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Sorry everyone, I am having trouble with blogger at the moment and can't load pictures. I have lots to show, so hopefully the issue will be sorted soon!

Tiny disaster trifecta near the deadline

Only a few days left until the big event, and mini-disasters keep suprising me! I hand-sewed 7 metres of black bias onto black sleeves this week and was terribly proud of my nice, neat sewing, particularly since my hands don't work very well in the cold depths of winter. I took the sleeve to the window to check it in better light - and realised that I had sewn the bias onto the wrong side! I had to laugh.

I spent several hours individually 'glueing' single hundreds and thousands into the centre of sugarplate flowers, and was very happy with the results. I checked the flowers yesterday - and the icing 'glue' has run and taken the colour off the hundreds and thousands, and the flowers. I don't know if that is fixable yet.

Plus my sewing machine is not working. I'm not sure that this actually counts as a mini-disaster, since I do most of my garb by hand. Today there is baking on the agenda, which could potentially mean a disaster of much bigger proportions! People say bad luck runs in threes - I hope I have had my three for this week!

Completed banner device

Last week I finished the banner device that I had been working on. It is predominantly made of felt, with lucet cords and embroidery.

When it came to doing the harps or lyres, I ran into trouble. Originally I had planned to use a metal foil tube, but it started to catch on the felt fibres and pull out of shape. The banner that this device will be applied to gets rolled up, so it wasn't a practical choice.

Next, I tried sparkly glass bugle beads. Because the end of each bugle was slightly irregular, they didn't sit as neatly as I had hoped.

Finally, I tried small pieces of lucet cord. Although not shiny, they sat perfectly straight and could handle the stress of being rolled. The extra details were added with matching crochet cotton and cotton sewing thread embroidery.

Many thanks to Heather for whipping up the little lucet cords for me so quickly!

Mouse Pouch

I finished the Mouse Guard Pouch that I have been working on. It is linen, lined in linen, with an appliqued felted wool mouse.

The mouse has an embroidered outline, bead eye and cotton thread whiskers. Glass beads have been used instead of tassels. 

Thank you to Heather for the hand luceted cords.

The Mouse Pouch is given to SCA children in Lochac who have been made part of the Mouse Guard. More information on Mouse Pouches can be found at the Worshipful Company of Broiderers of Lochac website.

Banner device

I am still plodding along with all my projects, although today it is so cold where I live that I can hardly feel my fingers!

Here is the central panel of a device that I have been working for my Barony. We have the registered devices of the populace on a series of banners. They are a great hall decoration and also make for a great guessing game at feasts. The device is predominantly done in felt and applique.

I hope to have this project finished within the week.

Some sew-free days

I had a couple of days with no sewing to try and clear my mind and get things moving again. I have a lot to finish in the next few weeks. I am working on a range of subtelties and some embroidery. Several of the items that I am working on are gifts for people at the big Midwinter event that I have been talking about for the last few months, so I won't be able to post pictures until after the event.

I have lots of projects planned for after the event too. I would like to assemble some necklaces and start a pair of Elizabethan embroidered sleeves, among other things. Plus there is the huge to-do pile to work on too. As always!

One of those weeks

It has been 'one of those weeks'. I have been sick again, which certainly doesn't make for clear thinking, but everything seems to have gone wrong with my projects this week. I have been hand-sewing a mini Italian style dress for my God-daughter, but just can't get the bodice to sit right. I dyed some braid to match some trim on a loose coat, but it doesn't match. The trim I ordered hasn't arrived. A pattern I adapted and made a toile of just doesn't look 'right'. I am starting to get downright despondent! All this wouldn't be a drama except for the fact that my big event is less than four weeks away. Oh well. Hopefully things will start to come right soon!

Elizabethan Hair

I have hair that will just not stay in place when I style it unless I use so much product that it looks like I am wearing a shiny helmet! My hair has a lot of movement in it, and lots of little 'fuzzies' that pop out around the hairline, especially near my ears. In the past I have done an Elizabethan style hairdo by crimping my hair with my old 80's crimper, and then backcombing and spraying it into place. It works fairly well, but doesn't give much height or support ornaments.

This week my Awesome Sister solved my problem. She curled my hair with a three prong barrel curler. The curls added a lot of body, which gave me the idea to try an Elizabethan hairstyle. It was just a test, so it is not perfect, but it only took about ten minutes after my hair was curled. I did a centre part, and then a part from ear to ear. I pulled back the back part of the hair with a clip, and brushed the front forward over my face. Then I put one of those 'hair riser' combs on either side. I drew the front part of the hair firmly over the combs, and secured it behind the combs with a couple of long bobby pins flat against my head. Then I drew all the hair into the back part and secured it into a ponytail in the middle of the back of my head. I added a little hair donut that I previously made out of a sock, and arranged the hair over that. I tucked the ends in and used the bun clips I got from The Undertailor to secure the bun. I added a fancy bun cover and some pearled pins. I did a light spray of hairspray at the front, and then added more jewelled pins and a drop pearl. Then I put on a beaded headband (behind the combs).

I am very pleased with how it all turned out. I took the ornaments out, but kept the bun and clips in for the whole day to see how well the style would last. It felt unusual, but didn't hurt or feel uncomfortable, and the clips didn't slide around or drop. All in all, it is a style that I could comfortably wear for a day. I will have to be careful getting into the car with the combs in though!

Another snoskyn pic

Oops, I forgot to put this picture in when I did the last post!

Portrait of Margaret Radcliffe (Queen Elizabeth I's Maid of Honour) from tudorplace.com.ar

New manizza or snoskyn

Muffs were popular accessories in Elizabethan England as well as Italy in the sixteenth century. They were a way of keeping your hands warm while demonstrating your wealth and stature through furs and fine fabrics. Queen Elizabeth I had several muffs (also called manizzas, snoskyns or countenances) and there is a record of Amyas Paulet purchasing a muff on her behalf in Paris in 1579 (Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlocked by Janet Arnold, p. 97).

Here are some examples of muffs in period:

From:  Vecellio's Costume Book

                                              

Lady Dressed in the French Fashion in Album Amicorum of a German Soldier 1595 from
webspace.webring.com

Portrait of Eleanor Verney, Mrs William Palmer, c 1590 attributed to William Segar from
elizabethan-portraits.com

Detail from an embroidered valance at the V&A Museum as shown in 'Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlocked' by Janet Arnold, Pl 442, c.1588-1590

Image of Queen Elizabeth I in 'Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlocked'

Here is my first attempt at making a muff.

                                  

Here are my materials ready to start my first attempt at a manizza. The fabric is a cotton furnishing fabric and the fur is kangaroo.

In Australia, kangaroos are used for the pet and human meat trade. I found this kangaroo skin at an opportunity shop. I do not support the fur trade, but I do believe that it is disrespectful not to use everything possible of an animal that has been killed for food, so I didn't have a problem with using this fur to line my manizza. I realise that kangaroo fur is completely out of period for the SCA, but I felt that it was worth trying to see if it would be suitable. Areas of the fur were too coarse and hard, but the body of the fur was a lot softer than I expected (although it doesn't compare to rabbit fur.)

I actually liked the rear side of the fabric better, but I was worried that the threads were too loose and may catch on things.

The fabric, fur and satin ribbon

I sewed the fur to the rectangle of fabric, leaving a small section un-sewn to enable me to turn the 'bag' inside out.

Then I pinned the satin tape into position, mitre-ing the corners. Once the tape was secured with small hand stitches, I marked out where I wanted to attach the pearl beads and sewed them on.

Then I added the plain wooded buttons and corresponding simple button loops. Finally I hand sewed the gap in the bag to close it all up.

It is a relatively simple manizza, as far as they go, but I am happy with it. It is warm, not too heavy, and useful for both my Italian and Elizabethan clothes. I am pleased that I got a chance to test out how the kangaroo skin worked. I feel more confident now about tackling the lovely red fabric that I put aside for a future manizza. I am currently adding a metal loop to this one so I can hang it from a girdle chain.

New toy

Today I got a new toy! I am now the proud owner of a Simplicity bias binding maker. I use a LOT of bias binding, so I hope that this toy will save me time and money. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks so much for paying it off for me Mum!

Tidying Up

Since I have been sick I have really just been setting myself little tasks to work on. One was to go through a pile of fabric and miscellaneous articles that have been waiting to be dealt with for more years than I would like to admit! And what did I find? Three chemises and two partlets, all at the 'mostly finished' stage! I am so glad that I got on and did that chore now!

An embroidered partlet waiting to be hemmed and have a ruffle added

This partlet was originally inspired by the following portraits:

Paolo Cavazzola's 'Portrait of a Lady' from nga.gov.au 

Ritratto di Gentildonna by Bartolomeo Veneto at oilpaintingonline.com 

Bartolomeo Veneto's 'Portrait of a Lady in a Green Dress' - 1530 from commons.wikimedia.org 

Second pocket finished

I picked up some sort of serious respiratory infection at the Medieval Faire and have been pretty much bedridden since. I've been put on prednisolone, which has done nothing for my lung complaint, but has made the pain in my hands and joints so much better! I couldn't work out why I was suddenly able to do embroidery ten times faster than normal. I wish that I could sew this fast normally; my 'to do' pile would be much smaller!

I have put the purple linen coat on the back burner temporarily as there are a few issues that I just don't think I will have time to deal with before the next big event.

One thing I have managed to finish is the second olive pocket. I couldn't end up matching the brown Coats embroidery floss to the DMC threads that were available at my local Spotlight, so I went for something similar. I won't matter too much as the pockets will not be seen side by side. I like the brighter floss much more, and the embroidery is much better because I did it in natural light.

Olive pocket

Last week I finished a new pocket (saccoccia) to go under my olive Italian-style tourney dress. I wear pockets in the split where my side-lacing dresses join, over my underskirt(s). I have adapted the style that we see in portraits:

 Woman at her Toilet (Donna alla toeletta), by Alessandro Allori, 1575-78, fresco, Florence, Church of Santa Maria Novella, Gaddi chapel, pg 138, fig. 71 from
http://www.kimiko1.com/research-16th/ModaFirenze/WomanToilet.html

Birth of the Virgin (Natività della Vergine), by Alessandro Allori, detail, 1595, Cortona, Church of Santa maria Nuova. pg 82, fig 71 in Moda a Firenze

from http://www.kimiko1.com/research-16th/ModaFirenze/BirthVirginDtl.html

My pockets are bigger, mainly because I carry around my money, camera, mobile phone, medication, lip gloss and other modern things as well as a hankie, spare lacing cords and things like that. So they need to be big!

I didn't have a wide enough piece of fabric to make the pocket front in one piece, so I adapted my pattern to allow for a seam in the front. When I make a pocket front from one piece of fabric, I slit the front and bind the opening (usually with a bias strip.)

I put tabs on the back of my pockets so that I can use them with any of my belts or sashes.

                                      

                                                

The little line of embroidery was sketched on in tailor's chalk and then worked in double running stitch. I will admit that it is probably the worst embroidery that I have done in many years, but I did work it in very low light as a bit of an experiment. I am working on a matching second pocket that has the same design and I am doing that embroidery under natural light. It is much neater and looks better! 

                                                 

                                                  

The pockets are made from scraps of fabric left over from the dress and lined in more scrap fabric. I made tassels out of brown crochet cotton. The pocket is machine and hand stitched. I tend to whip stitch the edges of even machine-made items to make them sit better. The tab at the top was far too thick to sew by machine anyway- my machine really doesn't do well with thick fabrics.

I was first introduced to the convenience and practicality of pockets by my friend THL Katerina da Brescia, who gave me my first pocket as a gift. I recommend her interesting website: http://purplefiles.net/katerina/FlorenceFiles/FLAccessoriesSOCCACCIA.html

I also recommend the book Moda a Firenze as an excellent research tool and source of drool-worthy inspiration!

A new hat

I take medication that causes me to get sunburnt very quickly, so I really need to wear a hat to events. The only problem is that I have a huge and very strangely shaped head so it is difficult to find hats that will fit me.

For a long time I toyed with the idea of making a hat like this one in the image of a 'Girl from Turin' from Vecellio's Costume Book:

As you can see, it has an open top to allow for her hairstyle. I bought several old straw hats and had planned to re-sew them into a hat like this, but I never got around to it. (I will - eventually.)

At the recent Medieval Fair, a friend introduced me to The Undertailor, who specialises in historical corsetry, undergarments and millinery. I had the opportunity to look at her wonderful hats and hairpins, and found a hat that will fit on my head, even over a caul or a coif! Here's a picture:

I am completely delighted with my hat - and the prospect of no more sunburn! Plus I picked up some chignon and bun pins.

If you would like to contact The Undertailor, go to http://theundertailor.com.au/ or have a look for her on Facebook.

Medieval Fair - Fruits

This weekend was our local Medieval Fair. We had really good attendance and I met some really pleasant and enthusiastic people who will hopefully be interested in joining my local SCA group.

Here are some marzipan fruits I made to go on the Arts and Sciences display table. The stems are made from cloves, which made them smell very nice!

Heraldic embroidered badge

Today I had the opportunity to present a piece that I finished a couple of months ago. It is a heraldic badge to go on a doublet. The project got off to a very rocky start as I had to begin over because I couldn't get the tension on the ground fabric right and the stitches kept pulling and warping.

I realised that the ground fabric was too flimsy, and started again on heavier fabric. This was much more successful.

The outer white edge was done in white crochet cotton in stem stitch. The blue was done in cotton perle thread in stem stitch. I used stem stitch because I wanted this area to stand out and be clearly defined. 

The inner white section is DMC blanc cotton (2 strands) worked in split stitch. The tree has padded leaves and is worked in DMC black 310 cotton in satin stitch (also 2 strands).

Once the stitching was complete and the device had been trimmed, rinsed and edged, I whipped the edges under and added a felt backing.

 I wanted the badge to stand out and not be too flat, so I added an extra, smaller piece of felt on the back. Then I edged the whole shield-shape with some silver gilt thread.

Here is the badge sewn on the recipient's new garb. The recipient is the perfect example of all the courtly graces, so I was very pleased that the badge looked so nice and was received so well.