Weaving Clothes From Tree Fiber

[Monk]

I picked up a used book about a Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi-28 YEARS IN THE GUAM JUNGLE written by Japanese correspondents. Basically it's about a Japanese soldier who went into hiding on Guam.

Interesting thing are the color pictures in the book-he was a tailor by trade before WWII and while hiding out he wove his own clothing from the fiber of the Pago tree-not grass skirts mind you but jacket and pants with homemade buttons!
The book is lacking on details of how-to but it gives a lot of thought on how to improvise homemade items which he did.

Has anyone here heard of anywhere in Europe folks being able to use fiber from trees to make clothing? The pics of Yokoi's clothing really resemble burlap/hessian sack material.
Monk

 

[innocent bystander]

Have you had a look at this page mate ?
http://www.molli.org.uk/bark/cloth.htm

Seems to suggest that barkcloth is primarily a souther hemisphere thing. Maybe they dont have native sheep down that way for spinning and weaving?

 

[Toddy]

Both Troy & Kimboko have supplied me with high quality bast fibres that I can easily spin into fine yarn. The lime bast K. sent particularly so, and it's from a native tree too. This isn't the beaten bark cloth 'felt' of the south but I think it'd still weave a good, if firm, cloth. Might be good for belts and outerwear.
I too would like to hear of any other links anyone has on this subject.
Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Ed]

Has anyone here heard of anywhere in Europe folks being able to use fiber from trees to make clothing?

Not sure about trees, but many plants where used in the past for spinning thread and weaving cloth. Flax, hemp and nettle to name but 3. I'm sure there are probably many more.


Ed

 

[Monk]

Thanks for the link on bark cloth!
No.. I didn't know about nettle clothes either!
Monk

 

[Braidwoman]

Viking ships had ropes made from lime bast (also others from black horsehair). At the Viking Ships Musuem at Roskilde, you can see them making it, and have a go yourself. It smells wonderful, really aromatic. It is the small leaved lime, I think.
I have some pictures, but have no idea how to post them!

 

[rich59]

Has anyone here heard of anywhere in Europe folks being able to use fiber from trees to make clothing?

"the lime tree (strictly the small-leaved lime, the one called pry in East Anglia), whose fibrous inner bark, bast (another word at least as old as English and whose ultimate source is unknown), was used for a number of purposes. The herbalist John Gerard said it is “white, moyst, and tough, serving very well for ropes, trases, and halters”. It was also plaited or woven into a kind of rough cloth once sometimes called Russia matting, especially in Devon and Cornwall and in Lincolnshire. The name of this inner bark has now been applied generally to this fibrous layer of many kinds of plants."

from http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/fibres.htm

I have been experimenting in extracting the fibre from lime trees this year. There is plenty of poorish quality brown fibre on dead branches that fall to the ground. But, I wanted to get clean white or cream fibre. When I picked some young branches the fibres were not in evidence - just a strong bark. When I soaked the bark for about 2 months then the fibre came free.

 

[forrestdweller]

I picked up a used book about a Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi-28 YEARS IN THE GUAM JUNGLE written by Japanese correspondents. Basically it's about a Japanese soldier who went into hiding on Guam.

any info's about the book? since i came across an article on another outdoor website i'm interested in this story...