I ran the white silk through an hour-long dyebath using a little more than the recommended amount of dry dyestuff (Dharma Sapphire Blue Acid dye). Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough, and I didn't end up with the beautiful dark blue I fell in love with in Drew's samples. However, I still find the color (a very clear sort of french blue) to be very striking and while I have enough dye that I could run it through again, I'm thinking that I might just leave it as-is. The dark blue was a little iffy to document for the particular look of the 1560s, where gowns that aren't black seem to be pretty light colored. I also found that iron-drying damp silk makes it *very* stiff, which is hopefully good news for all the couching I'm going to end up doing.
At FP last week Owen brought a bunch of costume jewelry pieces to sell on behalf of a local former scadian, and there were a few things I couldn't resist getting:
The cross belt will work really nicely as is with my 15th century kirtle, and if I really wanted to, I could probably add spacers to it to make it a nice girdle belt.
And I found this awesome brooch! The stone in the center (most likely glass) is a smokey blue color.
And in my neverending quest for cool time pieces, I found this great little watch face. It'll make a great end for a girdle belt, but I'm still trying to figure out how to change the battery. Hopefully I'll figure something out.
I'm working on some new SCA heraldry with a Magpie and three cinquefoils, so when I saw this piece I had. to. have. it. It's a little more junky than the brooch and other pieces, but the design was inspired, so I went for it.
The seller also had a bunch of handmade bobbin lace, and I snatched about two and a half yards of this lovely stuff. I'm thinking I might be able to work a simple cuff on my 1560s project.
Also, my zibillini came in from etsy!
It was originally a vintage 3-pelt mink stole, but I was able to pick apart the stitches without too much difficulty. I love the silvery color they have going on. I'm intending to give one to Aine to make a prize for the Insurrection A&S tournament, but that still gives me two to play with. They aren't huge (maybe 16" long with the tails) so they should be pretty manageable on a belt chain. PLUS, they were purchased before I heard about the ACC challenge, so they qualify as stash.
Of course, these were all *last* week's accomplishments. The 4th of July weekend was spent visiting Drew's family in Rocklin, and while there was no sewing whatsoever, I had a lot of downtime and so avoided being completely useless:
Here is my first attempt at pearl knotting, using stash freshwater pearls. Unfortunately, Hobby Lobby only sells silk beading cord in 2 meter cards, so the size of my piece is somewhat limited, especially since I made an unsuccessful buttonhole loop on one end (I ended up just tying the ends into 8-pearl loops). I'm hoping to do knotted pearls for most of my jewelry for my project (in keeping with the Margot portrait), though I will need bigger ones for the necklace and belt (budget-wise, I might have to make do with what I have). Some of the knots are kind of funky but I think the overall look will be nice with some practice. I'm hoping this sample will work reasonably well for a hairpiece.
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