Pattern #10 as a needle book

I keep coming back to the needle book because it is a way to make a small example of a pattern into something that can actually be used. My goal is to make a small stitched example of most of the patterns, but they can't all be needle books so I have to come up with some more small items to make.

The finished size is approximately 2.5 by 3 inches when closed. Materials are 32 count even weave Zweigart linen ground stitched with a single strand of silk floss from Aurora Silk dyed with Indigo for blue, Brazilwood for burgundy/red, and undyed for white. Natural dyeing of silk floss was courtesy of Renee. The cord used for trim and ties was made using kumi himo technique with four bobbins and two strands of silk on each bobbin to get the required thickness. The lining is burgundy wool scrap from my wool scrap stash.

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.

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 embroidered pouch - done!

It was two months and one day ago that I first posted about making this pouch. That is not actually a long time but it felt like forever to me. I was so excited to have it finished that I took this bad picture to post. Later I'll photograph it in natural light and get better pictures of the details.

The finished bag is 5.5 inches wide and 5.25 inches tall. The sides are finished with card weaving. I used 8 cards: 4 S-threaded, 4 Z-threaded, all the cards turned forward continuously. I elected not to use fancy patterns or multiple colors for the weaving because I wanted the simplicity of the weaving to set off the complicated embroidery pattern instead of being a distraction.

The tassels on the bottom are very simple and I did not put tassels on the drawstrings. I was not sure how complicated I wanted to get with that so I chose to leave it more plain. Later I can change it if I decide I would like that better. Now I just need to enjoy looking at it for a while.

Overall I am very pleased with the result. I plan to wear it with a simple gown so attention is drawn to the pouch.

A quickly written Needlebook Tutorial

Someone posted a request on h-needlework about how to make a needlebook. I do not have any information on the historical accuracy or use of needlebooks in period (SCA, that is) but the books I make are small and practical. I would love to hear from anyone that has information about needlebooks in period.

I have made several as it is a great small way to try out a pattern, material or technique and get a usable item as a result. They also make great gifts. My first needlebook had many pages and I still use it, but it is a bit bulky. The small roll up design (from an older post, below) is great for tucking into my purse for a carry along project. At least it was until I lost it recently. The little roll up model, some thread, embroidery scissors and a small project (like another needlebook) fit easily into a small ziplock bag.

The design I make now has only two pages which are actually one piece of fabric folded in half and stitched through the middle to the lining. I like to put the same size needle on each page and I have different needlebooks for different types of needles. I keep one book for the needles of my current project. I also make my needlebooks with a little pocket on the inside. The pocket holds my needle threader so it is always in the same place as my needles. It is less easy to forget things when they are all together!

A small needlebook that is big enough to hold most needles need only be two inches by three inches (or 5 by 8 cm) when closed. Or make one as big as you want.



The picture above shows different views of my most recent needlebook. The cover is two pieces of linen sewn together; one has the blackwork and the other is plain red linen that matched the wool I used for the lining. The inside picture shows the pocket attached to the lining with the pages turned to one side. This needlebook is approximately 2.5 by 4 inches.

Needlebook cover

The cover can be a single embroidery folded in half, two embroideries, or half embroidery and the back side plain fabric. Do whatever you want, there are lots of options. The "spine" can be left plain or have a ribbon or cord attached so as tie the book onto a belt.

Lining the needlebook

I line my needlebooks with felted wool. It is thick enough to give the book structure so I do not have to add cardboard or some other stiffening (keeping it simple). For embroidery that will cover the entire surface of the base fabric I use linen congress cloth because it is stiff enough that it can be easily worked without a hoop (fits into my purse) and provides some additional stiffness to the needlebook.

Cut a piece of felted wool the same size as the cover; stitch together. Leave a gap in the stitching where the cords to tie the book together will be placed. It will be much easier to attach the ties by sewing them into the seam if there is a little gap for them to fit into. Or, don't leave a gap and learn this the hard way. Sometimes that is the only way some of us learn.

The pocket is a piece of fabric cut exactly half the size of the lining. Turn under the edges 1/4 inch (or 0.5cm) and stitch to the lining. I place the opening of the pocket towards the center of the book rather than the edge. That way things don't fall out and get lost.

Now cut another piece of felted wool slightly smaller than the finished size of the book (about 1/4 inch or 0.5cm), and stitch it to the lining down the middle to create two pages. Trim any excess as needed. The nice thing about using felted wool for pages is that the edges do not have to be finished in any way because the wool does not fray (again, keeping it simple).

Tying it together

I use ties of the same cord as the edging to tie my books together. Just make sure to think about where the ties will go before stitching the cover to the lining or finishing the edge seam. I like to stitch the ties in before I finish the edges. Sometimes I get excited and forget, then when I realize this I say curse words.

Another method of closing is to use a loop and button. Here is an opportunity to use a pretty button!

Finishing the edges

When the outside and lining are stitched together there is a seam edge which may be left plain or the edge can be finished in various ways. I think a finished edge adds a special touch.

One way to finish the edges is with an embroidered braid. There is an excellent tutorial on the Medieval Silkwork blog here:
http://m-silkwork.blogspot.com/search/label/tutorial
This technique looks nice and has period documentation. I fingerlooped a matching cord to tie the book shut using only two loops.

Another technique is to sew a ready made cord to the seam. I have tried fingerloop braid and kumihimo. I generally use kumihimo because it is so much easier for me to do and my kumihimo looks nicer than my fingerloop braiding.

A third technique is to use tablet woven edging. Maxlu179 has a very nice photo of this type of edging in progress on a pouch he made:
http://maxlu179.livejournal.com/8947.html

I hope this information is helpful to anyone who is interested in making a needlebook. They are really fun!

Blackwork cat... on a needlecase!

I first remember seeing this cat depicted in a needlework sampler a while back before I ever thought of doing any blackwork myself, so I didn't make any effort to remember it. Then I saw the picture again in Liadain's Practical Blackwork blog and I knew I had to make it. The picture can be found on the V & A website; it is museum number T.326-1921, a sampler found in a burial ground in Egypt dated to 14th to 16th century in silk on linen. The little cats were missing some stitches so I had to do a little reconstruction but I think it came out pretty well. I took more liberties with the tree because it had to fit into my design area.

It didn't come out perfect; I made a mistake on a couple of the leaves and the flower things at the end of the two branches are not identical because I wasn't sure which way I wanted to do it. I liked the one on the right better. Still, it came out pretty good and I just had to make it into another needlecase. My friend Renee likes cats and I have been wanting to give her a needlebook but didn't think the others I've made so far would be right for her; this one is perfect.

I make the other side of the book red linen and lined it and made the "pages" of the book out of red wool. The ties and seam edging are black and white silk four bobbin kumihimo cord.

Materials: 28 count evenweave linen, single strand Soie d'Alger silk floss in "Noir".

I love the little cats with their crowns so much I will probably embroider them on something else but I'm not sure what.

Another needlecase....finished!!

I am supposed to be finishing the blackwork because my deadline is this week but I so very much wanted to see how this would turn out that I went ahead and finished it. My front garden is looking really lovely right now and the weather is so beautiful so I posed the needlebook outside. I took a picture of the inside so it is possible to look at how I make the inside. It is lined with wool and has two wool pages which are one long piece sewn down in the middle. There is a pocket on one side with the opening towards the center so things don't fall out. I like to store a threader in there; it is so handy to have one right with the needles.

So, now that I've had my bit of fun it is back to work and the next post will be the completed blackwork shirt.

Materials:

24 count linen congress cloth
DMC cotton embroidery floss, four strands for embroidery and six strands per bobbin for edging and ties
wool scraps from my garb material box for lining
kumihimo - four bobbin cord used to cover edge seams and for ties

Original pattern #1 completed piece

Here is my first completed example of an embroidery project from of my own creation. The central motif came from the Goess vestments, the two background patterns are fairly common in German embroidery in the medieval period. I wanted to test out which I liked better so I decided to do half each. The background patterns blended with the motif perfectly, something I was trying to achieve.

Finished size (open): 12.5 x 7.5cm

Materials:

*Zweigart 28- count linen
*felted red wool for lining and "pages" of book
*Edging and tie: a 4 bobbin braid using Trebizonid (a 3-ply filament twisted silk) red #4015 and white
*Embroidery floss: 3 strands of Soie d'Alger, colors "CREME" (white), #2122 (green), and #2924 (red)