Wooohooo! I finally started the 12th century printed silk tunic project for my sweetheart!
And you find me quite excited as I was preparing for this very special project for some time now.
You might have already been wondering about all the new 12th/13th century inspired block printing stamps which I created during the last months. After finishing the last stamp we were finally able to put the new block printing stamps to good use.
You might think that after carving three medieval inspired block printing stamps rather recently, which were all based on extant printed fabrics from the 12th to 13th century, that I might have done enough stamp cutting for a while. But no, I have by far not have had enough from cutting block printing stamps yet.
And it definitely didn’t help that my dear sweetheart ordered a nice set of good cutting tools as Christmas present for me. Yeah, he is indeed a terrible enabler when it comes to my projects and, as you can imagine, I definitely do not object to that… 😉
…and so it finally begins – a new stamp for my next medieval inspired block printing project is cut and mounted! Romanesque teardrop stamp for the win!
And I already can’t wait to cut the next stamp as the 12th/13th century pattern which I want to reproduce and play with is calling for a set of at least two stamps. And not only that, I also have my eye already set on a third pattern which is quite similar in its outer appearance. I bet that this third medieval pattern would look lovely when added to this growing repertoire of what I started to call “romanesque teardrop stamps”. Yes, one can definitely say for sure that I’ve fallen in love with block printing. And this craft is so amazing and inspiring – I already found several inspiring medieval print patterns with which I would love to play. Yes, the possibilities of this craft appear to be endless. 🙂
I haven’t made anything for myself for over one year, as my dear sweetheart pointed out to me recently. And the good husband that he is, he made me swear that I would start working on a project for myself and my own amusement next. …or as I did put it: as soon as possible. 😉
However much fun it is to make things for other people, one has always to be careful not to work oneself to the brink of creative exhaustion. Therefore I find it really important to do a fun project from time to time in order to recharge the internal batteries. It feels to me like a creative recharge every now and then gets me beyond the point of “just making a thing”. It enables me to go one step further – to open my mind for inspiration, to allow myself to get creative and to execute techniques and patterns I haven’t tried yet. Yes, in my opinion inspiration is a very important part of every creative process and project but it is also a very fragile flower which needs some occasional pampering. And to work oneself into a burn out doesn’t really help anyone as the recovery process can take quite some time. I am glad that my sweetheart takes such a good care of me and reminds me to take a break once in a while. Continue reading
After several days of drawing and re-drawing, I am finally able to present to you a new addition to my pattern collection – the (late) 12th century tunic pattern which I have been using so successfully for my husbands tunic projects till now:
Well, I admit it, my 12th century tunic pattern is actually based on a tunic found in a royal grave from the early 13th century. Though it can’t be said for sure, my personal opinion is that this pattern can also be counted towards the late 12th century. Due to my love for the 12th century, I decided to count this tunic pattern towards to the late 12th century rather than the early 13th century.
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And today we are taking a look at the very last pictures of the embroidery for my husbands 13th century under tunic project. I will show you how I created the shell embroidery for my husbands “Order of Compostella”/”Pilgrims Order Award.
After I promised my husband to incorporate all of his SCA awards in the embellishment along the cuffs of his tunic, I waited with the shells until after I finished all the other awards first. Well, at first I wasn’t quite sure how I should realize the pattern with the quite thick “gold thread” which I used for the rest of the embellishment but then I had a striking idea…
And today I have some more pictures of my embroidery for my husbands 13th century under tunic project.
During the last days I was quite busy entertaining a rather bad head cold but today it finally started to clear up again and I am already feeling much better. I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to be able to think more clearly again and not to sneeze and cough all the time. 🙂
Because of my cold I was not able to take the promised pictures of me wearing my new “Meridian cross cyclas” or some nice close ups of the embroidery but I will try to take this pictures as soon as possible. 😀
New inspiration for our hobby can be quite difficult to find but some books really make a difference. Like the one in which I found the inspiration for my husbands new 13th century under tunic.
Since I started with this hobby, which was more then 10 years ago, I have been searching for interesting and inspiring books. But well, with every new book purchase for my book collection I always take a chance.
Finally I can declare the 13th century under tunic project for my sweethearts 12th century wedding clothing project finished. And the expression on my husbands face every time he wears his new hand sewn 13th century under tunic assures me that this project is a great success. 😀
The construction of the 13th century under tunic pattern was a rather long process but I really learned a lot concerning the differences between male and female clothing while working at this project. Especially because I never (hand) sewed a period male garment like this before. It took several alterations to the measurements – especially of the body part – but it was totally worth it. I am very glad that I never gave up, regardless how frustrating some steps of the final fitting process were for me.
And again a new update concerning the 13th century under tunic for my sweetheart – it took many working hours and little stitches but the bottom hemline embroidery is finished! *happydance*
Well, the embellishment is quite simple but the bottom hemline looks much more appealing with this extra sparkle. I think you can say that it adds a certain “je-ne-sais-quoi”. 😉