Flame of Pharos

The Flame of Pharos award (service to the Barony of Gryphon's Lair in the SCA, for reference), has very special meaning to me.  It is named for the lighthouse of Alexandria, symbolizing constant service for the betterment of all people.

This weekend at Quest for the Mary Rose, I was pleased that Fiametta da Trastavere received this Flame of Pharos scroll.

Based on one of the many gorgeous plates from the Visconti Hours, this piece was done on pergamenata, with Winsor & Newton gouache, and Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi ink. The gold is also gouache, providing a similar look to shell gold.

The best part?  One of the main reasons I do this...

Photo by Gwendolyn Quitberg

I don't often get a good look at the recipients faces, being in the audience most of the time.  But Gwendolyn took this photo from behind the thrones, for which I am SOO grateful!  That makes my heart full of love.  Thank you, Gwendolyn, for allowing me to share your photograph.

April and May Activities

From the looks of things here, I haven't been up to much lately.  But really, I have!

In April, I was the class coordinator for the Southern Regional Collegium in the Barony of Gryphon's Lair.  It's an arts event that is always held in the south of Artemisia; a collaboration event amongst the southern groups.  So with all the scheduling and begging for teachers, I was a little crazy.  We also hosted the lovely and talented Sarah Lorraine / HE Mistress Tullia da Ferrara at my home, as she was a guest speaker for the event.  Her trip was a whirlwind - it would have been awesome to spend more time with her.

The event was fabulous though (sorry, no pics - I was too busy!)

Since then I've taken some time to wind down and I spent a day doing cute craftsy things with my mom and sisters.  In retrospect I wish I'd had some of my own paintbrushes and whatnot as I know I could have done a better job with more familiar tools, but c'est la vie.  Maybe some of you will do something amazing and share your achievements?

It's a family birthday calendar!

Drawstring Pouch

My awesome hubby has not been feeling very awesome.  In fact, he's been very sick for some time.  So when he had a bad spell Friday night, I cancelled my plans to attend Defenders Tourney in Loch Salann, and instead stayed home in case he needed me, but largely just spent time crafty/sewing.

I have a rather long task list in the land of artsy craftsy, but nothing was calling out to me, and my brain was just frazzled enough that I didn't want to start something I couldn't finish in the same day.  So enter the circular drawstring pouch.  I was sorting and organizing some of my remnants and found a sizeable piece of butter damask left over from my sottana, and decided to make a pouch out of it.  I lined it in a scrap of white linen - I swear my linen stash multiplies itself!

The drawstring is a length of double faced satin ribbon left over from my "spiral" silk sleeve tie-ons, and a couple of aiglets from the stash.

The pouch has a separate round bottom, allowing it to stand somewhat on its own, while also providing a huge amount of interior space.

See?  It's big enough to house Oinklett, my piggy shaped tailoring ham.

But not quite tall enough to hide my water bottle.  You get the picture.

I'm thinking that the next one I make will have pockets within the lining, to keep certain things separate and easy to find without having to dig through a jumble of giant pouchyness.  Like keys.  Possibly also a big pocket for my phone.

If there's interest, I might be convinced to do a tutorial on how to make these fellas.  Comment your thoughts.  As a side note, they make excellent dice bags, for those with epic amounts of dice.  (You know who you are...)

Eggplant Veste

Giovanni Battista Moroni, Portrait of a Lady

Lavinia Fontana, Laura Gonzaga in Green

 Since the Artemisian Costuming Challenge, I have been plotting a silk veste, whose beautiful silk taffeta has languished in my stash these last several years. It is a strange berry silk, shot with brown that comes across as mauveish/purple/eggplant depending on the light.  It hates to be photographed as well, so the colors in these photos may look strange.

A veste is a fitted overgown, sometimes with simple shoulder treatments (barragoni), sometimes with lavish ones.  Sometimes they had sleeves, sometimes not.  Sometimes it was worn over a sottana (under-gown), sometimes over a doublet and skirt or forepart.  It's a relatively simple way to add a layer of warmth and completely change the look of a gown.

I started with a fitted doublet-ish shaped bodice.  I say "ish" because it is not a standard doublet shape.  The front angles out, and will never close up toward the neck, across my chest, as it is designed to be worn open and show the under layers below.  Some vestes could have been closed to the neck - I chose not to.  I added thread-wrapped buttons down the front.

I then drafted a collar, made of two layers of canvas and one layer of wool felt, and pad stitched it to give it some form and direction.  I ended up having to do this twice due to poor measuring - the first collar was too short to fit in the neckline.  This was then covered in silk and hand-stitched into place.

I cartridge pleated the silk skirt and attached it to the bodice by hand.  Last, but not least, I hand sewed, stitched, and gathered puffed shoulder treatments, enhanced with a thread-covered button.

I wore the silk veste over my butter yellow damask sottana and spiral/chevronesque silk sleeves from the Artemisian Costuming Challenge.  After this first voyage, I find I need to stiffen the hem a bit, or grade the split in the front, so you can get a peak of the yellow gown beneath.

Below pictures all taken by my amazing husband, JJM (also often referred to as Sven). 

Noelle/Serafina, this picture is for you!  Goats!

Special thanks goes to my awesome husband who took the portraits for me!

Golden Sun in Splendor Scroll

I recently completed another Golden Sun in Splendor scroll, this one for a very deserving Hauk MacLean.  This was kind of exciting for me to do, because in my early scribal days (11 years ago!) I did his Golden Pillar scroll (as shown here).  Both awards are for service to the Kingdom of Artemisia.  The Golden Pillar is an "Award of Arms" level, and the Golden Sun in Splendor is a "Grant of Arms" Level.  I personally feel both these awards are so very important and love seeing them given out!  Recipients are true nobles who give back to this society.

The pictures looked fine on my phone, but here are a touch blurry - how disappointing. I worked with Hauk's amazing lady to personalize it for him, using his colors, his device, and the ladybugs are representative of his two adorable daughters, whom he calls "little bug," and "big bug."

It was requested that I use a hand that was easily read - not needing a translation just to understand what it says.  I'm afraid my Uncial and half-uncial are under-utilized and I'm sorely out of practice.  It's not my best calligraphy, but I think it met the request.

Thread Covered Buttons

Sometimes called thread-wrapped, woven, or thread covered buttons, I had fun this weekend trying this little skill for the first time.  I'd read several tutorials on how to do it, and then Lady Michelle demonstrated in person, which solidified to me how I had interpreted the tutorials.  I'm a hands-on learner, so I often struggle with written directions.

Example tutorials on how to do these are here:
The Renaissance Tailor
Article by Phillip Schillawski

In doing this write-up I've also stumbled on a you-tube tutorial.  I've not watched it, but look forward to doing so soon.

I worked mine up in ver à soie silk embroidery floss over a wood bead.  After trying a few, I decided to add the yellow splendor silk ridges and pearl at the top as finishing touches.  These buttons are going on my oft ignored, but never forgotten eggplant silk veste.  Yes, the "eggplant" silk is closer to the color of these buttons than the image on the aforementioned blog post.  The fabric detests being photographed.  The yellow will tie into my butter yellow sottana which will be worn under the veste.

 

I'm fairly pleased, considering I'm new at this.

Golden Sun in Splendor Scroll

The lovely and talented Mistress Bethany of Windermere asked me to collaborate with her on a Golden Sun in Splendor scroll for Cathryn Anne of Newbury.  Bethany provided me with inspiration piece she wanted to use, and asked me to do the calligraphy in the space allotted on her layout.  Of course, I forgot to note what the inspiration was in order to tell all you good folk, but trust me, it's pretty.

Since the inspiration was in a columnar format, I decided to roll with it and divide up the space provided.  I practiced several times to make sure the nib size and formatting ended in a balanced piece of calligraphy. Aside from a minor spacing snafu, it turned out pretty decent.

Then it went back to Bethany for illumination.  Obviously, it turned out amazing, because that's all Bethany does.  Cathryn Anne is mundanely from Australia, hence the kangaroo and other little references in the illumination.

Photo by Valerie Scarbrough

If you were given an award, what little personalized references would you want hidden in the illumination that makes it "all yours?"

Gryphon & Candle Scroll

I took notice that Michelle of Harris upon York had been improving leaps and bounds in the arts, particularly when she showed me the blackwork partlet she was making as a gift for the Baroness of Loch Salann, Jennet, as a stepping down gift.  It's truly lovely and documented.

I wrote a letter of recommendation for her to receive her Baronial Arts & Sciences award as a result of my observations.  Being a sneaky person, I offered to do the scroll if his was deemed appropriate.  I had several days off for Thanksgiving, and worked hard to get this done quickly in order to focus on other things (like the napkins I already posted about).

This is based on a page in the Master of Mary of Burgundy.  With the exception of the pink ink, of course, which I had to do because it's Michelle's favorite color.  Authenticity gods will have to forgive me for that move.  It's done in Winsor & Newton Scarlet ink.  Which, as you see, looks like a lovely bright pink that does not resemble scarlet in the least.

Showing different angles of photos so you can see how shiny the gold is.  For the curious, no this is not gold leaf.  I wanted to ensure proper shading of the acanthus, and my skill at leaf is not to the level that I can do this.  So I used a combination of gold gouache and gold inks which simulate shell gold, and added shading with ocher and brown gouache.

Thank you, Bethany and Vilhelm, for allowing me to make this happen.  It had been far too long since I've painted (shame).

Five Foundations Challenge

I have decided to join Mistress of Disguise's Five Foundations Challenge this year.

Unlike her awesomely impressive project list of doing five items in each category, I will aim for doing one in each category.  I know my speed, capabilities, and need, and one per category is sufficient for me at this point.

Challenge 1 - Shifts and Chemises

I have been working on embroidery for cuffs and collar for a high-necked smock, and hope to finish that in order to apply it to this challenge.

Challenge 2 - Stays and Corsets

My stays are about five years old, and don't fit well due to weight fluctuations.  I'd like to make a new set in order to make my wardrobe more versatile.  I have several boned kirtles, but that only goes so far.

Challenge 3 - Petticoats

I desperately need more petticoats.  I only have one, and it's getting pretty ragged.  No excuses other than laziness.  I have fabric in the stash - it's time to make it happen.

Challenge 4 - Skirt Supports

This one is a little tougher as I'm in no mood to redo my farthingale as much as it needs it... perhaps a remodel could count?  I need to remove the bones and bleach the living hell out of it, and re-insert the bones as well.  I may also make a corded petticoat - do we think this could count?

Challenge 5 - Finishing Touches

A new pocket needs to happen, and I'm also making several partlets (or at least plan to!)

Napkin Largesse

Or serviette, whichever you prefer.  I've spent quite a bit of time pricking my fingers lately, working on a largesse project.  I started by making a couple of embroidered medallions, which are done in satin and chain stitches. All materials came from my stash, so the embroidery was a mix of silk and cotton floss.  I then appliqued the medallions to hand-sewn linen napkins, made from 14"x14" linen scraps.

 

The gold embroidered napkins were given to Their Royal Majesties, Raven and Sajah at Solstice Court this weekend, within gift baskets full of goodies from the household I belong to, Sable Sun.  

Each napkin was carefully turned and hand-sewn, with mitered corners.  Of course, we couldn't leave out our Esteemed Barons and Baronesses of the Kingdom in our endeavors.  This happened to be an investiture event, meaning the Baron and Baroness of Loch Salann, the hosting Barony, were retiring, and the newly chosen Baron and Baroness were invested (the ceremonial term for receiving their coronets and taking their station).  The outgoing Baroness has a thing for dragonflies, just like me, so their napkins included some dragonfly appliques from my stash.  They are iron-on jobbies, for which I am ashamed but simply didn't have time to hand-embroider them.

Each of the Baronages in attendance received a gift basket including two napkins, and we also donated a basket that included four napkins to a silent auction.  This was an easy but time consuming project.  I could have done it much faster by machine, but there's something charming about little uneven hand stitches. It was also a great way to use up some of my scraps of fabric.