New coat

the weather is getting a bit nippy, so I finally got round to/found the courage to cut my new coat from the expensive blanket I bought at the Yorkshire show.

I spent a while trying to figure out the best cut. In the end I went with a rather odd cut that involved only five pieces and is more like origami than sewing. The whole of the body is the width of the blanket, with the collar made from two projecting pieces. The other four pieces are two sleeves and two pockets. The only bits left  were trimmings from the collar as I put it together, I left cutting them until I’d sewn the shoulders and draped it.

Considering that there was a really minimal amount fo sewing involved in this, it was doubly annoying that after I’d carefully draped the collar I managed to sew it inside out. The collar was the bit I was really worried about because I realised it would have to be gathered to drape nicely with the fringe intact, but I think it just looks nice and toasty now it’s done.

Including the bits of handsewing to place the lining around the sleeves and shoulders, this took a grand total of two hours work if you don’t include the hours of procrastination before making four cuts in the fabric.

I did procrastinate a lot before cutting, because the blanket was more than £100, and I felt a bit guilty about the cost. Then I realised that this may sound expensive for a piece of fabric, but this is brocade, which is always expensive, and what’s more it’s wool brocade, which tends to run more expensive than silk ones. When I’ve bought wool brocades in the past they’ve been between £100-and £200 per metre, so if you put it into that perspective it was about the going rate. I doubt very much you could buy a plain coat in 100% wool for what I paid for materials on this.

It’s lined with a lightwieght mustard coloured wool for extra winter warmth. I just had a nap under it, it’s good and warm, and i think fit for purpose.

 

November, women’s labours.

Mr November is slaughtering his pigs, so Mr’s N is far more sensibly staying in by the warm fire and recycling said pigs into tasty sausages and hams.

November’s kitty is my mum’s cat, Thorin. My mother’s youngest child is definately her most spoilt, and much doted upon. My stepdad, Peter, insisted that Thorin be November’s kitty because that’s when his birthday is. Thorin is spit roasting a tasty rat on a stick – yum!

 

oopsie

I pulled out a strip of grey Manx tweed I had leftover. It was leftover from cutting out panels in preparation for starting the guthlac roll once I’ve finished the Women’s labours. I thought I had just enough for the filers, but…

I picked it up and it went everywhere. I’ve marked out all of the bits I need and there’s still about 5meters left.

I might have to make a scarf

the king and the animals

I showed you Alison’s doggie from class, but this week she sent me a picture of the finished piece, and as you can see she’s had lots of practice couching down slips.

I really like the chicken.

And all that practice gave her the confidence to tackle her king from the opus class a few years ago, on whom she’s done a fantastic job,

October, women’s labours

I wibbled for a long while on the October panel. She was originally going to be selling goods at market whilst her husband fattens the pigs, but I couldn’t find a market image I liked, so instead she is tablet weaving, which seems more appropriate than using a larger loom because it’s something I do myself.

October’s cats are bobby and Lola, who live two doors down with our nieghbour Charlotte. Bobby spends most of his time in our garden, of which he assumes ownership, as he does every other garden in the nieghbourhood. He is basically the local yob. A couple of times he’s managed to sneak into our house, only to come face to face with Branston and Hobbes, at which point Bobby went into full howling attack “I know karate, I’ve got a black belt, me” mode. Our two were never impressed, Hobbes just looked confused because he couldn’t understand why this strange cat didn’t want to be his fwend, whilst Branston just sort of looked unimpressed, possibly because he’s passed bigger turds than Bobby.

He and his sister Lola are burmese. Lola is seen here sleeping, as opposed to her usual activity of peeing on stuff. On more than one occiassion Lola has managed to pee directly into Charlotte’s plug sockets and short out her entire house. We tend to know about this stuff because Gareth is the only male in the nieghbourhood with any practical skills, so he gets called out for every emergency.

desborough…ish

Since I started silversmithing I’ve wanted a replica of the Anglo Saxon necklace from Desborough.

I actaully made most of the pendants for this last summer, had them hallmarked, but didn’t get them gold palted because I ahdn’t yet made the beads.

I’ve been plugging away at the beads for months now. I kept thinking I’d get better at them but I didn’t, and eventually reached the point of soddit. Some of my beads are ok, some are just plain bad. But at least now they are shiny and golden?

I’ve said Desborough ish because the original was all garnet pendants. I don’t do lapidary, it’s a separate skill from silversmithing which I have niether the time, the desire, the money to buy more equipment, the space to store said equipment, nor the inclination to learn. So some of my pendants are garnet, and some are rubies of roughly the right shape.

Obviously, Gareth thinks it’s completely hideous.

Brenda’s class piece

And one more set of pics from class. I forgot to take pics on the Saturday, but Brenda was kind enough to email these. Brenda has a good excuse for not having finished hers because she had a teensy bit of. a heart attack last year, but she’s better now and she’s done loads between the last two classes.

It’s an images adapted from the codex manesse, and it’s Brenda and her husband, with her watching him fish. The book she’s reading says “stupid boy”