I am working on my own website

I am working intermittently on making my own website, www.medievalartcraft.com. As someone who has almost no html/website experience (other than this blog), it is a very steep learning curve. I have never used Dreamweaver before so I am starting from scratch. Eventually I plan to have a site with a page with all my patterns and a gallery of both my work and the work of others who do brick stitch. So, if you have photos of anything that fits and you'd like to see it on the future website, let me know and I'll put your photos in my "Gallery" file to be added as I figure out how.

Brick stitch pattern #19

Since it's been a while since I posted a new pattern, here one is. The source is a hanging from Isenhagen, dated to the 14th century (Kroos, item #66). The full size of the hanging is 120 cm high by 315 cm wide. I don't know the original colors, but it appears that white stitches were on a natural linen colored background, and some of the linen was left unstitched. In the pattern on the left, I indicated the unstitched areas with a beige color. In the pattern on the right I used colors that are period appropriate but not known to have ever been used together in this pattern; I just thought it looked pretty and wanted to provide an alternative to the white. This pattern was used in the original embroidery to fill the halo of a winged bull.

Reliquary box, third panel finished

I will have to make a total of six panels for the embroidery covered box I am making, and here is number three. It is for one of the sides, and the two sides are identical. Did I really last post about it nearly a month ago? It almost felt like I just started it.

Now I think I will take a little break and make something fun. Meanwhile, in addition to my medieval-focused arts and crafts, I continue to work on my cartoneria and that is what is sucking up much of my time. That has to be my main focus since I have a deadline.

New skill - turning wood

Last weekend I took a class on wood turning and made this bowl and mallet in class. I've long admired turned objects and thought that some turned wood items would help with my medieval kit. Of course, the use of modern lathes powered by electricity and modern tools made of high speed steel is not very medieval but I prefer them to their period counterparts. I will hopefully have access to a lathe next month so I can try out some more turning. It was easier than I thought, although the inside of the bowl was difficult, and it was also fun.

The wood I used was black acacia that was gathered by the class instructor a couple of weeks ago when the city cut down a tree across from the shop (how fortuitous!). There is nice variation of color between the heart wood and the sap wood that looks very striking.

Another needle roll by Aelia of Sinister Stitches

Aelia chose pattern #16 to make a needle roll because she liked the first needle roll so much. I really like the colors she chose, very close to the original. She used Splendor silk (spun silk) on 32 (?) count even weave linen. She did the embroidery and wove the cord for the ties, and I stitched everything together for her. I'm so glad I got to see this in person because it is really beautiful and it makes me want one for myself. Too bad she is giving it up for a gift basket. The lucky recipient is sure to be thrilled!

What I'm working on now

Much of my spare crafting time these days is occupied by cartoneria, or Mexican paper sculpture (paper mache). I am taking a class to learn to make sculptures and working in my free time on what will be (I hope) an elaborate Halloween display. The only hope I have of success in this endeavor, given how elaborate I would like it to be, is to start now and work on it constantly.

This means I have less time for needlework. However, I continue to plug away on a long term brick stitch project: an embroidery covered reliquary box. I haven't posted about it before because I don't want to show too much until it is further along, but I wouldn't want anyone to think I am not working on anything. Last month I entered my unfinished box in my very first A&S competition in the category of relics and reliquaries. I couldn't stay for the whole A&S so I missed the awards announcements and since I never heard anything I figured I didn't win, but last night I found out that I won! Hooray!!

I am using my brick stitch pattern #14 for the sides of the box. I have finished one side panel, the front panel, and have started the top and second side panels. This is a picture of the second side panel in progress.

If you are intrigued by cartoneria then check out the website of my instructor, Ruben Guzman, at www. cartoneria.com. He has some very nice sculptures.

Brick stitch pattern #18

The information I have about the embroidery in this photo is "German embroidery 1300" so other than that I have no information (that I know of) about the original hanging. It looks like it once had some color but it is badly faded. I chose this pattern because I like interlocking patterns and it is yet another variation on basket weave. The original looks as if the area where this pattern was used was all the same color, probably white, but I show it in a variety of colors to provide alternatives.

Brick stitch pattern #17

With this, my 17th pattern, I am now one third of the way towards my goal of 50 patterns. This pattern is taken from a hanging circa 1290 - mid 1300s showing scenes from the legend of St. Margaret of Antioch. Unfortunately I only have the black and white picture so colors are speculative. The light color is probably white. I had a lot of fun playing with the colors for this pattern, and since so many patterns in embroidery of this period were repeated using different color schemes you could change the colors up a bit and still have a plausibly period color scheme.

One of the disadvantages of making all these patterns is that I do not have time to make examples of all of them, although I hope to someday. This one is definitely in my top five of favorites so far so I'm sure I'll get to it eventually.

Below are some of the ways I played with color for this pattern:

One cuff finished

I promised myself that I would not do any more brick stitch until I finished one of the pair of klosterstich cuffs I am making. Here is the first one, I think it is charming and I hope it looks good when it becomes a cuff. Not sure how to attach to sleeves that button up.

Brick stitch pattern #16

This is one of the bigger patterns, and I've always liked it. When I first started embroidering I liked it but didn't think I could ever do it. I haven't yet, but now that I made the pattern I know I could do it.

Photographs of the original can be found here. It is listed as late 13th century Spanish in origin, with woven straps terminating in turk's head knots (as often as turk's head knots show up in these types of purses I really should learn how to make them). The colors look to be light yellow, a deeper gold color, and dark blue or maybe purple? Taschen did a beautiful reproduction of the embroidery which can be seen here, it is really enviable and drool-worthy. He also published a really nice pattern. I made my own using the photograph both for the sake of completeness with my own patterns and as a technical challenge. My pattern is very slightly different, almost unnoticeably so. I'm not completely happy with it but I am tired of looking at it. Check out his pattern to compare.

In the picture I set the pattern on a tiled backround of the same pattern. The original isn't made quite this way, but imperfect photograph and wear obscure the rest of the pattern. I may attempt it another time.

Someone used my pattern to make a needle roll

How wonderful, someone used one of my patterns! It is so nice to have proof that I didn't post all those patterns just to amuse myself. This is Pattern #6 executed in Splendor silk on linen by Aelia Appolonia of Sinister Stitches. Her embroidery turned out really beautiful, didn't it? I love the colors!!

Aelia likes to embroider but feels her finishing skills are lacking so she asked me to make the embroidery into a needle roll with kumihimo cord. I did as she asked but set her up with a second maru dai and made her learn how to make a simple four bobbin cord. She agreed that it really is easy! Hopefully I have sold her on the idea of doing more kumihimo.

If anyone out there makes something from one of my patterns I would love to see a picture and (with permission) post it on my blog.

Klosterstich cuffs progress

Irregular and slow, progress nonetheless...



I like this better as I get more of it done; I think it will look great when it is finished.

Painting progress

The last time I posted about this painting it looked like this. I'm not done yet, but obviously I made a lot of progress. Successively lighter washes of colors and layers of highlights brought me to this point. Then I was dissatisfied and put the painting aside for a few days. Seeing it on the computer screen helped me identify some of the problems. When I work on it again, hopefully within the next week, I'll try to fix the problems as well as continue forward. We are our own harshest critics, aren't we?

The approximate size of the painting is 7 by 9 inches. If you click on the picture for a larger image you can see the gritty texture of the paint.

Klosterstich cuffs

Here is the beginning of my progress on a pair of embroidered cuffs. I've been wanting to make something embroidered in klosterstich for a while now. I used elements from some German klosterstich tapestries to come up with two designs, shown below:




I then transfered my chosen design to linen and inked the designs:





And here is my current progress. It is going fine so far but I think as I practice more I will get better. I am using Medici wool thread with two strands on the needle. I have a small supply of it I would like to be rid of so I am trying to use it up. The Medici is very nice but I think it is too fine for my purposes and I would rather use naturally dyed colors if possible.

A simple chemise

It's not very exciting, but it is finished. This is a basic linen chemise. I actually did not have a chemise appropriate for my medieval period dress and I've been wearing it without one (!). It is entirely hand sewn using linen thread with French seams.

Egg tempera painting on panel, the painting of an icon

WARNING: This is an image intensive post!

I spent the last week at an intensive icon painting workshop and painted this icon of St. John the Forerunner (aka John the Baptist, "Forerunner" is how he is often referred to in Orthodox Christianity). The workshop was presented by the Prosopon School of Iconography, a school founded in modern times but based on the techniques of 15th century Russian icon painters, including the famous Andrei Rublev. Techniques learned in the workshop included gilding over clay bole and various techniques in working with egg tempera paint. I also experimented with texturing gold after my gilding did not turn out as smooth as I wanted (make sure the bole is totally dry before gilding!). I am looking forward to doing more painting!

Here is the step by step process (I forgot to take pictures of the bole application, gilding, and etching):

Base coat of all colors (roskrish)



Dark lines painted in



First highlight



First float (look what this does to the face!)



Second highlight



Second float (still a bit damp when the picture was taken)



Reemphasis of dark lines, border painted, inscription painted (although this should more correctly be within the inner frame, not at the top)




Final highlights, white border on halo, highlights for eyes, all finished painting!



To finish, the painting will be sealed with a linseed oil mix called olifa. But I must wait a few weeks until the egg is thoroughly dry to do this.

Cardweaving set up with household items

The complete setup, ready to start. I would have liked smaller clamps but those were the smallest I could find in the garage.

My setup is a bit crude as I just went into the garage and scrounged around. I attached the clamps to a board so it would be portable (note to self - try to find a piece of lumber that isn't so rough and splintery for next time).


Part of the first finished weaving as well as the start of the weave. My beater is a knife from the kitchen drawer (using the blunt side, of course)


I have a little arrow drawn on a piece of paper. I use that to remind myself which direction to turn the cards if I have to leave the weaving for a while.


Gradually, I am acquiring items to make a complete medieval outfit. Now that I have shoes I need hose and garters.

I learned a bit about cardweaving last year, made a few experiments and then dropped it and moved on to other things. Last time I did the weaving using an inkle loom I made in woodshop. This time I decided to try the method of using C-clamps.

MATERIALS: Spun silk 2-ply from Aurorasilk in undyed and dyed with Brazilwood by Renee of Solar Colors. I used 12 cards with about 4 meters per card, totaling 48 meters of silk for the warp plus the undyed thread I used for the weft which was not more than a couple of meters. The finished length of the weaving is about 55cm (21.5 inches).

It's barely long enough to make a garter, something to remember if I do this again. Overall I am pleased with the evenness of the weaving and very happy to have another item for my outfit (as soon as I get buckles).

Lessons learned: Remember that there will be a lot of waste silk on either end. I should have made the warp longer. Also I needed a longer board.

Now it's finished

Here are the finished pictures of the little needle roll I made. They are posed in the corn we are growing in the front garden.

A small piece of embroidery

I think it is about time I posted about actually making something. This is what I've been working on for the last week. It is my brick stitch pattern #12 executed as a small piece of embroidery which later today will become a roll up style needle holder. Eventually I want to make examples of every pattern I draft so I will mostly be making small items, otherwise I will be stitching these forever.

Materials: 32 count Zweigart linen stitched with a single strand of Solar Colors spun silk thread dyed with weld (yellow), indigo (blue) and indigo over weld (green) with undyed thread for the white. Lining will be an off-white wool and ties and seam finishing cord will be 4 bobbin kumihimo cord. The pastel colors look very nice, I think, and something different from the deep bold colors I usually favor. Thank you to Renee of Solar Colors for suggesting I try pastels.

Solar Colors - naturally dyed silk

My friend Renee has been dyeing silk thread for the past couple years using natural dyes. You can see the results in some of my work, here, here, here, and here. Somehow the natural colors just look prettier than modern dyes and I really like working with them. It is also easier to use a single strand of thread on 32 count linen or two strands on 24 or 28 count linen than it is to use up to seven strands of Soie d'Alger. It is my favorite spun silk. I have used it for embroidery, kumihimo, and card weaving; Renee uses it for fingerloop braids.

Now anyone who wants to use this thread can get it because Renee just started a website, Solar Colors, and an etsy shop. She has a limited range of colors to start with but plans to gradually add more. The thread comes with magnet clasps tied on the ends so you can wear the skein as a bracelet. I had a lot of fun wearing thread bracelets while I contemplated colors for my latest project!