Smocked apron finished

Finally, I've finished my smocked apron:-). I've already worn it during the Medieval Week in Visby, but I haven't got pictures of me wearing it. Sometimes, this type of events goes by in a whirlwind... (But then sometimes other people do have the pictures you need! Isis inserted some here)



Here are some final technical details and "do's and don'ts":

• The embroidered part of the apron measures 55 * 5 cm. I used about 180 cm of fabric and made pleats of 0.5 cm deep. I found it quite difficult to make small pleats over such a length of fabric. It took me about 6 hours to make the pleats, and I used diaper pins to secure the pleats as I went along. I took them out again when I started the embroidery:

• In previous posts, I wrote about using pencil. I've learned the hard way that you should always test whether pencil lines come out in the wash. The pencil I used this time didn't. I had to use some quite aggressive soap, but you can still see lines and dots when you take a closer look at the embroidery... aargghh

• I used this embroidery chart:

Image via Christina

• I started with a line of honeycomb stitches, and this looks a little wobbly. I couldn't quite manage to make a straight line. Next time (?), I think I will follow this chart and start with a horizontal row of stem stitches. This may help set the pleats, which probably makes it easier to do the honeycomb stitches next.

And this is what my apron looks like:




For more links to tutorials and background info, see my previous posts here.

Northern German frilled veil Part IV

Dillemma! An evening of total emotional unrest, stress and lots of cursing. I made the veil part of this new frilled headdress four centimeters too long for it to sit right. How I could have made a gross miscalculation like this is a total mystery to me, but somehow I managed.

Now how to solve this?
1. The lazy option: make a horizontal seam in the neck and cut away the access fabric
2. The die-hard option: take apart the whole veil, cut a new veil in the right size, and put the frills back on.

Option one doesn't feel really comfortable, option two ... well option two would take me right back to where I was in May. I could not possibly finish the veil in time for Visby then. It's too much hours of work. Too many teeny tiny stitches and sowing frills in place.

I'm not even sure if I could mentally handle option two. This veil has become almost a curse over the past few months. I want so badly to just get it finished.

Oh!
Help!

Northern German frilled veil Part III

Remember the northern German frilled veil I was working on? Here you can see where I was with it last September. The photos above show where I got last May. I wanted to get it finished by the event in Lütjenburg, but utterly failed.
It is almost done now, only 3 straight hemming seams to do. Hoorray! I will make so pics of the finished veil in Wisby, hopefully while it is being worn by its new owner!

Lecture on frilled veils in Visby, Sweden

Effigy of Johan von Hozehausen (+1393) and Gundula (+1371), Dom, Frankfurt am Main

Catherine Countess of Warwick, 1370, Warwick, England

On August 10 I will be giving a lecture on frilled veils during the second half of the 14th century in North West Europe. Should you happen to be in the neighbourhood I'd love it if you could come and visit. The lecture will take place in the Kapittelhusgarden (click on this link to book your seat, and for the record: I'm not making any mony out of this, the fee is for the accommodation). This lecture will explore the frilled veil in different regions of Northwest Europe, focussing mainly on the period 1350-1450. I will also elaborate on the construction and arrangement of these veils. Some of this information you can find in my final thesis, but the geographical focus of the lecture will be much broader. Also I will be adding new evidence I have found since writing my thesis.

One day later there will also be a lecture on fabric and cut in medieval Norse clohting by Margareta Nockert (sadly, this lecture will be held in Swedish).

These lectures are part of the medieval event celebrating 650 years of the Battle of Wisby that will run from 5 trough 10 August.

Thanks to our 300 followers

Hi all!

As I logged in to blogger yesterday I noticed Medieval Silkwork has reached the mile stone of 300 blog followers! It seems quite unbelievable that in just 5 years (or even a little less) our blog has found such a large public of regular readers!

We would like to thank you all for your support, interest and enthusiasm over the past few years. Sharing our research and creative projects for you has been enormously rewarding and stimulating for the both of us.

So, a big thanks to you all!