Ostpreussische Jostenbänder

Jost, an old Prussian term for belt, is a woven, colorful ribbon used for tying skirts or as an apron tie, and in a wider form, it can also serve as a belt or waist tie. It was once sold annually at the Memel farmers' market. Many little girls in East Prussia began weaving Jost ribbons before their first day of school. Guided by their grandmothers, they created ribbons for their school desks. Young women wove long ribbons before their weddings and gifted them to their husbands' sisters. Almost three-meter-long ribbons with up to fifty different patterns have been preserved to this day. The most beautiful of these patterns have been collected by master weaver Irene Burchert, an expert in the textile folk art of East Prussia. However, her book is more than just a catalog of these traditional patterns; it is a concrete guide to weaving your own ribbons. The patterns are each...