Dolly.

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Elen

I finally made a dress for Bebe’s (as yet unnamed) doll. I had a scrap of linen that had a border embroidery pattern and it suited this perfectly. I hand stitched the hems and did a buttonhole stitched key-hole neckline. I didn’t want to mess around with a facing that small.

I ended up taking the dress in a bit at the waist (she was swimming in it), and I made a braided belt to go with it. I also added more strands or yarn at the hairline, and stitched down the hair along the scalp a little bit, so it lays better for the braids. She’s totally adorable now.

Cloth Dolly

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Elen

One of my favorite things to do is to make sure that the Bebe has enough toys for our SCA events. And by that, I mean toys that can pass as period. They don’t actually have to be what kids in the 1380s would have played with, but I try to stay away from plastic as much as I can. And since my little girlie girl is going through an all-baby-all-the-time phase, I thought I’d make her a cloth dolly.

The body is made of a peach linen napkin I found at Goodwill (6 of them for $2.50: score!); the pattern was made by a friend. I machines sewed all the seams (and wasn’t that fiddly?) but sewed the stuffing holes by hand. I stuffed her with poly-fill, because I wanted the doll to be easily washable. I know how hard my kid is on her toys.

Now she just needs clothes.

Wordless Wednesday: Smocking Sample

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Elen

Teaching myself how to smock.

Blue Cotehardie

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Elen

Guess who can make a cotehardie in ten days or less. That’s right: me!

February 12: Making a toile of the bodice. Haven’t done this in a while, after all.

February 13: Cutting out the fabric. Yes, that would be me marking on the right side of the fabric. Some days you just make stupid mistakes.

February 18: Machine sewing is finished. Trying it on for fit. It’s a little looser than my other dresses because I wanted to be able to layer it over a long-sleeved cote.

February 20: So close to being done with the buttonholes. They’re sewn with black thread because all of the navy embroidery thread I had was too saturated.

February 20: Buttonholes finished. Checking the overlap for button placement.

February 21: All done except for the skirt hem. Which I will sew at 11:30 the night before the event, thus making a mortal enemy of my poor, long-suffering downstairs neighbor.

February 23: At the Tourney! I love this dress; it’s so comfy.

And a better shot of the dress on my. Photo credit: Ledona McGowan

In which, the unexpected happens.

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Elen

So, Candlemas happened. Those pretty patterned socks I was knitting? I entered them in our local Baronial Arts and Sciences Champion on Saturday. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the SCA, it’s similar to a county fair crafts competition. Sort of. There are judges who have a rubric for “grading” your project. Each project was judged by two judges (well, mine was judged by three; one alone and two in tandem) and given a score from 1-50.

I tried not to eavesdrop, but they were there forever! I was trying to get a shot of my display.

Oh, there. That’s better. And below, some of my samples. I thought it would be beneficial to share my swatches and my mistakes, as well as the second stocking in progress.

So, after the judging happens, all the points are tallied, and averaged, and the winner is the one with the most points.

Which, incidentally, was me. Here I am, with my Award scroll (which is beautiful, and I’ll post pictures later), and my gift basket (full of period games), and Poppet is holding my lantern (is was Candlemas, after all). The medallion is my signifier of Championship, and the unbelievably huge grin on my face is the result of utter shock. (Picture by Amata)

Halfway done!

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Elen

Only one more stocking left to go!

Work-cation? Stay-cation? Leave of Absence?

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Elen

I’m sorry I went AWOL last week. It wasn’t my intention, and it certainly wasn’t planned. I’ve been in the midst of making sure I have everything together for two SCA events that are a week apart. I’m entering the stockings I charted into both A&S competitions, and I have been running myself ragged trying to get them into some semblance of a finished state.

Which is hard when my first toe was shaped like this…

Egyptian Medieval Socks

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Elen

You can see here the beginnings of a new project. For an SCA competition, I’m researching, charting, and knitting medieval Egyptian socks. They’re coming along, but I’ve started (and completes, and ripped) the toe three times. Hope the fourth is the charm!

New Kit for Poppet

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Elen

Eagle Pouch: Completed

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Elen

I know, I know. I promised a run-down of the fox embroidery. But i realized that I have two projects that need to be wrapped up first. The biggest one is the Double-Headed Eagle pouch. This was embroidered as a Christmas present for a friend (and only finished 7 months late). It’s worked in long-and-short stitch, in black DMC cotton floss (three strands at a time), on linen, and outlined in couched DMC silver thread. The eyes are silver beads.

The loop and drawstring are fingerloop braids (round braid of five loops, I think) done in black and grey pearl cotton. The drawstring goes through seven hand-sewn eyelets on each side, and is separate from the belt loop so you don’t have to fuss with the hanging strap to get into the pouch (I hate that).

The pouch is lined in natural linen for a finished look, and so nothing in there snags on the embroidery back. The sides of the pouch are finished in a looping braid-like finish that I learned from the fantastic Racaire. I’m really proud of how this project turned out. And I can’t wait to see the look on Marc’s face when I give it to him.

Opus Elenae

Elen's Work: historical explorations

Category Archives: A&S 50 Persona