Nothing very exciting today. I went show shopping. Got a pair of shoes for work, been waiting for a couple of years for these shoes to come out in the right colour and a new pair of joggers. The old ones were worn out.
31 March 2007
30 March 2007
Free Patterns
I found this, My Aunts Attic site while cruising around and playing with various blog tools. It has lots of free patterns, many would be great for those wanting something with a historical or mythical feel - dragons, flourishes etc.
29 March 2007
Vogart Covers
The website I made for the Vogart vintage transfers has proved rather popular, so popular that it blew my monthly bandwidth in about a week. So I've taken the site down until next months quota kicks in. I presume that the problem was people downloading the images. In order to keep these available, I've uploaded all the cover art I have so far and made it available via Box.net. Check out the left side navigation of this blog to download the files.
Or you can Download Vogart Covers.
Or you can Download Vogart Covers.
28 March 2007
Crochet Bag Start
This is the wool I liked so much. But it wasn't working as a square for a rug. So I just started mucking around. I wanted something round. Then I thought it would make a good bag. So I just played with the stitches and this is what one ball of wool looks like. I am going to buy more at lunch time. It will need to be lined. I am thinking something like organza, something see through.
27 March 2007
Sources of Inspiration - Museums
I've just posted my first "article" on the new Flickr Embroidery blog. It's about Sources of Inspiration - Museums.
25 March 2007
Klosterstitch at 30 Hrs
Managed to get a bit of house work done on Saturday even though it was pretty warm. Decided in the early evening to do the lawn, it was getting a bit jungle like and everytime I've planned on doing it Sundays it's rained. So it was nearly dark before I finished. And about 10 mins after I was done, the rain started.
Sunday morning was more cleaning but not so bad because the temperature had dropped alot. Got it all out of the way and way able to spend a few hours doing some work on the klosterstitch hanging in the afternoon.
Dad and Sheila dropped by in the evening, so no more sewing.
24 March 2007
First Granny Square
I went yarn shopping at lunchtime yesterday with one of the girls from work. She needed some wool for a crochet rug she is going to make. She has 10 hours in a car both ways for her Easter trip and though this would make a good project for the trip. She is going to give me lessons on Monday. But I couldn't wait and managed to teach myself all the basic stitches. I was also able to work out the Granny Square. I've always wanted to be able to make these. I like the rugs, but the big holes are a problem. Anyway, I still need more help readings patterns etc, but I think I'm on the way to working out how to do it. It will come in very handy for doing the nice crocheted borders around finished bits of embroidery.
23 March 2007
New Blog - Flickr Embroidery Group Blog
As you may have noticed, I am now using Flickr for hosting my pictures. And I've joined a few groups, including the Embroidery group. People post pictures of completed and some ongoing projects. There is an associated discussion forum as well.
The group has decided to start a blog - The Flickr Embroidery Group Blog at http://flickrembroidery.blogspot.com/
Each day of the week has a theme. I will be posting on Tuesdays and miscellaneous finds from the web and a focus on historical embroidery. Today is Free Vintage Pattern day. Come over for a visit.
The group has decided to start a blog - The Flickr Embroidery Group Blog at http://flickrembroidery.blogspot.com/
Each day of the week has a theme. I will be posting on Tuesdays and miscellaneous finds from the web and a focus on historical embroidery. Today is Free Vintage Pattern day. Come over for a visit.
22 March 2007
Klosterstitch at 26 Hours
Made a bit of progress on the hanging. I had initially decided not to outline the flowers and the stems in the madder coloured thread. I'd also not put the small green leaves inbetween the petals of the flowers. But as I was trying to work out an outline colour other than madder and also looking at the stems, they just didn't look right. So I've gone back and added all these elements and I like the result much better.
21 March 2007
Cleopatra
Bubba as she is otherwise known is feeling a bit ignored and left out at the moment. What this really means is that the Boy aka Pharaoh is getting as much attention as she usually does and she doesn't like it.
Cute Cats
Weather prevented sewing night last night, so you get cute cats instead. They were very hot the afternoon this was taken. They are sleeping in the same position, it's soooo cute.
20 March 2007
Trilobe Brooch
A trilobe or trefoil brooch used to hold a Viking or Anglo-Saxon coat closed. Some bling for me.
19 March 2007
Belts / Girdles
Belts / Girdles, originally uploaded by Jane Stockton.
These are the Elizabethan belts I've made. The large tassle ones is based on images from the Civitates Orbis Terrarum, the fringe one from various images on monuments from churches and the plain one also on church monuments.
I've gone looking for the image that I based the big tassles on and I can't find it!! I know I based it on a period image, and I could've sworn it was the COT, but I can't find the image now. Damn and blast! It will drive me mad until I do.
I've gone looking for the image that I based the big tassles on and I can't find it!! I know I based it on a period image, and I could've sworn it was the COT, but I can't find the image now. Damn and blast! It will drive me mad until I do.
18 March 2007
Belt
Worked on the belt today. It's black georgette cut into long strips. I've overlocked it into a tube. After turning under the hems, I've sewn into place two medium sized black rayon furnishing tassles. I know it sounds tacky, but they look just like the tassles in the drawing I am basing the coat on. And the added weight will make them hang nicely.
17 March 2007
Finishathon
In an effort to curb my bad habit of getting something 99% done and then starting a new project, I had a bit of a finishathon today. I've been working on my green coat for a while. It is basically done, but there were a couple of minor alterations I wanted to do to it to make it perfect. I needed to add some pocket slits on each side. These are then outlined with black wool trim. This is now done. I also want to narrow or more properly fit the front bust area. Not done, but everything set up so I can do it one night after work. Tomorrow, I need to buy some stuff to finish off a couple belts to go with it. It's the little things like the belts that make the outfits.
13 March 2007
Klosterstitch Hanging
Managed to get a bit more done. Starting to get into the swing of the project now. This is the progress at just over 20 hours work. Can't wait to get more red and start the blue.
11 March 2007
Archery
Went to Baronial gathering today. The two people I needed to talk to weren't there. But Orric was running an IKAC Archery comp. So I took my stuff along. I shot most of it in garb, but by the end I was too hot, as we were standing in the sun. I really should've taken something to drink!! And I couldn't find my glove, so I had to use a finger tab. It worked fine in the joints of my fingers, but the inside skin got sore, never had that happen before. We all started off pretty crap but by the end were doing ok. I ended up winning. I think it was down to one round where I got five scoring shots out of six.
10 March 2007
Festival 2005 Layout
Went to the Craft Fair today. I had limited expectations as this one has been getting smaller and smaller every year. Not a great number of stalls, but worth the walk. Picked up a few 1930's repro fabrics, which was my main mission for the day. Someone was demonstrating the Cricut die cut machine, man I really would like one of those babies!!
Got home and really wanted to do some scrapbooking. Boy am I out of practice. But this is what I got done. I haven't done the journalling yet.
8 March 2007
Quiet Night
Very quiet night last night. Finished cutting out the pieces for the quilt and started sewing some of the bits together. I was very tired and couldn't be bothered doing anything else. Poor Pharaoh has a sore eye. A trip to the vet looms.
7 March 2007
Medieval Embroidery Blogs
I ran across a couple of blogs focused on historical/medieval embroidery. There won't be any new posts until the end of march (PhD), but some interesting ones already there.
- Medieval Silkwork - http://m-silkwork.blogspot.com/
- Machteld's Historical Embroidery - http://machteld-embroidery.blogspot.com/
6 March 2007
Cutting Out Can Be Boring!
Spent another couple of hours cutting out more patches for my blocks. Got a couple of hundred half squares to cut out. But I am getting there.
5 March 2007
4 March 2007
Cleaning
I was in a cleaning mode today, so I didn't want to fight it!! Put the air con on because it was so hot and I wouldn't get anything done if it stayed hot. So put alot of mess away, stuff back into the shed etc. Managed to clean up the craft room in record time. It really is easier when there is somewhere to put things away.
3 March 2007
Cooking
It was very hot today but I had the cooking bug. So I cooked up big pots of food and then put them in zip lock bags of individual servings. I ended up with 20 bags of bolognaise sauce, 18 bags of sweet and sour meatballs and 5 serves of macaroni bacon casserole. I was also going to do a nice chilli but the butcher had run out of meat!!!
1 March 2007
Klosterstitch Progress
This is the progress on the hanging. About 10 or 12 hours progress.
Detail of the Klosterstitch hanging.