Fairytale coat
Ok, so promised textiles, and textiles it is, just not necessarily historical ones. You’ll have bear with me at the moment, I’ve got magazine stuff to write and classes to prep and kids costumes to make, so as light relief I’m allowed two days each week working on something utterly pointless to stop me stressing out.
So I picked up the fairytale coat. Dragon is done, and I’ve decided not to add scales. Time to finish the landscape beneath him.
As you can see I’ve been working on the left hand side
The idea was to add as many fairytale/ nursery rhyme/ myth elements to this landscape as possible, but I also don’t want it looking too bitty. I think maybe I’ll work in a few more green lines like the one round the bottom of the ridiculously phallic tower to tie it together.
I tried twice to work the pied piper on the left, dancing away in the opposite direction to the carriage, but I picked him out twice. I might try replacing him with a satyr.
There is something hugely satisfying about French knot sheep.
The frog is called Gareth. I keep kissing Gareth but he refuses to turn into a handsome prince. I think he’s doing it just to awkward.
I’m not entirely sure that harness the mice are wearing would effectively allow them to pull that carriage without strangulation. Then again I’m not sure the laws of physics apply to mice pulling a pumpkin.
I fancy working in a naked emporer if I can find some wool the right colour. Gareth says this is just because I want to embroider willies, but I planned to make him so fat no one would be able to see his dangly bits.
It needs more random Witches Trolls and Fairies, after all, it wouldn’t be the internet without a lot of random WTF…or a family wedding, for that matter.
opusanglicanum 
Looks fabulous so far. And, to your audience it’s certainly more interesting to follow than meditation!!
I don’t meditate, that would involve using my brain, and at the moment my brain has minimum wear and tear, it’s in pretty much pristine condition
What a wonderful project! Well done you. Looking forward to the Emperor. Will there be an Owl?
The lining fabric is a wonderful folkloric print with purple owls
At least with myths, folklore and fairy tales you’ve got plenty of inspiration to work from!
It’s more a question of what to leave out, although branny is insisting that puss in boots was grey, he says Hollywood has it all wrong
I think the hard part will be knowing when it’s finished – the urge to add more and more characters and incidents must be very strong. I suppose it’s something that could quite happily grow additions over the years, while any unfilled space remains.
Did you ever see the wonderful coat that Paddy Killer made for storyteller Taffy Thomas? I had the fun of being able to have a good look at that close-up when Taffy came to an event in Wem some years back. http://www.taffythomas.co.uk/talecoat.html Totally different style to yours, of course, being machine embroidery, but quite marvellously detailed images and full of interest.
I hadn’t seen that but it does look nice. I don’t tend to have much to do with the storytelling establishment, to be honest, some of it’s just a wee bit pretentious for me, and I’m into competitions and such. Plus I think I’m considered somewhat odd because it’s a very male dominated field for some reason
I don’t blame you for keeping out of the storytelling establishment. (Big egos and power-politics are always a dangerous mixture. I hear the sighs from my [unpretentious] storyteller friends.) But to go back on topic: simply as a piece of textile art, and as a practical piece of storyteller’s clobber, the Talecoat is a magnificent thing.
It does look very pretty, but am kind of ambivalent about looking too close cos I get in appropriately turned on by men in frock coats and I really don’t want to think about taffy Thomas that way
It’s gorgeous and clever and I want to see more of it!!
It will get done eventually