Woven belt or tie...was it made for something special?

This came in a bin of weaving cotton and a couple of finished pieces. It's got this odd center and the two sides have different patterns. Is this made for a special purpose or was it a trial piece to work different patterns? It's 63" long

 

The band is tablet (card) woven. Turning the tablets in a different direction creates the different patterns. My best guess for the unwoven length in the middle would be that the weaver intended to make two separate bands using the same warp, and just never cut them apart. You can see that the ends are not finished, either.

https://www.shelaghlewins.com/tablet_weaving/TW01/TW01.htm

 

My initial thought was for a priest or minister's garb, but then I liked what @2manybooks had to say about it, especially since there were 2 different patterns.........BUT WAIT......both patterns are in both "pieces" so to speak, so, still could be something hand made for a minister/priest???? Guessing here! OTOH, they don't seem to be the same width either..........??

 

At 63", it would be more like a sash of some sort, for a very festive priest, if worn as one piece. Think 2many is absolutely correct; it was meant to be cut apart into pieces of about 30" each. The 2 different widths persuade me as much as anything.

 

An elderly lady passed away and I got a big box full of cotton crochet string and after I found this, I realized she used them for weaving. I might just offer this on one of my Santa forums - it would be perfect at Christmas.

 

If you look at the two unfinished ends, side by side, they appear to be the same width at that point. I think the taper may be an artifact of an inexperienced weaver - it is not easy to keep the same tension in the weft, and you can end up pulling the weaving tighter and narrower if you are not careful.

 

Is it a Oaxacan woven cotton belt?

 

Screams 1960s craft, that.

 

I was just in Oaxaca in late 2019 and they’re still making those in the cotton mills in Mitla although I agree that this one appears vintage.

Happy Easter Happy Passover!

 

Looking at Bev's band with fresh eyes, I may have been mistaken in saying it was tablet woven. A tablet woven piece should show more distinctly twisted warps on the surface. It may have been produced on an inkle loom, or other simple type. Sorry about that. But I still feel it is a hobbyist's work based on the context in which it was found (among other weaving supplies), the inexpert and unfinished quality of the work, and the simple design.

Many cultures produce narrow woven bands, using a variety of simple looms, the Oaxacan weavers among them. But the Oaxacan work is much finer, and uses more complex designs.

 

Agree. Just a thought but although I saw wonderful quality woven cottons in Oaxaca I also saw far lesser quality work in Mitla and definitely saw very similar designs to this posted piece although all that I personally saw were a continuing pattern. Perhaps it was a hobbyist version referencing that work.

 

It definitely came from a local amateur because it was in a box with a lot of skeins of heavy cotton thread in different colors. There was a nice small piece that I listed as a doll house rug, although it might have been intended for some other use.