Vintage Sewing Patterns

I began sorting through my grandmother's patterns, and took pictures of some of the oldest ones I found.

THIS.  I want so badly to make an awesome apron to wear for Thanksgiving.  Timing-wise, it's not going to happen, but aren't these adorable!?

I'm completely lustful for the pleats on McCall's 4584.  I do not have the figure for this dress but I may have to figure out a way to make this anyway.

I spoke to Noelle on Tuesday, and we are in agreement.  Crinolines are back.  It's mandatory.  Everyone, spread the word.

Surprise! I sewed a thing!

It's been literally ages since I've accomplished much by way of sewing.  I have, however, been very busy doing embroidery.  Unfortunately it's not exciting to post pictures of yet a few more inches of the same boring blackwork pattern.  I promise I'll share images when the overall project is done though!

So this weekend I hosted an undy-making day, which ended up being a party of one for the most part.  Hah!  C'est la vie.  The good news is I have a shiny new pair of drawers.  This is a "warm" pair, being made of some soft cotton twill.  Not the most period appropriate choice, but these will never be seen by anyone but me.  I have found this fabric choice to be wonderful for cold-weather events.  To further laugh in the face of historical accuracy, they have an elastic waistband, and have some super cute vintage heart lace to adorn my kneecaps.  No apologies from me on this - my drawers = my business.  Well, perhaps partly your business now that I've gone and put a picture of them on the internet...

Family Crafting Fun!

This weekend I spent time with my family scrapbooking and having a great time.  While I was there, I finally picked up an exciting set of packages that my mom has been holding for me.  Vintage patterns!  These patterns are rescued/blatantly snatched from my amazing grandmother's stash.  They include well loved and used patterns from the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's.

I must admit I'm not a big fan of 1970's fashion, so at this point those will be archived until I decide what to do.  I will, however begin cataloging each pattern by company, year, and pattern number and carefully transferring them into archive quality plastic bags so their delicate paper is protected. This project will take me a while as I have other things on my plate at the moment as well.

Old Calligraphy Pieces

Whilst strolling through the internet, I came across some photos of SCA Scrolls that I worked on, but never got pictures of because I only did the calligraphy on them.  Once I'm done with the calligraphy, they were given to Bethany of Windermere to illuminate and I often never see them again.  She's the main one I collaborate with because she's like a sister to me.  Also, she's really good at begging. Hah!

Most of these are several years old.  And again, illumination on all pieces are by Bethany of Windermere.  Hopefully next time I'll have something more exciting and recent to post.

Royal Blackwork

On my way to hang out with friends, I realized I'd be just sitting all day chatting, and would do well to do something with my hands during that time.  I grabbed a scrap of linen from my stash, and some skeins of silk floss as well as needles, beeswax, and a handful of period patterns, and set to doing some blackwork in my spare time.

I chose a spiral/diamond motif from this 16th Century Italian Blackwork samplar, and began stitching in a beautiful royal blue silk.  So far, I have completed enough for one camicia/smock cuff, and intend to do another as well as enough for a collar.  This will likely end up as a high-necked smock since I only have one and it's far easier when self-dressing to use one of those as opposed to a camicia and partlet combo.  Yes, sometimes the easy way out trumps versatility... though can you call hours of embroidery the easy way?  Not so sure...

This is blue silk floss run through beeswax, and stitched onto lightweight linen.  As the linen is not an even weave, and I do not use waste canvas, the motifs are not as evenly shaped as they would be otherwise.  I count two linen threads for each blackwork stitch.

I've had many people ask me how I can do that and still see.  Well, I don't see.  Hah!  Actually, I'm absurdly near-sighted but too much so for stitching without glasses.  The key is good lighting, and the angle of the lighting so you can see the shadows behind the linen to help distinguish between threads.  

The main difference between this piece and other blackwork I've done is that it is not reversible.  The motifs are not connected to one another in any way, and have a tiny square between each of them, so it's not worth it to try and finish off the threads over and over for a reversible look, particularly when it will be the top layer in a cuff.  When I'm done I'll show you the back side for reference.  It's sloppy, but not unbearably so.

Brick Red Norse Tunic

Remember the brick red tunic I was working on for Sven?  No?  Not surprised.  Refresh your memory here.

Well I finished that tunic nearly two years ago, and never got a "Project Complete" photograph.  He's worn it several times but luck was never on my side.

This weekend was Artemisia's fall crown tournament, and he wore it again, and I managed to snap a photo this time.  Although, the sun rising over the mountains led to some interesting coloring.  I swear, there is no filter on this photo.

Both fortunately, and unfortunately, Sven has lost quite a bit of weight since I made this tunic, so it rather drowns him.  This is awesome for his health, but not so awesome for the huge amount of hand sewing I did on this piece.  I don't think I'll be taking it in, though I may have to take the sleeves up a bit.

The frigid temperatures as we set up site reminded me rather briskly that I need to step it up to finish making warmer clothes for Sven.  Perhaps a wrap coat and some wool pants.  His linen pants were far too lightweight to wear this weekend.

Details:
100% brick red linen
100% black linen
Silver/Red Celtic knot trim

Frayed neckline - A fix!

After washing one of Sven's Norse under-tunics, I discovered that I had clipped my seams too close when turning and sewing in the neckline facing.  This caused some awful fraying.

Since this is a key area that takes stress, this would not do!  I took some fray Check and covered the offending area, carefully.  This will cause the fabric to stiffen up and will result in plasticy-scratchy fibers.  It may also create stains depending on your fabric, so apply with caution.  

After letting the Fray Check dry, I began running a blanket stitch around the entire neckline.  This added a subtle decorative edge, while also binding the offending frayed fibers back into place.  I eyeballed the stitching length and width, but for perfect accuracy, measure everything first!  I did this in white at Sven's request, but any color would work well and look good, to boot.

New Ink

The beauty of having a husband that has parallel interests means we often get to share toys.  He recently purchased some new ink for use in his studies and writings, and happily shared with me.  This is "Black Swan in Australian Roses" by Noodler's Ink.

on Rodia lined notebook paper

Its shadows look like a dark burgundy-ish brown, which lightens to a brownish rose.  If it bleeds, it halos to a lovely dusky rose.  

On Bristol vellum finish art paper

Overall it has a lovely antique brown finish with warm rose undertones.  While not a period formula, it wouldn't necessarily look out of place on a medieval style manuscript.  It certainly would make gorgeous modern calligraphy come to life.

It flows smoothly, but will bleed out on porous papers - which could be beneficial for those looking for the rose halo effect.  As I detest bleeding, the right paper selection and nib size is important with this ink as it will soak down into the paper rather than pooling on the surface.

Do you have a favorite ink brand or color?

Monogram

I've been trying to expand my skill-set in calligraphy, and when I found out an old high school friend was getting married, I offered to do something for her.  She asked me to come up with a Monogram for her thank you cards.

Being very new to this, I was extremely nervous and did a lot of research on monograms.  It's tricky business, "marrying" letters together in a way that creates a balanced, aesthetically pleasing image.  I came up with the lettering concept and sent it to Lorien for proofing, and she seemed thrilled.  I asked a few questions in order to come up with a frame for the letters, and she gave me very valuable input.

The overall image is very...busy... but it fits their love of steampunk.

This was an awesome learning experience, particularly when it comes to digitizing the image to send to the client.  This is an area I could certainly improve on.  But so long as the client is happy, I'm happy.

Disclaimer:  The frame is from Florid Victorian Ornament by Karl Klimsch, a book in the Dover pictoral archive series, meaning the designs may be used for free for graphic and craft applications.  I would have drawn something free-hand loosely based on this, but due to time constraints (so Lorien could have this prior to her wedding day), it is an exact copy.

A Little Incensed

Recently I've been playing with my husband's incense collection, and making custom blends for fun.  You wouldn't think that squishing resin with a mortar and pestle is fun, but it is!  

I start out with nuggets of raw resin incense, and some herbs, and blend them together to suit my personal preferences and/or design goals.  It's important when doing this to test the blend out to see what your nose thinks it needs to achieve balance.  

For resin incense, we use a self-igniting charcoal disk over an incense burner.  We like those as pictured above because after the charcoal is burned and turns to ash, you can gently shake it, and the ashes will sift down into the container below, and you can start over without cleaning the burner every time.  You'll notice it sits on a small wooden base - this is important as the entire brass burner gets very hot from the charcoal, and the base keeps the desk surface safe from scorch marks/burns.

I've used a marble mortar and pestle in the past, but the resins tend to stick to the marble surface (especially if you want to add essential oils to the mix).  The brass one pictured here works much better.

The first blend of the week is something I call "Cleansing White Lavender."  My intentions were to make something that is good for cleansing away negativity, purifying, and acts as an anti-anxiety scent while leaving one open to new positive experiences.  It's a delicate balance of white copal, frankincense, lavender, sage, and Hawaiian white ginger.