I finished the replica sash, and hand-delivered it to the curator at George Washington's Mount Vernon.
While in the area, I visited around a bit, talking with members of a local lace guild, the people at Woodlawn, and also the George Washington Textile Museum.
Several people got to see the sash, before I handed it over. Indeed, my host Linda Kay invited her friends over to celebrate the event, organising a lovely party.

I gave a workshop for interpreters at George Washington's Mount Vernon, speaking about sprang in general, how it works, how it has been used in the past, and a re-cap of the project to create the replica.
As I was setting up, General Washington showed up "in person" to ask about sprang, and the sort of frame required to make such a piece

The replica of the Washington-Braddock sash will be on public display at George Washington's Mount Vernon, starting July 4, 2026.

I began twisting the fringes, and then realized, I needed to take a photo. Right off the frame, the cloth has a distinct need to curl around. Here it is, on my kitchen floor, all curled up.

After twisting the fringes (stabilising the ends of the cloth), I got the sash wet, and laid it flat to dry.

Here it is, on that same kitchen floor ... OK, I purchased a piece of muslin cloth, 4 meters long, the sash is on the cloth on the kitchen floor. Hoping you get the idea. Interlinking sprang needs to curl up when removed from the frame. After "wet-finishing" it will lie flat.

A row of clovers and then a row of six-petal flowers come below the diamond shapes. 

 Working from graph paper, plotting this out, I wouldn't have done it this way. Nevertheless, the motif works just fine. The triangles seem to be centred ... as they are on the original sash. Just goes to show, I don't know everything.

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Coin Purses
As to coin purses, you might make a Miser's Purse. I got started in this direction when a friend passed me a copy of Martyn Downer's book titled Nelson's Purse. The front cover featured a coin purse ... and my friend rightly identified it as sprang, and challenged me to make such.

Completed another section of the sash. The motif is a set of ten people (women or men? hard to say). As you will see in my previous post, this is a variation on a design seen often enough in sashes of this time period. 

It was a bit difficult to photograph, but backlit with my lamp their silhouettes really stand out.

The motifs on the Washington-Braddock sash are indeed impressive. Against a background of other sashes of the time, they are, however, less remarkable. 
Back in 2012 I had the honor of meeting Dutch sprang artist Coby Reijndeers-Baas. She spoke to me of her work restoring sprang sashes, and also about an exhibit of such sashes, the exhibit happening in the 1990s. She gave me the catalogue to that exhibit. The catalogue contains photos of some 47 sashes, most dating to the 1700s.
When COVID hit, and my calendar was erased, and I found myself sitting at my kitchen table, wondering what I would do to fill my time .... I decided to address a project that wanted time. Seeing as how time was what I now had ... I pulled out the catalogue that Coby had given me. I went through the images, examining each of the sashes closely, counting holes, and making charts, written patterns for each.

The first rows on this warp were far easier, much more smooth to work.
​Great relief!

I've now worked several inches, and the cloth is settling down. The threads are getting to be of more even length and sitting parallel. The tension in the cloth is evening out.
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I do need to be vigilant, detect mistakes BEFORE pushing them around to the mirror image side. I also need to take care that I'm not causing tangles as I nudge the row around to the mirror image position.
All this I've done before ... just need to remember ... on every row.

I'm no longer feeling that horrible anxiety. The project is now definitely do-able. It's "just" a matter of putting in the time, 20-30 minutes per row. Then check for accuracy, correct any errors. Then push around to the mirror image side and check again for errors. Repeat. Sometimes an hour per row.
About 8 rows per inch.
​If I can manage an inch every day, then I will definitely be done by the end of March.

The experience of the first time through the creation of such a sash told me I'd be wise to have someone watching the cross and counting the threads. The cross absolutely must be 100% correct for the centre of the cloth to be error-free. Paul did this job admirably. Experience has also shown me that tending the umbrella swift, seeing that the threads came off the hank smoothly is another critical job. I've since decided that the stirring of the pot in the dying process tangles the threads slightly. Better to dye the threads first, and then combine into hanks, so that they are less tangled, come off the swift more smoothly. This makes for more consistent tension in the warp.

The next step is to work the initial row. It's important that each stitch is correct. Any error will show up at the very centre of the work. The challenge is compounded by the fine size of the threads, and even more so that I am working with pairs of threads. Each stitch needs to use the correct two pairs of threads.

Slight differences in tension mean slight differences in lengths of threads. This causes horrible tangles when pushing to the mirror-image side.

I am stuck in a nightmare. It's like Red Riding Hood facing the wolf. Now, I know how the story goes. I know that the kindly woodsman enters the scene in time. He deals with the wolf, and there is a happy ending. I know from experience that the un-even-ness does work out ... it's just that I'm not there yet. I'm still staring at the open mouth of the wolf.

But the interlinking stitch does have amazing forgiveness. And the silk strands are very strong ... will not break (just trusting that knots in between the various skeins hold tight). The un-even-ness will work out