I have created this blog to share my interest in all forms of stitching, quilting, sewing, knitting, medieval re-enactment and costume making – particularly my love of historical embroidery. I also love travelling,especially when it also involves any of my other interests.
I have for a while been looking at sites that exist to offer stitchers the chance to exchange stitched gifts with other people and this summer took the plunge and signed up to one.
I stitch a lot for family and friends and know they appreciate it but seeing all the lovely stuff that people exchange through these blogs thought I would give it a go.
I have just got my gift from my partner Lisa – who was the person whose blog I read that lead me to the All Seasons Ornament Exchange in the first place.
This exchange was based on your partner’s likes and dislikes and so she sent me this lovely Quaker piece.
My exchange gift from Lisa
It is a beautifully finished pinkeep which I am really pleased about as I don’t have one of these and have seen lots of lovely ones that other people have made so this will be joining my travelling stitching kit!
My gift to Lisa was posted yesterday – it is going to Australia so will probably take about a week to get there. Once I know that Lisa has got it I will post a pic of it here.
We are off to Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset tomorrow for another event which is somewhere I have always wanted to visit. Will be posting pics of that and the embroidery from last weekend very soon!
As you know on my travels I like to look for textile arts of all forms and the recent trip to Berkeley Castle for the re-enactment event was no exception and there were some excellent examples there.
We arrrived on Thursday for a very, very wet pitch – soaked to the skin by the time we got the tent up but we dried off and had a lovely if a little damp weekend as it also rained heavily on Sun as we were packing up. It is a fantastic castle which has been in the same family for over 900 years and we were lucky enough to be camped in the meadows with this view.
Berkeley castle on an overcast July day
It is always a real shame when wet weather happens as the organisers of the events (in this case the lovely Plantagenet Events people) put such an effort into doing this and without paying members of the public turning up they will not happen. I know that it is not the same coming to an event when the weather is not good but can I make a plea to all you out there to not let a bit of rain put you off coming to something – you will still have a great time .
We pull out all the stops to make sure that things go ahead as planned and things will only be cancelled as a last resort if it is really unsafe to go ahead.The people that run these events do not do it to make a vast profit and a couple of bad events can bankrupt them, they do it for the love of keeping our history alive. As participants we do it all for free, we receive no expenses at all for the bigger events and fund all our own costumes, travel and kit (hence the need for the day job!). So please come along – you may be a bit damp but you’ll still have a good time and if you stay indoors every time it rains in England you’d never get out!
We had intended to go round the castle on Fri but it was shut so instead went to the Edward Jenner museum which is located in Berkeley Village right next to the castle in the doctor’s old house. It was a very interesting museum indeed – I knew the story of how he experimented with inoculation having learnt it at school but there were lots of original exhibits relating to his life and family including these two touching examples of stitching.
The whitework detail on the Jenner Family christening robesThe needlepoint cushion on Edward Jenner's garden chair - in the middle are his initials
This is what I love about stitching – it is everywhere from the most ordinary places to the biggest palaces and it still absolutely fascinating me that so much work has been done by so many people that we will never know anything about. I would love to know more about the people (women?) who made these items but sadly nothing is usually recorded.
We then visited the 13th century St Mary’s Church which is between Edward Jenner’s house and the castle. There was some lovely goldwork on the altar frontal and banner.
St Mary's ChurchPainted screen inside the churchA tudor rose motif on an altar frontalThe same motif on a beautiful banner
There was also a very lovely effigy on the tomb of Thomas 8th Lord of Berkeley and his Lady Katherine dated 1361.
The effigy
Ellie and I were admiring the headress and discussing what type it was ( a nebule or goffered headdress ) and I remarked that my friend Kat had made one similar which was on her web site. When we came out of the church who should we bump into but Kat, Richard and Isabella who had come to look at the same effigy before going to the event!
Lady Katherine's nebule headdress
We had a very good tour round the castle itself on Saturday – the grounds were really lovely and I took lots of flower pics which I intend to use as the basis for some embroidery projects later on.
My friends Carl (Geoffrey of Woodstock) and Denise (Matilda de Monfichet) in the castle gardensOne of the paths leading to the castleThe view of the medieval tent enacmpment from the castle
Sadly you couldn’t take any photos inside the castle as there was the most amazing embroidered bedspread and pillow slips made for Elizabeth 1st on display. Couldn’t find any pics of it on the web either so you will just have to go and see for yourself!
We have just come back from another event at Ashby de la Zouche Castle – a mixed weekend in terms of weather with rain all day on Sat (big thanks to the 120 people who came to see us in that!) and glorious sunshine all day Sunday so we got to pack the tents away dry!
I will leave you with a lovely picture from Tewkesbury this year with yet more embroidery and lots of shiny armour. This is us on the battlefield under the very fine goldwork banner of the Duke of Gloucester (aka Rob).
Lots of men in shiny armour!
You can just see my head and hand on the right of the pic giving water to Dave . This pic was taken by someone called fac man who has a Flickr site with more pics if you want to see more of the event and the armour!
I ahve some more pics of the stitching at Tatton to share with you. There are also some more pics of the armour and battle.
Stitching first! The Old Hall was occupied continuously from the 15th Century so the display reflect this as various rooms are decorated in period style. Upstairs all the earlier rooms have been restored and this room is typical of the Jacobean period complete with reproduction crewel work bed curtains.
Crewel bed hangingsDetail of the hangings
This is a typical tree of life design and is beautifully worked. The volunteer looking after the room didn’t know anything about crewel work so I was telling him about various aspects of the design – hopefully he found it useful!
Downstairs there were Victorian rooms with some beautiful whitework laid out on one of the beds.
Whitework garments and pillow covers
I find it incredible that such fine work was done on everyday garments – one of the items on display was a child’s pinafore which had obviously been well used judging by the stains on it!
Whitework detail on the nightgown
We also watched the firearms and cannon display by The Company of Ordnance, there are usually these weapons on the battlefield but we are the other side of the field from them for safety reasons during the battle so it is nice to see them close up.
This is Bucket lighting the cannon – pity we don’t have sound cos it’s very loud! Bucket is a very talented embroiderer as well as making things go bang – you can just see the blue bag hanging from his belt with a heraldic horse on it.
Bucket making the cannon go BOOM!
Esme, one the kids, was taking pics on the Sun so we got some really good photos. Here is one of the guys all ready for battle.
All ready for battle Ellie and I on the battlefieldKeith after the battle
I think this is a great shot – very atmospheric!
One of the battle flags
And finally a pic that sums up what I love about reenactment – sitting round the camp fire late at night just mellowing!
Yesterday we went to Ellie’s college for the Fashion Show and Art, Textiles and Graphics Shows. Ellie has just finished her A levels – she did Art, Medieval History and Classics so now eagerly awaits her results in August!
The standard of work was fantastic – much of it at the same standard as the degree shows I have been to at the University here – there are some very talented kids out there!
These pics are of two of Ellie’s final pieces – they do not photograph that well being 3D pieces but hopefully you can get a flavour of what she has done.
Seven Deadly Sins
This is a collage piece with images representing the seven deadly sins – there are matchboxes on the piece for each sin with small artifacts in that represent lust, gluttony, envy etc.
The history of film
This piece has lots of tiny slides that she has decorated and themed to represent important moments in film history. They are difficult to see but she has lots of lovely detail – my favourite is the ‘Saving Private Ryan’ one which has a surround made of film wrapped with barbed wire.
The following are some pics of other students’ work from Textiles and Graphics. Well done to all of you and every success for your future careers!
3D Textile development piece
Fabulous machine stitching on an evening dress
Corsets were very popular - this is a really pretty one
A development piece with machine stitching and applique
A beautiful development piece with a variety of textures
Development work on soft toys
Hugo the mouse
The last two pics are work from Ellie’s incredibly talented friend Sarah who quite rightly was awarded best in show for her work making toys for seriously and terminally ill children. Not only did she make the toys but extra clothes for them and little books with illustrated stories about them – wonderful stuff. She is going on to University to do a degree in illustration and I am sure she will be very successful. Her work reminded me very much of one of my favourite blogs, Little Cotton Rabbits.
Am having a quiet weekend after a very busy week which will be nice – have done no stitching this week due to late nights for various reasons so am looking forward to getting back to normal next week!
It has cooled down a bit in the last few days sadly but we have been having some really fab weather here recently! Apologies for the lack of posts but what with work and general busyness have not had time to do much. However today was the last teaching session of the year so apart from the huge piles of marking I have to do things will be a little quieter from now till Sept!
We had a wonderful show at Ashby de La Zouche Castle the last May Bank Holiday. Traditionally this is a very wet event which we packed lots of warm gear for but it was so sunny that lots of us got burnt on the Sunday (it was actually a little bit warm for being in armour but can’t complain!). A brill weekend and I have some pics to share with you of the event.
Our little medieval tent in the evening sunshineJake relaxing in the evening Round the fire with our lovely friend KeithOur headress display
I finally managed to give the girls their scissor keeps which they were all very pleased with – this is a pic of them displaying their gifts!
The scissor keeps with their owners
Over the years I have made them various blackwork and needlepoint gifts for them and Tracy and Bev had some of theirs with them so I got a chance to take some pics as pre-blogging I didn’t keep a record of my stitching.
Decorated initial in needlepoint as a pin box made for Tracy in one of her earlier medieval rolesBev's pin box - a decorated M
Bev also had the blackwork pin box I had made for her as the start of the set – last year I made needlebooks – of which there are pictures in the Finishes 2007 link above if you are interested. Bev’s motif is an oak leaf so I have used this or acorns in all her gifts.
Bev's blackwork pin box
We have had wonderful weather here at home – last weekend was gorgeous which was lucky as I have had miles of hedges to cut and lawn and general garden stuff to do. We had 3 barbecues in four days which was lovely and ate outside for all our other meals as well – it was fab!
Jake waiting for his sausages to be cookedEllie revising in the sun
There now follows a whole string of event and holiday weekends, only got a couple where we are not busy between now and September so lets hope for more lovely weather! Are off camping at a friends’ place this weekend so more prawns on the barbie and beers in the cooler – it is a very nice life indeed!!!
We have had a lovely start to the new re-enactment season with our first show at Bolsover Castle. The weather was really good – we have all come back glowing with red noses – not bad for April! We had about 800 people attend today which is very good so thank you to everyone who came including my friend Ange and her partner Paul.
It was brilliant to be round the camp fire last night . It was a bit chilly last night but only to be expected this early in the year and I had the joy of cooking the first lot of bacon and sausage butties outdoors of the year. I absolutely love camping!!!!!!
My good friend Lady Bardolph was there (also known as Lyn) and I was really pleased to see her as she has been in hospital for a major operation so it was lovely to see her looking so well. She has a new medieval tent which she had made all the hangings and bed covers for and also had the most beautiful heraldic embroidery that she had done over winter.
This is Lady Bardolph in all her finery.
Lady Bardolph at Bolsover Castle
She is wearing a blue brocade underdress and a red velvet surcoat over that. Her head dress is a red velvet torque which you can see in detail below.
The torque showing the braiding and beading detail
Below are pictures of hers and her husband’s heraldry in embroidery . These have been stitched on linen using mainly satin stitch – the detail is wonderful! These hang in her new tent.
Lord Bardolph's heraldryDetail of the griffon at the top of the crestLady Bardolph's heraldryDetail of the swan on the crest
Am off to bed very soon as am very pleasantly tired but very happy – have a busy week ahead at work and then we are off again on Friday to South Wales for another event over the Bank Holiday weekend. Have just put up my Events 2009 page – not complete yet but it does gives details of the Wales event and the next May Bank Holiday one so do visit and remember to come and say hello if you visit one of our shows!
A few weeks ago I had a textileicious day and this week I have had another one at my Embroiderers’ Guild meeting. The morning was a sewing workshop though as usual it was more talking about stitching than doing any!
In the afternoon we had a speaker, a wonderful woman called Linda Rudkin who does a talk called ‘Colour from Nature’ about using natural plant dyes. She does the most amazing work with her dyed fabric and thread and the colour boards to show the different effects of each dye were textile works of art in themselves let alone all of the beautiful cushions, bowls etc she brought with her. My favourite was the large box pictured below embellished with a wealth of three dimensional leaves that were all dyed from one source.
Linda's amazing 3D leaf box
I was particularly interested in the use of dyes as it fits in very well with the medieval period and she also does something called Flower Pounding which as it sounds involves hitting flowers leaves etc with a hammer to extract the dyes straight onto fabric. She had the most beautiful examples of these flower pictures with her.
Go and have a look at her web site for inspiration – we are all hoping she will come back and do a workshop for us next year.
I bought her book, called Natural Dyes and also some fabric which has been pre-treated with mordant and some dye stuff. Our branch of the Guild has its bi-annual exhibition in September and we are making a rainbow of individual panels to display – each person has chosen a colour. Mine is indigo which of course is a natural dye in itself so I am going to do some experimenting for that piece. Watch this space!
Have you noticed how in fashion embroidery is at the moment? I have been doing a little bit of trend spotting recently and there are some fab garments out there. These pics were taken in Asda yesterday – we were out for the day in Doncaster visiting an exhibition (of dinosaur models not stitching!) and popped in to get some lunch and I was amazed by the amount of beautiful stitchery on garments.
At the risk of embaressing Jake (hey what are parents for!) I took these of just a few of the clothes on display.
A peasant style top
Beautiful embroidery on a shirtEmbroidery round a collarA real back to the sixties ethnic look
Unfortunately I did not buy any of these as none of them were really what I wanted in terms of the garment style – lots of short puffy sleeves and loose tunics which do not suit me- but loved the fact that there was so much stitching around. Obviously this is all machine stitched but still very pretty and may inspire more people to take up the needle and create for themselves!
I have recently made this card for a friend. The design comes from the sampler ‘ I still do’ by Inkcircles and I attached a little heart charm as well. It is stitched on sparkly white Aida with Silk Mill dark blue thread.
Valentine's card
Wonderful daughter Ellie has just come back from a short trip to Bruges with two friends for the friend’s 18th birthday. She had a great time and was very impressed by the lace work there and as a present bought me this very cute little wine waiter outfit for my wine bottles made of Brussels lace.
Wine bottle cover
I think that it just so cute and hopefully we can all go to Bruges one day and admire more lace (there is also beer and lots of chocolate so sounds like a fun place!).
Today Ellie and I have been to the Stitch and Creative Crafts Show in Manchester. I have not been before to this one but missed my usual Harrogate Knitting and Stitching show fix in Nov as I was in Nepal.
It is much smaller than the Harrogate show with much more emphasis on card making and supplies for that but there were lots of lovely stalls and some of my favourite suppliers were there so we had a lovely time.
One of my all time must go and see stalls at any show is Golden Hinde – Sue does the most amazing goldwork and she was there stitching today and she showed me how to make chrysanthemums out of wire thread.
She has really taken modern goldwork to the next level and her work is wonderful as well as her stall selling some very practical (and very cheap!) goldwork supplies. The thing that I like about Golden Hinde is that you can buy little bags of all sorts of gold thread really cheaply – the things I got today were 8Op or £1.50 which means you can soon build up a great stash.
Go and visit their web site or better still see if you can get along to a show and meet them in person – well worth it!
Here are a few pics from the show – one of the quilting displays, a cross stitch stall and one of the crewel work pieces on display.
A beautiful quilt displayCompleted cross stitch kitsLovely crewel work
I have bought two new publications recently which I thought I would share with you – they are in the pic below.
Stitching books
Of course I know I don’t really need any new books, patterns etc as I have enough stitching to keep me going till 2087 as it is but I am going to start doing some quilting and patchwork. Some friends from Embroiderers’ Guild are also members of the Quilters’ Guild so am going to join them. Therefore I thought the book on quilting patterns would be useful. It is called The Essential Quilter by Barbara Chainey and was a huge bargain at nearly a third of the new price on Amazon.
The other purchase I bought last week from my local WH Smith. It is a stitching mag called Inspirations published in Australia by Country Bumpkin and has the most amazing work in it.One piece that I really want to make from it is this goldwork pomegranate below.
Pomegranate illustration from Inspirations magazine
A couple of years ago I did this Tudor Rose piece below from a magazine and thought that the pomegranate would be a good companion on the mantel shelf.
Tudor Rose goldwork
Have not set myself a timescale for completion as have loads of other projects on the go but would be lovely. Will post again soon – meanwhile happy stitching!
One of my personal heroines (if you can have one who has been dead for just over 400 years) is Bess of Hardwick. Regular readers of this blog will know that I have been to her house, Hardwick Hall, many times to look at the embroidery there and have two fabulous books about the embroidery collection. My lovely children bought me another biography of her life for Xmas .
I admire Bess not only for her embroidery but also for being a powerful and successful woman in the Elizabethan era when that was not easy. I have just been watching the Tudors second series on DVD and it really brings it home to you how little say in their lives most women had.
So I was really pleased a couple of weeks ago to be able to visit Bess’s tomb , which is in Derby Cathedral. It was very special for me to be able to go and pay my respects to such a wonderful embroiderer.
The pictures below are of her tomb with close ups of the crown and dress.
The tomb in Derby CathedralThe top of the effigyBess at prayerDetail of head and crownDetail of front of dress
For an overview of Bess’s life click here and the Hall itself is well worth a visit – there is a a link to the National Trust page giving details about opening times etc in the first part of this post.
I will leave you with a few pictures of the embroidery you can see on a visit to the hall – just a few of many wonderful things!
A bed canopy at HardwickA stool cover showing a flower motifOne of the marvelous heraldic pieces
Stitches of Time 