I managed another couple of hours on the klosterstitch hanging last night. I'm up to three colours now, so it seems I am making progress. I will add the first stems to the flowers tonight if I get the chance. I will try and get a photo to show the progress.

Labels: klosterstitch

Sorry to be offline for a few days but I came down with some weird bug. I started to get the sniffles and sneezes, then they went away and was replaced by a complete lack of energy and tiredness. So I had a couple of days off work.

I managed to get better by Sunday. We had a big day planned for our group. One of our group is involved in Scouts, so we did an all day demo for them at a big regional event they held on the weekend. I had been worried all week it would be too hot in garb, as it had been averaging around 30 C all week. But the Sunday dawned gloomy and rainy. It stayed that way all day and we were all soaked by the end of it.

We decided to combine the demo with our Newcomers Event. Would've worked out great except for the weather!! But I think we might have a few of them come to our regular meetings. Sorry, no pictures as it was too wet to take any! Well, I took some of the fighting but that all looks the same!

Labels: demo, sca

I don't normally do the meme thing but saw this on Annette’s Acre.

The Movies of Our Life

It’s been said that allegedly if you’ve seen over 85 movies you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste it in and put x’s by the ones that you have seen. Add them up, change the header adding your number, and post it.

Total= 119 out of 239.

But I will say, there seemed to be an awful (and I use that word purposefully) lot of horror/schlock films on the list, which I never watch and not much Sci-Fi and Drama, which I do. So there is alot not on that list that I've seen.

(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
(X) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
(X ) Napoleon Dynamite
(X) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
( ) 50 First Dates
(X) The Princess Diaries
(X) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Total so far: 12 out of 22.

( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(X) American Pie
(X) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
(X) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
(X) The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch

Total so far: 22 out of 43.

(X) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
(X ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
(X) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
(X) 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
( ) Robots
(X) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(X) Universal Soldier
(X) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
(X) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(X) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
(X) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
(X) Joe Dirt
( ) King Kong

Total so far: 34 out of 66.

( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
( ) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving Christmas
(X) Flubber*
(X) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(X) Practical Magic
(X) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards

Total so far: 39 out of 90.

(X) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
(X) Remember the Titans
(X) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
(X ) Son Of The Mask
(X ) Bad Boys
(X ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
(X) Ocean’s Eleven
(X) Ocean’s Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(X) Bedazzled
(X) Predator I
(X) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George

Total so far: 55 out of 121.

(X) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(X) E.T.
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds
(X ) Rush Hour
(X) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She’s All That
(X) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
() Event Horizon
(X) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
(X) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
(X) The Terminator 3

Total so far: 69 out of 147.

(X) X-Men
(X) X-2
(X) X3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
( ) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday*
(X) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
(X) Cruel Intentions
(X) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2

Total so far: 80 out of 165. *original and remake

( ) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street*
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
(X) Krippendorf’s Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
(X) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(X) The 40-year-old Virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Total so far: 90, out of 181. *original and remake

(X) Base-ketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
(X) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
( ) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(X) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard

Total so far: 95 out of 200.

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(X) Hulk
(X) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
(X) 28 days later
(X) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(X) Waterworld
(X) Kill Bill Vol. 1
(X) Kill Bill Vol. 2
(X) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(X) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness

Total so far: 106 out of 220.

(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi( ) Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
(X) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix: Reloaded
(X) The Matrix: Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
(X) Team America: World Police
(X) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal

Total: 119 out of 239

Labels: movies

I did another couple of hours on the Klosterstitch project. I will have to get a webpage up for it! I am feeling much better about it. I am getting the hang of the technique. I am spacing the couching stitches more effectively and I think I have a pretty good length for them. If you take them straight across the yarn, they are really noticeable. But if you make them a bit longer, so that they are about the same length as the twist in the yarn, they virtually disappear. Another couple of hours and I should have the first yellow border done. I think when I get another colour on there, I will feel like I have achieved something!!

Labels: klosterstitch, technique

I've finally been able to track down a good image gallery generator and have gotten the Vogart Embroidery Transfer Gallery online:


The purpose of this gallery is to give people a reference for the various covers and patterns. It should be especially useful for people looking at online shops who only list the number and not an image of the designs.

Labels: vogart

I did another couple of hours on the klosterstitch hanging, not enough progress to warrant a photo. I've decided to stick with the original yarns. I went over town on the weekend and checked out the Appletons, just didn't like the colours and they are a bit rougher than the Renaissance Dyes ones. So I am just stuck with a long term project! On the bright side, I think my technique is improving.

Labels: klosterstitch

"We need to announce that while we have had a very successful association with Crossroads Medieval Village for Rowany Festival 2008 and beyond we will be negotiating to hold the event at Glenworth Valley Horseriding Centre, Peats Ridge NSW."

After missing my third Festival in a row, next year is looking up. We had submitted this site, as it's only an hour away. And it looks like it's been accepted!!!!! So instead of 8 hours driving, some of it through Sydney, I now only have to drive an hour down the highway! I can day trip if I want, it's that close. I won't, but it means I can go, come back home and feed the cats, and then drive back. It will be a lot of driving, but it's doable! Hell, if I don't like the weather, I can drive home!! But again, not so cold there, so I won't have to. I just hope it doesn't fall through. I am so stoked.

Labels: festival, sca

As some of you may know, I've got a pretty good collection of the Vogart Vintage Embroidery Transfers. I've also been collecting images of the envelopes, in hopes of getting together a resource showing all the available patterns, that people can use as a reference.

Part of the issue has been how to display these images and the need to use a system that allows me to add missing ones with as little work as possible. I've now found the solution. It's called JAlbum. This allows me to drag and drop images, then pick from a large range of templates for web galleries and then upload to my webserver. It also has a feature for quick updating when you add new images. It's very easy to use, exactly what I wanted, has a great, helpful userbase and it's free!!

Labels: photos, software

I had one person show up last night but we got a few issues sorted out so I'm putting it into the success column. Still pondering about me Klosterstitch project. Thanks for the feedback so far.

Labels: embroidery, sca

I am having second thoughts about my Klosterstitch project. When I finally pulled the yarn out to start work on it on the weekend, I realised how thin the yarn was. I worked on it for 3 hours and seemed to make very little progress. I realise part of this could be because of the area I am working on, the very longest part done in a single colour. If I was to work on say the flowers or the black outlining, which will work up quickly in stem stitch, I'm sure I'd be more motivated.

But even taking that into account, it's going to take me several hundred hours to get this one and I don't know that I want to spend that much time on a project that really isn't going to be of much use then it's finished. Right now, I am considering changing the type of yarn I am using. I love the Renaissance Dyes yarn, but they are just too thin. I'm thinking of Appletons, which when pulled tight, is only slightly thicker but enough that it could save me the need to do two or three lines of sewing on the same amount of pattern. The other alternative is to go one size higher and use something like Paterna. I want something that will work up fast but still allow me to work the very small details. Either way, I am going to loose a weeks sewing time before I can get to the shop to check out if Appletons have the right colours.

Added to which, the stitching looks like crap, Racaires is so much nicer!! ;-)

Racaire, do you keep a record on how long you spend on a project? Even though yours is configured slightly differently to mine, they are about the same size (in height anyway). How many hours to you think you've worked on yours so far??

This is the rough outline of the centre quatrefoil. This post is in response to some feedback from Racaire:

dear laren,please don't get me wrong but I studied the pictures of the
Malterer-Teppich for too long time... therefore:after making the wall a
little larger than the original wall - why don't you make the women a
little bit larger too(I suppose this should be you) and put her in the
middle of the window (like in the original) than she would be in the
middle of the wallhanging too you could make her dress ending at a
thought line between the left and right inner frameline or you could
make the dress ending where the round border begins...on the left side
- is this a shelf?what about putting your table with some needlework
stoff to the left?and maybe a suggestion if you like to make a second
window: whats about the window with the unicorn? you could easily put a
needle with a thread or a pair of scissors in her right hand and a
frame/frame with fabric/fabric in the left hand :)making such
suggestion to someone else is very easy - yeah, I know this very well -
if you would like some help with the design, please let me know and I
will try to do my best to draw a sample (and I won't be angry if you
don't like or don't use it)Kisses Raca

From me:

This is a pretty rough draft of the middle panel. The idea is this. The large square on the left hand side of the quatrefoil is an embroidery frame. On this I am going to work a design, based on other 14th C German wallhangings. I have this design worked out, just didn't put it on the design yet. I will give the lady (which is meant to be me), some hands, one of which will be holding a needle with yarn on it. The object to my right is a table, with basket on it. I will put some skeins of yarn peaking out over the top of the basket. And then just the roof and wall on the right. I probably could move the whole scene to the right a bit but then I would have no where for the frame to be leaning against. I don't want the frame to be held up by any other structure as I've not seen evidence for this in this period. So having it a bit off centre is a necessity for the scene to make sense.

I've pretty much decided on heraldry for the third panel as this follows the symmetry of the original with starts and finishes with an heraldic panel. I didn't want to use any of the designs as straight copies from the original, as it's for a competition entry and you get points for originality but I have used elements (the castle wall and roof and the table with basket).

But thanks for the comments as I helps me to get straight in my head what I am trying to achieve and a fresh set of eyes are always helpful.

I had a busy day at gathering today. I helped another person fit a bodice. Then we had a bit of archery. Shooting stuffed toys is fun, and next time, I will get the cute white bunny! :-)

Then after the meeting, one of the ladies came to my place to get some embroidery help as she can't come on Tuesdays. So I'm getting some silk for her, she is jumping the deep end.

This is the progress on my Klosterstitch hanging after three hours work.

Labels: embroidery, klosterstitch

This is the design for the klosterstitch hanging transfered to the linen ground fabric. I used a transfer pencil, but then since this project will probably take a while, I went over it with a pigment pen so the pattern won't fade by the time I get to the other end!

I didn't get it onto the frame, but I did get the designs for inside the quatrefoils done. I did want two pictorial and one heraldic image, but I couldn't come up with another design and also, couldn't decide on the configuration if only one heraldic panel was used.

I think this will look pretty good. Now I just have to get started. I hope the background fabric is going to be OK. It might be a bit loosely woven, it tends to "drift". I will have to be very careful with the tension on the frame.

I worked on the pattern for the klosterstitch hanging last night. The back has now had the transfer pencil applied and I filled in a couple of sections where I'd left pattern off. Somewhere in the last few days, I've lost the original pattern, which I was going to use as a template to work out what to put in the quatrefoils. I must have put them away when I was cleaning up on the weekend, but I've looked everywhere I would've put them and can't find them. No big drama.

So tonight I will get the linen background fabric out and put the design on and then get it on the frame. Might even get some wool into it.

The air con has broken down at work, if it's not fixed in an hour, we might get sent home!! Yeah.

Labels: embroidery, klosterstitch

I had one person show up to my embroidery night last night. They are working on a needlepoint project, so they started marking up the fabric. I was able to dig up a few skeins of yarn they needed that I had spare in my stash. So while things are starting of slowly, we now have two new projects on the go (although the needlepoint one was already well into the planning stages). Hopefully, we might get a couple more going.

I am going to start work on my klosterstitch project tonight. I need to add a couple of elements to the design and then I can start putting the transfer pencil on. Then by this weekend, we might have some stitches in. But I am going to have to ask Racaire for some advice.

Labels: embroidery, Mordenvale, sca

Finished hood. I was wondering how I would keep the finished product in place. But it's quite easy to wear, even just placing it on the head with no pins or supporting hair arrangement, it stayed in place well.

Finished hood. The bongrace is folded up and held in place with two pearl headed pins.

Finished hood. The bongrace is folded up and held in place with two pearl headed pins.

Finished hood. The bongrace is left to hang free at the back, giving a look similar to that associated with earlier Tudor headwear.

Step 2 - By putting the bulk caused by sewing the front seam at the top, it helps fill in the "gutter" behind the wire and make is presences less obvious.

Labels: bongrace, Elizabethan, garb, hats, hood, sca

Step 2 - The wire strengthened frame is covered with a thin padding fabric. I used a white flannelette.

Labels: bongrace, Elizabethan, garb, hats, hood, sca

Step 3 - Side view of the top layer. It is open at the back to allow the bongrace to be sewn into place.

Labels: bongrace, Elizabethan, hats, hood, sca

Step 3 - The top layer of black wool is sewn to the lining fabric of white linen and then this is placed over the frame. I pressed the front seam to give it a bit of crispness.

Labels: bongrace, Elizabethan, hats, hood, sca

These are the pattern pieces for the Elizabethan Hood with Bongrace, taken from the book, "The Tudor Tailor".

Step 1 - The pattern is cut out of buckram and millinery wire stitched around the edges. I use upholstery thread for this stage as it's very strong.

Step 1 - The pattern is cut out of buckram and millinery wire stitched around the edges. I use upholstery thread for this stage as it's very strong. This is the side view. The bag of the bongrace will be sewn around the back opening.

This is the framework for the klosterstitch hanging I plan on making for an upcoming WCOB competition. This is done on tracing paper. I will now go over it with a transfer pencil, then iron the design onto the background fabric, in this case a heavyweight natural linen. I will need to come up with designs to go into the quatrefoils.