A Gift of Beautiful Silks and Bobbins

I recently received this lovely gift from a friend. I love embroidering with silk and wool on linen, but I usually can't afford those materials, so this was a great surprise. I especially love the beautiful bobbins. They are from Elisabet's Handspun. I'm having a lot of fun deciding which projects to use them on.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mums, Step-Mums, Foster Mums, and Fur Mums - and to those for whom this day can be fraught with painful emotions.

Tie-on Sleeves in Plum Cotton Fabric

You may remember that an ongoing project is the creation of a suite of tie-on sleeves to complement my Italian style gowns. The other day I was bed-ridden and I was trying to work on sewing down the inside of the seams on one of the pairs.

The sleeves are cut out and zigzag stitch put along the cut edges. Then the side seam is machine sewn (or hand-sewn if I have the time and manual dexterity, which I usually don't).

Th idea with the inside seam is to press or finger-press the seam open and flat on the inside and sew it down with tiny invisible stitches so that it doesn't bunch or twist with wear.

I'll admit that I was struggling with the project, so I was pretty satisfied when I was done.

  I put the project down to admire my achievement........ and looked closer.....
Yep, those are two right sleeves!
Of course, I noticed this after the seams had been machined and then hand sewed flat. (Eyeroll.)

Lamb-vegetable Device for the Baronial Heraldic Banner

My SCA Barony has a series of banners that display the devices of members with registered arms in chronological order. Over the years I have made a lot of devices for people who can't sew or who don't have the time.

Some of the banners on display at a feast in 2018

I started this device last year; it is one of a pair intended as temporary place holders until the member has time to finish the more complex versions intended for the banner.

I wanted to experiment with texture on this device as the colour scheme is quite simple. I attached the felt plant and coronet shapes with small stitches. The coronet has a cord couched over it for edging and details. The lamb-vegetable plant is embroidered with chain, split and speckling stitches in a variety of white threads. The larger lambs have cream beads added for eyes.

  I added a piece of felt on the back to make the piece stronger.

I'm quite pleased with the finished piece.

Medieval Faire Demo 2019

I have been busy lately, but not as productive as I would have liked as I have been battling some strange symptoms as well as fatigue.
A highlight of my fortnight was spending some time with my SCA group at the Gumeracha Medieval Faire. I couldn't spend as much time there as I would have liked, but I did get to talk to a lot of visitors about the SCA and the arts and crafts that we do. This always leaves me feeling exhausted, but motivated because it is a nice reminder of some of the aspects of the SCA that I love.

Some of the heavy fighters on the field

Sections of the A&S display with items made by our members

These sorts of public demos always seem to generate a special sort of camaraderie that I really appreciate too. I also get to see what some of the other re-creation groups are doing and wearing, and I come home inspired to start new projects and improve my kit.

While the re-enactors usually don't get to see very much of the Faire (as a visitor would), we are lucky that the SCA  tent is on the banks of the creek where the jousting horses and heavy horses stay, so we have a beautiful view. And a lot of the other 'entertainers' pop around to say hello.