The Washington-Braddock sash again

It all started back in 2009. I was looking at a photo of a sash with a date of 1709, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I thought, "That's exactly 300 years ago".

Encouraged by the success of my book Fingerweaving Untangled. I was contemplating writing another book. What would be the subject? What textile method was I sufficiently familiar with, that needed an instruction book? The answer was sprang.
Something people said they really liked about Fingerweaving Untangled was that it included pieces from museums. What pieces could I include in my book on sprang? Perhaps I could write to museums and get permission to use photos of bonnets from Scandinavian peat bogs or ancient Egypt. But, I thought, my audience would be mostly North America. Are there any examples of North American sprang? 

Looking through Peter Collingwood's book Techniques of Sprang I found an excellent example in the photos at the back. There is a photo that says it's George Washington's sash. I thought to myself, "That's the piece to entice North Americans". So I wrote to George Washington's Mount Vernon. Certainly they were the ones holding that sash.
The photo they sent to me was of a different sash (apparently George Washington owned more than one sprang sash). The sash in the collection at George Washington's Mount Vernon is the one given to him while serving in the British Army in 1855. His commanding officer, Edward Braddock, mortally wounded, passed the sash to Washington, effectively handing over command of the troops.
​The photo they sent featured interesting lace patterns, probably do-able, I figured, with sprang, but the photo did not show the mirror-image aspect that always happens with sprang. Thus began some back-and-forth correspondence asking them to verify that it is indeed a sprang sash. 

Something compelled me forward in this project. Something about the date of 1709, being exactly 300 years ahead of that day in 2009 when I first saw that photo.In the end, I offered to come visit to answer my own questions. If they'd give me ample time to examine it, I promised that I'd make them a replica.
This was not a totally rash offer. I'd worked through several sections of Peter Collingwood's book. I'd re-created several lace patterns featured in his book. The challenge would be to work with such fine material and create something larger than I'd previously attempted.

Carol and the Braddock-Washington sash at George Washington's Mount Vernon

I had met up with the sprang technique in the 1990s. Fascinated, I needed to learn more. Local yarn stores taught classes in knitting and crochet. The local hand weavers guild offered instruction in loom weaving. No where could I find a class on the subject of sprang. I decided that I would need to create the opportunity to travel and that my teachers would be examples of sprang in collections.
The Braddock-Washington sash was one such teacher, and I learned a great deal from that sash.

I did succeed in making a copy of that sash, and delivered it to George Washinton's Mount Vernon in the spring of 2013.

​At that time they had just completed a new visitor's centre, complete with an area to display garments worn by George and Martha Washington. The trouble was that the space had been already completely planned and there was no place for my sash to be displayed. A number of people have told me that they nevertheless have succeeded in seeing my replica, with special arrangements made ahead of time.

Carol and her replica sash

The people at George Washington's Mount Vernon tell me that the replica sash has created much interest. One aspect was the test of the story that the mortally wounded General Braddock was carried off the field on the sash. People have asked whether or not this could have really happened. My replica has allowed this theory to be tested ... and yes, the silk fibers are strong enough.

All this comes up for me because of a series of events last Summer. The eventual outcome is that I am now committed to making another copy of that sash for George Washington's Mount Vernon. ​​​​​They will be unveiling a new display on July 4, 2026. That display will include my replica sash, and, having a replica on display, it's their policy that they need a second replica. Hence this, my latest project.

Figuring people like you, out there in the world of the internet, might be interested in the process of making such a sash, I am hereby committing myself to try to remember to blog about the process. 
Yeah, if you look, you'll see I've not been very faithful to this blog over recent years. But I promise to give it a try, to try to remember to update this blog over the course of the next few months, keeping you informed of the progress of this project: replicating (again) the Washington-Braddock sash.