Parallel  Threads on a Frame

Sprang is a technique for creating cloth from parallel threads stretched on a frame. The threads are braided together, crossing and twining in a variety of ways to produce a wide range of designs and structures.  When creating sprang, the fingers are in the threads, separating the two sheds (front and back layers), bringing back threads forward and front threads backward in various patterns. 

The structures created by sprang can be produced with or without a frame. When no frame is used it's called free end braiding and the free ends need to be untangled periodically. When a frame is used, instead of untangling the free ends, those twists are pushed to the other end of the frame and create a second, mirror image length of cloth.

Sprang frame with cloth at top and bottom, unworked threads in middle.

​Ancient  to Modern Uses

Sprang cloth has been found around the globe, dating back thousands of years. Samples have been found in North and South America, Europe, China, and Egypt. Many pieces are fragments, and many intact pieces are bags and hairnets or bonnets, as smaller items are easily produced on a hand-held frame. Larger clothing items were also likely made of sprang, including leggings depicted on Greek statues and in Renaissance paintings, and a pre-contact Native American shirt from Arizona.

Sprang  bonnets and military sashes were common in Europe during the 1700s- early 1800s, but
 the technique was mostly lost in western Europe during the Industrial Revolution. Over the past 100 years an increasing number of textile historians and artisans have been examining the remnants, experimenting with the technique, and creating a wide range of replicas and new pieces. See resources for examples from modern sprang artists.

Carol James modeling her replica of the Arizona openwork shirt.

Frames

I most often use a wooden frame from Dewberry Ridge, but frames can easily be hand-made too. The long frame is made from PVC pipe and threaded rods,  the bent frame from a willow branch and twine, and the wide frame from the same PVC pipe as the longer frame. 
For more details on sprang frames, check out the Sprang Lady's frame page.

Wooden sprang frame from Dewberry Ridge.

PVC pipe frame with threaded rods.

Another arrangement for a PVC pipe frame.

Bent willow branch as a sprang frame.

Learn More

Check out the Resources page for more links to teachers, books, and websites.