Goldwork Progress

Life intervened and I did not make the event this weekend, but I did get some stitching done in the little breaks. I have finished the stitching on one of the scissor cases and prepared the design work for the other one. It occurs to me that I didn't mount the little squares for the little scissor fobs when I dressed the frame. I shall have to do those seperately. For now I will revel in the progress so far - shiny!

The Nuns at Wienhausen

This website is on women's monastic communities and it has some great embroidery from the Convent at Wienhausen (some in color!). There is information for embroidery pieces and a bibliography. If you're hunting down info on a piece, this may be a good start. The convent embroidered pieces in the brick stitch that I have been focusing on and the Klosterstitch works that Racaire has been working on.

Pretty pictures

Thanks to my sister for sending me links to some more pictures on the web :)

Two Flickr pools of interest:
* detail pictures from the Cloisters piece at the NY Met: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosettastones/3406589474/in/set-72157616161436505/
* some scans from the Kroos book, along with some pretty stitching: http://www.flickr.com/photos/medievalartcraft/

Goldwork Scissor Cases

I've had a pile of Kreinik metallics, including some Japan #7, that has been itching to be used. I've been looking for a good project to play with them with. So, this weekend I started work on some scissor cases using the pattern from the West Kingdom Needleworkers Guild. The project info can be found here and the pattern can be found on their yahoo group. I love their projects and kits - they are an easy start for small projects and their members pictures are such great inspiration. The scissor case seemed like a nice, small project to try out some new stuff for fun. First I dressed my frame with some linen scraps I had in my stash.









After that I just sat down and started to play. I found a nice border that I like and its got a nice stitching rhythm. This is the first goldwork I've done in since I took a class at RUM (Royal University of Meridies) a few years back, but I'm definately liking it. Here's a couple of days of progress.

Pouch from Cologne

I found this while doing some research and thought that the pouch folks might like it. Its looks like an example of the brick stitch pouches complete with fancy tassels. It seems that the pouch patterns are a mixture of stitches and emtpy canvas. The book "Der Kunst- und Reliquienschatz des Kölner Domes (1870)" can be found here. The figure is on pdf page 267 or if you're browsing the "flip book" its page 159 of the last section.

I'm using Google translate for the information since the book is in German, so my understanding of the passage is vague. The piece is listed as a relics embroidery bag in silk embroidery on canvas. The colors are listed as red, white, and blue silks. The pouch is from the first half of the 14th century and seems to be considered a representative piece of a larger collection.

Coat of Plates

This weekend there was an armor open house! Our gracious host helped my friend and I get started on our armor. We are making a coat of plates using plastic barrels. We made significant progress (with lots of help from the expert): plates cut, fabric cut, some fabric sewn, and one beautiful riveted plate.



Its been a very long time since I was in a shop and I was a bit of a klutz *sigh*. I think I was a little nervous and I'm still a little physically unsure after my troubles this summer. I'm starting to get the hang of it though. We have a plan, so hopefully my friend and I will be able to finish the coat of plates relatively soon. It hard to be patient, because putting together an armor kit is slow going. The current kit goal is to get on the field, but then there are so many long term decisions on armor - I have a lot of reading to do.

Pattern #14

Here is the chart and stitched sample for pattern #14. I really, really like this one and can't help but think it would make a very nice trim.




















It stitched up so nicely and the pattern lends itself to a very tidy back. A little more effort on my part and the back could have been even tidier.



















When I finished the trellis, I realized that this pattern would work really well as an Opus Tutonicum / German white work piece. Both techniques share designs and charts, so its legit to use as such. I took a picture of the back to show that it could be a very tidy back for something like napkins or a tablecloth. The stray cross-over threads on the back could very easily have been avoided and then the back would look remarkably like the front. It would prevent any "see through" on a loose weave linen as well.