Inkle Weaving

Inkle weaving is a fun and relatively easy weaving technique to learn and use. A loom is not necessary but helps. I have friends who use a clamp to hold down one end of their weaving however, I have never had success with this. Other supplies include a beater (to pack the threads) and a shuttle.

I'm attaching a picture of my most recent project. It will be the trim for the cuffs and collar for a friend's tunic. The funny part is that I have not found the fabric for it yet but the colours of the threads were so nice, I decided to make the trim first and make the tunic around it.

I've used a 3 cord cansew gimp which is similar to a fine crochet cotton and there are 45 threads. While I enjoy inkle weaving, my aim is to learn card weaving in the next few months as this is a more period technique.

Class Handouts

I am teaching a class at Pennsic on Wednesday of war week called "Tie me up, tie me down". Now I realize the title is provocative but that's the point. I want people to not take themselves too seriously when they are attending my classes. It's on tassels, cords and braids. It's a practical class with tips and techniques plus some historical information. I want people to walk away feeling they can try any of the techniques and have success. In saying that, I realize I may get some odd people attending thinking it's an S&M class. We'll just have to see.

What I didn't do was save my last set of class notes on a word document, only a PDF. I had to redo my notes completely over the past couple of days. Note to self: always back up to a memory stick.

If you are attending Pennsic, I look forward to seeing you there. If you want to review any techniques or have questions, please feel free to contact me.

Embroidery and pattern transfer

Today I wanted to share an embroidery mistake with you. The picture that has most of the embroidery filled in was transferred onto the fabric with a transfer pencil. Problem? The marks wore off before I finished the hawk. I will finish it but for the 2nd hawk (these will be a set of cuffs) I traced the picture onto tracing paper and stitched through the paper onto the fabric with a running stitch. It took a little while but as you can see, I have a pattern that can be followed and won't wear off. Once the stitching is done, the basting stitches can easily be removed.

Not sure who is getting the hawks yet. I did a set for Baron Erec a few years ago and I'll try to get a picture of those. I have used silks and cottons for both sets.

More about inspiration

I'm still sewing so I thought I would write more about the inspiring people I know and how they share:
Asny (Jes)-lives in Minot and is a great resource on all things Norse. She is constantly sewing, researching, trying new things and sharing. Recently, I commented on a lovely headdress she made for spring crown and shortly after, she made up 20 of the wire spirals for my Finnish head dress. She is the push behind the the Patty Anne LeProject (see facebook) and she encourages and inspires all the time.
Isobel (Sally)-is part of the Silfen Mere group. She seems to be a wiz at whatever she turns her hand to. Her beading is wonderful and she's always trying new techniques. She recently made a particoloured cotehardie that was stunning! I'm tempted to make one.
Xristinia (Ninka/Melina)-lives in Kingston and is the main reason I'm doing the 50 for 50. She does beautiful Byzantine and related garb. No matter the situation, she always has the proper headwear and layers to look stunning.
Ailinore (Becky)-another friend from Silfen Mere. Her research is far better than mine will ever be and I have to thank her for looking up stuff and sharing links with me. It helps so much! Her cooking keeps the inspiration flowing, particularly those fritters from WW-yum!
Yvan(John)-is from WI and the latest embroidery laurel for Northshield. I met him a few years ago when he taught a basic sewing class at Gimli. His embroidery is stunning and the quality of his stitching is great. He teaches as much as he can and will share tips and techniques with anyone who asks. See my pics from Nordskogen's 12th night in 2010 to see his ecclesiastical piece. Better than what I had seen in the cathedrals in England.
More inspirations will come down the line.

Where do you find inspiration?

One of the things I enjoy about the SCA are the number of people who readily share their knowledge, skill, etc, to help others. Sometimes, just by being skilled at what they do, they set an example we can aspire to in our skills. Here are a few of the people who have inspired me. This is not a complete list and just a few of the people. In future, I'll share more name of peopoe who provide inspiration:
Maddelena-our "Maddy" is a genius with wool and most fibres. I've seen her teach dyeing, knitting, felting, etc. She shares readily and teaches in a way that is easy to follow.
Isobel-Although in the SCA for a relatively short time, she has provided a great amount of knowledge on embroidery, colour combinations, design layout for cuffs and collars and more. I'm always amazed by the consistency of her stiching and the quality of her designs.
Karel (Tom)-he works with wood and is in the Shire of Silfen Mere. I have rarely seen such quality work done in wood plus the imaginative nature of his creations. One example are the garbage cans he made for the encampment. It looks like a butter churn. Practical but beautiful.
Ellen-one of the other "evil aunties" is a whiz with elizabethan garb. I'm tempted to learn how to make a corset simply by seeing how well she makes hers.
Find inspiration in the people around you. Share your info, have fun, please teach!

Sewing Marathon continues...

I've posted a couple of new pictures today. One is the black apron dress for HRH Anne which is black linen (thank you Eithni for the great deal!) and trimmed with card woven trim by Christopher Heth (Robert). His weaving is attractive, neat and easy to use-thank you Chris!

The other is the red wool cloak for Isobel. I stitched the angel on in a combination of outline and split stitch and I finished it with outline in black.

The eura dress pattern has come out well after I wrestled with it for a while. Keep old fabrics and/or muslin handy for new patterns. Save your linen for the final cut. While most of my garb is plain, I decided to pull out the trim and decorate a few. It's amazing how trim can make an old item look new! Pennsic is just a couple of weeks away now so I'm going through my garb to see what fits and what dosen't. A friend is coming over to help with hemming tomorrow.

Why the blog?

July 19, 2010
I decided to start the blog after overhearing some new people at a recent SCA event discussing how they felt they would not have the time or resources to be "good enough" to participate. They were referring to garb (costumes) for events. I sat with them for a while and talked about garb, where to find fabric, what to make to start off, etc. Unfortunately, they come from a small group that does not have a large amount of people and few to share knowledge. I hope that by reading my blog and asking questions, people can get some information they can share.

I finished 3 pieces this past weekend. 2 Eura dresses for HRH Anne. One is white linen which I ended up handsewing a large part of and the second is black of which I ended up machine sewing most of it. The difference in time? About 10 hours. Handsewing gives a beautiful finish but sometimes you have to consider what needs to get done. The third is a black linen viking apron dress with gold and white trim woven by my friend Christopher. His card weaving is exceptional and once hemmed, the outfit will be great. Pics will be posted later.