Lo, the cufflinks arrived and the buttons were created. I admit, I did give in and added even more red dye to my solution and gave the buttons one more coat of stain. I'm much more pleased with the result now.

I used a coat of liquid wax to help seal the buttons then fixed the wooden disks using hot glue, applied carefully to the wood, not the heat-sucking-metal cufflink. Honest.



I'm very happy with the finished shrug. I put in on after taking this picture, and I'm still wearing it. It's so warm and cosy.

 
While the shrug project was in stasis for want of a postal delivery, it was time to move on with other projects. One of the next events I'm looking forward to is Mediveal Dead II, hosted by the SCA Shire of Eplaheimr, an SCA event that combines the best of historical feasting and battles with ghouls and zombies. I knew instantly what I wanted to make for my Arts and Sciences entry, and when a friend suggested I attend the Feast of the Dead as a plague victim, I thought it would round out my project nicely.

Using a tutorial online I made up some latex prosthetic boils and sores, which, combined with some more grease paint on the day, should help me look suitably disguisting on the night. The A&S project I'm hoping to make a start on this weekend.






At the Dun In Mara Shire A&S practice last night, I made progress on my needlelace.The lace is destined to become a lavender pillow for my garb box and I have some fine cotton gauze to back the linen with. The outline of the shape is completed now, which means I need to finalise my design ideas for this piece.

Hello and welcome to my new blog!

I recently took part in the Second Annual Italian Renaissance Costuming Challenge on the Realm of Venus site, and it inspired me to start a diary of my crafty pursuits.

Though I had my gown completed for the competition deadline, there are many items still left to be completed; sleeve embroidery, stockings, lace making.. the list could be endless if I let it!

 

But one thing I wasn't completely happy with was my first 

attempt at Reticella lace. I chose the pattern from Renaissance Patterns for Lace and Embroidery by Federico Vinciolo, and though I try not to let a pattern intimidate me with its complexity, I think I took the wrong approach with this piece. So it's back to basics. 

The first step was to take a small piece of pure linen from my stash and create a drawn thread grid. The grid to the right is quite small, maybe 3 inches across at most. Each of the gaps are 10 thread wide and the bars between are just 3 threads wide. I've already started binding the edges of this piece in buttonhold stitch in silk thread, which should give me plenty of time to think about the design I'm going to create.