Holly Pouch

This was a project that started off as a Grand Plan to embroider a heraldic sideless surcoat. I only got so far with it over many, many, many years. I decided that it was never really going to be finished and I wasn't too happy with it anyway, so I saved several of the holly motifs that were finished. Two of them I made into a pouch which I love. The fabric is cotton sportswear, a twill. The thread is DMC cotton perle, size 5, I think. Edges are stem stitch, the holly berries are also stem stitch in a spiral, and the leaves are filled in with brick stitching. I remember trying plain satin stitch at first, but it just was too loose. I finished the edges of the pouch with a technique I really like for finishing. I've seen it called embroidered braid.

So here I have the outside of the pouch and getting ready to put in the lining which was some random white linen that I had.

The pouch and lining and put together here. I usually go around the hem and do some tiny little tacking stitches to hold everything together. Am getting ready to start on the embroidered braid around the edges.

Just started the embroidered braid edging. I always have to look it up at the start to remind myself of how it goes, but once I do get going, it is pretty quick. You do have to plan ahead a little and leave a small hole to tuck the ends inside.

A couple of photos of the edging in progress.

And now the pouch is done! The embroidered braid goes around the top edge as well as the side seam. I have since added braid at the top so that the hanging cords and the tying cords are separate.

Holly Favor

This was one of the first pieces of embroidery that I did in the SCA, so it would have been from around 2004 or 2005. I made myself a favor, though sadly no one has ever worn it in my honor. The holly is on my heraldry. It's just cotton fabric with DMC floss, stem stitch around the edges and satin stich fill.

About me and my interests

Some of my interests in this grand SCA world. I mainly do 14th century in my garb, so think cotehardies, but I also really enjoy playing with other time periods and cultures. So I recently redid some of my Roman garb for myself and my mom. I am also getting ready to make a couple of Norse apron dresses for us. First time, so if anyone has favorite sources, please share.

In the A&S part, I do a lot of embroidery. German Brick Stitch is one of my big areas. I've been branching out into Intarsia Applique and have also played with some more freehand embroidery and laid and couched work (think Bayeux Tapestry stitch).

Greetings

Hi there. As I've gotten more involved with Arts and Sciences in the Society for Creative Anachronism, I have been asked if I have a blog or webpage to show my projects and resources, so here you go. Hopefully it will help me to organize my information, share my progress and process on my projects, and let me share interesting information that I find.

The main page photo is from 2006 when I was visiting Warwick Castle. It was a nice English countryside photo. I forget if it was from one of the towers.

Please bear with me as I set things up!