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.
As well as the lovely battles there is also the market at Tewkesbury which is always the biggest and best re-enactors’ market of the season. My lovely friend Kerry bought me this new bag as a birthday present.It will hang from my belt.
It is from Phil Fraser’s stall – Phil also sells pewter badges and I bought some with my initials on.
I also treated myself to some more pilgrim badges from Lionheart Replicas – these are the Virgin and Child and St Albans badges.
The thing I love about buying things for re-enactment is that you almost always know who has actually made what you have bought. Some things are imported but most of the time you know the person that has made your boots, your sword and your drinking mug etc. In today’s mass market economy that is very special.
Have had a brilliant weekend at our biggest event of the year which went ahead thankfully despite some initial uncertainty about whether the site would be ok , a great deal of mud, a very near escape for friends who were on the encampment nearest the river and the sterling efforts of all involved in organising the event. Thank you so much to everyone for what was possibly my best Tewkesbury ever.
I have always wanted to go to one of those festivals where mud is a central feature like Glastonbury and wear festival wellies so this weekend I got my chance. I bought a new pair of wellies on Thurs having only tried one on at the shop and it was not until Friday when we got there that I put both of them on to discover that I had two right feet lol! Had to just go with it as I did not have time to buy any others and managed ok.
Despite some rain most of the weekend was bright and sunny and we had an excellent time. This was my very good friend Kerry’s first time as a water carrier on the battlefield which she loved (despite the very loud cannon!) and it was great to catch up with lots of friends I had not seen since last year.
We went to the Abbey service on Sunday morning which was beautiful, it is a very wonderful place anyway but the service is ‘high church’ with incense and sung gospels, a fab choir and very moving.
Here is me outside the Abbey – I was in peasant dress all this weekend.
Hope where you are is not affected by floods – will be back later in the week to share some more Tewkesbury with you and to update you on Ellie’s progress at Powis Castle.
As promised here are some pics from our weekend away. This was a new show for us as it was the first time that the event had been staged and we had an excellent time. We did some activities for kids – knight’s training and joust and a short tournament. It was my first event with our new group Swords of Mercia and it went very well.
Here is a slideshow of some of the best bits.Thanks for visiting and see you soon.
We have just got back from Bolsover Castle, our last show with my re-enactment group Order of Fighting Knights. Various members of the group are leaving due to work and other commitments so we are re-forming for next year under a new name – we will now be the Swords of Mercia.
We had a fantastic last weekend – it didn’t rain much which is always a bonus for an English Bank Holiday weekend and the crowd were fabulous and there were so many wonderful comedy moments that none of us could keep a straight face.We had a very nice (if cold!) group BBQ on Sunday night and then sat around the camp fire laughing about the day.
We have been members of the group for the last 10 years and they have been some of the happiest years of my life, they are such a lovely bunch of people and we will always be great friends and keep in touch with the members that have left and I am really excited to be moving on with those that are remaining to do new things.
I realised that though I have posted pics of our camp and the group before I have not really posted many of the castle so went out early this morning before the public arrived to take the pics in this slide show for you.
The castle is very impressive, it was built in the 1600s as an entertainment venue by Sir Charles and Sir William Cavendish and King Charles the First and his wife Henrietta Maria once visited . That is one of things that most excites me about re-enactment, I have camped in places where so many great people were and significant events took place – I am a very lucky girl!
I also have a couple of nice pics of me and Ellie to show you – I had a friend take some pics with my camera as I rarely get ones of me at an event.This is Kerry, me, Ellie and Tracy in the castle grounds (as you can see it was quite windy!), Kerry and Ellie in the sunshine on Sunday and Ellie in the tent during the head-dress talk today demonstrating how to make braid.
I hope that you have had a very nice weekend wherever you are. I have a busy couple of weeks now preparing for another new beginning with the start of the new term but we are here for the next few weekends so I am also looking forward to getting some serious crafting done!
I hope that you are all having a nice week. I have been taking some pictures at our recent re-enactment events and thought I would share them with you today. The last two events have been a little wet in places (lovely British weather!) but we have had a good time despite the rain.
We were at Ashby de La Zouche Castle in Leicestershire at the end of May – the castle ruins are really imposing and I took these shots on the Saturday evening when all the public had gone home, the first ones are of the tower and the latter ones what is left of the chapel, I love the ironwork on these pics. In the middle is Lord Percy’s tent with its pennants flying in the evening breeze.
We spent last weekend at Tatton Park in Cheshire at an event, the person who plays the king at other events was there. I have previously posted pictures of his goldwork surcoat and heraldry and was able to take some pictures of the goldwork banners outside his tent on the way to the beer tent on Saturday night – isn’t this wonderful work!
I have previously posted pics of Lord and Lady Bardolph from our group in all their finery but this weekend they were going on to the field as archers so here they are looking very stylish in their padded jacks and helms!
Lord Bardolph’s jack is the one he wears under his armour which excuses its rather mucky state and both jacks are fine examples of quilting as a utilitarian craft – all the combatants wear some form of quilted armour on body, legs of head when fighting, either under armour or on its own.
Lastly a pic of what keeps us warm when it is wet and windy in a field , one of my favourite bits of re-enactment, the fire we sit round at night. I love watching the way the logs burn, it really is magic!
I will return at the weekend with crafting pics, both myself and Ellie have been busy so will catch up with you all then.
Well we had a very lovely time this Bank Holiday weekend – very hot weather on Saturday (thankfully cooler on Sunday and Monday as the boys were really melting in their armour!). About 3,000 people came to see us over the three days – thanks if you were one of them. I was doing my head-dress and embroidery talk again – this time in Lady Percy’s tent (as she is being the cook this season in the mornings) assisted by Lady Alice.
Here are some pics for you – starting off in the early morning when we are all getting ready for the public to arrive.
Lord Bardolph (aka Paul) setting up in the arenaLady Bardolph (aka (Lynn) ready for calligraphyLady Percy (aka Tracy) and Ellen and Jake in the kitchenThe Despenser's tentCameron (aka Keith) and Paddy setting up for the armour talkEsme tidying up the flags round the displaysLord De Bohun (aka Paul) putting on his armourLord Zouche (aka Luke) in his padded jack and coifMore of Lady Bardolph's embroidery on Lord Despencer's shirt
These pics from the afternoon show are all taken by my lovely friend Jan from her Facebook page (hope you don’t mind me using them Jan) – as I am not allowed a camera while in kit I have to ‘borrow’ other people’s pics to show you the action.
Lady Despencer (aka Bev) in her heraldic dressEllie giving water to Zouche during the tournament
Everyone wanted me to post this one as well as they loved the crazy look on my face – I am just happy that the season has started again and I am camping!
Me (as the nun) Ellie and Zouche
Virtually no crafting has gone on this week – at the weekend we were too busy with medieval stuff to do anything apart from me doing a bit of hand sewing of a coif during the day. I will have to crack on this week as my Spring Exchange piece needs to be mailed by the 1st May. I have had mine from my partner and it is lovely so will take some pics and post that at the weekend.
I am looking forward to the Royal Wedding on Friday – some friends are coming over for cupcakes and cava and then I am hoping for a nice weekend so I can be out in the garden, there may even be a bbq or two!
Hope that you have a nice week and thank you very much again for visiting.
As you know I have very, very many talented friends and I just wanted to share with you some recent pics of their work that they have posted courtesy of their Facebook profiles – I do hope they don’t mind me sharing their skills with my blog readers.
The first is my lovely friend Kat who as you know does medieval re-enactment and I have posted before about her costumes and her business Kat’s Hats . Well she also does Tudor re-enactment and these costumes are even more wonderful than her others due to the level of detail and complexity in them. This pic was taken recently at an event at Buckland Abbey with her Tudor group.
Kat, her beautiful daughter Isabella and her granny
What amazes me about this pic is that it looks like a scene from the Tudors (love those series – have all on DVD) but all of these costumes were made by Kat.
I have also mentioned Bucket before but have never had any really close up pics of his embroidery to show you. Bucket is one of the rare men who embroider and he along with Kat does many different periods of re-enactment. Bucket’s partner (also called Cat!) recently posted this on Facebook which is his work in progress on an 18th century waistcoat – up to the moment the work has taken 245 hours and counting!
Bucket's embroidery
And here is the man himself with his work.
Here he is with a well earned beer
Fantastic work both of you – I am honoured to know you.
I have had a very busy week at work and while I have been able to do some stitching I’m afraid I can’t reveal anything as the next two projects are for exchanges. I have joined another exchange group in addition to the All Seasons Ornament Exchange which is called the Seasonal Exchange so being the clever people that you are I bet you can guess that the theme of both pieces is Autumn! I am stitching on evenweave which I do find more challenging than Aida due to the smallness of the fabric gauge so I have resorted to both my glasses and my neck hung magnifier to see what I am doing! Have also recently completed another reindeer ornie – only 5 more to go!
In lieu of pretty pics of stitching then here are my completed wrist warmers – I had a lot of trouble with these as you may remember trying to match up the variegated wool but made it work on about the 3rd attempt! Please excuse slightly fuzzy pic as the light is not good – it has been raining hard all day and is a bit miserable – was tempted to keep the wristwarmers on as it is a bit cold in the conservatory! These are from a free pattern called Waffle Stitch Wristwarmers that I got from Ravelry.
Lovely and warm!
Term has started so that is why I have been so busy – we have another lovely group of trainee teachers this year and I am really looking forward to working with them all. I am lucky to have a job that I really enjoy and look forward to going into work – though a large Lottery win that would enable me to retire and devote my life to stitching and knitting would be fine as well!
I am also going to be busy this week with helping organise the Marsden Jazz Festival – I recently joined the committee for this event which will be held in a village near me on the 2nd weekend of October. See this link for details if you are in the Yorkshire area. As the name suggests there are lots of live music events on in all of the pubs and clubs across the village as well as a parade on the Saturday. This week we have a meeting of all the volunteers who will be helping over the weekend, a t-shirt folding and packing evening and then I will be helping out in the festival shop selling said t-shirts next weekend.
Just thought I would leave you with another couple of pics from re-enactment events – courtesy of my friends on Facebook. The first pic was taken at our recent August Bank Holiday event at Bolsover Castle and shows Paul (in the helmet) and Luke – with the sword – demonstrating during the weapons’ talk.
Ouch!
The second one is a much older pic, probably taken about 6 years ago and shows my lovely friends Kat and Richard all dressed up in their costumes – doesn’t he look the epitome of chivalry!
Edward and Lady Joan
If you want to see more of Kat’s wonderful headdresses and costume you can visit her Kats Hat website.
I hope that you are having a nice weekend – thanks very much for visiting.
Well we have just finished the season with a fantastic event at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire. Not only did we have good weather, being mainly sunny, we also had a wonderful crowd – 800 on Sunday and 1700 on Monday . Monday’s crowd were also the most enthusiastic we have had all year and had a great time during the tournament! Thanks to everyone who came to see us and thanks for all the great comments , we really enjoy what we do and it is nice to know that you do too!
I have some pics to share with you of the event – the first is lovely daughter Ellie in the apron she has made herself for her role as the kitchen maid. She has been assisting Jane the cook this season and has really enjoyed herself cooking over an open fire. An interesting and very useful role as we all really look forward to our banquet at lunch!
See how lovely and sunny it was on Sunday!
The apron is completely hand stitched and made of linen and Ellie has even done some very neat stitching at the corners to give it a bit of decoration. She plans to add some embroidery to the hem for next season.
The next pic is of the boys on Sunday morning showing a variety of styles of medieval dress.
What a handsome bunch!
From left to right they are –
John Neville (Mark) wearing a black felt bicocket hat and a black linen tunic with layered sleeves.
Sir Hugh Despencer (Dave) wearing a green wool full length tunic with dagged chaperon (hood) and a white line coif on his head.
Sir Henry Percy (Pete) in a blue wool tunic, very fetching red wool hose and a linen coif.
Sir Hugh Bardolph (Paul) in a blue linen tunic with layered sleeves and matching chaperon, white linen coif and blue felt bicocket.
In the mornings of our shows we do various displays and activities so the boys are dressed ready for those. They run the joust and knight’s training for the children, the stocks, the weapons and armour talk and the children’s quiz. The women in the group do talks on headdresses and embroidery, cooking (live action here as they prepare lunch!) and calligraphy where the children can get their certificates signed after they have been knighted and practise calligraphy by making a bookmark. This show we also had a new talk which was done by Lady Bardolph on the use of herbs – here is the lovely display she had outside her tent.
The table with a tray of lavenderShowing how herbs were used in cooking and medicine
A sneak peek inside their beautiful tent
Lady Bardolph is an excellent embroiderer and had brought the finished goldwork and beadwork piece she started at our needlework day earlier in the year – unfortunately I did not have chance to take a picture of it!
After the banquet lunch we have the manorial court where medieval justice is dispensed, then the archery display and talk, the children’s re-enactment (strictly non – contact, just a chance for them to shout and throw pretend spears!) At the end we have the best bit which is the tournament. The children like this as it is a chance to see the knights hit each other round the head but I like it as everyone looks so wonderful in their costumes!
I mentioned in an earlier post that the knights have all made themselves mantles to decorate the top of their helmets which look very impressive when they come out of the tent into the tournament arena. Most of the knights wear great helms which have a flat top to them – ideal for displaying your heraldry! I have not been able to take close up pics but thanks to my friend Jan here are the boys at the start of Monday’s tournament looking splendid.
Hugh Despencer on the left in red and white, William de la Zouche in the centre in red and William de Bohun in the front in blueDespencer and de Bohun fighting - Despencer won as usual but William did very wellA closer pic of de Bohun's mantle with Percy in yellow on the right
I think de Bohun’s (another Paul) outfit is definitely my favourite one – he made it all himself – the surcoat is painted and the little crown of stars on the helm is made of wood. Paul is an incredibly talented graphic artist and he has been working on some images of all of the knights that we can use as publicity for the group. You can go and see his work at his web site and admire all our heraldry.
Well apart from tidying away kit (and making a mental list of all the things I need to make for next season!) I have been starting on my Xmas ornies for this year. Have finished stitching on the first JBW reindeer so will post a pic of that soon. Also have two Autumn exchanges to make as I have now signed up to another exchanging blog as well as the All Seasons one. I will be starting one of those tonight.
Am a bit sad that the season is over but am looking forward to all the nice winter evenings sitting in stitching with my candles lit. I am buying myself a new sewing machine as well – with some birthday money from my Mum and lovely kids – which is good as the old one has now packed up. I have also signed up for a Stitched and Painted Textiles Day School in November at my local Adult Education centre and have booked my ticket for the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show as well – lots of stitchy loveliness to look forward to!
We also have the start of term to look forward to and this one is particularly exciting one as Jake is going to sixth form! He did really well in his GCSEs (only didn’t pass French) and has enrolled onto a Diploma in Art, Media and Games Design which I am sure he will love. He starts college tomorrow and all my new teacher trainee students will be with me the week after next.
Thank you very much again for visiting and I hope that you have a good weekend ahead.
We spent a very lovely (and very hot!) weekend at Tatton Hall in Cheshire this weekend. We love this event – not only is it a beautiful venue , it is near home ( a mere 1 1/2 hours away) and it is always near Jake’s birthday so we have a little celebration.
Jake blowing out the candles on his 16th birthday cake!
We are still going to events by train at the moment as I don’t have a car and by a cunning combination of rail and some very nice taxi drivers we have managed to get everywhere we want to go. Travelling by train means that we have to minimise what take with us – especially for an event like this where we have to take all our food and drink for the weekend as there are no shops nearby.
We have got it down to a fine art now – here are the kids with the luggage on the way back on Sun eve.
This includes the tent all camping gear including cooking stuff and food and all clothes including medieval kit
I think even when I do have a car I will try and travel this light as we really do have everything we need here – we even have chairs (very small stools) and a mini camping table which you can see in the pic below ( not for eating but useful for prepping food).
And it all unpacks as this – here are the kids Fri night at the tent.
Lovely sunny evening in camp
I do love camping (may have mentioned this before!) but this weekend was excellent – great weather (we all came back a little pink!), great company and lots of laughs at the beer tent and round the camp fire. I love being outdoors!
Here are some pics from the event of us in kit –
Here are Lord and Lady Bardolph (Lynn and Paul) and friend Jackie dressed up to go shopping at the event's market on Saturday
Lady Bardolph in her heraldic dress on Sunday
Our knights ready for battle on Sunday
As I have mentioned in previous posts I have been making a new dress for Ellie and I got it finished in time. It is a new style of dress for me to make with contrasting gores in a paler fabric than the main body of the dress and it has worked very well – she is very pleased with it.
Next time I make one in this style I will make the gored pieces a little longer as they flare out so look shorter than the main body of the dress but that is one of the things that you learn by experience. Anyway she really likes it.
Ellie - pretty in pink
We acted as water carriers again at the event – here are Ellie and Jake at muster waiting to go on the battlefield.
Waiting to go into battle
And here are some of our friends on the battlefield.
Men in armour - what a lovely sight!
We have a quiet weekend coming up – we are having a BBQ with my brother and his partner but then are off to Italy next Monday – Venice awaits!
Stitches of Time 