Monday, December 16, 2013

Crafting Storms


      Not that I am powering powerful have to craft up some amazing weather. Even though we've had
some wonderful snow to make it a very festive December. In Central Pennsylvania we got about a good 6 to 8 inches worth of the white stuff have enough to shovel. Heavy enough for me to only get a part of a days work in over the weekend. Was a little worried considering it was my on-call weekend the case I was going to have to run out to customers.  Luckily with all of everything else going on no calls really came in.  More snow is supposed to be coming in tonight. I know that it's going to be a real challenge to get all of my stops completed before the holidays. I do have a majority of my work to do this week, praying the weather holds.
In the meantime I have been crafting like a mad woman. At this point I am in the process of making a blackworked pouch with beading on it. It is in the same pattern as my black worked chatelaine from previous post. It is all drafted from the same piece of fabric with black embroidery, believe it or not was a short skirt. And unfortunately did not fit me so I found better uses for the fabric. I didn't find very many black embroidered type of cotton fabric,  it's was a great find.

     Besides making a pouch and working on the other blackwork
pieces to go with it. I have also been making stands for my linen ruff and cuffs. These are to help me better iron out my ruffs as well as for display purposes when I take them to competitions. What I did is I took wooden loops, there were letters from a craft store. Sewed a pouch of cotton fabric, inserted the wooden ring, and then stuff it with polyester batting. Proceeded to sew the back closed, glue them to the base piece of wood. And then glue that piece of wood onto the top of the wooden candlestick. I am going to paint the wood a beautiful gold color..

For more interest in not having a plain piece of white cotton fabric on top. I sewed the  heraldic patches on, from my peacocks as well as my heraldic shield to give it a unique look. Looking to see if there's some edging that I can do around the side with other needlework pieces. Though I have to be careful, because there's edges really are going to be used to help hold the ruffs to the stand. So more decision-making to be done though as you can see there has been some major progress

In my crafting moments, I been working on assembling the sleeves to my 16th-century embroidered
jacket. I have the sleeves pretty much completed this point and assembled with the guards on the top and a little bit of the shell beading.  I was planning on using some extra peach pink pearls with the gold spangles. I'm wondering whether not I want to make on the teal edges some very pretty snakes or salamanders out of these pink pearls to give it some extra interest I would only maybe put one or two. I don't plan on doing too much with the real edges. They already have coral stitching to keep them together and I do not want to hide all of that work.

I still have a lot of embroidering on the body of the particular piece. I've been working a lot of pattern
issues with this project. It's been a real challenge to make sure that everything is going to fit right and the gussets are going to lie flat and be the way that it was designed. So if all works out it's going to be one very stunning jacket. unfortunately my documentation on this is firm but I did not follow the period materials as much in making this. So I'm afraid that if I do put it in arts and sciences competition it is not going to score very well. Though I did learn a lot from making this particular project and that might be the only saving grace my documentation. To make more progress that I can post on this soon.

For now I got to get back to what I do best work, 

Maureen


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Sunday, December 8, 2013

;-)Up to No Good ;-)

It's been a while, sorry to be away for so long. Life has been hectic and it's hard to keep up. Yesterday
participated  in the Kingdom of Aethelmearc: arts and sciences competition. I didn't win but I had a wonderful time, a great day of learning, and feedback for my work. Entered my embroidered Italian pocket, Elizabethan embroidered gloves, and my 16th-century marionette puppets. I had documentation for these, displayed my pearled partlet, but the documentation is still pending on this and my ruffs.  Below are listed a link to some pictures taken of me and my display, while I was at the championship. The teal and pink tudor gown really shows up very pretty and these pictures.

I also made a new chatelaine, one to match the blackwork pin cushion and measuring tape. I used the machine blackwork embroidered cotton fabric and attached it to my Tudor Rose cross stitched Sachet. Made a loop added Bee Pin for Elizabethan Costume Bees from Facebook.  I also covered the back to complete the look. So here is the resulting pictures of the completed work, stayed up late to complete this project.

Lady Mairin at Kingdom A&S Championship

Blackwork Chatelaine
I have been inspired to complete on my version of the Pilmoth Embroidered 16th Century Jacket. Have been working on adding cotton batting on the inside to give body to the jacket. I got pearls and glass beads to add the sparkle to the jacket.  I have some other decisions creatively for this project yet, but I have some good options.


I have the sleeves nearly done, lining the gussets, and work on peacocks on body panels. After all panels are embroidered, beaded, and lined then pieces are sewed together. It's going to take many weeks maybe months to get this project complete. The documentation is going to be non-existent since I did this opposite the norm of period embroidered jackets.Though it's going to be awesome to behold if I can get the vision in my head to be reality.

Work is going well, I am salary now. Interesting to see how this will work out for pay.  Still have to take state exam this month, hope to do well. Going to so more studying this week and stay up to date on my schedule. On the hubby front, Justin has a potential for a new job, hope it all works out. Things are looking up guess we will see how it goes.

Keeping Positive,

Maureen

Replica 1560's Venetian Italian Fashion Doll

Replica 1560's Venetian Italian Fashion Doll

Replica 1560 French Fashion Doll

Replica 1560 French Fashion Doll

Tudor Q and A

What is a Tudorosity?

A mashed combination of the words Tudor and Curiosity to create the word Tudorosity. Tudorosities is the plural form and the deffinition is as follows.

Tudorosity- an desire to learn or know anything about the Tudor dynasty associated with years 1405 through 1603.

Most people ask my why I make the Tudor garb ?

I find the clothing of this era not only beautiful but also challenging to sew. There is much more care and purpose put into making garments and wearing garments in the Tudor Era. I love the look of Tudor so much I wanted to explore the way clothes were made back then and the subtle changes in fashion and styles of time.

How did you get started in this interesting hobby?

I started with art first, I love to draw, paint, and sculpt all the traditional fine arts. So being able to draw helps me visualize the looks I want to create in my garb. History has always been a huge interest of mine and I've had a knack for sewing since I was 7 years old. It all started with doll clothes and I learned cross stitch embroidery from my grandmother when I was little. I am self taught sewer, crochet, knitting, embroidery and tatting. My methods are learned from books mainly and there is still so much more to learn.

What is my favorite outfit and why?

It would be like picking a favorite out of one of my future children, its impossible. I love all my gown creations and really like the distinct differences in all the styles clothing I make for the Tudor Era.

Do you make the whole outfit including hat, shoes, and undergarments?

I do have a goal of making a complete Tudor from the skin out. As of right now I make 90% of my gowns and accessories. The shoes and stockings, are bought online and the petticoats are a close reproduction but not made by me. .

How long does it take to make a gown?

It all depends on the type of gown. The making relies on the time period and class of the design. Generally if I work on it 8 hours a day on a sewing machine it will take 3 days to get the basics and another 5 days to do finish hand-sewing details and beading. So a week to a week and a half if working on it steady for that amount of time. I work a full-time job so it does take longer than a week to complete. I put over 40-100 hours per outfit depending on its complexity, its like its own full time job of sorts.

Do you make renaissance clothing for sale or custom orders?

No, due to new employment and changes in my lifestyle. Unfortunately, I have no time to support sewing for others. Though I recommend sewing lessons for those adventurous few. There are many fine folks who make and sell historical clothing. I suggest guidance with sew from many fine historical enthusiastic costumers out on the internet.

How long have you been making these elaborate costumes?

I have been in the Society of Creative Anachronism coming up on my 18th year. Active since 2004 working at demonstrations and volunteering when I could between working and other life's distractions. I really concentrated on Tudor sewing in 2007 and worked with patterns to learn proper fabrics, techniques, fit, and silhouette. I really enjoy the eras transition from a medieval form fitting layered cotterdie to the boned Tudor kirtle and then to structured Elizabethan clothing.

Replica 1490 Milan Italian Fashion Doll

Replica 1490 Milan Italian Fashion Doll
Based on art by Giovanni Ambrogio

O’Kealy Heraldry

O’Kealy Heraldry