick. And i have MANY sticks. Chopsticks work well.i have many colours going at once so i have a stick for each. I love my spindle.😍

I use the 15th century spindle sticks w/whorls, grasped/in hand/semi-suspended method instead of supported though. It is one of my favorite ways to spin, the other is with a French pillar spindle.

Thank you, very interesting 💖

loving your more historical content!

The rhythm you got into with this spindle was possibly more hypnotic than your wheel spinning!

I really enjoyed this video, but haven't tried to spin yet. I am waiting on supplies so far. I love the history of how things were made from our past. So glad we are able to try to replicate and learn how to make similar items. Thanks for the informative video and the inspiration to learn more ways to accomplish what was once used to create textiles. Even in the pioneer days, most women had only 3 dresses. Compare that to our closets now. Thanks again.

Great video. I like all the different camera angles you used to show your hands working. I love spinning supported, it's so portable, and you can do it with your feet up. No treddle to work.

wow . You are so inspiring!

Those spindles are so INCREDIBLY beautiful I need to learn how to spin just so it makes sense for me to own one. Up till now I thought wooden spindles were quite pretty, but they've got nothing on these! 😍 🤩😍🤩

I think you were doing a wonderful job on that "support spindle" That is the one I want to learn more of.

well, merry met miss evie !! wow, not only do you "have a you tube channel", but you are a flat out fabric historian ! you are gorgeous, eloquent, witty, and you-had-me-at-neolithic. can't wait to see more. very best from jaye, from ltz.

I learned to spin on a spindle from you over the last few months just by watching your how to videos.

Cool! I'm going to try it.

Goat and alpaca fibre would certainly have been used since the very earliest days of spinning along with sheep fibre in their respective native areas, not to mention hair from pelts such as sable. Tbh goats were probably the first fibre animals since prehistoric sheep had different coats from today’s breeds(hairier as opposed to wooly). Don’t imagine tho, that prehistoric spinning was all hessian weave and sack cloth. The Egyptians made linens so fine they were transparent, and I see no reason that Europeans weren’t able to make equally fine and let’s be honest, “blingy” cloth, whether it be with wools as they were developed from the original sheep to ones bred especially for cloth, or with hair from pelts.

Thank you, that was very interesting.

Just, thank you!!

I’m going to get one of those worals. It looks like an awesome pastime. I’m just beginning my spinning adventure. I have a couple of simple looms and i think I would love to tablet weave with yarn that i have made myself 🙂

Thanks for this. So helpful and easy to understand! Ps you have such beautiful hair, reminds me of my Mumma’s!!

Awesome! That looks like it would be a good place to begin as opposed to a drop spindle; a shorter drafting zone , quicker spinning- if you could get into a rhythm and maybe a bit more control. I really enjoyed the drop spindle and DIYd one while watching your videos last week. It was so much fun. The wool was the clubby kind so not even but really neat in the end. Thanks for the great videos

Great history lesson! Wow, there is so much to learn about spinning and fabric making throughout the years. It looks like you have to use a long draw method with support spindle spinning. That would take some practice to master! I haven't mastered it yet lol. Thanks for sharing.

love the history. spindles are my nemisis right now lol

That's really nice! It must have kept prehistoric people busy for ages and aeons!

Interesting‼️😍 💜💙💚💛🧡❤

That seems really neat and interesting! I'm only just getting into spinning (thanks to your videos!) so i haven't done this kind of spinning, haha!

Awesome content! The thing that sprung up in my mind immediately was how the spinning could possibly be affected by sitting on the ground, or on something very low, and/or having no table. This is from my highly under informed assumption that this was more common, and seeing loads of pictures plus videos of current people doing traditional crafts sitting on the floor with no table. I hardly have any spindle spinning experience, so I would have to practice a lot first to test this out

I found one at the beach in the Uk and now I’m obsessed with them

When you first bought these I went on Etsy and got one. I like it so much I ended up getting another because I knew I wanted more shafts. I enjoy this more than a drop spindle and I make singles faster. I have noticed that different bowls can prolong or shorten your spin time. I also found these more ergonomic for me.🥰

Ive been wanting to get these!! Thank you! Im thinking you could probably wrap the yarn around the whorl at the bottom (or just put it at the top) and make it a drop spindle. But I enjoyed watching the supported spinning. Really enjoyed the history angle! But especially the literal different angles of view with the camera! Really helpful!

Don't you love that our craft connects us to our fore-mothers who lived thousands of years ago? Archaeology used to be all about pot shards. More and more whorls and loom weights are teaching us so much about ancient people!

This was such a fun and informing video to watch! Have you thought of doing a spindle comparison video? I just recently bought some russian supported spindles and am having a difficult time finding info on the real differences between using russian, tibetan, takli, etc. On youtube, it mainly seems to be "Using a Supported Spindle 101" without going into too much detail on the different types. Definitely a niche topic that could use some explaining!

You have just a fantastic way of teaching and such a great enthusiasm and energy for your craft! I do not *remotely* have the patience for spinning--I found this video doing research for a novel I'm writing. Would you be offended if my traveling spinning hobbyist/mage encounters a very cheerful and knowledgeable (literal) spinster on their journey? Thanks so much for this engaging video, your clear instructions and upbeat attitude really helped me figure out how to explain/incorporate this into my story :) (I didn't want any spinners reading to be like 'Oh, come on! Magic and elves and stuff I can suspend my disbelief for, but that is NOT HOW YOU SPIN! I know I get that way when writers mention crochet/knitting and describe the wrong hooks/needles/motions for it haha.)

Not just sails but, the ropes were made by hand just like great bit threads !

The Ceridwen saga book series by Octavia Randolph features weaving a fair amount - it helps highlight how much work went into keeping people clothed especially. You’d love it!

I have two of these, all wood. But I have never seen them beeing used while supported on the table before. What I learned was to have them hanging, to keep the momentum going. I have tried spinning some yarn from my alpacas this way, and I'm picking up a spinningwheel tomorrow, because this method takes a loooong time, and I'm a bit clumsy, so I tend to make a mess..

I follow. We got the same interest!!

Now I need to figure out what to do with this yarn! To ply or not to ply??? Any suggestions? 🐑🧶💜😄

Was a bog bodie found with perfectly preserved clothes and equipment called the Bocksten Man a good source for information on the subject

Sails! Pleats! Thank you so much for this perspective. It’s lots to think about. I only spin on an electric spinner, so I’m living way far away from the Neolithic! I’m grateful, to tell the truth, and humbled by everyone who survived and thrived while making every single thing.

If I had to add my 2 cents to the historical background of spinning I'd like to underline how Plato equates the shape of the universe to that one tool we have seen in this video. He calls it and it's in the last part of his -Republic- book. Cheers from Italy!

Your spindle reminds me so much of a modern drum stick! I'm wondering if a drum stick could be shaped slightly to become a good spindle.

I really loved this video thank you! Have you done one with Viking era spindles or style?

Double ended aluminum knitting needles also make good spindles... just bend a little hook on one end

With a title like that, I’m guessing you’ll be putting that yarn into making a (raspberry) beret 😝. But for real, super interesting!

I just enjoy watching your videos so much! I had never seen anyone actually spin with a whorl and I was mesmerized watching you. What spinning tool would have been used in the bronze age?

A drop spindle doesn't need a metal hook. One could carve a notch, or just tie the yarn in a half hitch.

i wonder how much our ancestors would have interacted with textiles as a community would women have gathered to spin or weave together, would they have exchanged spun wool for cloth or come up with arrangements of different parts of the community doing different parts of the process that they could be really good at

The fiber they would have used is flaxe(did i spell that right) and other plant fibers cause it would be the easiest to grow in that area of climate the other would be wool(from trading) for the fact it's hot and being mostly desert(there was grass and plants because of the river) but it would be hard for sheep to live in such a hot place. i ❤ history 😊

Can you show us how to ply the spindle wool?

PLEASANT TO LISTEN !!!! THANK YOU!!!🌷💖🌷💕🌺💕🌺🦙🐑🦙

What is the little piece that the spindle sits on? Did you make it? Is it clay or something else?

Cool! Is that easier or more efficient than a Kromski drop spindle?

I wonder if you could get Arctic musk ox fur to spin on those spindles.

This supported spindle seems to work at table height. Are there ones that work at floor level?

I wonder if they spun wolly mammoth fur

I had read somewhere a work shirt took as long to make as it took to wear out. This is assuming it was a wife with children working on it in her "freetime". That blew my mind! Like how did they ever do it 100% on their own? I suppose they didn't. Still makes you think.

Check out Sally Pointer’s channel. She is very very knowledgeable about prehistoric fibers.

What sources did you use for your info? I'm really interested in learning more about it, especially how they made sails!

I think when you hit 10,000 subscribers, you should give away a support spindle! It's so cooĺ

Hvad er den lille skål på bordet? Træ ? Vil du vise et nærbillede?

Ships could be built in a couple of months but it takes years for a single sail to be made

Hi Evie, hope you're all OK. Love the History lesson, but what is BCE??💗💗

I like the things you had to say of the history of cloth. As we think of the Holy Bible stories. When my family went to see the dead sea scrolls 📜 they had how they thought the way they weave loom. When we went to cliff house in the Colorado, they show a blanket they found. My mother teaches Sunday school and she like how cotton and camel 🐫 fiber was used in Bible. John the Baptist wore. Then she read somewhere in a pioneer woman walking across America plain, gathered bison 🦬fiber to make mittens to help them stay warm in the rocky mountains. Clothes on the mummies Egyptian say much about topics.

how do you know this whorl meant using the base? I thought most spinning was when the whorl was dropped in the air? I don't spin. thanks

are you left handed?

Do you know of a place that wants to purchase raw sheep floss? I have an uncle in Mayo Ireland who has a barn near full of raw over 15 years stacked tall filament. They have tried to sell but said it was not profitable to prep the wool ready for spinning. It's such a goldmine and a shame.

Great video!! I ordered a medieval spindle and whorl recently and have been waiting with bated breath so this was very well timed to be my historical spinning fix in the mean-time. If you're interested in hookless drop spinning, some medieval spindles had a notch carved into them which seems to serve the same function, though I've not tried it yet. Check out Penelope Walton Rogers, 'Textile Production at 16-22 Coppergate', page 1734 for some examples!

Now I’m asking… did woman invent the wheel? For spinning?