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Brick stitch

Apr24

As usual I am working on several things at the same time – especially now since my shoulder surgery has limited the use of my left arm. One thing that has been easy to do is brick stitch embroidery so I started a small pouch.
The pattern is from the blog Medieval Arts & Crafts and I have used a 36 count even weave with thin woolen embroidery thread bought in Tallinn (usualy used for their traditional  embroideries).
I did start out with a completely different embroidery thread, all naturally dyed but thicker. That turned out to be to thinck for the 36 count even weave though so I switched to a different thread. Now I feel a bit uncertain if the new thread is to thin, but it looks a lot better than with the thicker thread…
I chose a warm scale of colours and had some help with the bold choice from a close friend. :)
The picture doesn’t really make the embroidery justice since it is quite enlarged in the picture. This is a tiny embroidery where each square measures about 2 cm in hight. Look at the needle to the left for some sence of scale!

My first more serious brickstitch project made on linnen with woolen thread.

Sneak peak

Apr22

Just to show you what I am working on now…
Here are the fabrics for my next dress!
The red/bronze damask is 100% silk and so is the chocolate brown velvet!
The damask was aquired through ebay and the silk velvet was bought in my favourite store in Tallinn.
This project has been prepared and now I am just waiting for my shoulder to be well enough to cut it!

red/bronz silk damask and a chocolate brown silk velvet (it is actually 100% silk!) for my next German 16:th century dress!

How to make a Stuchlein – a looooong post!

Apr3

NOTE: This is a 4 page post due to editing problems in WordPress…

First of all: this is my version of how to make the German 16:th century hat called stuchlein.
There are no extant examples – the only thing we can do is guess how it was made and this is my take on how to recreate this headwear to make it look as in the woodcuts and paintings.

There are many varieties of this hat – different regions had different fashions and the decorations varried depending on how wealthy the womans family was and if the stuchlein was ment for every day use or for special occasions.
The stuchlein was the headwear of married women. And it also stated that the woman was no longer a virgin. If a woman lost her virginity – the norm was that sje has to cover her hair. This way the stuchlein and the schleier (veil) could become a stigma if the woman had lost her virginity ouside of marrige. ( The article ”Haubendämmerung” by Jutta Zander-Seidel, 2010).

The stuchlein was made of at least 3 parts – sometimes even 4.
First you wore a linnen cap. This way you protected the wulsthaube – the second part of this headwear – from getting dirty from your hairs oils and dirt. The wulsthaube was a cap with a stuffed roll attatched to it to get the volume at the vack of the head that is typical for the stuchlein. The stuffed roll was either sewn to a cap or laced to it – there are different takes on this and it is quite possible that both ways of construction existed.
After that you wore a cover that could either be just a schleier (veil) or a decorated or richely decorated cap. The veil often had a long tail that was either wrapped under the chin and then fastened at the side of the headwear with a pin, or the long tail could be wrapped around the wearers arm.
The decorated caps could be decorated with different trims making up a pattern of stripes and they could also be embellished with jewels. If the ouer cap was decorated with jewels and expensive embroideries – the women often wore a very thin veil on top of it so that the decorations could be seen through the light fabric but at the same time the valuable decoratoons were protected.

Here are some pictures that shows some stuchleins that have inspired me to this project.

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Instant pater noster

Mar30

For a while I have collected some beads to eventually make a pater noster to go with my renaissnace dresses.
This morning I finally got to making it since I really needed to DO something and not just sit around with my arm in a sling.
I have studied some pictures, read a bit about materials used, an today with the help from friends I read up some more on a pater noster website.

After that I simply got my materials and made a rosary that I think is pretty. Now I know I might hav the incorrect number of beads and other things – this time I just went with easthetics and what I think is pretty – but at the same time use the correct overall look for the item.
I used coral beads that were a leftover from site tokens for the event Aarnimetsä Academy that I was autocrating, silk thread of embroidery weight, carved bone beads in the shape of skulls and some metal beads and fresh water pearls for marker beads.
And 20 minutes later I had this:

 

Pater Noster made from coral beads, bone beads, fresh water pearls, metal beadds and silk thread.

Award – and why it has been quiet

Mar27

A few weeks ago, I got this award from my friend that writes the blog One Year and Thousand Eggs.
I will now answer the questions and forward the award.

1. When did you start your blog?
The first entry was made 12:th of August 2010.

2. What is it about?
It is about costume history and the textile projects I make to use in the SCA and about the research I do to find out more about the different items I try to reconstruct. I mainly do German 16:th century, but I dabble in viking things and soon also 14:th century. It is possible that I will also post some things abou calligraphy and illumination since that is another thing I really enjoy.
3. What are the differences between this blog than others?
I am not sure that there is a big difference between my blog and other textile history blogs – and I am fine with that. I do try to think a bit outside just the textile angle and think about who would have worn this item, what would their life have been, who would have made it and such things. In my eyes it is easy to reconstruct the item, but a lot harder to put oneself in the shoes of the historic person wearing the items. The context of the modern world makes it hard to picture how life would have been 500 years ago. But to be able to reconstruct an item so that it is practical for the persom who would have worn it, is impossible without understanding at least some bits of that persons life. Would she cook over an open fire? Would she walk long distances? Would she have someone to help her get dressed?
4. Why did you started it?
I wanted to share my knowledge and make myself document all the things I do. Before this blog I kept my knowledge in my head – not really writing it down. This way I gather my sources for my teaching and at the same time I get feedback from others that enjoy researching the same kind of things. I am a big fan of constructive critisism and whenever anyone gives me a new angle on things or hint about a new source I fet very excited!
5. What would you like to chance in your blog?
I wish I had time to do more posts. And I am still trying to work out how WordPress works. I am not really a computer wizzard. ;)
And the award goes for these 5 gorgeus blogs:

Cristina’s ramblings

Lia’s projects

In deme Jare Cristi

Eva’s journal

Racaire’s Embroidery & Needlework

Now to why it has been so quiet here.
The 7:th of March I went through shoulder surgery and my left arm is in a slin 24/7 for 6 weeks.
I am using this time to read up on a class I am planing to teach at Double Wars at the end of May.
But I am hoping to be able to post on some sort of project very soon!

Cute on the collar

Feb13

Today I finally finished the embroidery for a shirt collar that I started about 4 years ago…
I am a bit ashamed to admit that this is one of the projects that I started and that for a long time looked like it would be forever forgotten and never finished…
However, when I got bronchitis this week I picked it up and actually managed to work my way through the whole piece!
Over the years I have done a bit here and a bit there – but never the kind of progress I made this week.

The embroidery is 41 cm long (16 inches) and 2 cm wide (a bit less then one inch).
I chose to make it rust red and black, the original was black and red.
The fabric is whatever linnen I found at home – and also the major reason why I almost abandoned the project…
I have not yet attatched it to the collar but I did pin it on so you will get a sneak peak!

The all done emrboiredy! Black and rust coloured silk on linnen, 41 cm long.

 

 

 

 

 

The embroidery roughly pinned on the collar of the shirt. The shirt is handsewn from thin hemp. The shirt ties are made with a lucet out of linnen thread.

Should have been done years ago…

Feb6

Today I came home from an SCA event with loads of inspiration!
So I decided to start a brick stitch embroidery. However, I had completely ignored the fact that my small rotating frame still holds a corss stitch embroidery I started YEARS ago and that I never made any huge progress on.
So instead of being bad and taking that embroidery off the frame and sending it into oblivion – I started stitching away.
And I think I made more progress in just a few hours today than I have made in 4 years on this piece… ;)

One end is now all finished and in the other end I have some more of the rust coloured stitches left and after that it is only the centers of the squares to fill. Might even get done this week!
Once it is done I will sew it to the collar of one of my shirts.
The linnen is just any linnen I happened to have home and hence the threa counting has been slightly challanging.
The embroidery is done with silk giving it a really nice shine.
Looks like this year is starting out nicely with finishing of projects that have been left forgotten in some corner!

Black work embroidery from ”Needlework Patterns from Renaissance Germany”, the designs are recharted from Schön Neues Modelbuch 1597.

Pouch all done!

Jan30

I am finally done with my contribution to the Estrella giftbasket!
I used metal beads for all the tassles and for the closing cords I used carved bone beads that I think are pretty neat.
The cords are made with basic fingerloop braiding with DMC cotton.
Now it only needs to join the rest of the giftbasket to travel across the pond!

The little alms pouch I made for the Estrella giftbasket.

Progress on gift item

Jan25

Today I attatched the ensignia embroidery on the wool the pouch will be made of.
First I cut off exessive fabric around the embroidery, then I attatched the embroidery to the fabric with regular hem stitches. I had to undo it once and reattatch it since it became obviously tilted.

After it was all fastened to the background fabric I took a piece of the DMC yarn and couched it down around the edges of the patch to cover any of the white linnen showing around the edges.

The embroidery all fastened on the pouch outer fabric.

Estrella giftbasket project

Jan23

Since one of my eminent minions (Viscountess Whilja) is the King and Queens chamberlain she is in charge of getting the giftbasket for Estrella War together – and hence I feel it my obligation to suport her work. :D
The King and Queen will hand the giftbasket over to Their Majesties of Calontir so I decided to make something with their ensignia on. And due to the far travelling that we Drachenwalders have to do to attend events across the big pond, we can’t make to big or to heavy items.

After finding out what other people in the Barony where I live are planing to do, I finally decided to make an alms/reliquary pouch.
On the pouch I will aplique an embroidered patch with the Calontir ensignia.
After three days of cursing and hating the embroidery – it is finally done! The reason for the cursing was basically the fact that I made the crosstitch embroidery on a regular linnen fabric which is woven of uneaven threads and which is quite tightly woven.
I used the charter made for the Atlantian embroiderers guild which has brilliant charters for all Kingdom badges! The yarn used is regular DMC yarn since I happened to have the right colours at home – however they are not the ones recomended on the charter.

The embroidery measures about 5,4 x 5,4 cm (about 2 incehs) and this is how it turned out:

The embroidery I made for the alms pouch that will be part of the Estrella giftbasket from Drachenwald.