…and finally also some progress for my 12th century dress 
Yes, the 12th centruy dress is a finished project but one day I decided to add also some embroidery to the sleeves and here we are now…
…still quite a long way to go, much to embroider but on the other side already a long way gone… 
-> progress .2
-> progress .3
-> the beginning
Finally some new embroidery progress to share – btw. above a photo of my embroidery with a 1 Euro-cent coin to give you an idea of the size of the embroidery and especially the surface couching
I thought it would be very nice for the new year to begin it with a posting containing something golden, shimmering,.. and voila! – I searched for my macro lenses and made some photos of my progress concerning my embroidery for the sleeves of my 12th century dress with gathered bodypart and here they are
Wish you all a golden, shimmering and successful
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Have fun working at your projects and not forget to love what you do – regardless what other people tell you! Don’t forget that every handmade piece is one of a kind and all small ‘mistakes’ make it just more unique!!
…above you can see my work at the outlines – ‘Stem Stitch’ with thin blue silk…
…do you see all the tiny ‘Surface Couching Stitches’ which produce the nice wave effect?
…and here you can see the threads which I am using:
- thin blue silk thread and very think yellow silk thread from the handweaver studio in London.
Many thanks to my good friend Melisande in London for this hint, I very enjoyed shopping there and it was very difficult not to buy the whole color range… *lol*
…and here the “gold thread”: Coats Ophir
Very shiny, but no gold at all in it, on the other side this thread is rather affordable and rather easy to get and very nice to handle
———————————— ~*+ Addition +*~ ————————————
FAQ:
*cut*
Do you know of any tutorials on how to get the wave affect (and other affects) on the couching? I just can’t figure out how to do it. And I’ve wanted to know for ages. I’ve seen lots of examples, but never found any ‘how-to’.
*cut*
Why did you use the yellow thread? I’m assuming you used it in combination with the blue for the outline?
No, sorry, I don’t remember tutorials of this kind.
The yellow silk is very thin and strong and just for the surface couching and yellow because I don’t want to produce a visible pattern.
You get the wave effect through the surface couching – I am sure, if you would like a more visible affect, you could lay some threads underneath the couched material (I think I saw a lovely Spanish embroidery using this effect very nicely)
Maybe some of you remember my 12th century dress with gathered body part
Mistress Kareina suggested, during her last stay here in Vienna, that I could add an embroidered band to the upper arm part of my dress – because I already was thinking about adding such a band since I finished the dress, I searched among my leftovers for a piece of the red fabric which I used for the red parts of this dress and finally found one that was big enough for two embroidered bands
First I cut the fabric to the needed size and then I sewed the fabric to the frame – behind the red fabric is a second fabric to add more “body” to the fabric for the embroidery… I used a simple pencil to predraw the outlines for the embroidery and with a running stitch I sewed the red fabric on top to the fabric at the back to prevent it from getting out of shape and to add longer lasting outlines (than the outlines I made with the pencil)…
…the pattern is based on the pattern which I used for the neck part of my dress…
…on the pic above you can see a close up of the outlines…
…here the complete embroidery frame – before I started with the embroidery…
…and also the back side…
…the progress till now…
…and other close up photos from different views to show you that the embroidery looks a little bit different depending on the point of view…
…and here the complete frame with the embroidery…
This are some of the pictures that were taken for Alenn’s fundraising project – ‘The Ladies of Drachenwald calendar’.
I like this pictures very much and I dedicate this photos to my good friend Ezabella, the most inspiring 12th century lady I ever met, the lovely lady who showed me how to wear a veil the right way (you can find the pictures of her veils class here), who always had a nice word for me when I was new to the SCA, she was one of the lords and ladies of the SCA who inspired me to try new and more difficult projects, a lady who always looks like a beautiful luminous orchid in a wonderful 12th century frame, a lady I would like to hug and protect if not an ocean would separate us…
Ezabella, I hope you like this pictures, they are for you!!
Hope you will feel better soon! Miss you here in Drachenwald!!
…on the way to the Medieval Market…
(HGM – Heeresgeschichtliches Museum – Vienna, Austria – 12.07.2009)
…and this time wearing my 12th century dress with gathered body part and my new veil (and again my girdle book – first notes: the eMail addresses of 3 ladies who are interested to visit my next embroidery and sewing evening )
“Something to keep you warm I & II” Challenge requirements:
… The embroidery should also be done at least 25% in a medieval stitch not normally used by you and/or 25% in new documented design elements.
12th century dress with gathered body part:
- stitch not normally used by me:
- new documented design elements:
hood with long liripipe and dagging:
- stitch not normally used by me:
- new documented design elements:
