Passionate fiber artist, blockprinter, stampcutter, seamstress & more. One of a kind wearable art handmade with love in Florida.
Some people once told me that if I wasn't so nice, they would have to hate me because of my talent. I agree, talent is nice but talent is just one thing and it only gets you to a certain point. To understand a craft fully, one has to allow oneself to imerge into the desired field completely. But what does that really mean?
Yes, you see right, I’ve done some nailbinding again… 🙂 It is really nice to finally find a moment of peace which allows me to catch my breath. I feel like I just got off a roller coaster. The last year finished with quite a surprise and it was unfortunatelly not the kind one would normally appreciate. After some initial struggles to find a doctor who would see me on short notice around christmas, I finally received the information that I had to undergo a small surgery. And though the thought scared me quite a bit, I was at the same time also very thankful that my doctor could fit…
I haven’t made anything for myself for over one year, as my dear sweetheart pointed out to me recently. And the good husband that he is, he made me swear that I would start working on a project for myself and my own amusement next. …or as I did put it: as soon as possible. 😉 However much fun it is to make things for other people, one has always to be careful not to work oneself to the brink of creative exhaustion. Therefore I find it really important to do a fun project from time to time in order to recharge the internal batteries. It feels to me like…
And today we are taking another close look at my very first medieval islamic inspired embroidery project – the OvO pouch for Gloria, my dear mother-in-law. My last posting was about the problems I had to solve concerning the Arabic inscription of the extant medieval islamic embroidery before I could even think about starting with the actual embroidery. But once this initial problem was resolved, I could continue with exploring the embroidery technique which was used for the extant medieval islamic piece which inspired me.
In my last posting I showed you how I strengthened and secured the stress points of the neckline of my husbands new grey tunic. But before anyone starts to call this “Racaire’s neckline reinforcement technique”, I would like to point out that I simply found and revived an old hand sewing technique. I did not invent this technique myself – I simply found it in a very old book I own. 🙂 Well, I admit it, whenever I face a sewing or embroidery related problem, I tend to turn to my quite extensive book collection and take a look through my beloved books. In many cases one of my books offers a very…
Some embroidery projects take more time than others until they finally get finished and my 12th century inspired “Saint Michael and the Dragon” embroidery was such an embroidery project. I already finished the 12th century inspired “Saint Michael and the Dragon” embroidery in the summer of 2014. Though I really liked the finished embroidery, it laid dormant in one of my project boxes ever since…
And here a sneak peek at my 4th tablet woven band. Ok, I admit it, this tablet woven band is not the best looking one I have created till now but I think that it still looks good enough to use it as an embellishment for one of my future hand-sewing projects. Looking back at my very last tablet woven band for which I used some good quality silk threads, I guess that the not so appealing look of my new tablet woven band has more to do with the thread I used for the weaving (some Polyester “wool” thread) rather than my actual skill.
I was never really keen on tablet weaving but recently I had the feeling like I had to start another tablet woven band. And, well, therefore I started my third tablet woven band ever… 🙂 It is really odd – sometimes I feel a sudden urge to create something special even if it means that I have to pick up a craft I normally don’t do or to learn something new. This feeling can be so overwhelming that I have no other possibility than to follow my gut feeling and to start creating…
During the last days I was searching for a new medieval pelican inspiration for my current embroidery project. Well, what shall I say – finding a new inspiration is often difficult enough but if you are looking for something special, it can appear to be even more challenging. Fully aware of this fact, I gathered my favorite books about embroidery around me, sat down and went through my books in order to find a new medieval pelican inspiration for my current 14th century hood project for my friends pelican elevation.
After all the successful previous preparation for this project (like drafting an XL pattern and creating a 14th century XL hood sample), I finally started working at the actual project some days ago: A white 14th century XL hood for my friends Pelican elevation. 🙂 But first a short explanation for all readers who are not familiar with the SCA: Whenever a member of the SCA shows great passion in “service” to the society, excels in the “arts & sciences” (like woodwork, embroidery, teaching about his/her craft,…) or shows great skill in fighting (“Heavy Fighting”, fencing,…) and some people who observe this commitment report it to The Royal Majesties of their kingdom (normally…
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