A 14th century purse in fresco

As if I needed any more evidence that I need to learn Turk's head knots, here is an image of a purse trimmed with them from the fresco Allegories of the Virtues and Vices painted by Giotto in 1303-5. This detail depicts Invidia (envy). For further information about this fresco please see the book mentioned in my last post.

Whew! Another purse is done!

About the purse: 

The finished size of the purse is 4 1/4 inches wide by 4 3/4 inches high.  The sides and handle are needlewoven, the drawstring is 8 strand round kumihimo cord and the lining is linen.  I used aurorasilk fine 2-ply silk dyed by my friend Renee in three colors:  fustic (yellow), fustic with brazilwood (orange) and brazilwood (red).  The ground fabric is 24 count linen congress cloth. The pattern is one of the fill patterns from the Hildesheim cope charted by Master Richard Wymarc.

I am very happy to have finished this little purse. Now that it is done I can start working on the next item on my list. It will be a scissors case and it must be finished before 12th Night.

I finished some embroidery and learned that my cats like Cheerios

I had a ziplock plastic bag of Cheerios cereal in my work bag for snacking on my breaks.  Last night I came home from work and put my work bag down on the floor next to my bed.  Today I discovered the bag of Cheerios lying in the hallway outside my room.  The bag was chewed and torn and there were Cheerios all over the hall.  Silly cats, I already knew to keep sourdough bread double bagged or in a cupboard, but cereal, too?

The determining factor in the size of my new purse was the amount of yellow thread on hand.  The person who dyed the thread I am using is out of yellow so I used up what I had and made the embroidery as big as I could.  I thought it looked really small but it is the same size as the first pouch I made.  This time I decided to make the eyelets for the drawstring before stitching up the sides.  It is much easier that way.  Hopefully this holiday weekend I will find the time to finish the whole thing.

Progress on new purse

I started this purse a few months ago and my lack of excitement about it has slowed down all my embroidery.  I have resolved to not start another project until I finish this one.  Since I promised something (that I haven't started) by 12 Night, I need to get cracking and finish this project.  I'm sure when it is done I will like it, at least I hope so.  The pattern is one charted by Wymarc that I haven't seen executed.  It doesn't work well in small areas, a purse is the smallest item I can use it for unless I work it on super fine thread count.  I am using my favorite 24 count linen congress cloth.

As promised, better pictures of the basketweave pattern pouch

These pictures were made using a scanner and include some of the details of the purse. When I see something I would like to recreate I am always interested in the details of the finishing techniques. As I gain experience this is less important but has been vital for my first projects (this is only my second pouch).

To make the lining, I whipstitched a piece of bronze linen to the back of the embroidery. I then folded the whole piece together, right side out, and tablet wove the sides together. I started the weaving at the bottom corner of one side of the purse (at the fold). I passed the weft thread through the warp a couple times, then started passing the weft through the warp from left to right, stitching the warp through the edges of the side of the purse. The weft thread emerged from the purse edge on the left and I then passed the weft through the warp from left to right. The cards were turned after every time I passed the weft through the warp.

Once I wove up to the top of the purse I kept weaving in a normal manner, passing the weft through the warp from left to right, rotating the cards, passing the weft from right to left and rotating the cards again. This wove the strap of the purse.

When the strap was long enough I once again started weaving the purse edge, this time starting at the top edge of the purse side and working my way down. Before I started I made sure the strap was straight. I wouldn't want to have finished weaving the second side of the purse only to discover the strap was all twisted. I think I would have lost my mind if had done that.

At the end of the purse I stitched into the warp a couple times and tied off the weft. The leftover warp thread on both bottom ends of the purse formed part of the tassels.

So, how did I maintain tension as I was rotating the purse and weaving the second side? Is there a good way to do this? I don't know. I used my hand to hold the purse and strap and maintain tension manually while I used the other hand to pass the weft and rotate the cards. It was very awkward. I had planned to take pictures of the process but it didn't work out. Maybe next time if I ever try this again.

The top edge of the purse, where the linen lining was attached to the embroidery, didn't look finished to me so I did a stem stitch along the edge to cover the seam.

The drawstring resembles fingerloop cord but is actually kumihimo (I used 8 bobbins). Fingerloop would have been more authentic but I am really bad at it.

The holes for the drawstring cord to pass through were made with an awl and not finished in any way. According to descriptions of extant pouches this is how many of them were made. I will just have to see how this holds up to use. My last pouch I did buttonhole stitching on the eyelets so this is a new technique for me. It makes me feel nervous to do this to my embroidery that I put so much work into.

Materials: 2-ply silk thread from aurorasilk.com dyed using fustic for the yellows, indigo for the blue and fustic/indigo for the green; 24-count linen congress cloth from Needle in a Haystack (www.needlestack.com); bronze linen from my stash. I put samples of all the threads in a sunny window for several weeks. The fustic did not fade at all, nor did the green. The indigo faded slightly but still looks pretty. As I plan to store this pouch out of the light I think it will be fine.

Basketweave pouch embroidery complete!

Last night I finished the embroidery for my new pouch. I couldn't decide on a color for the spaces between the gold embroidery so I used two different color schemes in such a way that the purse will look one way from one side, and different on the other side. I was worried that the blue would be too strong but it looks really good. When I finished with the blue embroidery my fingertips were a little darkened; I think some of the indigo rubbed off as I stitched. I have had samples of all the colors I used taped in a sunny window for a couple weeks now and so far no fading. Next thing is to put the pouch together but that will have to wait a bit until I practice cardweaving some more since I want to weave the sides together, so it will likely be weeks before I have a finished pouch to present. Meanwhile I need to get a new project that will fit in my purse and be good to work on under adverse conditions such as on the bus and at night.

Progress on basketweave embroidery

I like to post at least once a week and to have something to show, but the project I am working on is not to be finished in a week. Here is the updated picture. I am happy because today I finished the basketweave outline for the entire piece. It was my goal to have that done before going to learn cardweaving tonight and I achieved my goal.

Making progress...

Here is an updated photo of the basket weave embroidery pouch I am making. I was undecided about the color for the spaces in between the weave and I still have a few trial color places to rip out. The silk feels SO soft and has a beautiful luster.

Starting a new project - an embroidered bag

There was a convergence of two things for me: a bag I really wanted to make and the material I wanted to make it with. I fell in love with this bag the first time I saw it at diu-minnezit but didn't want to make it until I had a little more embroidery experience. Then Renee of the Mists gave me this wonderful spun silk thread that she dyed herself. She probably thought I was never going to use it because months went by and I never did, but I was just waiting for the right time because I knew I wanted to use it to make this embroidery. I used to draw basketweave patterns in high school when I was bored in class and I still love them. I have seen this pattern a couple of times in period embroidery so now I am going to have to track down exactly where I saw it.

Materials: 24 count linen, spun silk from www.aurorasilk.com dyed by Renee with fustic and brazilwood with alum mordant.

Finally my thread arrived!!

After a wait of what felt like six months, I finally received my backorder of silk thread. I was able to finish up the embroidery and am now in the process of making up the pouch. I have only to finish the holes for the drawstring and it will be done. I'll put up a picture when it is finished.