I recently had the opportunity to celebrate a dear friend (who is now my Apprentice Sister!)
I decided to make a necklace inspired by the girl on the left of this lovely portrait by Sofonisba Anguissola.
Elizabethan, Tudor and Renaissance inspired embroidery, clothing and accessories - historical costuming, embroidery and re-creation
I recently had the opportunity to celebrate a dear friend (who is now my Apprentice Sister!)
I decided to make a necklace inspired by the girl on the left of this lovely portrait by Sofonisba Anguissola.
I finished another heraldic device for the Baronial device banner a while ago. It has a felt base with applied felt on top.
I had a couple of tries at working the bunnies, with slips being my first idea. It was unsuccessful, and in the end I appliqued a bunny shaped felt base to add a bit of dimension, and then split stitched on top of it.I had major surgery a few months back and my recovery has been hampered by lingering chest infections so I haven't been able to do any major projects. I've been focused on maintaining a minimum of ten minutes of A&S activity a day.
One thing I did manage to do this week was to shorten an old chemise. I think I made it back in the early 2000s, and I rarely wear it because it is quite heavy fabric. I originally made it almost ankle length, which is a bit unmanageable. Any time I wear it I think 'I must alter this' and then I put it off or forget.
It was only a very quick job because I hemmed it with the sewing machine, but I am really glad I managed to get this one small thing ticked off the to-do list after so long. Small wins!
The embroidery motif on this chemise is taken from Shorleyker's 'A Scholehouse for the Needle':
Scribal work and the creation of some heraldic pieces for other people has been keeping me busy lately.
I'm still plodding along with unfinished projects, and thankfully I have had less mistakes and muck-ups this week (although the chilly weather is making for slow handwork).
This simple embroidered napkin had been partially embroidered in purple floss, but I never recorded the colour number (a suprising mistake for me; since I know what I am like, and how prone I am to put a project down and come back to it months later).
I wasn't happy with the stitching anyway, so I unpicked it and started again in this deep red floss.
A relatively recent project that I completed (and forgot to post about) was the creation of two new banners for my Barony's device banner project.
My Barony has a series of banners in Baronial colours that record the registered heraldry of the populace. It is a great chronological record of our members, and the banners are a really striking decoration at events.
I got involved in this project when I was quite new to the SCA and have made many of the devices over the years for people who did not have the skills or time.
In the last several years I have been responsible for managing the banner project, and we recently ran out of room on banner six. I created two new blank banners using almost ten metres of navy cotton fabric and cotton lining. They were edged in red bias binding. I copied the previous style and previous construction technique of hand sewing the bias on with a combination of running stitch and back stitch. That was quite a lot of hand sewing! I didn't mind it though, because I find hand sewing quite soothing when there isn't a deadline looming.
I recently made a red underskirt as part of my outfit for the Riverhaven Costuming Challenge.
I chose to use cotton broadcloth due to budget constraints; linen or wool (even silk) would have been more appropriate, but much more costly.
I sewed rectangular panels together, leaving a gap at the centre sides open, which I hand hemmed. I also hand felled the side seams.
I pleated the front and back panels into separate waistbands by hand using cartridge pleats. Once the pleats were sewn in, I released the gathering stitches to allow a more relaxed pleat. I hand hemmed the bottom of the panels, and added decorative twill tape.
I used the same twill tape as ties for the skirt. The front and back ties are tied independently (as seen on petticoats in the Tudor Tailor book) to allow for greater adjustment.
I finished another quick project recently; a necklace to go with the outfit that I have been making for the River Haven Clothing Challenge.
I have had the silver and glass pendant for a few years. I strung it on tiger tail wire with small baroque pearls and glass beads harvested from a thrifted necklace. I have trouble with my hands/fingers, so the hook and bar closure is a lot easier for me to put on and off. Silver crimps secure the ends of the wire.
I found a broderie anglaise skirt at the Op Shop (Thrift Store) for $2 and thought how pretty it would be as a partlet. I wasn't sure if there would be enough fabric, but I thought that it was worth the risk for $2.
Now, I know that broderie anglaise is a more modern style of embroidered decoration, and that this was made by machine, but I thought it probably wouldn't be too obviously modern if trimmed as a partlet. After all, cutwork and pulled work were done in the sixteenth century.
I used my trusty collarless partlet pattern and cut the pieces out. As usual, I french seamed the sides and shoulder seams, and hand finished them. I did a narrow zigzag around all the edges, but the cut outs in the embroidery meant that there were shaggy edges even after finishing. I was disheartened, and put the piece aside for (mumble, mumble,) an unspecified amount of time.Then last year I started working on my WIPs and UFOs again and pulled the partlet out. I decided to use a faux silk (polyester) bias binding to trim the edges. I machined the outer seam and hand sewed everything else.
I toyed with the idea of embroidering along the front of the lace with embroidery floss but didn't like the way it looked. It feels like it needs a little something to elevate it a bit, but I'm not sure what. I have some gilt cord, but it is not especially durable and I throw my partlets in the washing machine after wearing. I'll stew on it a bit and see if anything jumps out at me next time I am rummaging through my stash.