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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.

I’m Back!

It has been over a year since I last wrote – I feel neglectful.

I never did my updates from our trip to Spain. I got hacked at about the same time and I never did get back to it. And then I got incredibly busy with work and everything else fell to the wayside. But now I have a new project.

Several years ago (about 15 at this point) I made a replica of a Cranach gown that I still think was my crowning glory – so many pearls, six different black fabrics, fit like a dream come true. Love that dress although it doesn’t fit at the moment. I’ve always wanted to do another recreated dress, and while I had some ideas in mind, I didn’t really know which dress I wanted to recreate. Until the Calontir Clothing Challenge came along that is. I want this dress.

A few years ago I ordered the silk for this dress so I have that. That is as far as I got. I had ordered some trim to see if it would be suitable for the sleeves but, alas, I did not order enough to actually make the sleeves. I have some very lightweight wool in a creamy white to do the sleeves.

For me the biggest reason to want this dress is the embroidered collar of this dress so I’m starting there. I’m not fond of my embroidery skills (I’m far better at other things) but the little pictures I see on my computer make the embroidery look so delicate so I’m going with a very “non-patterned” just stitching on the ruffle of the collar so it has that painted effect. I have about eight inches (of 24) finished.

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.

We Have A Studio!

About a year ago I was hoping to have the studio finished – so we’re only a few several months behind schedule. The great news is that it has turned out to be everything I wanted for the space.

So way back last summer I showed you a picture of the unfinished studio space and told you all about what I wanted: I wanted a place where I could host fabric and fiber based arts things with spaces to handle a bunch of different project types. I wanted a big cutting table (which hasn’t been constructed yet) and some tables and soft furniture. A sewing area, and a place for all the fabric and cashmere that I had accumulated would also be required.

This is the finished studio – a calm and peaceful atmosphere with some tables and the sectional and even the bead cabinet is here. It looks exactly like I envisioned it all those months ago and I get to debut it this week to the local crafters.


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Another Adventure Begins

I will add pictures after I return and can get them into the system.

So – bright and early on Sunday morning we drove to the airport and hopped a flight to Miami. I think the weather was rather pleasant. We caught the shuttle to our hotel and mostly lounged around for the day as we had no real plans. We caught lots of pokey monsters and then we returned to the airport Monday afternoon to catch our flight to Barcelona, Spain.

Our flight left about an hour behind schedule and arrived only fifteen minutes late. Since we didn’t leave Miami until about 7pm, I was truly hoping that I would sleep the whole way but that was not to be either. I watched a movie, I finished a book, I tossed and turned for awhile – we were in luck because on a nearly full flight we had the three seats to the two of us. Still we didn’t sleep much.

We arrived Tuesday morning, caught the shuttle to the Hotel Arts in Barcelona and took a nap. We went pokey hunting. We found food. We returned to the hotel. We got to bed early. It was a good start to this adventure.


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Chickens!

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These are my surviving black-laced silver Wyandotte at 6 weeks. I originally had three but one was killed by a hawk and we have since fixed the small hole in the netting that the hawk used to access the chicken yard so hopefully there will be no future issues. Right from the start I called them my penguins so I have named them Emperor and Adélie as those are both penguin species and fitting names for what appear to be a roo and pullet.

The rest of my flock is represented in the pictures. I think at six weeks (Twoy is eight weeks now) that I have exactly two roosters – Emperor and General Tzo (who is an Easter Egger) – which means 15 girls! I have three BCM (Black Copper Marans) so one is pictured twice – Pretty sure Twoy is a girl and the little one, still unnamed, is a girl, the middle-sized one is almost the size of Twoy so it might be a rooster but I’m leaning toward not-a-boy.

Friendliest breed goes to Plymouth Rock – I have a head-sitter in that group that always feels a need to be on my head or shoulder. I’m trying to keep her on the shoulder because she’s already heavy enough to be a pain when she tries to get firm seating on the head. All of the rest of the chickens are mostly friendly – taking turns to get in close when I sit in the coop with them but the Plymouth Rocks are always the closest. The Columbian Wyandotte take a good second though.

 


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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.