A sunny weekend in Somerset

June 5, 2014 stitchesoftime3 Comments

Hello there

Hope you are all well and happy. I am having a lovely time, having just got back from our week away of National Trust properties. More of that to come, saw some fab stuff as always and had a great time with my very brilliant friend Kerry.

I am very lucky to have someone who I have so much in common with, we have had a wonderful week of camping, mini pyjama parties in the Travelodges and seeing some beautiful stuff.

We started our trip with the Templecombe Medieval Pageant – way down South in a very lovely little village in Somerset. The eight hour journey was worth it as the event was excellent. I have not been to this one for 10 years but will be going again.

The sun shone all weekend (a miracle) and our water and cold flannels were much appreciated by the boys on the field.

For this event there is a mini fort that the boys attack and defend, we were inside on Saturday and outside on Sunday and it was great fun hiding behind the walls listening to the guys with the battering ram trying to get in.

Cooling the boys down before the battle.

Waiting inside the fort.

The battering ram.

At the end of the battle – me in the blue dress looking for survivors!

All these photos are courtesy of the brilliant Pat Patrick who comes along to events and takes so many lovely shots. It is great to have a record of the events like this and we all really appreciate it.

I also got to meet Maria, my friend Kat from re-enactment’s, beautiful new baby and give her this bunny – who I have named Lavender.

I did some finishing while I was away and am very excited to have made my first elephant – again from Little Cotton Rabbits. Photos of her to follow.

Thanks for visiting and see you soon.

My lovely boys !

May 27, 2014May 26, 2015 stitchesoftime2 Comments

Hello there, we have just got back from a lovely (if wet as always) weekend at Ashby de la Zouche Castle where we were doing a show. Over a 1000 people braved the weather this Bank Holiday to come and see us which was very nice of them.

At least it was sunny on Saturday even if Sunday afternoon and packing the tents was a bit wet and cold 😦

The boys in the group have been working really hard all winter on their new kit so I thought you might like to see some pictures of them in their finery.

Luke has adapted his outfit to include chains that hold his horned great helm and his swords so that he can hang the helm from his back as he fights (he wears another smaller helm underneath to fight in).

You can see the chains here on this picture of him and our newest member Jamie and again on a picture taken at the last show of all of our knights on the steps of Bolsover Castle. Thanks to Jamie for these next two photos.

This picture below was also taken at Bolsover and you can see more clearly the helmet that Mark our Dragon Knight was wearing for that show which had a St George’s day theme.

Paul in the blue is a wonderful artist and his costume has such detail on it, his belt has stamped and painted lions and the surcoat and shield are all hand painted.

Shane has got a lovely new helmet for this season (yes it does look a bit like a lemon squeezer!) and some new armour – this picture was taken by one of the visitors as I didn’t get chance to get close-ups due to the inclement weather but he has new arm and leg armour in a blue tint and a new armoured surcoat with plates inside it.

They were all looking very splendid and I was very proud of them 😉

We have a packed summer ahead of us which is brilliant. This weekend we are off to Somerset for an event followed by our week visiting National Trust properties and then another two events to finish off June.

I am really looking forward to the months ahead, my teaching finished last week (just some large piles of marking to come) and my lovely group bought me some gift vouchers for a local wool shop which I am really looking forward to spending!

Just about to make up the first of my (no doubt many) Little Cotton Rabbits elephants and have lots and lots of projects planned for summer – going to make the most of the newly sorted craft room.

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Outlaws in the Forest

May 18, 2014 stitchesoftime2 Comments

Hello again, I hope that you have all had a good week.

I have been enjoying another weekend at home and our first at home BBQ of the year, my last weekend here for two weeks as I have shows then a holiday with my friend Kerry!

Last year we took the opportunity to travel round some of the National Trust properties down South after one of our shows and are doing the same again this year going to visit some places in Somerset, Dorset and Devon.

I am so happy that the season has started again, the joys of cooking bacon butties for breakfast outside the tent and meeting lots of lovely people – it is a great way to spend a weekend. Look at this lovely tent owned by one of our friends – wouldn’t you love to camp in this?

The theme of the first show this year was crime and punishment as it was in Sherwood Forest the home of Robin Hood and his band of merry men. We had another great weekend with really lovely weather so lots of people came to see us. It was just a small event with about 8 groups but there was plenty to see in the living history camps.

It was also a very significant first because Ellie came up in Kim and we drove all the way to re-enactment in the car! She did really well as we went on the motorway and she was not at all fazed (even when there was a big lorry trying to come into the lane). I am really proud of her and it was very lovely being driven all the way there (and back as well by my brilliant friend Kerry).

Because of having all this transport we were able to take the medieval tent and some stuff for the display which was a real luxury, am very happy in any tent but to have my medieval one is very special 😉

We were camped with some friends who were doing weapons and armour talks all weekend and we did our usual headdress and embroidery talks which was a nice complement to their display.

This picture shows the camp after the battle with the boys’ arming jacks and paraphernalia everywhere!

And we had the great excitement of a new recruit to the group at her first event. And not just a new recruit for the main group this is our new sister for our little watercarrying group. Here is Sadie all dressed up and ready to go for her first show.

Sadie works with Ellie at Hardwick and has been sword training for a while but decided she would like to join us as well and she really enjoyed herself, she will be coming to many of our future shows as well.

So here’s to many more sunny weekends to come – don’t really mind it raining during the week as long as it always dries up by Friday 😉

Thanks for visiting and see you in a couple of weeks.

Sunny end to the season!

September 14, 2013 stitchesoftimeLeave a comment

We spent last weekend at beautiful Caldicot Castle in South Wales, one of my favourite venues and despite a bad forecast and wet weather all the way down we had a lovely weekend with lots of sun.

Here are some of my favourite sights – medieval tents in a sunny castle!

I have found the picture I took at an earlier event of the helm mantle I made, this is the red covering with plaited band in the front of the picture, the orle I made earlier is at the back.

The Sisters of Mercia, our little watercarrying group, have had a lovely, lovely season, we have really enjoyed ourselves and made some new friends as well as spending time with old ones.

We are really looking forward to next year.

I will leave you with this pic of us – courtesy of our friend Dave, this was taken before going onto the battlefield. Since the very hot Tewkesbury event and the introduction of cold flannels (as well as water and jelly babies :-)) we have been carrying our own flannels.

I have titled this picture, ‘Kerry demonstrating to the Sisters the correct use of the cold flannel’ 🙂 We are obviously listening to her really carefully! It is a skilled job this watercarrying you know.

Thanks for visiting, see you soon.

Emily’s grand day out!

August 27, 2013September 13, 2013 stitchesoftime4 Comments

Hello everyone, hope you in the UK had a very good Bank Holiday weekend.We had a lovely time, a long car journey (well four in total!) gave me lots of chance for knitting and I took my latest rabbit Emily with me so here she is in her new dress at Ludlow Castle this weekend.

Emily really enjoyed her day – as well as the castle she got to look at some of the weapons close up – here she is on my friend Paul’s weapons rack.

We were going to see some friends at the Battle of the Nations Team UK tournament at Ludlow Castle in Shropshire, intending only to visit on Sunday dressed in kit but watch and not take part.

However within 10 minutes of getting there were in the arena helping give water and sort armour. We had so much fun we decided to go back again on Monday (despite having a 3 hour drive each way – thanks to lovely Kerry for that!).

It was very warm on Monday and the water, cold flannels and jelly babies were much appreciated by the combatants.

Battle of the Nations is a new venture in the UK where teams compete in full contact tournaments, it is amazing to watch with everything from one-to-one timed combat with points scored for hits to large melees with huge numbers where it is literally last man standing who wins.

It is very fast and furious fighting and we loved being part of it and hope to join them at events again next season. Go and visit their website and Facebook page for more info including videos and photos.

Here are a few more pictures of the castle and of the lovely buildings in the town, it is a really pretty place and I would like to go back for a visit to look at things in more detail sometime.

As well as Ludlow I got to spend the day in Chesterfield with Ellie and we had a look round the famous church with the twisted spire – will post some pictures of that in a later post.

We also visited all of the fabric, haberdashery and wool shops in the town (well it would be rude not too!) and as well as the wonderful fabric stall on the market enjoyed the button selection at Fred’s Haberdashery where I picked up these little cuties, perfect for bunny dresses!

Am looking forward to a quiet weekend at home making medieval kit and have an urge to start on my Xmas ornie stock as well ready for the craft fairs in Nov – never too soon for a bit of Christmas crafting!

Take care and thanks for visiting.

More kit and castles!

August 15, 2013September 13, 2013 stitchesoftime1 Comment

Hello there

Thought I would post a picture of kit I have made recently and tell you about my latest castle visit!

This is my friend Jamie in the shirt I made him, I have lots of requests for shirts now so will be busy in the off-season and will get lots of practise at making holes!

We did a lovely show this last weekend with some friends, it was a countryside show just outside a town called Bewdley in Worcestershire.

I was dressed as a lady all day (a very rare sight and I didn’t get any pictures!) and Kerry and I did head-dress talks and the boys had a tournament. Luckily the weather was great.

After the show I stayed on for a bit and went castle visiting. This is Stokesay Castle in Shropshire which has been on my wish list to visit for a while.

It is a fortified manor house in most beautiful setting and we had a lovely day.

Most of the rooms were bare apart from this very lovely 17th century panelling in the tower.

There is also an old church next door with beautiful wall paintings – sadly none of my pics came out well as it was dark.

We did find some old graves with lovely textures on the headstones where the lichen had grown over them

And we finished the day having some very nice cider in a pub in the centre of Bewdley, these are the views of the River Severn.

I do not have any shows planned for a few weeks now so will be getting on with rabbit knitting, shirt making and some house fettling, I have some bits of painting to do.Will have a new rabbit to show you at the weekend!

Thank you as always for visiting.

More medieval loveliness!

August 5, 2013August 6, 2013 stitchesoftime2 Comments

Hello again

One of the lovely things about having new members and an official photographer with the group now is that we get lots of brilliant pictures of our shows.

Previously I have had to sneak out early on and take shots before I get into kit but thanks to Jamie, Sam and Wendy we have these lovely pics of last weekend. I particularly love the shots taken from the tower!

Our little living history camp.

Another bird’s-eye view – the King knighting the children after their training.

Me busy giving water to everyone.

Two of our newer members – Clive and Ron as Edward the Second and Squire Legget

The ladies – Ellie and Kerry with our newly returned member Paul in his kit at the tournament.Our new member Jamie is on the right of this pic in the shirt I made him which fits thankfully!

Luke and Mark in the tournament.

The group all lined up after the show – don’t we look lovely!

A special welcome to Sam (blue dress second from left), Jamie next to her, Richard (at the end on the right) and Alex (second from right in a green tunic) as this was their first show and they did brilliantly!

And with our new group banner.

I really enjoyed the show and it is lovely that our little group is expanding.

Have finished my rabbit and two dresses for it so will take some nice pics (when it stops raining!) and post that later in the week.Really enjoyed doing it so am on to rabbit number 2 next.

Thanks for visiting and have a nice week!

Weird Weather!

July 28, 2013September 13, 2013 stitchesoftimeLeave a comment

Hello there

Just back from a fabulous weekend at Ashby de la Zouche Castle with the Swords of Mercia.

A brilliant two days of shows and thanks to all the lovely people who came to see us, our biggest crowd yet – about 1,000 people in total over the weekend and we got very lovely feedback from them.

The weather was most peculiar, we British do talk about the weather an awful lot but there again we have a lot more weather to talk about!

Not for us the endless days of the same stuff, we can have two or three season’s worth in a day!

This weekend started with boiling hot for Saturday (spent most of day giving water to the guys) followed by a disaster movie type storm all evening. I have never seen so much lightning in my life.

Ashby is always an event of extremes, we used to do two shows a year there and one was hot and one very wet – as we are now only doing one a year this year the weather combined.

Thankfully it was beautiful for both shows and for packing up all the tents – always a relief!

I had my lovely little medieval tent to sleep in this weekend, here it is in the sunshine before packing up tonight. Have not used for a couple of years due to not having a car but my lovely friend Shane brought it for me this weekend.

And this is the view from outside the tent – beautiful!

Here are a few other pics from the show – thanks to Ellie and Wendy for these.

The group pic shows us at the end of the show today, I am in the nun’s costume as usual. We had some new members with us this weekend so welcome to Jamie, Sam, Richard and Alex, you were fab!

And here is lovely Ellie in a dress she has not worn for a while, looking beautiful in the late afternoon sun.

Thank you to all my lovely friends in the group, this was our last show together for this year though we have some other shows that just me, Kerry and Ellie are doing.

You have been a second family to me for nearly 11 years now and your friendship and support has meant so much to me.They do say laughter is the best medicine, well we will always be very healthy with the fun we have together 🙂

I have a lovely quiet week coming up so am planning lots of crafting. I have just started knitting my first ever bunny from Julie of Little Cotton Rabbits and am loving it!

Hoping to get it finished soon but meanwhile here is what I hope it will look like.

If you would like to have the pattern go to Ravelry – fab knitting site with loads of free patterns as well and buy Julie’s wonderful pattern.

Thanks for visiting and see you again soon.

The heat of the (k)night

July 19, 2013 stitchesoftime3 Comments

Well hello from my cool lounge – dare I say it is a little warm out there today, not that I am complaining but am having a cool half hour inside to blog.

We have had a lovely week starting with the amazingly brilliant and very, very hot Tewkesbury last weekend.

Huge congratulations to all the boys who fought in temperatures of 34 degrees on the Saturday.

One of the organisers had the brilliant idea of filling buckets with large blocks of ice and flannels so we spent a lot of time cooling people off as well as giving water.

The back of the battlefield looked like Emergency Ward 10 1471 style and there were lots of very red faces but thankfully no ill effects.

Possibly my best Tewkesbury ever – such fun even if were all looking like lobsters!

Here are a few pics, these were taken by my lovely friend Sam.

Luke, one of our group, in his new armour

Luke and Jamie guarding the Prince

The Prince with Margaret of Anjou and her bodyguards

The battle

My lovely Ellie watercarrying

I didn’t manage to get any pics of the kit I have made actually being worn as it was too hot to put wool on but everything fitted ok which is good and we bought lots more fabric to make things for us and the boys in the next few months.

The craft room needs a bit of organisation which I plan to do this weekend!

However here is a pic from the Tutbury show a couple of weeks ago of the orle that I made for a friend, these are padded decorations for helmets and I have made this blue and white one and a red and white one as well.

After Tewkesbury Kerry and I went on a little holiday visiting lots of lovely National Trust properties, mainly Tudor ones so I will sort out pics for a mega post over the weekend.There were some beautiful textiles as always so we had a fab time.

Now going to have a quiet weekend of stitching, a little gardening and maybe a walk (which will involve a paddle and ice-cream 🙂 Oh and catching up on the most recent episode of The White Queen where they should be doing the Tewkesbury battle as well!

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Practising making holes

July 9, 2013 stitchesoftime1 Comment

Hello everyone and I hope you in the UK have been enjoying all this beautiful sunshine we have been having!

It has been wonderful here and we have been really enjoying ourselves. This also bodes very well for our favourite event of the re-enactment year as this coming weekend it is the Tewkesbury Medieval Festival and I am beyond excited 🙂

You may remember that last year the event nearly got called off do to the site flooding and it was a mud fest to say the least but this year we are looking forward to lovely sunshine just like the old days.

Do come and visit if you can – it is the 30th anniversary of the event this year and is a brilliant day out, free entry as well though please donate as much as you can to our bucket collectors as it costs a lot to put the event on and we want it to continue! The town and Abbey are also fantastic to wander round and if it is hot there is the river to paddle in.

I have been making lots of kit for friends and have been busy finishing it off in time which is why I have been practising making holes. If you want more info on medieval men’s kit then go to my page which details what everything is called.

I am not very good at this part of the kit making process (my lovely friend Kerry is a dab hand at it and her dresses have beautiful lacing holes down the back). I have usually cheated with using ribbon loops on my dresses but wanted to make a shirt with a laced neck and hose with holes to tie them to the brais.

They are not too bad but could be neater.

I will take some photos of the garments on their recipients and post later – Jake has been very kindly trying things on for me as I go along but as he is lots skinnier than my friends they have looked a bit big on him!

So far I have made a shirt, lined hose and slightly different style of brais so it has been good for me to learn new skills.

I have also been practising neatening my seams by stab stitching as I always zigzag raw edges before sewing together to prevent fraying and this makes them a bit neater and means the sleeves can be rolled up if needed.

I am thinking of adding a new page to the making costume bit with more details of these garments as I know I get lots of hits for that so it is on my to do list now that summer is here and work is quieter.

It was my birthday recently and I got some lovely presents, my sister-in-law Amanda who is a very keen cross stitcher made me this beautiful Celtic design scissor keep which came in very handy as the scissors had really fine points for cutting the holes.

She also stitched this birthday card for me – very appropriate!

And from my lovely kids I got this gorgeous book which was a total surprise as it was not from my wish list. Ellie saw it when one of the staff at Hardwick brought it in and thought I would like it and it is brilliant, just my sort of book with lots and lots of detail about techniques and sources.

It is called Sweet Bags by Jacqui Carey.

And look another version of the Layton Jacket that I have posted about previously, this one is a portrait of Lady Dorothy Carey dated 1615 and I had not seen this pic before.

My lovely Mum gave me some money for garden furniture so I have bought a BBQ and last Friday we had our first Marsden barbie – here is Jake enjoying the sun (and a little cider!)

Still got to get a new table and chairs (that is our camping stuff) once I have decided what I want, tempted by a lovely mosaic bistro set but think the table is a bit small.

Well I shall be posting again in a couple of weeks as after Tewkesbury Kerry and I are off on a National Trust fest making the most of our memberships to go and visit some lovely properties, hope the weather holds for that.

Take care and thank you as always for visiting, liking, following and subscribing 🙂

Stitches of Time

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.

Tag: re-enactment

A sunny weekend in Somerset

My lovely boys !

Outlaws in the Forest

Sunny end to the season!

Emily’s grand day out!

More kit and castles!

More medieval loveliness!

Weird Weather!

The heat of the (k)night

Practising making holes