This is the second year I've gone into my daughter's school to give a presentation on fiber arts for a class studying the 39 melachos.
It occurs to me that there are probably other teachers out there teaching these melachos who could use a hands-on demonstration, but don't know how to give one.
Here you go.
I'm sure fiber artists will see plenty here to correct (please add your comments!); but this is what I've done that has worked for us so far.
Melaben
I pass around a bag of unwashed wool and the kids (or anyway the ones who aren't grossed out by it -- unwashed wool is amazingly... unwashed) all feel it.
I ordered two ounces of unwashed sheep wool (and one ounce of unwashed goat hair, for fun) from this supplier: Flintstown Fibers. I like that she put the names of the animals on the bags of wool. (I tell the kids to "Reach in the bag and pet Polly.")
I ask the kids: what's the first thing we need to do with this wool?
"Wash it!" they all scream.
Menapetz
Now I pass around another sample of wool from the same supplier, this time a washed one; and the contrast is amazing.
The next thing we have to do is comb out the tangles.
I use two wire-bristle dog brushes because the same tool is used for sheep wool, but the mini version sold for dogs costs much less.
I lay a little bit of the washed wool in one brush, and drag the other brush through it. This is carding, and it produces a fuzzy, fluffy wool.
Now we have a nice, detangled wool. What's the next thing we need to do with it?
Tzovea
I had some jars of dye in the house (from here); it's not formulated for wool but it worked for the demonstration. I took the little bit of carded wool and dunked it in the dye jar, and patted it in a paper towel until it was dry. It came out a very pale blue.
(Making your own natural dyes would not be hard. Here are instructions for dyeing with onion skins.)
(Fun fact - if you have the disposable income of an emperor you can still buy argaman pigment.)
Now I have nice blue wool. What's the next thing we need to do with it?
Toveh
I take my little piece of blue wool and twist it between my fingers so that it looks like a piece of yarn. Just twist -- that's it.
If you let go of the wool after you've twisted it, it will untwist: it has to be held in hot steam to stay twisted. So, I press it on a towel with a hot clothes-iron, pushing the steam button. Now it's yarn.
I like to show the kids how much faster spinning is with a spindle; they all can't wait to try it but the truth is that just twisting the wool between their fingers is easier for them. If you want to play with spindles I recommend (as both inexpensive and easy to use) this Mini Bottom-Whorl Spindle.
Here is a tutorial that explains how to spin on a spindle: Mielke's Fiber Arts Drop Spindle Tutorial.
Technically at this point I would take a couple of strands of yarn and twist them all together -- this is called plying -- but I skip that part.
What's the next melacha?
Meisach
At this point you need a loom.
A children's potholder loom (like this or this) is fun to use; maisach is putting on the loops in one direction. (These are called the warp threads.)
Or, take an empty picture frame, wrap a lot of thread or string around it (I wrapped eight times) so it looks like a two-sided guitar, and tape the ends to the frame.
Or, this is the kind of loom I use, just because I have one in the house already.
Oseh Shtei Batei Nirin
I show the kids how I weave potholder loops, or pine needles (easier to see in a demonstration than thread) over one string and under the next, all the way across.
(These are called the weft threads.)
I ask them whether they think that weaving curtains for the Mishkan this way would be a quick job or a slow one.
"It would take forever!" they say.
Enter heddles (batei nirin).
A lot of simple children's looms don't have heddles. There are also many that do, like this one and this one. Potholder looms don't.
You can make heddles. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't work on a potholder loom (the warp loops slip off their pegs easily) so you'll need a picture frame or a beading loom or something else that lets you secure the warp threads well.
One way to make heddles is to make a heddle bar; but I just tie thread loops around every other warp thread and tape them together.
This is enough to show what a heddle does; to actually use the loom I would need a second heddle, which is slightly more complicated.
The best instructions I've seen for making an inexpensive loom with two sets of heddles are in Sarah Swett's book Kids Weaving, published 2005. The whole loom is made of PVC pipes (about $4 worth of pipe plus some fittings) and it's got cool moving parts.
If you want to make the kind of loom that (I think) was used for the mishkan, there are instructions here: How to Build and Use a Warp-Weighted Loom. (Ms. Swett's instructions are written for children and therefore more user-friendly.)
Oreg
When you pick up those heddle loops, every other warp thread rises. You can slip your weft thread (or pine needle...) in the space underneath.
When you release the loops, the warp threads drop back into place, and you'll see that your weft thread is held neatly between the warp threads, as if you had woven it over-under-over-under one thread at a time.
Now You Try
At this point I pinch off a piece of washed wool for each kid and pass out the carders and spindles; they card the wool and spin it, and bring it to me to steam it for them with the iron.
Today when everyone had spun a little strand of wool I dyed it for them also. We did tzovea last because I'm not sure this dye washes out of clothing. We would have gotten more even color had we worked in order.
If we would spend all day spinning we would end up with enough yarn for the kids to weave also; but we stop with spinning. The whole demonstration takes half an hour.
A lot of elementary school teachers keep a big loom in their rooms for kids to weave on during down time, which I think is a nice idea.
I have read that in art from certain parts of the ancient world, Jews are often recognizable as the nation depicted wearing striped textiles.
Total Shopping List for a Demonstration of the Textile Melachos
Melaben - unwashed wool. You can wash it yourself if you want to.
Menapetz - washed wool (two ounces of washed wool has lasted me through about 30 kids and we haven't used it up yet); two dog slicker brushes (or more pairs so lots of kids can try it at once - each needs to use two at a time)
Tzovea - commercial dye powder (or a pot of onion skins)
Toveh - clothes iron (I tried once to steam spun wool by holding it over the spout of an electric kettle. This was not pleasant - find an iron); spindles (optional)
Weaving melachos - a loom. Despite the fact that you have to buy the pipes and assemble it yourself, I think the best option for an affordable loom with batei nirin that has clear instructions is the DIY pipe loom in Sarah Swett's book Kids Weaving.
No comments:
Post a Comment