Category Archives: Historical

Parlet Completed

I finished the partlet!

So it took me about two months to do the embroidery and another month to get it all put together. It is after this painting although my proportions are not exactly the same. I wanted a smaller ruffle and taller collar which fits my face better. That may not have worked so well. I did it entirely by hand with silk embroidery floss and linen thread. Real seed pearls on manufactured bobbin lace and linen ground fabric.

Most of the supplies I got at Thistle Threads which centers on 17th century casket construction and the embroidery that is featured on the caskets. I buy most of my silk floss there because she also carries purl that I use frequently and she is particular about carrying historical colors. All of the trimmings are accurate as well although some are modern recreations with more modern materials to keep costs down. The bobbin lace trim was no longer available in gold and I like silver better anyway so I got all trimmings in silver but also got the trim for the sleeves in gold. The red and silver cording I got two years ago and used most of the yard I had available. All of the silk threads (Ovale and Trame) were in my stash. The linen thread I picked up at Pennsic last year, Wm Booth Draper 60/2.

The ruffle is done on a singe layer of salvage so I wouldn’t have to worry about hemming it and I got it to ruffle using the pulled thread method. The base is done on two layers, of folded linen, using stitches I couldn’t name because I learned to embroider as a child. I did it all freehand without drawing out anything other than the boxes so I would get the spacing correct. I did not embroider the back/middle section of the collar because it should never be seen when I’m wearing it. The entire ruffle is embroidered with random flowers that are particular to me. When I hit the halfway point I did the same (similar) flowers in reverse so one side is nearly a mirror image of the other. I tried to keep the back of the ruffle neat and tidy because it is not covered up.

I beaded the trim and then attached the trim to the ruffle and then ruffled it by pulling a thread, then I sewed the ruffle to the embroidered collar. I then cut out and hand sewed the base of the partlet and hemmed it all the way around excepting the front opening which was cut on the selvage. I attached the base to the collar, sewed trim all the way down both sides, and cut a piece of linen to cover the back. I also stiffened a piece of organza and sewed that into the middle of the collar as well (it probably didn’t need it but I wanted to be sure it stood up without issue.

Before I seamed up the back I tried it on and it fit well but I found it underwelming visually. I decided to add some extra trimming (based on what I saw in the painting and what supplies I had on hand.)

I am very pleased with how it turned out.

A&S Follow-up

I entered the championship for Calontir on 7/20/19 and I came in second. Here are my thoughts on my entries and the judging:

Italian head-covering: scored 25/30 and I was happy with that. One of the first comments was a question as to what style of footnotes I was using and I have no idea. Since this is not my area of expertise and not my culture of research, and I had difficulty even trying to find out where the portraits I was using for documentation were located. And I was primarily using portraits for documentation so I picked portraits that showed a similar head covering from Italy in the same time frame. They wanted more textile references and more process pictures, and comparisons to other headdresses from other areas and periods. Also to know how it was done in period and I can’t even begin to figure out if there is existing documentation for that. I can look at a thing and puzzle it out – I was vague on the overall puzzling.

Reliquary hood: scored 29/30 as I lost a point for “Post–period looking pin use” They really liked how my documentation was laid out as I broke it down into 15 parts – for such a small item there was really a lot going on with it and I broke it down into all of the major components. I based this piece on approximately eight extant objects which all had an analysis of the object online in Dutch. So the flaws in my project added to the authenticity of it. I liked this project and might do it again.

Treatment of a statue: scored 21.5/30 and I was told that if I had won then this item would have been disqualified. True – one of the three statues had been entered in a competition prior and it had not been fully carved at that point. I did not hide that fact – the judges could just have easily concentrated the judging on the other two statues if that was their objection. I did not talk about carving in my documentation and did not expect them to judge the carving because I was focused on the surface treatment. They liked the dog, they liked the sheep, they knocked points off in every category – including complexity which was baffling to me that I could get a 3/5 in that area. Overall it felt like the judge who took the lead on that team had a goal score she was trying to reach and the other two just let her. I immediately after judging knew I didn’t win. And while the rules state that your documentation and scores can be enhanced by your conversation with the judges, there didn’t seem to be any of that going on. Again – this is not my area of focus and even though I had lots of extant statues from the same region and time period, I’m a little agog about the scoring.

Part of the overall problem with the documentation standards is that they make NO allowances for how in-depth you want to get into a field of study, the ADA federal standards, or how much is actually known already in that art, time, and region. The fact that I know all those basics should be apparent based on the conversation and I shouldn’t have to put basics in the written documentation for an advanced level project. I don’t know how to fix that issue. I also don’t think the style of footnote or bibliography should be as big a factor as the books or sites that you’re citing. Especially when the end result of your labors is supposed to be the work of art – not the research you used to produce it. I expect those standards for a research paper – not for a physical item.

Not sure if I will do it again – would kind of like to do a project when I do the documentation as a photograph of the project work space once a week so you can see the progress, see the references I consult, see the materials I use. And see how long it actually takes to create the project itself! And I think I would like to make more critters for the shrine.

The Period Way

As far as I know – there are several ways to do just about anything: You can just make the thing from your imagination, you can look at a thing and then create a similar thing, you can read about a thing and then materialize the thing, you can get instruction in making the thing (watch someone else make it or read instructions) and then have at it, or you can be hands-on walked through the making of the thing, or you can just pay someone else to make the thing. I have made things using all of those methods at one time or another. I really like making things and it is easiest for me to make things by looking at the thing and then making the thing. I am fortunate that I can do it that way – most people have difficultly doing it that way.

Because other people have difficultly doing the looking-then-making of things, I think they expect that everyone uses a pattern, or has several trial runs, or cheats the system in some way. Who creates patterns for other people to use? I kind of assume that it would be done by people who can translate or deconstruct a thing – the people who can make a thing by tearing a thing apart and making a pattern (or people who want to make several things the same and pattern it out as they go.) I do not use patterns – I kind of just eye-ball everything.

So I’m still mulling over my A&S results and why I had such a disparaging difference in scores. The one that did the best was the one that I broke down into all of it’s various parts and documented each step in the process. I don’t think it was because it was the most work – but it was the one I was most transparent about when it came to the work I did. It did include a good variety of different arts but nothing that I documented too in-depth. The Italian headdress was a lot of trial and error in my head so it took more work but I wonder if it would have gone smoother if I had just created several different headdresses and then created one final project. I want to redo it now that I know what does work. And then there is this picture I think I kind of want to make this headdress and yet I don’t think I will ever make or wear the dress that matches it.


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All the Dress Details

I spent the weekend cleaning up the house and packing/unpacking various bins of stuff. Here are all the dress details as one of the items in the repacking bin was the new German dress. As I was going through the pictures it occurred to me that, while the construction isn’t overly ‘period’ in nature, it is perfect for the theatre in that it literally takes a minute to get into or out of the dress! Lots of garb is extremely fussy and can take a good twenty minutes to get into but not this one. This is simplicity and if you have a swimsuit (or other clothes) on underneath you could easily make a backstage change in seconds. I didn’t design it that way though. I designed it to be easy because I can be very claustrophobic about my clothes and I didn’t want to have to ‘need’ to get out of it ‘now’ and have to cut it off myself. So here is a walk-through of getting into or out of this dress. Please forgive me my wrinkles.

 


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Now Completed

This picture is before the dress was actually finished but you get the idea – I’m pleased with how it turned out.

The black and white portions are secured at the bottom of the front and “flip-up” to get into the dress – the back black is stitched at the collar. I will get more pictures here soon. It is very easy to get in and out of and that is the underskirt in my arm.

I finished the *entirely too much* hand sewing while camping at Lilies. I also finished the neckline on the chemise that goes with the blue kirtle (both of which are newly constructed) and I finally finished the purple/robin’s egg that I cut out at Mdln’s house like 15 years ago (I had cut out three dress that day and the other two were completed that same year.) So I think this is a first for me – all of the sewing UFOs have been completed. I also had some tunics for hubby delivered and then we purchased some additional  to use for patterns. I have enough linen to make bunches more.

I taught two classes – actually one class twice and that went well. We entered our saint statues in an A&S competition for favorite saint in any medium – we won. That was cool because we got a pilgrimage rosary which will go in the shrine. We were also give little pilgrim badges for the dancing porkchop thing they have at Lilies. I met a lot of new people – and we were invited to camp with Herald’s Hill – we love them and will camp with them for every future Lilies we attend. They really were so welcoming and awesome and made the trip so enjoyable. They fed us and talked shrines with me and I think I’m finally going to be able to register my name and device.


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Side by Side

Looking at the two side-by-side (mind you that mine isn’t finished yet) and I can see that I got the sleeves wrong. They aren’t as full as they should be. That doesn’t bother me too much. What does bother me is that none of it looks balanced and there are ripples on the back that I didn’t see before I started sewing the waist to the top. I’m still trying to figure out how to finish it so that I can get in and out of it.

The main issue I’m having is that the wool is very stretchy and very light-weight. I’m fairly certain that without the belt I would be constantly trying to keep the top in place. I lined the top with linen which has very much helped with keeping the wool from getting all wonky but it isn’t stiff enough to give me a clear avenue for sewing closures. Both a plus and a minus is the fact that I cut the top out in one piece (no side seems)  which has made the sides just as stretchy as the back and made fitting easier but I sacrificed structure. Now that I have the pictures I can make some adjustments before actually sewing everything together.

I will also say that the belt I used has far to big of a buckle and I will know better next time – This one is firmly sewn into place so I can’t redo it but because I didn’t have the problem last time, I think about it being an issue this time.


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Dress Stuff

It involved a great deal of hand-sewing, in addition to the smocking, but I now have a very comfy over-dress (kirtle) for camping next week.


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Recovery from Failure

I had a very weird experience the other day. We went for a very long car ride and I took my new project with me – it was going well and when we arrived I took a picture of it and then set it up on the back window ledge so it would be out of the way. On our way home I took it off the ledge and was heartbroken to see that none of my chalk lines were there. I was baffled. Apparently the chalk was waxed and the wax melted in the sun and since it was velvet side up I can only assume that the chalk fell to the board.

So I spent hours last night debating what to do – I don’t have enough fabric in the right color to start over and I really didn’t have anything else in an acceptable color. So I went to work with a flashlight and my plastic grid and tried to fill-in the missing lines. I did not get it totally correct but it really doesn’t look too bad at this point. I will post a picture when it is complete as it is getting sewn onto a white smock so I can have just one underdress and one overdress. I reason that if the underdress is all sewn into one piece it will stay lined-up correctly. And I won’t die of heat stroke because it’s 17 layers of fabric goodness and I need to be able to wash it – in my standard fashion of throw-it-in-and-see-how-it-turns-out.

In other news – I ordered some fabrics from India and they have arrived. I can’t wait to try them out.