St Eligius Entry

This weekend,  I went out of my comfort zone and after 13 years, entered St Eligis Arts and Science competition.  I entered an Italian Assisi redwork embroidered hand towel  or "napkin" as they called them. It was from the 1500s. It is a work in progress because as a friend is fond of saying, "Embroidery always takes twice as long as you estimate it will" and she is correct!

I was very nervous about entering because of a past bad experience in a competition, but I bit the proverbial bullet and threw my hat into the ring.  Here are pictures i took and I will copy and paste my documentation in for further reading.

This is my entry set up at St Eligius.

Cell phone shot while working on it.

another cell shot at 1am the day before of the stopping point.

A photo of me at my spot someone took of me.

Documentation papers from St Eligius:

St Eligius 12 Question Contest Documentation

What did you make or do?

I am currently working on an Italian embroidered hand towel inspired by an extant piece in the Victoria and Albert museum.

What is the connection between your entry and a medieval item or practice?

I am creating an Italian persona for myself and want to have feast linens for myself.

How would your entry have been made/done in period?

The detail work on the towel/napkin that inspired me was actually a separate piece that was woven and then stitched onto the linen towel, then the hem was created and trimmed with red stitching. However there are other extant pieces that show the linen being directly embroidered on.

How was yours made/done?

I am embroidering directly onto white linen with a counted stitch pattern using Splendor Twisted Silk 12 strand embroidery thread, two strands, color number 0822.

What are some similarities and differences in materials, process, tools, approach?

The silk that would have been used on the piece at the museum would have been stranded silk. I am using twisted silk thread for durability, also it was what I had in my stash already.

What inspired you?

Two pieces from history inspired me. The pattern came from a “cover” that is at the Victoria & Albert Museum. I found a pattern already charted very similar to this one in the New Carolingian Modelbook and am using that. The other piece that inspired me is the towel also at the V&A with a woven band of embellishment.

What was your favorite part of preparing your entry?

I love to embroider. I have always been a lover of counted work (except when I miscount and have to pick out stitches). Blackwork is one of my favorite embroidery styles to execute as well. So with creating an Italian persona having a feast gear linen set made for my persona was an appealing idea.

What would you do differently next time?

I would invest in stranded silk to execute the embroidery to make it more accurate to the original pieces.

What references or sources would you recommend to someone interested in your work?

The V&A has a large collection of embroideries and this is where I found wonderful images of redwork.

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/2295/cover (cover with the embroidery pattern)

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O119345/napkin-unknown/ (images of the towel)

Image of woman with embroidered towel on shoulder.

Towel/Napkin from V&A Museum, 1500 Italy

How did you find your sources of information?

I found images, paintings and inspirations mainly through internet research as well as a few books in my collection.

• Assisi Embroidery by Jos Hendriks ISBN 9082190028
• New Carolingian Model Book by Kim Brody Salazar ISBN 0964208229

Did you find a connection to a medieval artisan or owner while working on your entry?

I have always loved embroidering. My mother taught me when I was a small child and have progressed through the years from cross stitch to free embroidery and after I found the SCA 26 years ago, now researching techniques done through out history and doing my best to recreate them as accurately as possible. Recreating the embroidery from pieces in history gives me an idea of what it was like all those years ago. Modern day conveniences such as electric lights, machined metal needles and threads and magnifying glasses give me an advantage that they did not have then. I have, for the sake of curiosity, tried embroidering by candle light with a large glass vase filled with water to act as a magnifier but it proved quite difficult with my already aged vision. I imagine embroidering that way caused eye sight to deteriorate more quickly over the years.

Any last thoughts or amusing stories about your work?

A fellow friend who also embroiders once told me “Embroidery always takes twice as long as you think it will”. As always, she is right. Even though I allotted what I thought was a generous amount of time to finish this project prior to the event, I did not allot enough. The tight linen I chose, even with reading glasses, was sometimes difficult to count and mistakes were made that required stitches to be removed thus delaying completion.

Internet Research Web Site Links:

http://www.larsdatter.com/voided-work.htm

http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/24931

http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/436943

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/213459

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/222080

Image References:

Close up of Towel/Napkin at V&A Museum, 1500 Italy

“Cover” Showing cross stitch pattern Inspiration

While I most likely will not enter another competition, I did learn quite a bit while sitting for this one. I wanted to thank everyone that stopped by and gave suggestions or compliments at my work.

Tunics for Everyone!!

In a previous post, I'd stated how a friend commissioned me to make two tunics for him. One for wearing during battle and one to wear that was fancier. After a little bit of time (and RL interference) I was able to complete it. It is made of linen with cotton thread for embellishment.  He said his second favorite animal is the raven so I added that in on the design. I embellished edges with double herringbone stitch and then running stitches alongside those.

Front of tunic showing sleeves and the boars

Close up of one of the boars

Knotwork raven on center back (sorry couldn't figure out how to turn the pic)

Sleeve

Detail of embroidery on underarm gusset

embroidery detail of the hemline

 

 

 

ravens on upper arms of the sleeves

He said it was "amazeballs" when he saw it. I'll take that!

Next up.....ANOTHER PELICAN!!!!

Bhakail Investiture Embroidered Hoods

A short time back, a friend contacted me asking if I would embroider two white linen hoods for their baronial investiture. I was passed the hoods at a previous event and asked that I embroider them with a design of three trees and two red feathers. The trees were a maple tree, pine tree and oak tree.

Here is the design up close

My co-worker was kind enough to model it for me.

This is Baron Rowen and Baroness Suba wearing their full outfit that I embroidered the hoods for.

I am very pleased with how they turned out and happy they are as well.

Pelican Hood

A friend asked if I would make a light weight Pelican hood for the warmer weather (as he has a heavy double layer wool hood he was elevated in).  This hood I made is of a light weight linen and has "ermine" trim that I purchased at Calontir trim at Pennsic.

The hood was received so now I can post the images.

 

 

 

Viking tunic..yes another one

 

I just completed this Viking tunic for a friend.  We talked about me making it months back and was FINALLY able to get measurements (by stealing a tunic he was wearing that day!) and able to get working on it. He chose the color linen and had it mailed to me directly. I washed and dried it prior to cutting it out and then used the "stolen" tunic as a pattern for it.  His request was to have Viking runes on the sleeve that when translated say "It begins in the beginning as all things do."  He provided the translation.  The hem and collar are a double herringbone stitch done in blue, white and green thread. The wolves heads are the symbols on his coat of arms and I copied them onto the tunic for further personalization.  I used cotton thread instead of silk thread because honestly, cotton is a bit tougher. I have found that men tend to be a bit tougher on their garb then women.  Also, The gold and green colors I was out of in my silk thread collection and funds being on the snug side, I chose for the lesser pricey threads that I had in my collection already. 

 

As with my other Viking type tunics, my inspiration for the embroidery comes mostly from the Mammen embroideries found on extant pieces.  Paired beasts were often used, though not in the fashion I used it on his tunic.  Below is a fragment of embroidery showing the paired beasts. I placed the wolves heads on either side of the neckline to personalize it more for the recipient, as they are on his coat of arms.

 

I'm so very happy with how it came out and his reaction when I sent him pictures was even better.  I'm still cracking up laughing over it! I promise to add a picture of him wearing it when I see him in it.

 

The materials I used were as follows: 

DMC Cotton thread

Coats and Clark sewing thread

Linen fabric

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit 06/18/15:

Two photos of the recipient wearing the tunic

 

Birthday Apron Dress

 

Another project off my to do list for others! My good friend's birthday was about two weeks ago and as a present, because I miss her so much, I promised her I'd make her an apron dress for her Viking garb.  I used red linen (the second picture shows the true red. The first picture has it really orange for some reason) and silk embroidery thread by Splendor.  I did running stitches in white silk to tack down the seams and did a split stitch over the seams itself for strength and beauty. 

 

It was mailed to her this morning so after she receives it, Ill get a picture of her wearing it.  I'm very pleased with it. I put my own jewelry on it so you can see how it will look once embellished with jewelry. 

 

 

 

(close up of split stitch and running stitch on seams)

(sorry for the mess on my table..was prepping for an event)

Knighting Tunic

It was a busy couple of months. I was working on two projects simultaneously. The german brickwork pouch (previous entry) and this tunic for a friend who was being elevated to the Order of Chivalry.  At some point down the road I will get better pictures. 

The trim embroidered on the bottom of the tunic was a pattern taken from a Russian border I saw online.

 The neckline (which I don't have a picture of yet) Has an upside down heart shape with two diamonds: one within the heart and one outside of it.

The cuffs have Viking runes on them quoting great words of praise spoken by a Countess who he was champion for. The left sleeve (his sword arm as he is left handed) reads "The heart of a warrior".  The right sleeve reads "The soul of courtesy". 

Materials used in the making of the tunic:

Coats & Clark sewing thread
Splendor Twisted Silk Embroidery thread
Blue linen from fabrics-store.com

 

(photo taken by Christin Nosenchuk)

16th C German Brickwork Pouch

So, now that its been given away, I can post about this!! :)    It took me three months (and I blew my self imposed deadline) to embroider this german embroidered pouch.  It was an elevation gift for a friend being inducted into the order of the laurel.
(picture was taken on the dashboard of my van where I finished it en-route to Mudthaw).

The embroidery is done in brick stitch. The cording on the edges is lucet cording as well as the strings. Tassels are silk as well.

Materials include:

Splendor Silk Thread in black, white and red (her arms colors)
cotton canvas base fabric
Silk dupioni fabric for lining