Month: July 2018

Just a little bit of bling!

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The last photos I want to show you from Seville are from the cathedral. This is one of the largest in the world and it uses the tower or Giralda of the original mosque as part of its design.

Seville cathedral Giralda 1

Seville cathedral Giralda 2

The Giralda is stunning, with all of that detail made from brick and the surrounding buildings are also really beautiful, there are lovely cafes and restaurants all around the cathedral which makes it a gorgeous area.

Seville cathedral buildings 4

Seville cathedral 1

Seville cathedral buildings 2

I loved the exterior of the cathedral, the front entrance looks to have been completely replaced as it is a different colour stone and the roof decoration is stunning.

Seville cathedral 2

Seville cathedral 3

As we were queuing for a while to get in I took a few artistic shots looking up the facade, the second one is one of my favourite building photos ever, I love the contrast of building shapes and sky.

Seville cathedral 4

Seville cathedral 4 - angled

I really liked the little creatures on the facade especially this fox and the dragon, I think he looks cute and definitely tameable!

Seville cathedral 5

Seville cathedral 6

Inside the cathedral was very impressive though not as decorated as I was expecting, compared to others such as Valencia the interior was quite plain but with beautiful lighting illuminating the intricate carved ceiling.

Seville cathedral interior 1

Seville cathedral interior 2

There was the most impressive gold altar that I have ever seen, absolutely mind blowing in its scale.

Seville cathedral interior 3

There was also a beautiful display of goldwork and the precious artifacts and paintings in a side room that was gorgeous. A truly magnificent place and a fitting end to our trip.

Seville cathedral interior 4

Seville cathedral interior goldwork 1

I have had a lovely weekend, mainly watching the rain come down while I have been stitching, which has been a bit of a shock after such high temperatures here for so long. I am hoping that my friends in the re-enactment group have not had bad weather as they were doing a show on top of the hill at Peveril Castle this weekend.

Sadly I missed that as the recent infected bites have led to a flare up of arthritis so I knew I would struggle getting up the hill. I know that other friends have had to cancel events this weekend due to the extreme weather which is such a pity for everyone involved.

Our next event is in a few weeks time at Lincoln and I need to finish my Steampunk jacket for then so I am planning to work on that this coming week.

Hope that you have a lovely week ahead, take care and thanks for visiting.

 

 

A dress in a day

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When we came back from Tatton a few weeks ago we had one day here before going off to the Lake District and as Ellie had bought some material for a new style of peasant dress we thought we would try and get it made in a day.

Our original aim was to make one for me that day as well and we did get the dress cut out, which is a major achievement considering I have had the fabric for about 12 years 🙂 but I have cut it too big so it will need serious alteration. I have found a way to put gores in so they align perfectly though!

Ellie’s dress was a different style as it does not have any fastenings at the front which means it needs to be tight enough to fit but wide enough to be able to pull on over the head. It also has short sleeves.

We looked at a few of our manuscript books for information and there are some great manuscript illustrations available via Google including this one from the Tres Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry. I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of a book about this in a National Trust bookshop recently and it is a gorgeous collection of pictures from the early to mid 1400s. This picture is from June showing people working in the fields.

Peasant dress 1

We started by making a pattern from Ellie’s existing dress bodice and then used a sleeve pattern to draft a new sleeve which could be cut in one piece unlike most modern sleeves that are two pieces. We then made a toile of the top and fitted it before cutting out of the new fabric.

It fits Ellie really well, even if she did have to sew the front seam a few times as female shapes need adjusting for, a perfectly straight seam on the garment turned wobbly when it was put on! The colours are gorgeous together.

Here she is in the finished garment at Tewkesbury looking very lovely in our campsite before going to the market.

Ellie's new dress 9

Ellie's new dress 10

Ellie's new dress 11

Kerry was really brave and decided to wear her 15th century lady’s dress despite it being really hot and was very excited to be part of the Queen’s party walking onto the battlefield and sitting with her during the battle.

Here she is going along the crowdline with our friend Bev and below is a shot of the guys just before battle. The ladies all looked stunning and I am so pleased that she got to be part of that section of the event after all her hard work with this beautiful dress.

Tewks 2018 2

Tewks 2018 3

Tewks 2018 1

Pics from a very kind person who put loads on Facebook for us whose name I have completely forgotten to write down! Thank you it is fantastic to have these shots.

It was Symon’s, on the left , first Tewkesbury battle and he did brilliantly in the heat as it was about 27 degrees at this point which means it is so much higher once you are in full armour. The last time Shane, our other knight , came to Tewkesbury it was 35 degrees so we think he must be responsible for the very hot weather. After that event we bought a gazebo for the group as we spent most of the time that weekend trying to all fit into the tiny bit of shade under Shane’s awning!

I also took some more pictures for my research, including the Queen’s tent which looks amazing, this is the Prince’s surcoat which he wears in battle.I am always amazed by the level of detail that people put into their roles, the tent and the throne are amazing.

We also dressed up for the beer tent and I got to wear both my top hats. I do love my top hats, especially this one,  and got lots of compliments on them. I am taking them to the festival that I am going to with my sister in a couple of weeks.

Tewks - Alison in hat

Plans for the weekend are making some pouches and bags out of the quilt blocks I have been stockpiling over the last few weeks and carrying on with my latest stitching from Jenny which is going well.

I have just discovered Project Runway is on Netflix so have been watching that and really enjoying seeing how all the clothes are designed. There are some very talented people there.

Hope that you have a good weekend ahead, take care and thanks for visiting.

Bordado – the art or pastime of embroidering cloth

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Bordado, as we found out in Seville, is Spanish for embroidery. The Folk Museum had lots of really interesting artifacts all housed in the beautiful Moorish Pavillion.

Seville Bordado museum

The first section we looked at was devoted to materials and their transformation and there were lots of displays of all types of artisan workshops including gilding, woodwork, leather and bakery.

There were also some brilliant works in progress pieces, one of the most exciting things for me in museums is seeing the unfinished pieces so you can see how they have made the embroidery.

In these pictures you can see the whitework paisley before the holes are cut and where padding stitches have been done first before satin stitch. There is also the lace being worked over a paper pattern.

I was really interested to see the tissue paper pinned round the working area on this last piece to keep it clean. That is something I haven’t done but is a great idea. The embroidery frames are beautifully made as well.

Seville Bordado 5 - paper

Then to my great excitement there was a whole gallery of embroidery and lace, one of the biggest collections that I have ever seen, so much wonderful work.

Seville Bordado - lace display

Much of it was a very similar type of work, sets of tray cloths or table cloths and napkins all unused and very similar in design.

Seville Bordado - napkin display

I wondered if they had been sample pieces for a book on embroidery or a series of magazines.I would guess they may be from the late 20s or 30s looking at the designs, there was no information about their origins though.

There was also very detailed whitework, some with cutwork lace.

I have never done any whitework though have some books on it and would love to. I don’t think I could ever make lace though I love looking at it.

One of my favourite pieces of whitework was this amazingly detailed unfinished tablecloth, you can just see the pencil outline of the rest of the design on the right.

Seville Bordado - whitework 3 - unfinished

Things like this always make me want to know the story of the maker, what happened, was it boredom and it became a WIP? Was there a tragedy and she never finished because of this?

There was also lots of amazing Spanish lace, whenever we go to the Easter Parades we admire the beautiful lace mantillas that the women wear with the high combs and these were stunning examples of mantillas and shawls.

When we at the recent fiesta in Alicante there were a group of people in costume with mantillas and lace aprons, it was too crowded and dark to get pictures then but these are a couple from Google from previous year’s fiestas to show you how beautiful they are. Spain has such a wonderful history of textile crafts and I love these traditional costumes.

Alicante costumes

Alicante costumes 2

I am still working on Jenny’s embroidery sampler at the moment and having fun practising stitches I have not done for a while like chain stitch. I still can’t master French Knots so may have to substitute seed beads.

I have a nice week ahead as I am working from home all work which means lots of early finishes and sewing time. We might even get some more BBQs in, only 7 to go to hit our target of 20. Hope you are also going to have a lovely week, take care and thanks for visiting.

Seville – saving the best bits till last

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I was thinking about what to blog about next, I have so many posts waiting to be written and then realised that I had not shown you my favourite bits of the Seville trip. Although I really loved the Real Alczar the highlight for me was going to the Plaza de Espana.

Plaza de Espana 5 v

When I first saw pictures of it I assumed it was part of the Moorish heritage due to its water gardens but it was actually built in 1928 as part of the Ibero-American World Fair, along with a beautiful park and lots of other museums. I was amazed by all of the beautiful tiles.

There is more information about it and some stunning panoramic pictures here. We spent about two hours here just wandering, taking photos and listening to the fantastic Flamenco buskers and admiring all the different varieties of tiles.

There were several solo guitarists and then in the centre a group who had set up a simple board for the dancers with boxes for the drummers and three women taking turns to dance and sing. It was wonderful and very moving.

Plaza de Espana Flamenco

We really loved looking at all of the cities listed on the tiled seats and discussing which we have visited and which we want to.

Plaza de Espana cities 1 h

Mum has seen more of Spain than I have as before deciding to buy a house in La Marina she travelled to the north and south-east looking for potential homes. We now have a long list of places to see, virtually everywhere in Spain!

After the Plaza we went through the gardens to the museums at the end of the park. I will show you the contents of the museum we visited in another post as they had a whole section devoted to embroidery 🙂 so I was a very happy bunny. This is the Moorish Pavillion which houses the museum of Folk Art.

Below is the archaeological museum which we didn’t visit but just admired the gardens between the two pavillions.

I am so lucky to be able to go and visit all of these wonderful places, especially with my Mum who is just the perfect travelling companion. We like all the same things and she is very used to putting up with me taking endless shots of the same things.

We have had a lovely time at Tewkesbury, it was very hot so our cold flannels were much in demand. I unfortunately got bit by mosquitoes on the last night and the bites have become infected so have spent the last three days feeling very rough and not doing much at all. Thankfully the antibiotics are taking effect and I now have legs rather than swollen sausages. I am going to be having a very quiet weekend with my feet up!

Take care, have a nice weekend and thanks for visiting.

A little bit of Mediterranean madness

stitchesoftime3 Comments

Hello again. Spain was very lovely as always , I spent most of my time at the pool and reading but did go on a trip to Alicante to see the fogueres or bonfires of the Festival of Saint John where the people make the most beautiful sculptures and then set fire to them.

They are dotted all around the city and every year there is a new theme, this year I think it was Nature as there were many with seasons or animals.

Alicante fiesta 2018 1

Alicante fiesta 2018 2

Alicante fiesta 2018 3

The level of detail is amazing and then they burn them!

Alicante fiesta 2018 4

Alicante fiesta 2018 5

At midnight there are fireworks from the castle on the top of the hill, then each foguere was lit in turn with accompanying fireworks.

Alicante fiesta 2018 6

Alicante fiesta 2018 7

We were standing on the opposite side of the road from the beautiful Winter themed one pictured above and we could feel the heat from there, it was so intense.

Alicante fiesta 2018 8

There were firemen hosing down the palm trees as smoke and sparks poured out and the owner of the nearby ice cream bar was on top of the roof hosing it down so it didn’t catch light. Madness and another reason to love Spain!

I was sad to leave but it was getting very hot, 34 degrees the last few days but it has not been that much cooler here.

I have had a brilliant weekend having a reunion with friends from college who I first met a mere 34 years ago. A fantastic time, lots of sitting in the sun and reminiscing about our time together and sharing hopes and plans for ourselves and our children.

I have a quiet couple of days ahead then it is off to the wonderful Tewkesbury event next, I would like it to cool down a little before then as don’t really want the boys to have to fight in 30 degrees plus. We British are never happy are we, it’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s too wet, what would do without all this weather to talk about 🙂 !

I hope that you have a great week ahead, I will hopefully get chance to post some more travel pictures soon and then can update you on my recent Liberty blocks.

Take care and thanks for visiting.