Here is the wool for the shawl with the fringe started.
It is very light weight in a creamy off white color.
Embroidered Shawl Project – p1
In a previous post, I mentioned the embroidered shawl I have been planning. Originally, I wasn’t going to write anything about this project until the fall thinking I would enter it in the fair. But, I’ve decided it is far more fun to share.
Right now I’m still in the planning & prep stage. I have an assortment of original embroidered shawls to pull from as well as emboidery designs. Once I decide on the design, this what I have in mind…
Step 1 – Wash the wool as it has soiling from sitting in the store I picked it up from. Hang dry.
Step 2 – Square & fringe.
Step 3 – Block out the border placement & corner motif.
Step 4 – Bite the bullet & chalk/mark in the design. I’ll either use a cut template or trace if the wool is transparent enough.
Step 5 – Embroidering, lots of embroidering
“Antiques on Campus”
In light of this being the anniversary of Dad’s death, it just felt right to go to an antique show. It was comforting to walk among the many things he would have appreciated. There were several items I’m sure would have caught his eye. There were also many things that reminded me of Grandpa and Grandma.
I was able to get a few photos of items as I purused. Since I was just writing about miniature portraits in jewelry, here are theonlytwo I saw at the show.
Of course there were a few shawls. The paisleys were fairly ordinary, none having enough uniqueness to make them worth considering. There was an incredibly well-preserved black silk shawl that I would love to have in my collection. After chatting with the couple displaying it, I found they have a few more shawls including some family shawls they are whiling to show me as they would love to learn more about them. I have their card and look forward to talking with them again. There was one other shawl that I considered until I saw the extensive, unstable damage in the center. The fracturing along the center folds was significant and supplemented with either moth or rubbing damage. I did take these photos because the color was so nice. It is a fairly standard sized double square shawl with a border plaid. The weave is very fine. It would be nice to look at the threads under magnification since there appeared very long fibers used.
Here is the item I would have just loved to bring home with me. This is the smallest needlebook I have yet seen. It is just about an inch by just under two inches in size. The cover is silk. I couldn’t tell if it was ribbon or a yardage scrap. The pages inside are just so cute and tiny. The pocket is incredible. Then, there is the two color bow on the outside. LOVE IT!!! It is taking a good deal of self-control not to go back to pick this little guy up.
There were other needlebooks including a felt hat and a braided grass fiber. This one was different in color and embroidery technique.
For all my doll loving friends, you would have loved this show. There was an abundance of doll items available. Here is just one of the displays.
At the beginning of the show I leafed through the piles of cdvs one gentleman had looking for some with shawls. No luck. Since it was just the beginning, I allowed myself one cdv thinking I would see something else I had to have (like that needlebook.) I’ll likely do a separate post about her attire and that trim.
Meandering Thoughts on a Tiny Subject
Brooches have been popping up in conversation and other places lately, particularly those with portrait or scenic images in them. With this reoccuring surfacing, my thoughts have been meandering around these curious miniature bits of art.
Now, if I was to actually consider these for a research topic I would want to look at….
– The types of images – painted, etched, photographic…. Would micro-mosaic or carved count as well?
– The types of settings including materials, style, shape, lockets, pin placement, convertablity…. ceramic, enamel, stone, shell…
– The durability of the images – curious about this….
– Who are the subjects?
– Who are the artists?
– Why? … including memorial pieces. The hair pieces on the reverse side?
– Typical verse unusual? Shape, materials, subjects?
– I’m going to have look at lots of these, lots and lots of these…. (two on the way home)
Ponderings
There have been lots of ponderings lately. Lots of ponderings and very little actual doing. I’ve pondered wrappers and clothes for Dan as well as Lily. Yet, I’ve not sewn a stitch other than a repair here & there since finishing up a last hood sometime back around New Years. Though I’ve told a certain incredibly patient editor and my lovely blog readers time & time again that I will have something for them, the words have simply not made it on to paper or screen. When I looked at my publication list yesterday in hopes of some inspiration for something else, I realized the date at the top was 2010, not even 2011 but 2010. Ouch. I just haven’t had the focus to make any sense of the research bits & pieces I have let alone actually read anything. I think in the past year or so I’ve only finished reading one book. Really. I know. Should just sit down with my laptop & focus. But, reality is, even now I’m typing on my phone (and inevitably producing a multitude of typos.)
Ah, but there is an upside and a point to this. Last night I made Dan a little birthday gift, a sewn birthday gift. I also started a 19th century garment for someone else. There was actual cutting & sewing. Progress.
I even have a project of my own in the planning works, one step beyond pondering. I was going to keep it a secret project with the idea of entering it into the fair in the fall. But…. I need to keep myself accountable & actually make progress. So, I’ll be posting the work here. For now, I’ll say it has to do with one of my pet topics & involves lots & lots of embroidery. Maybe while embroidering I’ll have a moment of inspiration or even discover the meaning of life. 😉
Presidents’ Day… aka a day off
Theoretically with this day off I should be researching or writing something. Ya, I really should.
Let’s see…. I could be working on that comprehensive list of fashion plates with shawls. Or, that ‘work glove’ question. Or, those illustrations included in the fashion accessories book that I think are sewing accesories instead of fashion accessories. Or, I could ponder this ‘I don’t feel like sewing’ issue which only seems to be tempted out of by the idea of wrappers. Hmmmm…..
If I Had My Own Blue Box: 