BATH — A Tryon Palace volunteer historic interpreter is sharing her talent and knowledge with visitors to the Historic Bath Site.

Joey Carlton, a palace volunteer for more than five years, began visiting Bath last fall at the urging of Jamie Mesrobian, who formerly worked at Tryon and who served for a time as Historic Bath’s assistant site manager.

“Jamie invited me to come and demonstrate crafts,” Carlton said. “People seem to be interested when they walk in.”

Carlton said she plans to continue visiting Historic Bath, where she sets up a table near the entry to the visitor center. Garbed in a colonial costume, she demonstrates the use of a tape loom.

“It’s used for weaving tapes, which are like ribbon,” Carlton explained as she deftly operated the loom. “It’s specially designed to weave narrow tapes. They can be used for tying clothes together, trim on gowns and for hair ribbons.”

The colorful, patterned tapes were used by members of the upper class for decorating their clothing during the 18th century, Carlton added.

Carlton said it takes her about 20 minutes to weave a four-feet-long flat section of tape.

“Once you get set up it goes pretty quickly,” she said.

Carlton said her husband made the loom, which has become a valuable tool in giving folks a close-up look at one aspect of colonial life.

“I’ve always felt if you can provide some history in an attractive or interesting way, people will remember it,” said Carlton, who was a history major in college.

Historic Bath site manager Leigh Swain said Carlton’s visits have added another dimension to what the site has to offer.

“It is so generous of Joey to come to Bath and demonstrate her crafting skills after working at another historic site all week,” said Swain.  “I think visitors find it pretty cool that the designs she can make on the tape loom look just like popular bracelet patterns enjoyed today!”