#but that requires quilting this year not weaving

[thebraided]

god weaving on my triloom has been so fun. i have two projects im working on rn and two more in queue its just. so satisfying to watch the fabic materialize. plus its faster and easier to do on the go than a non continuous loom. its just. So Good

after the move I need to make a better rectangle frame loom to remake the Sappho/Aphrodite piece I abandoned but THEN i’m going to make a 7ft frame loom for shawls (and maybe to make fabric for clothes, pending how close i can get the nails)

[blueariel3-blog]

Together

Pairing: Poly!Dragonott x Reader

Summary: Draco is tasked with finishing the vanishing cabinet, but it's tearing him apart. You and Theo make a plan to help him.

You skipped down the hallway, your hand safely enclosed in Theo’s rather large one. Pansy made a joke about Trelawany’s outfit ahead of you and the group of Slytherins laughed, the sound bouncing off the walls and sending some second years running. You nodded along and smiled, pretending as if you heard the joke and thought it was funny as you focused on getting to the great hall. 

The smell of fresh roast and gravy hit your nose and you sighed as you happily took your seat. Theo sat next to you, helped you fix your plate, and poured you a drink, smiling as he did so. You brushed a tender kiss across his cheek in thanks. There were several minutes of silent eating and chattering before you realized Draco wasn’t at the table and likely wasn’t coming. 

You gently placed a hand on Theo’s knee and gave a small squeeze. He gave you a quiet look of understanding and gestured for you to finish your meal. You did so quietly, nodding along to the conversation and trying not to let fear and worry consume you and ruin your appetite. 

When dinner was almost over, you made your way around to the kitchens to find the elves. They all greeted you warmly as you passed through, rich smells filling your nose and washing some of your nerves away. You stopped at the counter in front of the head elf and gently laid your hands on the counter. 

“Could I have a plate to go? Please?” It wasn’t unusual for you to often ask the elves for a plate to take, and you gathered they knew why. 

“Of course, dear.” The elderly elf climbed down from her stool and you watched her toddle around the kitchen to collect the food. In a magically extended box, they shoved a double heaping of roast and gravy, rice, carrots, turnips, pumpkin pastries, and cheesecake. She set the box on the counter and patted it, handing her a small extended pitcher of pumpkin juice. 

“Thank you,” you whispered quietly. The elf placed her withered hand on your cheek gently and nodded, motioning for you to get going. You gently took the box and pitcher and pushed open the kitchen doors with your elbow, meeting Theo right outside. 

“I’m worried about him,” you said as he took the box from you. You both started down the corridors, keeping track of the moving staircases in order to get to the room of requirement. You passed Snape in the hallway who nodded his head and continued on his way. 

“I am too. Maybe he’ll let us help today.” He sighed as he stepped in front of the blank wall, waiting on you to step beside him. You gave him a sharp look. 

“I doubt it. Show me the room of requirement.” 

The stones began to chip away until a door appeared. Theo turned the handle and sighed. A blast of warm air hit you in the face and you sighed, shrugging your robes off as you weaved through the stacks of lost and forgotten objects. A clattering sound to your right had you sharply turning and coming to stand behind a head of platinum hair. 

You placed a hand on his shoulder as you braced for an outburst. He turned to face both of you, dark circles around his eyes. You could see how tired he was and how stress had taken a toll on his body, but you had lost that fight more times than you cared to admit. 

Theo placed the box on the table beside you and stepped towards you both, placing a hand on Draco’s other shoulder. He sagged into both of your touches before pulling away and rubbing a tired hand through his hair, the movement slow and sluggish. He dropped onto the worn quilted couch you and Theo spent much of your time on while watching him. 

“You didn’t have to bring me anything,” he mumbled. He was a very closed-off person despite sharing a relationship with both of you and refused to accept help. You gently lowered yourself to the floor and sat against his legs as Theo took the open seat next to him. 

“We know we didn’t have to, but we wanted to. Don’t want you to be alone,” You whispered. Despite knowing no one else occupied the room and you could talk as loud as you wanted, you always kept your voice quiet around your boys. 

“Thanks,” he sighed. 

Theo gently patted his thigh and motioned for him to turn his body, laying his head down in Theo’s lap. He stroked the blond and stringy hair away from his pale face, scratching gently at his scalp. The hand that dangled over the edge allowed for you to reach out and grasp his cold fingers in yours. 

“How much have you gotten done?” Theo was always hesitant to ask but knew it was a conversation that needed to be had. 

“Almost done, just need a few more days.” Theo exchanged a look with you and shook his head. He had been saying that for weeks. 

“Why don’t you eat and rest a little while? Theo and I will wake you up in a few hours.” 

“Can’t. Need to finish the cabinet.” His words slurred together and his eyes dropped as he struggled to stay awake. You brushed a tender kiss to his fingers and gently massaged the pressure point on his wrist, the dark mark almost touching it.

You sat there for a few minutes as you both waited for Draco to drift to sleep. When quiet snoring filled the room, you pried his hand out of yours and pulled up from the floor. You silently cast a charm to extend the couch to a bed big enough to fit the three of you and placed a silencing charm around the posters. 

You helped Theo move his body and tug off his robes to make him more comfortable. He wore his white button-down and boxers when you were both done, curled under the silk green sheets and resting comfortably. 

“Want me to help,” Theo whispered. You shook your head and bent to place a kiss on his forehead. 

“No, stay with him. You both need some sleep.” Your lips hovered near his brow, pressing another kiss before standing upright and moving to the cabinet a few feet away. 

You cast another silencing charm around you and opened the creaking door only to find a dead bird inside. You sighed and banished the creature, shutting the door again to think. 

An hour later, you heard Theo’s snores join in with Draco’s. You turned to see Draco laying behind Theo, an arm wrapped around his waist as he buried his head in the curly chocolate locks. You smiled and turned back to the furniture. 

In the next hour, you managed to accomplish a few things. You altered the spells along the outside and inside of the cabinet to cushion the entrance and exit of whoever stepped inside. You also added a muffling spell to keep the sound contained and fixed the squeaky hinges that plagued Draco’s nightmares. 

It was another 3 hours and lots of charms and transfigurations before you decided to step inside. You knew if either of the boys saw you in the cabinet they would combust, but they were both happily sleeping. You took a deep breath and carefully shut the door behind you, trusting your spell work to be thorough enough to protect your life. 

With a deep breath, you muttered the charm and braced your hands against the walls. There was a light humming and a quick flash of light before the furniture eased back into its quiet nature. You carefully cracked open the door and were met with a room quite different than the one you had just left. A large smile appeared on your face. 

You cast a diagnostic and checked for injuries to make sure you weren’t looking over anything in your desperation for the cabinet to work. When you were sure you were fine, you closed the door once more and uttered the charm again. The same quiet rumbling and flash of light consumed you before it went still again. 

On the other side of this door were your two boyfriends wrapped in one another arms and snoring. You grinned, hardly containing your squeal, and jumped out of the cabinet. Another diagnostic confirmed you were not injured. 

You peeled off your uniform and transformed your dress shirt into a long t-shirt and slipped into bed behind Draco. The clock on the opposite wall read 4:55 am and you silently groaned as you set the alarm for 7 sharp. A few lost hours of sleep would be worth it for his well-being. 

You slipped a hand around Draco’s abdomen and lightly kissed his head, nuzzling in deep to the comforting scent of apples and chestnut. 

A few hours later, the sharp ringing of an alarm woke you from your sleep. You all three groaned as you moved around the bed, disentangling limbs. Draco suddenly shot from the bed and almost tripped on his trousers before stumbling to the cabinet. 

“I wasn’t supposed to sleep! I have to finish this cabinet in time!” He pulled at the roots of his hair and you shot up from the bed, coming to grasp his hands and prevent him from hurting himself further. 

“Draco, baby, I fixed the cabinet.” It was as if he was in his own world and couldn’t hear you. 

“He’s going to kill me if I don’t get this done! I’ll have to skip classes again to make up for it,” He mumbled to himself. Theo joined you two and pulled Draco into his side who tried to push him away. 

“Draco! Listen to her!” 

Theo shoved his shoulders and turned him around to watch you. Draco lifted his eyebrows as if surprised to find you there and reached out a hand. 

“Darling, I’m sorry. I have to finish the cabinet. Let Theo take you to get ready and I’ll try to get you for lunch.” 

“Draco I fixed the cabinet.” His hand stilled mid-air and he blinked at you. 

“That’s not funny.” He narrowed his eyes. You huffed and stomped towards the cabinet, pulling the door open and then sealing yourself inside. You heard Draco yelling from the other side. 

“NO! Theo, let me go! She’s going to die!” There was a brief sound of struggling and then silence. 

You opened the door to find a different room and sighed, closing it once again. When you opened the door a second time, both boys stood with their mouths hanging open as you stepped out. 

“Now, no more worrying. It’s fixed. You will go to class and eat with us and sleep in our bed and you will not spend another moment worrying about this wretched furniture. Either of you.” You gave them both a pointed look. 

“How did you…why?” Draco sounded astonished and his eyes began to glass over. You placed a hand on each side of his head and kissed him gently before resting your foreheads together. 

“It was tearing you apart and I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to do something. It’s fixed now and you don’t have to worry about it for a while.” You placed another kiss on his forehead, then the tip of his nose, then each cheek, and finally another one on his lips. 

“Thank you. Both of you. I don’t know what I would do without you.” He extended a hand behind him for Theo who gladly took it and joined the embrace. The dark-haired wizard placed a kiss on both of your heads. 

“Now that that’s sorted, let's all go shower, together. Then we can eat, together. And then go to class, together. And when the day is done we’ll all take a nap, together.” You smiled and hummed, leaning into his side. 

“That sounds lovely. I’ve missed both of you.” Draco gave each of you a short kiss and tugged on your hands, leading you to the pile of clothes on the floor beside the bed. 

You each helped one another dress slowly, sharing small smiles and giggles. It wasn’t long before the three of you walked quietly through the halls together to the bathroom, desperate to be in each other's arms again. 

[anamoli]

Selecting Materials for Talanah Cosplay

Between the two cosplays I'll be working on this year, the materials in Talanah's outfit are - unconventional. Aloy's Shield-Weaver outfit is pretty straightforward: there's lots of leather bits, some leather fringe, some rope every now and then, a quilted chest piece, and the armor pieces which will be 3D printed. All in neutral/common colors. Nothing out of the ordinary. Besides the lights, but I'll save that for another post.

Talanah on the other hand, has a little bit more texture going on. And a lot more color. The 3D pieces for the armor and how they'll be assembled seems straightforward enough, but the fabric for the rest of the cosplay isn't. The main textures I've pulled are categorized in the following:

Lightweight, textured fabric with some type of iridescent/shimmery threads

Leather pieces and straps in various shapes/sizes

Burlap fabric that is embroidered with gold thread

The colors identified for this cosplay are:

Burgundy: used in Texture 1 and Texture 2

Turquoise: used in Texture 1 and Texture 2

Gold: used in Texture 1 and Texture 3

Now, if I wasn't planning on actually climbing in this cosplay, sourcing materials wouldn't be an issue. But because I am going to climb, I can't get anything that would tear easily or catch on the rocks. Therefore, the sourced material needs to meet the following requirements in order of most to least importance:

Durability: needs to survive the wear and tear of climbing

Color: needs to match the colors in the cosplay

Shimmer: for materials that require it, needs to have some reflectivity

Texture: for materials that require it, needs to have some depth

I have ordered sample swatches of the materials that I think meet as many of these requirements as possible. I'll be making another post of the final selection as well as links to those materials.

The remainder of this post is a record of my research as well as my reasonings for selecting particular materials to get sample swatches.

Material 1: Lightweight, textured, and shimmery

Despite working at a custom costume shop, I'm not all that familiar with all the different types of fabrics out there. We mostly dealt with lycra and sequins (stuff that's easy to dance in and is shiny), so I had to consult Google for some guidance. This website was a wonderful resource!

The silk hammered/crushed satin I've found are absolutely perfect for the look of the cosplay:

However, they all fail the first criteria: durability. Despite how great they would look for the cosplay, it would only function as a show piece and would tear so hard if I attempted climbing in them. (Also, the fabric is like $85-$135 per yard, so perhaps it isn't that great of a loss)

The runner ups for each color are below:

Burgundy

What I'm aiming vs what I've found:

A metallic wavy brocade on polyester/lurex that would be quite durable and looks to have excellent shimmer and texture. The color seems to be a little darker than what I need, but that will be determined once the sample swatch arrives. $49.99/yd

A metallic crinkled brocade on lurex/polyester that would also be quite durable, looks to have great shimmer, and the color match is decent. The texture pattern is a bit small, but the crinkle might make up for it. $39.99/yd

A polyester/cotton tweed weave with loops for texture that is an excellent color match. However, the loops may catch on rocks, and the weave pattern doesn't seem to shine. $19.80/yd

Turquoise

What I'm aiming vs what I've found:

A metallic brocade on Thai silk that is a little too blue and wouldn't be super durable, but the shimmer and texture are spot on. I thought it would be really cool if this cosplay used Thai silk since Talanah seems to be of Asian descent, but I'm not sure if it's the best match overall. $5.99/yd

A silk jacquard with fantastic shimmer and texture, but also a little too blue and might not be very durable. $36.61/yd

A metallic brocade on polyester/lurex that would be very durable but fails on color for being too green. Shimmer is there but texture is very distracting. $44.99/yd

Gold

What I'm aiming vs what I've found:

A metallic velvet on cotton/rayon with wonderful color, shine, and durability. There is no texture, but since it's the sash and is mostly covered up anyway, I'm okay with it. Additionally, having the sash textured may detract from the textures from the other two colors. $35.99/yd

A silk brocade with Indian floral zari motifs that is a great color match, texture, and shine. It may not be so durable, but again, since a lot of the sash is covered, it may not contact rock very often. $5.95/meter

Fabrics that made the final cut for swatch samples:

Burgundy: I've ordered swatches for 1 and 2. The fabrics seem to have excellent color, texture, and shine. Since they both have smooth finishes, it should be durable enough to climb in.

Turquoise: I wasn't actually too happy with anything I've found, so I ended up getting a swatch from the group of perfect-looking fabrics. My reasoning is that I think the shirt is fairly protected by the burlap sash, embroidery, chest sling, AND leather pieces. The chances of the silk contacting rock are quite low and I'd be happy to splurge a bit on the fabric. $85/yd

Gold: Since I only found 2 decent fabrics, I ended up getting swatches of both. Depending on how all the fabrics look together, I'll decide on which fits the overall look better.

Material 2: Leather Pieces and Straps

No, I'm not going to purchase real leather (I'm already going to drop $85 on a single yard of fabric). The next best thing is using faux leather or making my own out of suedecloth and foam per this wonderful tutorial here:

I'm aware that many cosplayers can do some amazing stuff with EVA foam and paint, but I don't like painting and sitting at my computer comparing colors online is a lot easier. At this point, I'll need to match the color of the swatches I purchased. I'm doing my best to match things by the images the seller took, but I'll do a final comparison of everything once all the swatches arrive.

Burgundy

Faux leather (F) and suede-cloth (S) options:

F1: a little too brown, but very close. Great texture. $17.99/yd

F2: a little too purple, but it's serviceable. $45.37 for 6 yds

S1: perfect color. $11.25/yd

S2: too red. Only sold by the bolt.

Turquoise

Faux leather (F) and suede-cloth (S) options:

F1: great color and perfect texture! $4.40 for a 9"x12" sheet

S1: color is spot on. $52.61/yd

S2: a tad bit on the green side. $21.99/yd

Deciding on whether to go with faux leather vs suede-cloth comes down to cost and time savings, as well as determining what the cosplay calls for. Purchasing 1 yard of the burgundy faux leather and maybe 4 sheets of the turquoise faux leather comes out to ~$36; whereas getting 1yd x 2yd, 4mm craft foam to glue to the suede-cloth is already $39.

In terms of time savings, there are only 3 leather pieces that are required in burgundy and 25 leather pieces (+2 for the pants) that are required in turquoise. I'd much rather cut the pieces and call it a day - instead of gluing down suede to foam and then cutting them out. Since there aren't any ridiculously large pieces that are required to be all in one piece, it makes sense to just go with the faux leather.

Material 3: Burlap and Gold Thread Embroidery

Thankfully burlap is a really easy material to find in the right color to match the gold sash ($15.98/yd):

As for the rope trim that is on nearly every single article of clothing, a quick measurement on the 3D model of the character revealed that there is ~0.25" space for them and there are 3 distinct trims.

The trim that just looks like a bunch of individual threads sort of exists, but only as something called a flat gimp or soutache braid (which means there's a second row running against it). I'm not going to bother with ensuring the braids are completely perfect, so I'll say that having 3 separate trims is good enough.

To achieve the 0.25" width, I'll use the following trims and some gold embroidery thread to attach it to all the pieces:

0.7mm gilt twist rope trim

3 mm gilt twist rope trim

3 mm braided rope trim

Technically I could run a very thin zig-zag stitch on the edges of the pieces with the embroidery thread, but that sounds like a nightmare to the machine (and by extension to me), so I'd say that's all the materials I'll need for this section!

Final Remarks

There are a couple more items that will be required for the cosplay such as: brown faux leather for the forearm and calf bracers, armor straps, and the headdress strap; filament and resin to print the armor pieces; some type of gold wire to connect the armor pieces; clasps; elastic; the usual basic sewing supplies. However, since those items are easily attainable, I didn't want to cover them here.

It was definitely a process to do the research for the specific materials, but it'll be well worth it in the end product!

Total projected cost of materials including materials not covered in this post: ~$400

[thekingofcrochet]

I did know you went to art school!

Please, bestie; tell me errythang! 🍿

I went to art school because I was gonna be an English major and get my degree to be a high school English Lit teacher and I absolutely did shit at my English 200 course (my first C when I had actually tried to work hard) and I failed my history class and i never wanted to take math again so I transferred to art school. (there's a separate essay I wanna write about gifted kids burning out and dropping out of college. Like were we really gifted/good at academics or did we just know the right facts to regurgitate when it came time for testing?)

My first year of art school had these intro art classes where we had to make some of the most insufferable pieces.

I remember that I had to make 1/2 of a piece of produce from balsa wood and I ended up getting banned from the wood working studio because of safety reasons (I almost lost my thumbs). i think to teach us about scale and proportion?

Another assignment involved making a book that was just pictures and I made mine about the life cycle of pomegranates in which because it was accordion folded you could connect the back and front together so it would be continuous.

I had to make an abstract painting (9"x12") based on 30 seconds of a classical music song.

I made a luxury gas mask as part of an artifact from an imagined world.

I failed most of my art history classes because I couldn't remember the exact date (month, day, year) that a piece was made.

I drew a lot of self portraits.

I barely passed ceramics because I think the teacher just wanted me to never return to the studio.

When we could focus on our concentrations I did fiber arts so I learned how to spin yarn, felt wool, weave fabric and weave baskets. I made 2 quilts that required me doing all nighters for weeks straight (watched a lot of Netflix).

I have a vivid memory of sewing a fabric basket while watching Game Grumps Sonic Boom play-through in my dorms communal kitchen because my sewing machine was too loud to work in the dorm suites.

I have another memory of weaving late into the night at the art studio watching the Game Grumps play Wind Waker. It's a piece made from selected colors from the Pinwheel Galaxy and I made the pattern by hand.

I ended up losing 99% of everything I ever made or owned in an apartment fire in my 5th year of college so I just barely have any photos of my stuff.

I made a semi recent post that that had some of my old art and most of that was during art school.

I feel like art school wasn't really about learning how to make good art but was partly about how to make art safely (see the paragraph where I almost lost my thumbs) and make something on a deadline. Which are both very important! But anything I learned was through self study + determination and that's really what college is for.

[spookylittletownhq]

In honor of our first group arriving into Albion this week (and October, our spooky season), we’re going to be sharing some of our favorite skeletons that we’d still love to see! Interested in joining us? We hope so!

THE YEAR IS 1923. Welcome to Albion, a small-town, magical roleplay game based in a fictional valley in rural New England. Nestled between two mountain ridges, Albion is home to a cozy, eclectic, and ultimately slightly spooky community, intentionally isolated from the outside world.

MEET THE QUILTMAKER

THE GIFT As the first daughter in a line of first daughters, the Quiltmaker inherits the binding magic carried through her family line. She can bind two souls together, or, when required, tear them apart. Weaving ritual into thread, the Quiltmaker can decide lineages, can create bloodlines. But this power can breed hubris. A bind will only hold if her intentions are pure. IN BRIEF They say history must be felt, and no one knows this better than the Quiltmaker. Dextrous with her hands and careful with her words, she descends from a long line of seamstresses, slowly patching the disparate families of Albion together. It is a gift, to bind two souls. Should the seam tear, it can also be a curse. The Quiltmaker holds both sides of this in her hands, cutting and piecing and stitching cloth, her magic binding together those for whom she makes. For weddings, for children. For funerals. For a price. She is known to be steadfast and particular, easily focused and rarely rattled. The line runs through her family, each Quiltmaker raising the next. When it comes to her turn, she is ready. She falters. It is less an escape and more a *pop*, one moment she is in her bed, and the next she is outside of it. *Pop, pop, pop.* The floor beneath her feet changes, the air shifts and fills with smoke. *Pop.* She is in a new house, a new life. Strong magic can do that, slip one desperate into the shoes of another. It is easy to pick up the threads of this new life, where thread is relegated to a job. She carries no needles in her home, fills the space instead with pictures and books and jars of fruit. Time passes in this way until a package arrives, soft and wrapped in brown paper. She does not need to open it to know: it is a quilt, of course. She stows it high on a shelf and leaves it there until her partner takes it down one day, and places it upon the bed. The Quiltmaker gasps, then, for two reasons: it is beautiful, richly green, the gingham of her dresses woven into squares -- and she touched it. Once a quilt is touched, the magic is complete. The popping in her ears begins again: there is no choice but to return. MYSTERIOUS PAST Bind-breaking can be a gentle or a fearful act, the loving unwinding of a quilt seam at a funeral, the frenzied rip as two souls unmesh. Once, the Quiltmaker tried to break a bind for her own benefit. Tell us why, and how she did it.

READY? BOARD THE TRAIN 🔮

[filantrofirst]

Behind the Scenes: - How Crosslapped Spunlace Non-Woven Manufacturers are Revolutionizing the Textile Industry

Do you know that every year, we’re producing 92 million tonnes of textile waste and it will touch the mark of 134 million tonnes by 2023? 

Crosslaped spunlace non-woven manufacturers are redefining the fabric industry and making it more sustainable, cost-effective, and eco-friendly with their innovative fabric manufacturing approach.

The Revolutionary Crosslapped Spunlace Non–Woven Fabric

The traditional woven textile manufacturing process is killing the earth slowly and we’re saying this because we know that:

Textile production contributes to 20% of clean water pollution

The textile and fabric industry is responsible for 6 to 8% of global carbon emission

Nearly one trillion KWh of electricity is required per year to produce 60 billion kg of fabric globally

These shocking statistics help us to understand that we need to traditional textile and fabric construction processes a bit more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Leading crosslapped spunlace non-woven manufacturers like Filantro First are making it possible by using advanced fabric manufacturing techniques. These manufacturers use spunlace technology for producing non-woven fabric. In this technique, they use high-pressure water jets that penetrate the fiber web and entangle it. 

The fabric produced through this method has a very smooth surface, can bear wear & tear, and has great structural strength. In addition, crosslapped spunlace non-woven fabric also has great customization abilities. 

By introducing this technique in the traditional fabric manufacturing process, manufacturers of cross-lapped spun lace non-woven fabrics are advancing sustainability and cost-efficiency across various industries.

Reduced textile waste

Crosslapped spunlace non-woven manufacturers like Filantro First are helping the fabric, fashion, and textile industries to reduce textile waste. This fabric manufacturing technique is free from traditional methods like roving, spinning, carding, drawing, weaving, and knitting which leads to a great amount of waste during each process.

Higher Durability

Woven fabrics are not highly durable. They can get damaged easily and have poor performance in highly demanding applications. But, crosslapped spunlace non-woven manufacturers are helping the textile industry to increase the durability of traditional fabrics like cotton, jute, wool, and many more.

These manufacturers use the hydro-entanglement process to entangle fibres. The use of this process improves the basic strength of the fabric and makes it very strong. This strong fabric is very useful for industries like automotive and leather making to create the interiors of the vehicles and quilting of the PU fabric.

Cost-effective Production

Crosslapped spunlace non-woven manufacturers help the textile industry to reduce operational costs. The spunlace process is based on water and consumes less energy. Furthermore, this process doesn’t require any sort of resin or bonding chemicals to bond the fibre. All these factors contribute to reduced resource consumption and environmental impact.

In addition, this technique is highly versatile and can be used across a wide range of natural and synthetic fibres, including cotton, jute, bamboo, viscose, and polyester. It improves the moisture management, liquid absorption rate, durability, and moldability of natural fabrics and makes them suitable for a wide range of applications. 

Originally Published At:

[gtccollectionstories]

Elizabeth Parker’s Wedding Dress Fabric

11178 - GTC

Some pieces of this beautiful 18th century silk brocade fabric were given to Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth for the Collection by her old friend, Colonel Robert Parker of Browsholme Hall, near Clitheroe. The fabric was originally bought for the wedding dress of one of his ancestors, Elizabeth Parker (1726-1781) who married her second cousin, Robert Parker, on 1st October, 1751.

There had been a seven year “secret” courtship, before the couple finally overcame her family’s opposition to the match. After this long struggle to be allowed to marry, they obviously did not want to wait for the banns to be read, as they were married by special licence: -

“Oct 1st Robert Parker of Alkincoats & Elizabeth Parker of Browsholm by licence from Mr Currer.” (Marriages in 1751, Waddington Parish Register)

Sadly, the marriage was not to be a long one, as Robert died seven years later in 1758, aged 38, leaving Elizabeth a widow with three young sons. Then in 1765, she eloped to Gretna Green with a wool merchant, John Shackleton, who was 17 years younger than her. Once again, her family did not approve of her choice, hence the elopement. This second marriage became progressively unhappy, as John was physically abusive to her and had an alcohol problem. She died in 1781, aged 55yrs.

Many details of Elizabeth’s life have survived, as she was a prolific writer: 39 of her diaries and hundreds of letters are held at Lancashire Archives in Preston. They formed part of the research for Amanda Vickery’s award-winning book “The Gentleman’s Daughter” which looks at the lives of women from commercial, professional and gentry families in the eighteenth century.

Recent research has enabled us to add to the information on the original label written by Rachel (in her distinctive green ink) about the fabric:

The label reads:

“Brocade – part of the wedding dress of Elizabeth Parker (married 1751). The bill is at Browsholme, sent by Ms Bowen in Aug & says “Bought of Croft & Hinchcliffe, mercers in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London. 18 yds. New flowr’d gro’d Gros de tour Broc’d Colum 21/- £18-8-0.”

The brocade is woven with floss silk & colours added. English.

Donor, her descendent Col Robert Parker, DSO, of Browsholme”

In LANCAT (the catalogue of Lancashire Archives, available online) we found the synopsis of a letter to Elizabeth Parker, dated 25 April, 1749, which was also from M Bowen of London. A lively letter regarding the expense of the coming premiére of Handel’s Firework Music, this was written two years prior to Elizabeth’s wedding. Then from the Appendix to "The Gentleman's Daughter", we learnt that Miss M Bowen was the servant, secretary and companion of Elizabeth’s maternal aunt, Mrs Ann Pellett - who also just happened to live in Henrietta Street in Covent Garden!

A trip to the Archives in Preston has discovered many more letters to Elizabeth from Miss Bowen. In May, 1749, she details numerous shopping trips for silk fabrics, gauzes, shoes and hats, complete with her haggling for bargains with sellers and tips about the latest London fashions. Elizabeth obviously sent a list of requirements, which were purchased on Elizabeth's behalf by her aunt, and then sent to Browsholme by carrier for her approval, together with the bills which are also in the Archives.

There is an original receipt for "Short Hoops" from Cotes Warehouse in Panton Street - “Sells all sorts of Silks & Stuffs, with a great choice of Quilted & Hoop Pettycoats, Riding Habits, Velvet & Silk Capps, Morning Gowns, Short Cloaks, Mantleletts, Velvet & Silk Hoods at Reasonable Rates”. Another bill is for 18 yards of yellow unwatered Tabby (a plain weave silk fabric) from James Croft & Partner for £7 8s 6d, which was being purchased for a "Sac" robe, as Miss Bowen also sent a paper pattern for the sleeves. There are other bills from George Stagg, Shoemaker in Bedford Street for two pairs of shoes, and one for the milliner, Mrs Lilly.

So it would appear that the wedding dress fabric was purchased in London by her aunt in the same way. Elizabeth obviously wanted the most fashionable (and expensive) fabric for her wedding dress. In 1749, the yellow tabby (also from James Croft) had been 8s 3d a yard, but the wedding fabric was very much more at 21s a yard. The total cost of £18 8s 0d (for the fabric alone) is the equivalent of £3000 today! And this would not have included the lace cuffs, fichu or any other trimmings needed to complete the dress - all luxury items at the time. In addition, there would also be the dressmaker’s fees to make the fabric up into the dress. After the long, seven year wait, Elizabeth was certainly getting married in style!

The following link to ‘Portrait of a Lady’ in the Tate Gallery by Arthur Devis is dated 1751, the same year as Elizabeth married, and gives us an indication of what Elizabeth’s dress may have looked like. Known as an “open robe”, it was worn with small hoops or side panniers, with a short train suspended from the shoulders.

It is a relatively recent fashion for wedding dresses to be worn only once. In Elizabeth’s time, they were considered to be a “best dress” and were expected to be re-worn, and altered with the changing fashions, as fabric was so costly. Unfortunately, Elizabeth’s completed dress has not survived. Due to the large amounts of very expensive silk fabric used, dresses of this period were frequently unpicked and the fabric re-modelled. In some cases, they have been re-used as fancy dress costumes by later family members!

However, a great deal of the fabric of Elizabeth’s dress has survived, and is still at Browsholme. There is also this beautiful portrait of Elizabeth hanging in the library there, which the present owner of Browsholme Hall, Mr Robert Parker, has generously allowed us to share.

Elizabeth Parker (1726-1781). Reproduced by kind permission of Mr Robert Parker.

Further photographs and more details about the fabric itself can be seen here in the Collections Gallery : -

REFERENCES:

1. The Gentleman’s Daughter: Women’s lives in Georgian England; Amanda Vickery (Yale, 1998).

2. Letters from M Bowen in Lancashire Archives - DDB/acc78867

3. For further information about Browsholme Hall, see this link to their “History of the Hall” web page:

[emmaj22]

PERSONALITY TEST TO CHOOSE THE BEST BED SHEETS

Considering you spend more than a third of your day between the sheets, why not get ones you can't wait to curl up in? Investing in linens that feel great and last for a long time. Best bed sheets not only enhance your sleep space, but also characterize the decor of your bedroom and elevate its ambience. The size, material, care and maintenance requirements, as well as your budget, are crucial factors to consider when purchasing bedsheets online. It is important to look for these things when shopping for soft bed sheets online so that you can make the right choice for your bedroom. Looking for a new set of sheets? Comparing labels wisely and making an informed choice will be easier if you know a little bit about the fabrics, thread count, and weave they're made of. However, you should first know what type of sleeper you are, it will help you buy the best material for bed sheets.

Do moisture-wicking and moisture-absorption sheets mean the same?

Broadly categorizing there are only two different groups of sleepers. Your body temperature can either make you a hot sleeper or a cold sleeper.

Who is a hot sleeper?

A hot sleeper is one who always experiences too much heat while sleeping. It is common for hot sleepers to wake up feeling their body temperature is too high, which results in sleep deprivation. The people who fall into this category often wake up drenched in sweat in the middle of the night.

Who is a cold sleeper?

A cold sleeper wakes up in the morning with a chilly body temperature. They may feel that cold air makes them feel more sensitive, or that they have difficulty retaining body heat at night. Cold sleepers have to use many blankets and quilts to stay warm at the risk of getting hot at night.

You can be certain now which kind of sleeper you’re, if not you can monitor your sleeping patterns and how you feel during the night. So, which is the best bed sheet for hot sleepers and cold sleepers? Take this comprehensive quiz to find out which bedding will suit you the most.

What is the best thread count for sheets?

best thread count for sheets?" />

The thread count of bedsheet is measured by how many horizontal and vertical threads are present on a square inch. A sheet with a higher thread count will usually be softer, and it is more likely to wear well or soften over time. A good thread count for sheets should range between 400 and 1000, although there are sometimes sheets that exceed 1000. Bed linens with a high thread count are softer and finer in texture. The qualities of bed sheets change as per the thread count. For example, 400 thread count bed sheets are breathable while 600 thread count bedding feels luxurious and soft. The sheets made of 800 thread count are gentle on the skin and lavish. Similarly, the 1000 thread count sheets are luxurious and crisp.

You should select a material for your bed linen that is comfy for you. The following are some of the most commonly used fabrics to make bed sheets:

Cotton - Lightweight, breathable, cool and easy-to-wash, cotton is a good choice for families and households with children. As well as providing soft comfort, best cotton sheets are incredibly durable and lasts for several years. It is crafted from organic fibers which makes the bed sheets skin-friendly for people with skin-sensitivities.

Linens - Its breathability and ability to draw moisture from your body make linen a great choice for both summer and winter. Linen creases a lot and even freshly ironed bedsheets wrinkle with the slightest touch.

Silk - There is nothing more beautiful and luxurious than bed linen made of silk. Besides being soft and naturally hypoallergenic, it's lighter than cotton and very durable. On the downside, it is not budget friendly. Additionally, it requires much more care than cotton and is too easy to slip off the bed.

Polyester - A stain resistant, inexpensive and durable man-made fabric, is usually used in a blend with other materials. Polyester sheets trap heat and will make even the coolest person sweat. Moreover, they are not skin-friendly and can trigger allergic reactions.

When it comes weave, the two popular choices in the bedding industries have been for year sateen and percale. Both these weaves result in different qualities of the fabric.

What is the difference between Sateen vs Percale?

Sateen Weave – If you love a very soft, lustrous feeling, sateen bedsheets are made for you. As a result of its unique weaving pattern, it produces a sumptuous, smooth and satiny finish. The dense nature of the sateen weave makes the sheet suitable for all-weather.

Percale Weave - You'll enjoy the crisp feel of percale weave in the sheets, as well as the matte appearance. It’s simple weaving procedure creates a more even texture and comfier feel in bed linen. Percale sheets are lighter and airy making it suitable for warmer climate.

Styling Your Bedroom

The fabric, weave, and thread count of a bed sheet will provide you the comfort needed for sleeping peacefully. But, the aesthetic of your sleeping space will look brilliant with the color and style of the bedding you choose. Again, the style for your bedsheets can be divided into two types. First, the people who love the classic white or patterned bedsheets. The other group consists of fashion-enthusiast who try experimenting with printed bedsheets.

By now, if you have decided whether you are a hot sleeper or cold sleeper, buying sheets will not be difficult for you. The fabric, thread count, weave and styling are all components of the bedding. You have to understand your sleeping pattern and preference first, for example do you kick the sheets of your bed or take an extra blanket? Apart from being the type of sleeper you are, the climate of your state matters too.

Pizuna offers 100% long staple cotton bedsheets in sateen weave. These bedsheets are available in the range of 400 to 1000 thread count. Moreover, the sheets offer comfort regardless of the season, to get sheet sets that are soft and luxurious click here.

[kintatsujo]

*slithers in like a snake on the tree of knowledge* art is a term with a complex history in it's meaning, be a wholesome ass and use it for everything from astronomy and grammar to weaving and tile work. Because. At one point or another. That was art. If it requires knowledge, if it's a skill requireing knowledge? Then it's art.

Thenk you for your wisdom, I do realize after the fact that my comment that prompted this ("I'm not sure everything I do qualifies as art") sounds a bit like my mother insisting she's not artistic when she had three quilts in the quilt show this year

[ramonaprintmakingtwo]

Artist Inspiration: Mid-Century Textile Design, Bauhaus and California design. 

I continually find Mid-Century design as a source of inspiration and wanted to consider both mid-century abstract and overall aesthetic of Bauhaus and California design. 

California design is an amalgamation of styles and influences including Bauhaus, Scandinavia design, Japanese interiors and the Californian love of the outdoors. ‘In this abstract arrangement are the glowing colour, originality of treatment and simplicity of design that typify the California look.’(Kaplan and Adamson, 2011).

While researching abstract art and artists, I explored many textiles and textile artists of this period. Although an integral part of the Bauhaus and California design movement, women were very limited in the mediums they could choose to explore. In her book call, Paola Ardizzola describes how women were pushed into more ‘feminine’ pursuits. ‘Bauhaus female students were"channelled" towards those disciplines in which the collective imaginary mostly recognized the role of a woman. "We are absolutely against giving them an architectural education" wrote Walter Gropiusin 1921 about women. Therefore, Architecture was substantially forbidden to women.’ Ardizzola, Paola. (2019)

This is part of a much wider issue with both women in art and the distinction between ‘art’ and ‘craft’. Despite requiring a breadth of experience and expertise, working in any form of textiles is often considered inferior to classical art mediums. As a woman, an artist and a printmaker, this is a topic that resinates with me and is part of my insecurity around being seen as ‘legitimate’. In her essay, “The Dinner Party: Curator’s Overview,” Maura Reilly discusses this phenomenon: 

 ‘Throughout the history of art, decoration and domestic handicrafts have been regarded as women’s work, and as such, not considered “high” or fine art. Quilting, embroidery, needlework, china painting, and sewing—none of these have been deemed worthy artistic equivalents to the grand mediums of painting and sculpture.’ - (Reilly, 2007) 

Anni Albers

"Dotted" Weaving (Albers, 1959) Free-Hanging Room Divider (Albers, 1949) Wall Hanging (Albers, 1926)

One of the more (relatively) well known textile artists of the era was Anni Albers. Her experimental woven textiles used a wide range of materials, including the unconventional, such as cellophane, cord, lurex and acetate. It’s interesting to consider where such wallhangings fall within the spectrum of abstract art. Unlike traditional expressionism, these pieces could take weeks, months or even years to complete. Although seemingly random (“Dotted” Weaving for example) the woven fabrics would have required extensive planning.

(Tate, 2018)

Trude Guermonprez

(Photo of weaving instructor Trude Guermonprez in 1956,) Temple Rodef Shalom Ark Curtain Trial (Guermonprez, 1964)

Guermonprez produced experimental woven textiles mainly on commission basis. She worked at Black Mountain College along with Albers, teaching weaving. Her work was influenced by her immediate environment and I wanted to take this principle and apply it to my own work. 

‘Guermonprez found inspiration in the California landscape, taking her pond farm weaving classes to the beach to record the structures and textures of rocks, shells, and driftwood, which would be incorporated into textile designs.’ (Kaplan and Adamson, 2011) 

Gunta Stölzl

Wall Hanging (Stölzl, 1964), Tapestry "Black/White" (Stölzl, 1924)

Starting as a student at the Bauhaus School, Stölzl later became the only female master amongst her male peers. Her development of the weaving department lead to a change in style from pictorial textiles to modern industrial designs. As a mentor she taught many textile artists including Anni Albers. 

I am particularly drawn to her Tapestry “Black/White”, The colours feel industrial mirroring the frequent use of concrete of Bauhaus architecture. The varied sizes of the weft and warp create images of windows, bricks and balconies.

Influence within my work

I wanted to pay homage to the women of Bauhaus and California design by using varied lines within my linoprint layer within my abstract print for Assignment Two. The geometric shapes and patterns within the woven fabrics, despite being reminiscent of buildings and windows, also feel spontaneous and quintessentially abstract.

References

Albers, A., 1926. Wall Hanging. [Mercerized cotton, silk].

Albers, A., 1949. Free-Hanging Room Divider. [Cellophane and cord].

Albers, A., 1959. "Dotted" Weaving. [Wool; compound weave].

Ardizzola, P. and Niglio, O., 2019. Women at the Bauhaus, reconsideration of the myth. Book Call. NA.

Guermonprez, T., 1964. Temple Rodef Shalom Ark Curtain Trial. [Woven silk, metalized plastic film wrapped around a viscose rayon core, and flat metalized plastic yarns].

Harvard Art Museums, 2019. Women of the Bauhaus. [video] Available at: <https://youtu.be/2ndKZUzmHZI> [Accessed 2 April 2021].

Kaplan, W. and Adamson, G., 2011. Living in a modern way - California design, 1930-1965. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, p.27.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2011. Kay Sekimachi: California Design. [video] Available at: <https://youtu.be/3jK1fHlmTEg> [Accessed 2 April 2021].

1956. Photo of weaving instructor Trude Guermonprez. Portland Museum of Art, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Portland.

Reilly, M., 2007. The Dinner Party:
Curator’s
Overview. [online] Maurareilly.com. Available at: <http://www.maurareilly.com/pdf/essays/DinnerPartyEssay.pdf> [Accessed 28 March 2021].

Smith, T., 2014. Bauhaus weaving theory. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Stölzl, G., 1924. Tapestry "Black/White". [Half-gobelin technique. Flatweave, partly with reversed harness Warp: mercerized cotton. Weft: wool, rayon and metal thread].

Stölzl, G., 1964. Wall Hanging. [Double-weave technique, Silk].

Tate Modern. 2019. Anni Albers – Exhibition at Tate Modern | Tate. [online] Available at: <https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/anni-albers> [Accessed 27 March 2021].

Tate, 2018. How to Weave Like Anni Albers. [video] Available at: <https://youtu.be/pXd1e4vekZI> [Accessed 2 April 2021].

Troeller, J., 2020. Anni Albers (1899-1994) - Architectural Review. [online] Architectural Review. Available at: <https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/reputations/anni-albers-1899-1994> [Accessed 27 March 2021].

[tinfoiltemplar]

Liesal as a Diety: @noblehcart

NAMES: So I think that mostly people call her “Mother Liesal”? Like that’s not an exact phrasing, it would probably be more accurately something between “mother” and “lady” but with all the sort of soft maternal connotations and all the powerful respectful connotations. It probably does not translate very well culturally. There used to be mystery cults where you had to be initiated into the cult to learn the true name of the deity, however Liesal doesn’t really strike me as a mystery cult type of girl, not because she couldn’t be but because she wants to have a more open relationship with humanity (humanity can be a lose term). I do think she would ascribe to the “my priests/esses only know/speak my true name on occasions” version of this in a “evokes great power to get my attention NOW” sort of way. ( I was going to do some titles too but I’m over 800 words and my brain won’t do the thing).

TEMPLES: Liesal has some temples, mostly in major hubs, but I think in general she would prefer worship as a sort of house god. Like people put up a little shelf and that’s her shelf but it’s in your house so you visit it daily and it’s just part of your life. Also sort of Kitchen God-esq. The easy thing to say about Liesal’s temples would be that they’re libraries, but tbh the vibe is wrong. I imagine her temples are very homey and warm, they have a lot of green curtains in different shades to accent or divide space. Round doorways and domes. Delicate embellishments but never anything that could be called gaudy. Lots of things made by the people, from bread to teas grown in the mountains to kids who turned their first paintings and samplers into little icons or quilt squared. Green things- living things-flowers. Herbs. And Frescos. Like watercolor murals almost just all over. A place for people to stay if they need safety but mostly for worship.

WORSHIP: little offerings, a lot of them are food. Tiny hand painted icons, many very rough, of people laid at her altar or hearth of people that her worshipers want her to look after. Caring for other people. Preserving old books (priesthood probably). Sprinkles of water on her statues in people’s homes, or trinkets placed on her shelves. Gentle touches. She DOES have a festival though! It takes place on the cusp of spring and summer and involves the erection of temporary alters in town centers where people don’t have temples for her, good food, company, dancing, games- think a mayday vibe, but with less emphasis on fertility and more on enjoying the company of the people you love and telling the stories of your home and your people.

DOMAIN AND FOLLOWERS: Liesal is a goddess of common people mostly. Of course there are scholars that love her and dedicate their lives to her, but mostly it’s just normal people. Her priesthood is mostly female, because it requires a certain amount of love and humility (think people who could conceivably lead storytime) and the men who come thinking they want to pledge her priesthood often realize very quickly they’re too worried about “official scholarship” or the “respectability” of things more than the actual job. Think people who get mad if you call them a cook instead of a chef one time. She’s very widely loved. Liesal isn’t a top 5 type goddess in terms of power, but she makes up for it in influence. Typically people see her as a goddess of stories, poetry, literature, home, family gatherings, gathering places, languages, beautiful things (but in an organic, approachable way), memory, and most importantly perhaps cultural preservation. This also makes her a popular goddess with travelers or people who are living far from home or in foreign lands because they see her, even if she isn’t a goddess of their homeland, as someone who will help them protect and pass down their culture and traditions to the people they love. She also sometimes serves as a muse figure, usually in songs during homey crafting (weaving for example) or as an invocation at the beginning of a piece. Small symbols are often drawn on the first page of books, or painted into soft art, or woven/stitched into handicrafts.

SYMBOLS: some funky almost geometric symbol I’m not going to try to draw but I want you to feel with me, the attached color palette, possibly sunsets, fern leaf peonies, rhododendrons, caucasus, viola incisa, rose root basically weird flowers that bloom in scattered parts of Russia. Snow geese. Sable. Picture books. Probably a comet that comes around about the time of her festival every year. Fuschite or amazonite.

MYTHS:

Idk why but I feel like Liesal would have an underworld myth. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

The story of how Liesal saved [her people] from [big bad empire] even during their struggles to keep a cultural identity.

[stuartja06-blog]

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[wanna-b-poet31]

(taken from site):

INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOMEMADE FACE MASK (NO ELASTIC NEEDED)

Materials needed

Tight-weave cotton fabric (i.e. quilting cotton)

Fabric must be newly purchased within approximately the past year and never used.

Wash and dry fabric without fragrance or dyes prior to sewing.

Options for Ties

Bias Tape (either ½ or 7/8 as available)

(or) Make ties from strips of fabric (cut strips 2 " wide by 16" long)

One adult mask requires two (2) 9”x6” pieces tight-weave cotton and four (4) 16” pieces of bias tape or fabric ties (64” total per mask). You need 21 1/3 yards of bias tape for 12 masks.

You can make two sizes: Adult or Child. Adult-sized masks will be the greatest need.

                                    Cut 9x6 (Adult) or 7.5 x 5 (Child) 

Place right sides of the cotton fabric together (Be sure any fabric design is placed horizontally.)

Starting at the center of the bottom edge, sew around the edges of the fabric leaving about 1.5” to 2” open.

Stop, cut the thread. Turn inside out.

Pin three (3) ½” tucks on each side of the mask. Make sure the tucks are in the same direction.

Make ties using Bias Tape or Fabric.

Pin one (1) tie at each corner.

Sew around the edge of the mask twice, catching the bias tape as you go

For the Ties:

Bias tape: stitch closed.

Fabric: Fold in half, turn under 1/4 " on each long side, iron in place. Stitch long edges closed.

[ayearofmaking]

A handmade life in 2020

In typical Lindsey fashion, it’s taken me until the end of February to figure out what my 2020 goals should be. And the goal that I’ve decided is worthy of having its own Tumblr is making 2020 a year of making and crafting.

I guess you’re supposed to choose goals that are sustainable, and this one is, seeing as I’ve already been doing it for some time. It started last spring when I told my coworker one day, “I feel like I need to be doing something creative in my life.” Which is a bit rich because I film and edit videos for a living. And I work at a university that has a wealth of creative and intellectual activities to take advantage of. Anyway, I bought a loom and started weaving little wall hangings. Eventually I got bored with that and decided to try crocheting again - I had learned the basic stitches before, but never gotten very good at it.

I churned out a few shawls that I gave as Christmas presents (and kept one for myself) and in December, I got a couple of vintage chairs to reupholster.

Around the same time, I got irritated about none of my pants fitting me in the waist and decided to just buy a sewing machine and learn how to alter them myself. And then a couple weeks ago I took the plunge with my first real sewing project and made this tote purse:

And unsurprisingly, now it seems like a totally good idea for me to donate 90% of my wardrobe and start from scratch making my own clothes.

When I sent my mom a picture of the finished bag, she said, “I never thought you’d sew.” She sews, and my grandmother was a multitalented crafty person - I still have a baby blanket she crocheted for me, I grew up wearing her hand-sewn Halloween costumes, and being treated to her elaborate birthday cakes. When she died 19 years ago, she left behind her own fully handmade wardrobe. My mom turned the clothes into a quilt. I would like to say I learned these skills from these women, but it’s taken me 30 years in life to start learning them in a roundabout way.

My grandfather on my dad’s side was a jazz musician, and as I grew up playing the violin, I somewhat arrogantly assumed that’s where my creativity came from. But as I get older, I start to understand the care my grandmother showed in all of her handmade gifts to us, as well as the talent they required. And as someone who regularly uses crocheting as a way to stave off panic attacks, or sewing as a way to keep me feeling productive when a depressive episode wants to keep me on the couch all day, I understand these crafts as emotional work.

I ordered some fabric and purchased a few different PDF patterns online, and have plans for trying my hand at sewing a blouse and a spring jacket next. I’ve made attempts at having a capsule wardrobe in the past, but always ended up with things that didn’t work for one reason or another: the cut was wrong, the material made me sweaty, or it would suit a lifestyle/job that I don’t actually have. And then there are the myriad items in my closet that people have given me that I feel guilty about giving away, but don’t have the space for. So, as far as clothing (and hopefully home goods too) I’ve decided to make this a year of making, and if I can’t make it, I’ll thrift it.

Someone recently described me as “a good homemaker,” and though I know what they meant - these skills aren’t really in style anymore - I barfed in my mouth a little bit. I prefer to think of them as post-apocalyptic survival skills. Between my husband’s mechanical/electrical engineering skills and ability to use power tools, and my ability to cook, sew, crochet, and the medical/health knowledge I’ve gleaned from years of working as a journalist in conflict areas, and now as a science communicator at a medical school, I think we’d stand a good chance of surviving for a while in the apocalypse.

[waldenweave]

Making is still slow going. My life living with people now means compromise, and that’s okay. I learned this past week and another culprit might also be the cancer drug I’m on: tamoxifen. It’s great stuff, and will help me not develop more tumors, but over the last three months, I have become increasingly tired, sore, and sad. I have been off it for a week as my oncologist wanted to see if some weird side effects I was having were related and went away. As of this weekend, I don’t hurt nearly as much, I am feeling more alert, and I have energy and strength again. I have been trying to make hay while the sun shines and do all the things I will not be able to do when I’m on it again!

This weekend, I found the waffle iron, and am hoping to make a load of waffles to put in the freezer (there is currently a surplus of buttermilk that must be used up – oh woe!). I bought some lavender plants last week (on sale! more on that later), and will try to weed the area I want to put them in today, and then I’ll plant them. I am going to try to figure out all the heavy lifting I’ve been meaning to do and do it today.

Okay. On to Making over the past month.

I finished up the overshot towels! One is in use at home, two of the yellow ones went to friends as a gift – their kitchen is yellow and green – and one has stayed with me, as yet unused. I now think these are the perfect weight for towels, and are very absorbent, but if I sell them, they’re going to be very expensive, because these take twice as long to produce.

When I am preparing to hem, I always wash and dry the cloth two or three times before I do anything. Then I iron the whole thing front and back. (I know lots of weavers say press, but honestly, this is cotton. They’re towels. I have never found a need to get super fussy with an iron other than to flatten the cloth.) Then I cut along the weft marker lines I threw when I was weaving. Sometimes, there are bits of scrap. I save those and use them to make greeting cards, or sometimes just as reference samples. Then I go over each towel looking for errant weft ends sticking out and I snip them flush with the cloth. I have read that snipping the weft ends flush while you’re weaving is okay, but I’ve always found a few sticking out anyway after wet finishing. I’ve attributed this to the shrinkage of the yarn, and then the ends just pop out. But I like snipping the weft ends because it also allows me to really inspect every inch of the cloth, and sometimes I see a mistake I didn’t see before, which I can usually fix.

Sometimes I also find knots in the weft yarn that I didn’t notice while I was throwing the shuttle. The thing I’m pointing to above is a knot. (Sigh.) It was on the back of the cloth, so I didn’t notice it until the pre-hemming stage. I could fix it, but it’s hard to do after the cloth has been washed. I can’t believe I didn’t notice it when I was winding quills – normally, if I find a knot in the yarn, I’ll cut it out and just overlap the weft in the same pick as if I were starting a new quill.

With this batch of towels, the cloth is a bit thicker than just twill, so I did a little different thing with the hem: I wove a a bit of the ground, leaving the pattern out, and just folded that over and stitched. Behold:

This hem is sooo thin and unobtrusive.

I like it a lot! I had seen something like this in a picture somewhere and thought I’d give it a try. I also love how it looks.

What I need to do now is get an inkle loom or put together a backstrap loom so I can weave bands – I want to sew loops just under the hem of each towel I make (and maybe weave a logo into them?).

I took the last week of August off from work. Man, I haven’t had a vacation in what feels like years (and it might be two or three, I can’t remember), and it was pretty good. A friend and I went up to Shelburne to Apex Orchard to go peach picking, and we could not have picked a better day for it! The sky was blue, the air was clear and ever so slightly crisp, there was a gentle breeze…and the trees were positively laden with fruit. Some of the branches were nearly on the ground.

The view from the orchard’s shop is staggeringly gorgeous. That picture above doesn’t do it justice at all.

We each picked a large box (and spent several days eating our respective peaches), and then went back up to the shop for lunch. There was a lovely eating area outside, and I’d brought All The Food in an ice chest. We had already eaten several peaches in the orchard, but managed to get something other than fruit into our systems before packing up and checking out the shop in detail.

It doesn’t look like much, but this is actually quite a lot of peaches!

The shop is lovely, and I highly recommend a visit if you’re in the area. While the orchard has been around for years and years, the shop is fairly new, so don’t expect too much – but they do have pottery from a local potter or two, maple syrup, honey from the orchard, some handmade quilted things, and coolers of fruit. They also have a walk-in cooler of seconds!

I took advantage of this cooler of seconds a couple of days later:

This is a LOT more peaches than you think. I learned what ‘half-bushel’ really was. Also, please note the lovely and very useful overshot dishtowel under the peaches on the counter.

For a mere $22, I got a half-bushel of Red Haven peaches. They were fiiiine, and only some were very slightly bruised. They were very nearly all ripe to being completely ripe, and they were perfect to make into jam.

There was a bit of a kerfuffle with getting enough canning jars, running out of pectin and sugar and running out to buy more, not adding enough acid to the second batch because I’d been canning for six hours and was exhausted, canning the second batch a second time the next day after adding the right amount of acid and slightly more pectin, but in the end, I got it all done. Two cases of half-pint jars. I still have three cups of peach mash left (in the freezer) because I ran out of time and energy, and I thought this would be enough for a very modest batch of peach chutney. Which was supposed to maybe happen today, but won’t because omg I’m doing all the things today and will run out of time.

I finally finished my friend’s jeans:

FINISHED. FINALLY.

It took months, and most of the delay was due to nonsense with the house I’d lived in before, being diagnosed with cancer, freaking out, and moving house…well, all of that is now behind me and this was actually on the top of the list for my vacation! (That list is so long still…) I’m so happy I finished it – it’s not quite right, but I couldn’t figure out what else needed to be there, and my friend was being SO PATIENT waiting. She loves them and I am thrilled to have learned a new method of repairing holes in clothing.

So, during that kerfuffle of getting enough canning jars (see second case in photo above), I might have accidentally bought five lavender plants (var. Provence). They were on sale! They were so healthy and so large! (Actually, they were so much on sale, I couldn’t NOT buy them.) I got that little pink yarrow as well because, well, it’s pink yarrow, and beautiful and well, it was on sale, too.

I am currently trying to get the garden by the front walk back into garden-shape again. My friends who I live with do not have time for this, and are sad that it’s gotten to this point, but basically don’t have time to really think about what to do with it. Well, this is something I can fix, albeit slowly. The strip is quite long as is not obvious in that picture above, and it seems to be taking forever. The grass/weeds are actually growing on the layer of old rotten bark mulch, so it all peels up pretty easily. I feel pretty much like I could run a race today, so it’s on my list of things to tackle. Maybe I can get it all peeled up? My plans are to put the lavender in the bit that gets the most sun. (I had plans to put it in the back yard where the drainage is probably slightly better, but I discovered there are ground wasps living there, so digging in their nest is probably not a good idea.) I hope there’s enough sun in the front.

My next plan is to keep an eye out for beautiful (and inexpensive) mums so I can add a bit of color to the front. I might put some spring bulbs in as well, but I want to ask my friends first – I don’t want to set up something that they will need to take care of after I’ve moved out. That would be mean. My Ultimate Plan is to plant perennials in there that will basically look after themselves with minimal weeding required. So, daisies, mint (already there), bee balm, lamb’s ears, maybe a rose or two (hardy)…you get the idea. The hostas and a couple patches of daylilies plus weeds is just sad. (And don’t get me started on this way of landscape planting that wastes so much space with bark mulch and nothing else – argh!)

I also will mow the lawn today:

A toy!

I can’t hardly believe my luck, and the trust my friends have in me. As a member of the household, I am always looking for ways to be helpful and contribute (other than financially), so I mow the lawn. It’s a very big lawn, and it takes just short of two hours to get it all done. Above is what I use to mow it, along with a regular push mower to get the edges and fiddly bits. It’s an actual tractor (not a lawnmower), with a mower attachment on the power take-off underneath. I like to think of it as a Kitchen Aid mixer with the fun attachments. There’s a snowblower attachment parked behind it in this picture that I will likely also learn to operate when it’s time. The driveway is also large.

I can’t adequately express how much fun it is to mow the lawn! I hope that never wears off.

In other news, I’ve been thinking hard about something else to make. I’ve been wanting to do this for years:

A good friend was off-loading some books…of course I nabbed them!

I figure I’ll scope out supplies and gather as necessary and required, and start small. So small. My goal is to make the rose scented soap I can’t get at the store anymore (because amazon bought Whole Foods, and while I do not buy into the complete hipster/yuppie/whatever it’s called this decade philosophy that WF peddles, they do carry a few things that I do like – but so many things have been discontinued). Rose oil, it turns out, is five times more costly than it was when I last checked (maybe 15 years ago), and there are varying reviews about the fake rose fragrance that most people use. So, I’ll start with lavender because that’s not too expensive and I can get it locally.

And I’ve saved the best for last.

Remember how I started that cello experiment? I started with three months. That was one billing cycle for the instrument rental, and I figured that was a good window in which I could decide if I liked learning to play it or not, liked the teacher or not, etc. And it was. Well. I have been mooning over the viola da gamba for a while (a year and a half, about) and this semester, I got my name on the list for a gamba class over at UMASS, just down the street from my office, and got the okay from my boss to take a long lunch once a week. And I got in. No auditions, no previous experience with string instruments required (but it helps).

So pretty!

I have borrowed the tenor gamba. It’s lovely in every respect. Well, not tuning. I’m sure I will get used to it, but tuning is a pain right now. The strings are gut, so any whiff of air from elsewhere makes it go wildly out of tune, especially if that air is of a different humidity.

So for three months, I’ve got to figure out how to practice two instruments – but the opportunity is so good! And it’s only three months. And maybe I’ll make musician friends? And maybe it will help with the anxiety about playing in front of other people? Seems like it couldn’t hurt!

GUYS, I GET TO HAVE VIOLA DA GAMBA LESSONS.

And I’ll end the post with a picture of cuteness:

Ollie above, Marlie below. Not the best picture, but it was tricky to snap this one with one hand.

Ollie stayed with us for a week, and has gone back with his owners. They were a joy to take care of together. I will miss Ollie, and give Marlie extra snuggles for a while.

…in which Things Get Done. Making is still slow going. My life living with people now means compromise, and that's okay. I learned this past week and another culprit might also be the cancer drug I'm on: tamoxifen.

[utanoprincesamascenarios]

Deck the Halls

I participated in an Utapri Secret Santa this year, and it was so much fun! I’m posting here to make up a bit for the hiatus, and to spread a bit of Christmas cheer. I hope everyone has a happy holiday season, and enjoy!

Pale sunlight and cool air filled Haruka’s room. Nothing was bright or warm like it should have been. Of course the heater quit, and of course the curtains muddled the light, and sure enough, the other half of the bed was empty cold. It had been that way for a week now, and Haruka wasn’t sure when it’d be filled again.

She had fallen asleep working on her compositions again, something she hadn’t done since her days at the academy. Paper was scattered across her quilt, slightly crumpled from her tossing and turning that night. It had been a while since she had last slept alone.

Her phone vibrated on the nightstand, the buzzing alerting her she had new messages. One hand left the warmth of the blankets and grabbed it. Two messages from Tokiya, and one from Tomochika.

“Tomochika… Oh no!”

Haruka nearly dropped her phone on her face when she saw what time it was. How could she have forgotten about their plans already? She was definitely  going to be late for their date.

As she tore through her apartment getting ready, she stopped briefly to respond to Tomochika to clarify yes, their plans were still on and no, she didn’t fall asleep working again, that was silly! Tokiya’s texts were a little harder to read.

  The photoshoot’s been extended. I tried to get my share done as fast as possible, but I’m needed for a few more days. I don’t think I’ll be home in time.

  Sorry. Goodnight, I love you.

He hadn’t called her the night before. He still had the tendency to overwork himself, and without Haruka there to remind him to take proper breaks, he was pretty hard to get ahold of when he was out of town for a job. Haruka wouldn’t be surprised if she was the only one that heard from him at all. Even then, just a few sporadic texts weren’t nearly enough.

  I don’t think I’ll be home in time.

Never mind the frequency of the texts. The words written in them stung more than the time in between. Before he left, Tokiya promised that he’d be home for Christmas, and Haruka knew better than anyone that Tokiya was a man of his word. Apparently, this promise must be one of the rare exceptions. She was no stranger to the idol world, especially not to the workload it required. It wasn’t his fault, but Haruka was still allowed to be upset, wasn’t she?

One hand was raised to her mouth to apply some lip gloss when she caught herself frowning at the mirror. That wouldn’t do… she needed a happy face when she met up with Tomochika. While she finished applying her makeup, she tried her best not to let her mind linger on Tokiya’s messages. No sense in letting one mishap ruin the rest of her day. Besides, Tokiya would be home soon enough, which was the important thing. Whatever the calendar said didn’t matter.

She tried her best to ignore the bland decor of the apartment. She pretended she didn’t miss the smell of gingerbread and peppermint coming from the kitchen. She told herself that the lack of colorful lights was better for her sleep. The absent Christmas tree was to save space, and no presents under said tree was better for her wallet.

When she closed the door behind her, she tried to forget that it'd be empty when she returned.

-.-.-

“Haruka! Earth to Haruka!”

Tomochika snapped her manicured fingers in front of Haruka’s face and laughed when her friend squeaked in surprise. They had spent the better half of the day running around the city, browsing shops and catching up. Idol work had kept both of them busy, and Christmas finally provided them both with a much needed break.

“Sorry, Tomo-chan…” Haruka ran her finger around the rim of the mug in front of her, warming her cold fingertips. The coffee shop they had stopped at was cozy and hidden away, a perfect spot for an idol and a famous composer to stay out of the spotlight. “What were you saying?”

“You know, I thought I’d be able to hold your attention a little better, considering how long its been!” Tomochika puffed out her cheeks, but soon enough she was smiling and laughing again. “Kidding! Something’s up. Tell me what’s got you so distracted!”

“Well…” Haruka took a sip of her hot chocolate, not exactly wanting to answer the question. She knew her cheeks were turning red, too. Maybe she could hide behind her mug for a few more seconds.

“I see that blush! It’s about Tokiya, isn’t it!”

That didn’t take her long to figure out. Tomochika had always been able to read her like an open book, though. Haruka put her drink down with a small sigh and decided now was the time to fess up. She really couldn’t keep anything from her best friend.

Despite the messages from the night before, the mention of his name still made Haruka’s heart skip a beat. Try as she might, it was almost impossible for her to keep her mind off him for too long. If Haruka was being honest, Tokiya was always on her mind. He had been ever since she had only known him as Hayato, and during their time at Saotome Academy and beyond, they had only grown closer. Eventually they started dating, and at the beginning of the year they had finally taken a huge step in their relationship and moved into an apartment together. That was shortly after Christmas, and Haruka spent the better part of the year imagining how their next Christmas, their first one together, would play out. Unfortunately, this Christmas turned out to be a little too busy for Tokiya, so…

“I was really looking forward to him being here,” Haruka explained. “And I know he can’t help it. But I was really excited to decorate our apartment together, and bake, and watch movies…”

“Hey, hey, he’ll be back soon enough though, right?” Tomochika said. “It might not be Christmas day, but you’ll be able to do all that when he’s back!”

“You’re right, Tomo-chan.” Haruka pushed her cup away and propped her head with her hand. “I just can’t help but get a little sad when I see everyone out there with their special someone and this year it’s just… me.”

“Haruka…” Tomochika crossed her arms and shook her head. “We’re not going to have any of this! Nope! No way! No friend of mine is going to be sad on my watch!”

“Huh? Tomo-chan?” Haruka didn’t have time to react before Tomochika was on her side of the table, nearly spilling their drinks everywhere as she grabbed Haruka’s hands and pulled her from her seat. A few bills were tossed on the table and their coats were scooped up, and soon they were back on the streets. Tomochika pulled her down the bustling road, weaving between the crowd of last-minute shoppers.

“I know I’m not Tokiya, but I’m going to do everything I can do to make you happy until he’s here to do it for you!” Tomochika declared. “And to start, we’re going to pick up decorations! Think of how surprised he’ll be when he sees your place when we're done with it! Deck the halls!”

Seeing the smile on Tomochika’s face was enough to make Haruka feel a little better. Having a friend like her, always there to cheer her up when she was down… Haruka was truly lucky. She let Tomochika lead her around, popping into any shop that looked like it’d carry decorations. Soon enough, they were walking back to Haruka’s apartment, both of their arms overflowing with bags. The walk was filled with laughter and smiles, and Haruka started to think maybe this Christmas wouldn’t be so bad.

-.-.-

It was tricky balancing all of the bags on her own, but Haruka managed to free her keys from the mess that was her purse. Tomochika had to end their night a little earlier than expected, so they had said their farewells a few moments earlier, and now she was on her own again. This time, however, she wasn’t nearly as sad. Tomochika was right. Decorating would take her mind off of things, and thinking about Tokiya’s face when he saw the surprise would be worth it. He made the cutest expressions when he was caught off guard.

The bags in her arms threatened to spill over. She could continue picturing Tokiya’s face again once she got the bags safely inside. She fumbled with the keys before they finally slid into the lock, and they turned with almost no resistance. That was odd… she was sure she locked the door behind her on her way out. With a nudge of her hip, the door swung open and Haruka nearly dropped everything she was holding.

Lights hung from the ceiling, casting a warm glow across the entirety of the apartment. Candles burned on the kitchen counters and kotatsu, and the scent of peppermint filled the air. Scuffling noises were coming from the living room, along with soft humming, and when Haruka peeked around the corner she was greeted with Tokiya attempting to position a small, artificial Christmas tree.

“Tokiya?!” Haruka couldn’t believe it. Wasn’t he still at the job?

“Ah!” Tokiya jumped when he heard his name, dropping the tree against the wall while he whipped his head around to the source of her voice. “Haruka…! I didn’t hear you come in.”

Haruka wasn’t sure when she stopped caring about the bags and dropped them to the floor. Her feet moved on their own as she ran across the room, arms open to wrap her boyfriend in a hug. Tokiya returned the embrace and lifted her in the air, spinning around once while he kissed the top of her head.

“What are you doing! When did you get here? When did you do all of this? Why are you here? Why didn’t you call!”

Tokiya chuckled while Haruka continued her onslaught of questions. None of those answers were really important. What mattered was Tokiya was here, in their apartment, in time for Christmas with a couple days to spare.

“I wanted to surprise you,” was all he said.

He had put her back on the ground, but Haruka didn’t release him from her hug. She buried her face in his chest, sniffing back tears she didn’t know had formed. They stung her eyes, but they were definitely happy tears.

“Tokiya,” Haruka couldn’t properly form words yet. Tokiya was in her arms, at long last, and she wasn’t about to let him go. She squeezed him harder, and she felt him rubbing her back.

“Why don’t we sit down?” he suggested. Haruka nodded against him. He led her to the couch, and when he sat down, Haruka leaned against his shoulder.

“How long have you been home?” Haruka asked. Maybe if she slowed down the pace she fired off her questions, she’d start to get some answers.

“I arrived back in town this morning. There were a few other things I had to wrap up, but I spent most of the afternoon picking up all of this.” he wrapped an arm around Haruka’s shoulders and pulled her close. “I actually saw you and Shibuya-san on my way back here.”

“And you didn’t say anything?” Haruka pouted.

“You looked like you were having fun. And like I said, I wanted this to be a surprise.”

Haruka reached to grab the hand that was wrapped around her. Tokiya squeezed her hand once their fingers were laced together. “Why didn’t you call?”

Tokiya sighed. “I was busy trying to wrap everything up on my end. I was cutting it kind of close… but it paid off, I’d like to think.”

Haruka was quiet for a few moments. “Well… next time, no matter how busy you are… please try to find a minute or two, just to check in, okay?”

She tried to keep her smile bright, but Tokiya saw through her. He brought his free hand to her face and tilted her chin to meet him in a kiss.

“You’re right,” he whispered against her lips. “That’s no reason to ignore you. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t need surprises or anything like that. I just wanted you.” Haruka kissed him back and wiggled from his grip. “But, since you’ve already got a head start on me…”

They both looked at the doorway, door still wide open with the bags of Christmas decor scattered about. Some things they had doubled up on, but Haruka had picked out enough things there was a wide variety. It’d be a while until they were done making the place festive. Haruka rose from the couch and pulled Tokiya up with her.

“You can keep decorating, and I’ll get started on the baking!” Haruka declared. Sure, her plans hadn’t gone as she had thought. But this outcome was so much better than she was anticipating.

“Baking? You’re thinking much further ahead than I was.” Tokiya poked around the bags on the floor until he found the ingredients for gingerbread cookies.

“I guess I had a few surprises myself,” Haruka winked at him before she whisked the bag away and hurried to the kitchen. “And I have a few things in there to wrap still, so don’t get nosey!”

The two of them continued to deck out the apartment, laughing and talking and singing Christmas songs as they worked. Once they were finished, they both curled up on the couch under a blanket, hot cocoa in hand and cookies on the table. The Christmas tree was the only light in the room, and the only sound was Tokiya humming again. Haruka felt so content, being able to cuddle up to him again in their cozy apartment. Things were bright, things were warm, and everything was exactly as it should be.

Christmas miracles were something she’d only heard about in stories and movies. But this year, she finally witnessed one of her own.