2nd Sleeve Finished!

I have finally finished the second sleeve for my blue linen dress. I'm hoping to have the dress ready to debut at Midwinter Coronation!

I am also hoping to get opinions on which version of documentation you think is better. I have done two, which vary slightly in aspect. The first is my project journal created through Notebook . This is more documenting the dress as a whole.
The second I wrote up in Google Documents and is just in regards to the embroidery http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dqxd7tx_1f5g7zvgv.

I would appreciate any comments in regards to which version is better in terms of documentation and presentation. I'm trying to decide which format to use for future projects Notebook or Google Docs. I like that I can access Google Docs free from any computer, but I also really like the look of the Notebook program. All thoughts would be really appreciated.

Merry christmas and a happy new year :)

DSC05515
Ursprünglich hochgeladen von racaire

Merry christmas and a happy new year :)

Best regards
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

new roundel finished :)

DSC05493
Ursprünglich hochgeladen von racaire

...and again a roundel for Anya's cloak finished :)

Newsletter December

Dear honourable Lords and Ladies, gentle members of the "Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild" and "-eMail Group"!

December contains the most wonderful days and the most busy ones too and because November didn't bring many changes since the guild report I send you a very short newsletter this time.

The 'Something to keep you warm' challenge is due to the end of December - I am very nosy how many projects will be finished due to this deadline and also if I will be able to finish my project. Jahanara and I communicated about possible solutions concerning the completion of the single projects and I think we found a very good solution - more information about our solution and the challenge 2009 in the next newsletter.

Many thanks to the local guild heads, all participants of the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Workshop, "Something to keep you warm" challenge and to all members of the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - I wish you a relaxed time and merry christmas - may all your wishes come true.

Please keep on sharing your wonderful work - regardless if embroidery, woven tapestry, illumination, wood-, leather- or metal-work,.. every project is a great inspiration for other people!

Yours in Service
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

...embroidery evening in Vienna - 25.11.2008...

...btw. next embroidery evening at Racaire's home in Vienna: Tuesday 25.11.2008 :)

Cruising right along!

I'm really excited about the progress I've made on this, the second sleeve in the set! Please feel free to give me comments. I'm still fairly impressed with my progress on this project and this stitch!
Namaste,
Jahanara

New Research Notes Posted

I've just added another page of notes from my visits to the Victoria & Albert Textile Study Room. This page focuses on 7th C Persian textiles, with a few earlier pieces.
These notes can be found on my website .

I hope many of you find this information interesting.

Namaste,
Jahanara

Sleeve progress

I've been working right along on my 2nd sleeve cuff. I showed the first sleeve to some friends who were over Sunday night and the difference in my embroidery ability really shows in these two sleeves! The one that is already complete used to look really good, now compared to the one that is in progress, it looks OK. As I've already done the "first" one twice, I don't think I'll be redoing it yet again. I'll just let this garment be a living testament to the growth in my embroidery skill! Here's the one in progress (half way there!):

Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - Newsletter November & 2nd Report 2008

10th window finished
Ursprünglich hochgeladen von racaire

Report of Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - Drachenwald
3rd report by reporter / guild head: Lady Racaire

A little bit more than a year passed by since I started my work as guild head in October last year and therefore this is my 3rd report and another newsletter for you - in this report I want to inform you about some basic informations about guild members, officers, planned tasks, challenges in progress and upcoming challenges,... and than I would like to draw your attention to the additional reports of the local guild heads of Aarnimetsä, Insulae Draconis and Nordmark.

...and I also want to send to all 39 lords and ladies who joined the guild since Oct 18th 2007, all participants of the soon ending "Something to keep you warm" challenge, all participants of the "Dragon's Embroidery Workshop" blog and especially to our regional guild heads who are doing a very great job:
Thank you all very much indeed!

Time Period: 16.May 2008 - 15.November 2008 / 2nd report 2008

Members - based on the membership roll started at 18.October 2007 - we have a total of 39 official members:
1) Racaire (Central - guild head)
2) Rakonczay Gergely (Aarnimetsä)
3) Thomas Paumer (Central)
4) Katherina Mornewegh (Central)
5) Lia de Thornegge (Scandinavia)
6) Edith of Hedingham (Crown Principality of Insulae Draconis
7) Baroness Mary Verch Thomas (Crown Principality of Insulae Draconis)
8) Hudd de Peth (Kingdom of the Outlands)
9) Johanna aff Hucka (Aarnimetsä)
10) Eva Grelsdottir (Aarnimetsä)
11) Arnulf der Zeilner (Central)
12) Lady Jane Devereux (Crown Principality of Insulae Draconis)
13) Katharina Woinovich (Central)
14) Lady Eilgri Beccan (Aarnimetsä - Aarnimetsä region guild head)
15) Viscountess Helwig Ulfsdotter (Scandinavia)
16) Katharina von Owe (Central)
17) Sileas von Biuira (Central)
18) Lady Ælfwynne of Eoforwic (Nordmark)
19) Renika Rikardsdottir (Nordmark)
20) Mistress Anya Mstyslavyaya (Central)
21) Alenn von Horn (Central)
22) Halfdan von Veneta (Central)
23) Anna de Byxe (Nordmark)
24) Hedwig von Simmaningen (Central)
25) Sahra (Aarnimetsä)
26) Sinikka (Aarnimetsä)
27) Myfanwy Methig (Aarnimetsä)
28) Rixende of Aarnimetsä (Aarnimetsä)
29) Jahanarabanu Vivana (Insulae Draconis - Insulae Draconis region guild head)
30) Ida Järvinen (Aarnimetsä)
31) Lady Melisende Fitzwalter (Insulae Draconis)
32) Lady Siubhan inghean Fhearghuis (Insulae Draconis)
33) Katarina von Danzig (Insulae Draconis)
34) Mave (Central)
35) Himiltrude fan Austrasia (Central)
36) Adelina (Central)
37) Honor of Restormel (-)
38) Tamara Stefanova (Central)
39) Eleanora von Ratzeburg (Central)

Officers:
* Guild Head: Lady Racaire
* Aarnimetsä - region guild head: Lady Eilgri Beccan
* Central - region guild head: Lady Racaire
* Insulae Draconis - region guild head: Lady Jahanarabanu Vivana
* Nordmark - region guild head: Fru Renika Rikardsdottir
* (South: no members in this region by now)

Guild meetings / displays:
* First official guild meeting at Coronation in Insulae Draconis (Summer 2008) called up and conducted by guild head Racaire, initiated by regional guild head Lady Jahanarabanu Vivana. There was also a small guild display at Coronation in cooperation with the A&S display and the Kingdom A&S Minister Mistress Jaelle of Armida.

Planed guild head tasks for the next half year:
* rework of the guild charter (in progress - first draft should be finished due to end 2008, some delay because of mundane life and work of the guild head)
* collecting ideas, pictures, handouts,... for a guild homepage (in progress)
* registration of the guild badge (in progress)
* 2nd official guild meeting and guild display
* planning and creation of a guild banner as soon as the guild badge is registrated
* planning for a small guild badge competition as soon as the guild badge is registrated

Planed projects / projects in progress:
* 08.2006 - 08.2007 (overdue) - Wallhanging Project/Challenge: of Mistress Anya Mstyslavyaya and Lady Racaire still in progress - overdue because of other projects, challenges and commissions
* 09.2007 - 12.2008 - Something to keep you warm Project/Challenge: still in progress - finish date: December 2008 (because some of the projects wont be finished by December 2008 the blog will kept open and it will be possible to document the future progress there, or if the project meets the requirements of the next challenge, it will be possible to carry forward some projects to the next challenge)
* 01.2009 - 12.2009 - new blog for upcoming challenges / preparation for challenge 2009 by Lady Jahanarabanu Vivana and Lady Racaire (current idea: "Pimp up your wardrobe" - for more colour at events with slightly different conditions to also allow personas of a special time period to participate)

...other interesting projects:
* support of the A&S50 challenge in Drachenwald with the blog: http://drachenwald-as50.blogspot.com/ - SCA-wide challenge - finish date: celebration of the 50th year (in 2015) of the Society for Creative Anachronism

Guild blog / homepage:
* Dragon's Embroidery Workshop blog: a place for the embroiderers of Drachenwald to show their own work & projects, ask questions, get answers and enjoy each other's company - no finish date - possibility to display finished projects or projects in progress
(many thanks to Mistress Bridget - http://dragonscribes.blogspot.com/ - for this gread idea)
* homepage: no homepage by now

...other interesting blogs / homepages:
* Aarnimetsä: - (in progress)
* Central: - (see Dragon's Embroidery Workshop)
* Insulae Draconis Fibre Arts Interest Group: http://idfibreinterestgroup.blogspot.com/

Report - Aarnimetsä by Lady Eilgri Beccan:
* The regional guild head Lady Eilgri reports that the Aarnimetsän guild had a meeting at Gudgel Wars in July. Some previous members were present, who are thinking about 'rejoining' the guild - names will be transmitted soon. Lady Eilgri spoke at the meeting about our first guild meeting at Coronation, and about our plans about the new guild charter. Future plans had been discussed and it had been decided to create a blog in Finnish, it also have been thought about starting a challenge project for Baronesses basket.
* At Gudgelwars the talented member Master Kathryn Hebenstraits taught a smocking class that proved to be so popular, she had to hold an other one at the end of the week. And as a proof of a great class there were many beautiful smocked aprons at the Crown Tourney!
* November 7th - 9th the Aarnimetsän guild is going to have a kind of a sewing event, The Feast of st Homobonus (the patronussaint of tailors). There will also be held a meeting of the Guild of st Homobonus, the tailor´s guild for hand sewers.
* At weekly meetings of Canton of Hucca there have been sewing meetings and at Sep 29th there was a class of basics of tablet weaving.
* At Crown Tourney there was an A&S competition with three excellent candidates participating. Rackonzay´s wallhanging won, and there were also two sewing projects - Baroness Uta´s 14th century dress and a complete viking outfit for Herr Oliver for his wedding, made by Lady Sahra.

Report - Central by Lady Racaire:
* Lady Racaire started again with her embroidery and sewing evenings at the end of October.
* Meisterinne Eleanora von Ratzeburg and Lady Gunhild von Brunswik provided pictures of their embroidery that were uploaded to Racaire's flickr account and displayed at the Dragon's Embroidery Workshop Blog.
* Racaire also visited some museums and uploaded the photos to her flickr account and shared the link to the photos at the Dragon's Embroidery Workshop Blog.

Report - Insulae Draconis by Lady Jahanarabanu Vivana:
* The regional guild head Lady Jahanara reports that the Insulae Draconis Guild Members have been fairly active and we still have 8 ID members.
* Lady Jahanara has spoken to several potential new members recently and she hopes they will join soon.
* She reports that Siubhan is still working on her fabulous cloak for Lutr and that it is coming along nicely. Siubhan has finished all the outline work (which is a hug accomplishment in and of itself), has also completely filled in both heads and tails and she has finished a few of the knotwork lines.
* Jahanara has been working on a hood for Odo. She has finished the first roundel and outlined the second. She is also working on the second sleeve in a set of 7th C Persian sleeves. These sleeves are based on an extant embroidered sleeve held at the Victoria and Albert Textile Study room. She is also begun work on a set of wool cloaks for the ID Viceroy & Vicereine. The cloaks are cut out and ready to be appliquéd.
* ID - 'Something to Keep you Warm' challenge: Siubhan is unlikely to finish by the deadline, but has made "successful" progress! The cloak is keeping Lutr warm when needed! Jahanara should complete the ID Cloaks for her challenge by the deadline.

Report - Nordmark by Fru Renika Rikardsdottir:
* The embroidery guild of Nordmark met at medieval week in the fair barony of Styringheim this august and fru Renika Rikardsdottir was elected as local head for Nordmark and as thus is responsible for contacts with the Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild.

... and last but not least - a list of persons who are willing to share theirknowledge, answer questions and help other people in their interest area:
* Guild head & central - region guild head: Lady Racaire
* Aarnimetsä - region guild head: Lady Eilgri Beccan
* Insulae Draconis - region guild head: Lady Jahanarabanu Vivana
* Nordmark - region guild head: Fru Renika Rikardsdottir

Yours in Service
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

DSC03842
Ursprünglich hochgeladen von racaire

My dear lords and ladies,

I apologize for the bandwith but I would like to invite you to join my walk through the Schatzkammer (Treasury) in Vienna, Austria (Europe) this friday:

"Austria, Vienna - Treasury / Schatzkammer"

I want to share this great impressions and hope that the photos I uploaded to my flickr account will maybe help you with your research projects, entertain you,... and maybe inspire some of you to visit Vienna :)

Extract of the things on display at the Schatzkammer:
- Messornat des Ordens vom Goldenen Vlies (embroidered, 2nd quarter 15th century)
- Das "Ainkhürn"-Schwert ('Unicorn'-Sword, 2nd third of the 15th century)
- Brosche Burgundisch-niederländisch (brooch, burgundian-dutch about 1430/40)
- Reichskrone (empire crown, west-german, 2nd half 10th century, crown cross 1st third 11th century, bow (?) between 1024 and 1039)
- Adlerdalmatika (south-german, 1330-1340)
- Krönungsmantel (coronation-mantle 1133/34)
- Medaillon aus Bergkristall (end of 16th century - inlcuding a small painting with gouache on pergament)
- Beutel König Stephans von Ungarn (embroidered pouch - russian, 2nd half 11.-12th century)
...and many more...

With best regards
Racaire
Kingdom Drachenwald, Shire Ad Flumen Caerulum

...embroidery evening in Vienna - 30.10.2008...

...btw. next embroidery evening at Racaire's home in Vienna: Thursday 30.10.2008 :)

Something to keep you warm progres... :)

...Siubhan and Alenn show their beautiful progress concerning their "Something to keep you warm" projects in the

"Something to keep you warm..." Blog

Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild - Newsletter October 2008

DSC02733
Ursprünglich hochgeladen von racaire

Dear honourable Lords and Ladies, gentle members of the "Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild" and "-eMail Group"!

...September passed by and because I was very busy concerning my mundane life this newsletter will be rather short:

Guild Membership Roll:
At the moment we have 39 members - one new member since the last newsletter :)

Guild Badge:
Our guild badge went out on a kingdom internal letter of intent in July - maybe we might have a registered guild badge about February next year

Guild Charter:
Still in progress - I hope I will be able to finish my first draft before the end of december.

Dragon's Embroidery Workshop:
Please keep on sharing your wonderful work! :)

Misc.:
- "Something to keep you warm" Project/Challenge (new deadline: December!)
- "Embroidery Workshop Blog" if you would like to join the Workshop, please don't hesitate to write me an eMail! :)
- A&S 50 Challenge - it would still be great to see more artisans from our beautiful kingdom joining this challenge.
- A&S 50 Challenge Drachenwald Blog - ...a blog where the participants of the A&S 50 Challenge living in Drachenwald may share their works, ask questions, encourage each other and generally support one another along the way.

Yours faithfully
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

Embroidery - Meisterinne Eleanora von Ratzeburg (Germany / Hamburg)

11092008013
Ursprünglich hochgeladen von racaire

Meisterinne Eleanora von Ratzeburg recently joined our embroidery guild - she is very busy and therefore I am very glad that she found some time to take photos of her new embroidery.

If you would also like to try some beadwork, I can highly recommend following homepage:
Medieval Beads.com

SUCCESS!

I finished the badge I was working on and presented it to my love, Sir Franz von Hohenklingen. It met with much praise and wonder. I think he rather liked it. It turns out the double-headed eagle was part of his arms and thus I added. I split-stitched the double-headed eagle, the fleur-de-lis and field behind the fleur-de-lis. Then I couched the purpure field. It worked up fairly quick as it was half couched and came out fairly nice. Not my sharpest looking to date, but I'm mostly pleased.

Rakonczay's new tapestry

Rakonczay finished his tapestry:

~ Verdure with Arms of Rakonczay Gergely ~

...very lovely work - please follow the link above

new roundel finished :)

DSC02033
Ursprünglich hochgeladen von racaire

...and again a roundel for Anya's cloak finished - now I need 9 more roundels :)

Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - Members

If you do not want your SCA name and/or group to be listed here,
please contact the guild head

New members of the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - September:

~ added 07.09.2008: ~
39) Eleanora von Ratzeburg (Central)

-> Guild Member-List <-

additional information:
Guild Head: Lady Racaire
Aarnimetsä - region guild head: Lady Eilgri Beccan
Central - region guild head: Lady Racaire
Insulae Draconis - region guild head: Lady Jahanarabanu Vivana
Nordmark - region guild head: fru Renika Rikardsdottir
(South: no members until now)

Yis Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

Progress!

Today started as a sleepy Sunday, but did not stay that way long. I went downstairs about 1300 and popped in Order of the Phoenix, ok it was already there! During the movie, I enjoyed a nice sugar free swiss mocha and finished three treadling repeats! That means I wove another 6 inches and moved the warp along again! The last week has seen this done twice, so I've woven a foot in the last week. If I keep this up, I'll have an entire yard done by the end of the month. Continuing this same amount of progress, I'll have the two yards I need for this section done by the end of October! I'm really hoping that I can keep this up and get the next section on the loom by the end of this year. I need three sections total. I know this section will take the longest, as once I get this done I should have everything down pat!

But wait there's more, I actually got these six inches done in less than 2 hours. I also hemmed Lady Salonge's cloak, so it is effectively done! I say effectively as I've just embroidered her sun-in-splendour on the back. We've talked about adding her lion on each side at the bottom later. I think we'll probably work on this summer '09 when she doesn't need to be wearing it often!

Finally, I also finished the outline on the second roundel for Odo's hood! I also took the paper pattern off the fabric. I tested a new theory on how to do this. I sparyed the paper down thoroughly, which made getting the paper off go much faster. I think this is a good option for designs that don't have very intricate lines, but I think for many of the other roundels, the dry method will work better. This is due to the fact that the wet paper and silk are difficult to separate in very small areas, such as around the calon cross and the axe heads.

I hope you will all forgive me for not having photos of all this progress, as I've been busy completing stages of projects!

Namaste,
Jahanara

Embroidery - Lady Gunhild von Brunswik

DSC00776
Ursprünglich hochgeladen von racaire

...my gentle friend Gunhild (a member of the shire Aventiure - Germany / Hamburg) allowed me to take photos of her embroidery projects during my stay in Hamburg this weekend and also to share this photos with you - please visit my flickr account to see all photos I made of her work.
Best regards
Racaire

Announcement: local guild head for Nordmark elected

Dear gentle members of the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guid!

I am very happy to announce that the embroidery guild of Nordmark met at medieval week in the fair barony of Styringheim this august and fru Renika Rikardsdottir was elected as local head for Nordmark and as thus is responsible for contacts with the Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild.

Yours in Service
Racaire
Guild Head Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild

additional information:
Guild Head: Lady Racaire
Aarnimetsä - region guild head: Lady Eilgri Beccan
Central - region guild head: Lady Racaire
Insulae Draconis - region guild head: Lady Jahanarabanu Vivana
Nordmark - region guild head: fru Renika Rikardsdottir
(South: no members until now)

Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild - Newsletter September 2008

Dear honourable Lords and Ladies, gentle members of the "Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild" & "-eMail Group"!!

I am very happy to forward this message from our gentle Kingdom A&S Minister to you:

_____~*~ message from the Kingdom A&S Minister Mistress Jaelle of Armida ~*~____

Unto the members of the Dragon's Needle Guild from Jaelle of Armida, Kingdom Minister of Arts and Sciences,

Lady Racaire has kindly allowed me this space to in the guild newsletter. I just want to thank all of you for your hard work and dedication in advancing fiber arts. I say fiber arts, for I know that many of you do more than embroidery. But if you do one art, or many, you are our kingdom's most active guild, and I am very pleased with what you both as individuals and as a guild are doing. It is through people like yourselves that our kingdom prospers and grows.

Special thanks are due to Lady Racaire and her two hard-working deputies, Ladies Jahanara and Eilgri. You are all doing a wonderful job. Please keep up the good works!

Thank you all once again,
Jaelle

____~*~ end of message ~*~____

Many thanks to Mistress Jaelle for her kind words and also for her great help with the registration of our guild badge, also to Lady Jahanara and Lady Eilgri for their hard work and all other members who contribute and show their work so freely and give us a glimpse at the beautiful projects that the great artisans of our lovely kingdom are working at -- please keep on showing your work and inspiring us.

...another month passed by and some very interesting things happened -- recently Lady Jahanara and I started the A&S50 blog to make it easier to keep track of the projects of the artisans who are participating in the A&S 50 challenge and I started to work at my first draft of a new guild charter.
Dame Christian de Holacombe from the West Kingdom Needleworkers Guild contacted me and was so nice to provide some information about the West Kingdom Needleworkers Guild for our newsletter -- I think that's a great closure for our newsletter.

...and now what you are really waiting for - some guild information:

Guild Membership Roll:
At the moment we have 38 members :)

Guild Badge:
Mistress Jaelle was so kind to inform me that our guild badge went out on a kingdom internal letter of intent in July and we will keep you informed (please keep your fingers crossed -- there is a good chance that we might have a registered guild badge about February next year)

Guild Charter:
Now I am getting an overview of the existing guild charters that are available on the internet and I am also working at my first draft -- not an easy task but still in progress.

Dragon's Embroidery Workshop:
I would love to see more embroidery projects (already finished or still in progress) or needlework / sewing projects that you think have relation to embroidery and it would be great to get to know more about your embroidery and sewing evenings and maybe to see some photos of your meetings,...
If you would like to join the Workshop please don't hesitate to contact me, I am very looking forward to see your work and would really love to send you an invitation for the blog :)

Upcoming Events:
I would love to get to know about your embroidery, needlework or sewing events/ evenings/ afternoons - regardless if small or big events, please let me know or please post them at the Dragon's Embroidery Workshop blog :)

Misc.:
- "Something to keep you warm" Project/Challenge (new deadline: December!)
- "Embroidery Workshop Blog" if you would like to join the Workshop, please don't hesitate to write me an eMail! :)
- A&S 50 Challenge - it would still be great to see more artisans from our beautiful kingdom joining this challenge.
- A&S 50 Challenge Drachenwald Blog - ...a blog where the participants of the A&S 50 Challenge living in Drachenwald may share their works, ask questions, encourage each other and generally support one another along the way.

____~*~ ...and now a brief information about the West Kingdom Needleworkers Guild provided by Dame Christian de Holacombe ~*~____

Greetings, good cousins!

Racaire has encouraged me to introduce you to the West Kingdom Needleworkers Guild and to say a few words about what we're doing.

The West Kingdom Needleworkers Guild was founded in A.S. 16 (1983), and revived in A.S. 28 (1992). Our charter says that we research, teach and encourage all the arts that are produced with a threaded needle. The Guild is run by a Guild Minister and the Guild Patrons (several past Ministers), and we have meetings at least three times a year at West Kingdom events. I've been the Deputy Minster and Chronicler for several years. We sponsor a track of classes at West Kingdom Collegium (university) and many of our members teach classes at their local Principality, Barony and Shire events as well. We also do at least two group projects a year, which generally involve making things for our King and Queen to give as gifts. Recently we created two large kneeling carpets for Court, which you can see pictures of on our website.

Our main Guild website is at: http://www.bayrose.org/wkneedle/
Here you can see our Charter, our programs, photos of members' work, and a list of available articles and back issues from our quarterly newsletter, _Filum Aureum_ ("The Golden Thread").

The most recent _Filum Aureum_, and other Guild news, is regularly posted on our Yahoo Groups mailing list:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WKneedle

Anyone from any Kingdom is welcome to join our list and explore our photo albums and files. The list is mostly for Guild announcements and news, so it's not usually very busy -- just a few posts per month.

The newsletter is in the Filum Aureum folder in our Files section:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WKneedle/files/Filum_Aureum/

We just published issue #34 on Blackwork, which contains articles exploring the "roots" of blackwork in Islamic Egypt and has two full pages of pattern charts. There are also online template files for charting your own blackwork.
____________________________________________________________

O (Dame) Christian de Holacombe, OL - Shire of Windy Meads
+ Kingdom of the West - Chris Laning
http://paternoster-row.org - http://paternosters.blogspot.com
____________________________________________________________

____~*~ end of information ~*~____

Many thanks to Dame Christian de Holacombe for this interesting information -- if you would like to know more about the West Kingdom Needleworkers Guild please don't hesitate to send me an eMail and I will forward it to her.

Yours faithfully
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

New Badge...

Well, I'm at it again. I have other projects to work on, but I'm making another Arms badge. Only this time I have a good excuse. I met a nice man and am making it for him. Since I strongly doubt he will log onto this page or even knows of its existence, I'm pretty certain it is safe to post what I am doing.

This time I learned my lesson. There is no way in heck I am split-stitching the whole thing like the last two. I am split-stitching the fleur-de-lis and probably the field behind them, unless I can find a better and different stitch for the latter. The main area is going to be couched.

The fleur-de-lis were an attempt at free-hand drawing. I'm not an artist. However I did not have my stencil paper, as my father was driving me to the airport and I was too eager to start this project. So hopefully it's okay.

The other issue is the double headed eagle in the top left. It will be insane to stitch it. If I do, it will also be split-stitched, as it will be so small and fine on the piece. I am calling the gentleman in a bit to see if that is on his registered arms or if it's something he added when he got a patent or something. If it's legit, I'll figure it out.

The goal? Finish it by Nibelungen when I next see him. EEK!

Himiltrude

Roundel for Odo's Hood

I'm not far behind Racaire, as I've just finished the first roundel for Odo's Hood! I'm really pleased with how this turned out. I have however, decided to try the next roundel in a much finer silk thread. This one looks fine, however it is not rich enough for the look I am trying to achieve. This hood is intended to be that quiessential medieval status symbol. The other roundels are also much more detailed. I have my doubts as to whether this detail can be achieved with this thread, so I'm moving to a 60/2 silk. This obviously means the embroidery will take longer, but I think the results will be worth it.

This roundel shouldn't be to obviously out of place, as it will be in the back center, and is a symbol of our past, so it seems appropriate that it be less fine and different thread.

I'd appreciate any comments or critiques.
Cheers,
Jahanara

new roundel finished :)

...and again a new roundel for Anya's Laurel Cloak :)

Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild - Newsletter August 2008

Dear honourable Lords and Ladies, gentle members of the "Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild" and participants of the "Something to keep you warm - Challenge"!

Another month passed by and the end of the 'Something to keep you warm - Challenge' is fast approaching - I am very nosy looking forward to see the results of the projects for the challenge posted to the "Something to keep you warm" Challenge blog until the end of September, but it looks like some of our participants have not the time to finish their project until this deadline due to mundane live, work and other more important projects for themselves or the kingdom, therefore I propose to give all participatns a little more time to finish their projects till the end of this year - therefore a new deadline: December.

...and now some guild information:

Guild Membership Roll:
I am very happy to be able to announce that we have 3 new members - now we have 38 members. :)

Guild Badge:
The fee for the registration of our badge was paid at Summer Coronation - still waiting for the information concerning the next steps. :)

Guild Charter:
Sorry - still in progress.

Dragon's Embroidery Workshop:
The Workshop also welcomed some new members and I thank all participants very much for showing your beautiful work - please keep on posting about your great projects!
For everyone who would like to join: please don't hesitate to contact me, I am very looking forward to see your work and would really love to send you an invitation for the blog - http://dragonsembroiderers.blogspot.com :)

Misc.
- "Something to keep you warm" Project/Challenge
- "Embroidery Workshop Blog" if you would like to join the Workshop, please don't hesitate to write me an eMail! :)
- A&S 50 Challenge - it would still be great to see more artisans from our beautiful kingdom joining this challenge
- A&S 50 Challenge Blog for Drachenwald - if you would like to join the Blog, please don't hesitate to write Jahanara or me an eMail! :)
- and last but not least, there is a great Blog of the "ID Fibre Arts Interest Group" with very interesting postings started by Jahanara

Yours faithfully
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

News about the Assisi tablecloth project

So ¼ of the blackwork for the Assisi tablecloth is done now. I must say that the other projects have been keeping me busy lately. But there is no hurry ;).

Eva

Next project

My next project is another set of sleeves for another persian robe. I have completed the outlining on one sleeve and have started filling it in. I realize that how I did the outlining made it a bit confusing as to which colours went where, but now that I've got some filled in, it is clearer.
Here is a picture of the progress I have made so far. This project is my summer project as I've not felt like having the cloak on my lap much. Even if my husband decides to have me fill the pattern on his cloak, it may have to wait until cooler weather.

The fabric is a very soft blue wool that I absolutely adore. The design is being stitched using a fine silk. I'm very happy with how it is going so far, especially since I'm doing much better at keeping the stitches smaller and much neater than my last set of sleeves.

Wallhanging project - additional window finished :)

Another window of my wallhanging is finished by now (only one last window has to be done now)
:D

How much is too much?

Well I finished 4 more rays today and have only 4 more to go! Now I need to finalize the plan, will this be filled in, left as an outline or somewhere in between. So I'm asking, if this were for you what would you want?
Ultimately it will be up to Lady Salonge, but I thought having some other opinions never hurts.
Cheers,
Jahanara

Cloak Progress

I spent much of today embroidering. I, therefore, made a lot of progress on Lady Salonge's cloak. I was originally going to use this cloak, but I had to use a stitch that I have used a lot int he past. As you can see, it is all done in outline stitch. I tried the Opus Anglicanum stitches, however, the split stitch was not meshing with the silk that I was using or the design. I therefore fell back on outline stitch, to produce a nice embroidery. I have finished 7.5 rays and have 8.5 rays to go! I completed 5 rays today. So in theory, if I don't get distracted by any other projects, I could have the embroidery don by this weekend! I still need to sew in the lining and hem, which is my least favorite part!
Please feel free to give any advice on hemming, as I'm always keen to improve that part!'
Jahanara

A&S 50 challenge :)

Dear talented artisans of Drachenwald,
the number of artisans from our beautiful kingdom increases but to catch up with the other kingdoms we still need more of you to participate in this great A&S 50 challenge (some basic information provided by Jahanara can be found >here<).
To make it easier for us to keep track on the progress of our participants Jahanara and I started the A&S 50 Challenge - Kingdom Drachenwald Blog.
If you also want to join the A&S 50 challenge - please contact me or Jahanara.
I hope to see more artisans joining this challenge and remain with
best regards
Racaire

Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - Members

If you do not want your SCA name and/or group to be listed here,
please contact the guild head

New members of the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - July:

~ added 15.07.2008: ~
36) Adelina (Central)
~ added 21.07.2008: ~
37) Honor of Restormel
~ added 23.07.2008: ~
38) Tamara Stefanova (Central)

-> Guild Member-List <-

additional information:
Guild Head: Lady Racaire
Aarnimetsä - region guild head: Lady Eilgri Beccan
Insulae Draconis - region guild head: Lady Jahanarabanu Vivana
(Central (& Nordmark) - region guild head: Lady Racaire,
South: no members until now)

Yis
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

Progress on hood

Although I have focused more on weaving this summer, I managed to get a bit of work done on the hood project. I was not best pleased by the result of this work. However it looks very medieval (read passable) and I have learned a lot about the fabric I am working on and the thread with which I am working. I think on the next roundel, I will use linen to outline and the silk to fill the roundel.

I think the embroidery is well worked, however the cross is not lined up the way it ought to be. Looking back this was a fault with the original outline, not a fault with the technique of putting the outline one the fabric.

I would greatly appreciate any advice or comments. I hope to differentiate between a few of the arms when the background gets filled.

Jahanara

Teaching & other A&S Opportunities in ID

Greetings everyone!
There are several opportunities to teach and further Arts & Sciences in Insulae Draconis, and thus our fair Kingdom, coming up. Fortunately you can volunteer for one or more of these opportunities by contacting me! I an coordinating A&S classes at War of the Roses and the first combined Protectors & ID University! If you are willing to to teach at either of these events, you may contact me via this blog, or the ID MOAS e-mail.

I am also asking for volunteers to run an A&S tent at Raglan. Dafydd, the autocrat, has been so kind as to arrange for a tent and very visible space for such a tent. I would like to have two volunteers, at least, for the public hours Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I am asking all volunteers for a mere 2 hours of their time. All you have to do is sit in the tent, craft, watch the items on display (perhaps have some of your own work on display) and chat with anyone who shows interest! Again please volunteer with me via this blog of the ID MoAS e-mail.

Yours in Service,
Jahanarabanu Vivana, ID Minister of Arts & Sciences/ ID Regional Guild Head

Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild - Newsletter July 2008

Dear honourable Lords and Ladies, gentle members of the "Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild" & "-eMail Group"!

I want to send sincere thanks to all guild members who attended the Coronation event in Insulae Draconis and to all members who attended my rather short class or our first guild meeting.
I especially want to send sincere thanks to all guild members who had to work during the guild meeting and therefore couldn't attend it - you all made this beautiful event because of your hard work possible - thank you so very much!

I was very happy to see some of your beautiful work at the guild display and also during the guild meeting in real - pleas keep on working on such beautiful work and please share pictures of your work at the internet with us!

During the guild meeting I also got the possiblitiy to discuss my thoughts concerning the new guild charter with some of you and I am very happy about the common consent that we should get away from the old and also rather confusing rank system and that we should have our main focus at networking, helping and inspiring each other and also starting interesting challenges, guild competitions,... , and at going on a journey through the beautiful lands of medieval embroidery :)

...and now some guild information:

Guild Membership Roll:
At the moment we have 35 members and I think that we soon will have more members :)

Guild Badge:
I paid the fee for the registration of our badge at Summer Coronation and now I am waiting for the information concerning the next steps - I will let you know as soon as I get them :)

Guild Charter:
Still in progress.

Dragon's Embroidery Workshop:
If you would like to join the Workshop please don't hesitate to contact me, I am very looking forward to see your work and would really love to send you an invitation for the blog :)

Upcoming Events:
I will soon start my 'Embroidery and Needlework Evenings' in Vienna again and I would love to get to know about your embroidery, needlework or sewing events/evenings/afternoons - regardless if small or big events, please let me know :)

Misc.:
- "Something to keep you warm" Project/Challenge
- "Embroidery Workshop Blog" if you would like to join the Workshop, please don't hesitate to write me an eMail! :)
- A&S 50 Challenge - it would still be great to see more artisans from our beautiful kingdom joining this challenge.

Yours faithfully
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

...some new progress :)

I finished my new dress for Coronation :)

Coronation Newsletter - A&S display / Guild meeting / Queen's basket

Dear gentle Lords and Ladies, members of the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild!

There is just one week left until coronation and I am very looking forward to see some of you there :)
... and btw. I have some very good news:

1) A&S display / Guild display :
Kingdom A&S Minister Mistress Jaelle invites you all to join and enrich the A&S display at Coronation with your beautiful projects of embroidery, needlework and everything else you would like to show - therefore please bring and show your projects :)
Mistress Jaelle will be very busy during the event therefore I propose that you contact me on friday evening if you want to join the A&S display and I will try to coordinate our part of the A&S display with Mistress Jaelle.

2) Guild meeting at 2 pm :
A big thank you to Lady Jahanara for all her help that made this guild meeting possible - due to a very full schedule we decided to hold the guild meeting at 2pm.
I very apologize to Lord Giano Balestriere that we decided to hold the guild meeting while he will hold his class but it is the best time-frame we could find (after Lady Melisende's class and before my class).
I am very looking forward to see you there and to talk with you about the future of our guild :)

3) Queen's basket:
If you would like to contribute to a queen's basket, please let me know on friday evening :)

...I will be travelling to London on Wednesday afternoon :)

Best regards & yours in service
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

Project Photos

I have the first roundel outline begun! You can see this progress in this photo. As I said in my earlier post the roundels on this hood will tell the story of my husband's SCA career. I am beginning with the very back, as I am working with a new thread and want to work out any glitches before I attempt the designs on the front! Also many of the front, "current", designs are more difficulty so I want to be confident in the technique and and application before attempting those.
You can see the other roundel designs to the right. This is a very poor rendition of these designs, but you get a sense of what they will look like. I am a bit concerned that due to the heraldic nature of these designs and this story, that the hood will look a bit late period, rather than Anglo-Saxon in nature.

I said,previously, that I chose roundels, as you see many roundels in Anglo-Saxon designs. I would appreicate any suggestions that anyone might have to help give these a more Anglo-Saxon feel. I will be using Anglo-Saxon stitches, but I'm not sure this will be enough to bring the design into line with Anglo-Saxon embroidery & designs.
Thanks for all your help and inspiration,

Jahanara

Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild - Newsletter June 2008

Dear honourable Lords and Ladies, gentle members of the "Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild", my dear friends!

June has already started and therefore I am very looking forward to Summer Coronation. I hope to see some of you there to get to know you better and to see some of your work irl :)
I am very happy to tell that I got a positive response from our Kingdom A&S Minister concerning the recently sent semi-annual guild report and therefore I want to thank you all for joining the guild, helping the guild growing and participating in the challenges and our workshop blog - you all really enlighten my live as guild head!
Please keep on showing your lovely work and sharing your great work and talents with others. Please don't forget that every piece of work shown can be a great inspiration for someone other!
...and now some interesting information:

Guild Membership Roll:
I am very happy to announce that we got one new member at the start of June and now have 35members :)

Guild Badge:
The fee for the registration of our badge will be payed at Summer Coronation

Guild Charter:
In progress - I hope that I will be able to put the Guild Charter down on paper at the latest after Summer Coronation in July/August and I really hope that we will have a working basic Guild Charter until the end of the year. I am also very looking forward to talk to all of you who will visit Summer Coronation at our Guild Meeting, where we could discuss your wishes and ideas for the new Guild Charter.

Dragon's Embroidery Workshop:
Many thanks to the contributors of the Dragon's Embroidery Workshop Blog - please keep on posting!
...and once again: If you would like to join the Workshop please don't hesitate to contact me, I am very looking forward to see your work and would really love to send you an invitation for the blog :)

Upcoming Events - Summer Coronation:

1) Guild Meeting: I hope we will find some free time for a guild meeting at Summer Coronation :)
2) Guild Display: I only got little response concerning a guild display and therefore hope that we may show our work at the A&S display.
3) Classes: I will hold my "Klosterstich" class at Summer Coronation :)
4) Queens Basket: If you would like to contribute something for a guild's queens basket, please don't hesitate to contact me - every small gift is welcome :)

Misc.:
- "Something to keep you warm" Project/Challenge
- "Embroidery Workshop Blog" - if you would like to join the Workshop, please don't hesitate to write me an eMail! :)
- A&S 50 Challenge - it would be great to see more artisans from our beautiful kingdom joining this challenge.

Yours faithfully
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - Members

If you do not want your SCA name and/or group to be listed here,
please contact the guild head

New members of the Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - June:

~ added 03.06.2008: ~
35) Himiltrude fan Austrasia (Central)

-> Guild Member-List <-

additional information:
Guild Head: Lady Racaire
Aarnimetsä - region guild head: Lady Eilgri Beccan
Insulae Draconis - region guild head: Lady Jahanarabanu Vivana
(Central (& Nordmark) - region guild head: Lady Racaire)

Yis
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

Greetings and Introduction...

Greetings. I have been with the SCA and Drachenwald for about 2 years now. Before the SCA I mainly did cross-stitch. Now I am enjoying learning new stitches and techniques that are Medieval.

Currently I have the split stitch down pretty well and I'm learning the basic laid couching. The latter I learned to work on Princess Fiona's roundels. The split stitch I learned to make a household badge for my Knight, Sir Gerhardt and then a badge for my friend, Lady Sapphira who is now in Mesopotamia. These badges are my best work to date. I plan to make some more household badges for Sir Gerhardt for all us members and also some PCS awards for the Kingdom. Much smaller than what I've done thus far. These took me too long to mass produce. I finished their borders with a fingerloop braid. It just seemed right and I have since seen other people do the same, so I just need to find documentation now.


I will post a photo of what I've done with Princess Fiona's roundels after I finish another one. I already gave her a few. It's rather embarrassing after seeing Racaire's roundels, to even admit I did any. :-)

Himiltrude

New Project Planning

Although I have not finished my second sleeve yet, my husband has begged for a second embroidered hood, one that is light weight and can be worn more often. There are a lot of roundels used in Anglo-Saxon art. Anglo-Saxon art also uses stories and myths in it's iconography. I, therefore, decided that I would embroider a series of roundels on the hood that will "tell the story" of Odo's SCA career. I think the overall effect may be a bit later period in look, but will be completely done in Anglo-Saxon stitches.

The roundels will include Odo's heraldry, the Drachenwald populace badge, the ID sun, our household badge, the household champion's symbol (as he won that years ago and retains the right to use the symbol), the Huscarl badge, the Silverguard and the populace badge of our previous Kingdom (which will go in the center of the back to show his past).

I have considered adding an Anglo-Saxon style "border" around each roundel to make them look more Anglo-Saxon and a bit less like a series of late period badges. I would appreciate any ideas or comments on this idea! It will be some time before I get enough progress to post.

Namaste,
Jahanara

Report of Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - Drachenwald

Report of Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild - Drachenwald

2nd report by Reporter / guild head:
Lady Racaire

Time Period:
15.November 2007 - 15.May 2008

Members:
based on the Membership Guild roll started at 18.October 2007:
We have a total of 34 official members:
1) Racaire (Central - guild head)
2) Rakonczay Gergely (Aarnimetsä)
3) Thomas Paumer (Central)
4) Katherina Mornewegh (Central)
5) Lia de Thornegge (Scandinavia)
6) Edith of Hedingham (Crown Principality of Insulae Draconis
7) Baroness Mary Verch Thomas (Crown Principality of Insulae Draconis)
8) Hudd de Peth (Kingdom of the Outlands)
9) Johanna aff Hucka (Aarnimetsä)
10) Eva Grelsdottir (Aarnimetsä)
11) Arnulf der Zeilner (Central)
12) Lady Jane Devereux (Crown Principality of Insulae Draconis)
13) Katharina Woinovich (Central)
14) Lady Eilgri Beccan (Aarnimetsä - Aarnimetsä region guild head)
15) Viscountess Helwig Ulfsdotter (Scandinavia)
16) Katharina von Owe (Central)
17) Sileas von Biuira (Central)
18) Lady Ælfwynne of Eoforwic (Nordmark)
19) Renika Rikardsdottir (Nordmark)
20) Mistress Anya Mstyslavyaya (Central)
21) Alenn von Horn (Central)
22) Halfdan von Veneta (Central)
23) Anna de Byxe (Nordmark)
24) Hedwig von Simmaningen (Central)
25) Sahra (Aarnimetsä)
26) Sinikka (Aarnimetsä)
27) Myfanwy Methig (Aarnimetsä)
28) Rixende of Aarnimetsä (Aarnimetsä)
29) Jahanarabanu Vivana (Insulae Draconis - Insulae Draconis region guild head)
30) Ida Järvinen (Aarnimetsä)
31) Lady Melisende Fitzwalter (Insulae Draconis)
32) Lady Siubhan inghean Fhearghuis (Insulae Draconis)
33) Katarina von Danzig (Insulae Draconis)
34) Mave (Central)

officers:
Guild Head: Racaire
Aarnimetsä - region guild head: Eilgri Beccan
Central - region guild head: Racaire
Insulae Draconis - region guild head: Jahanarabanu Vivana
Nordmark - region guild head: Racaire (until a region guild head will be chosen)
South - region guild head: none (no members in this region by now)

planed guild head tasks for the next half year:
* still working at the restart of the embroidery guild
* rework of the guild charter
* collecting ideas, pictures, handouts,... for theguild homepage
* registration of the guild badge at coronation
* first official guild meeting at coronation

planed guild meetings:
* first official guild meeting at coronation in Insulae Draconis
called up and conducted by guild head Racaire, initiated by
regional guild head Jahanarabanu Vivana


planed projects / projects in progress:
Wallhanging Project/Challenge: of Mistress Anya Mstyslavyaya and Lady Racaire still in progress - two participants - overdue because of other projects, challenges and commissions
Something to keep you warm Project/Challenge: still in progress - finish date: September 2008 - 14 participants
A&S50 challenge: SCA-wide challenge - finish date: celebration of the 50th year (in 2015) of the Society for Creative Anachronism - participants: Racaire & Jahanarabanu Vivana
http://dragonsembroiderers.blogspot.com/: A place for the embroiderers of Drachenwald to show their own work & projects, ask questions, get answers and enjoy each other's company - no finish date - possibility to display finished projects or projects in progress

A list of persons who are willing to share theirknowledge, answer toarts and sciences related questions and help other people in their interest area:
Guild Head: Racaire
Aarnimetsä - region guild head: Eilgri Beccan
Insulae Draconis - region guild head: Jahanarabanu Vivana

Yours in Service
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

A&S 50 challenge

Summery of my A&S 50 challenge progress :)

...some new progress :)

...here is my latest embroidery progress - 6 designs for the coronation dress for our gentle princess Fiona :)

Embroidery - a winning concept.

Hello all, it's been a while since my last entry, mostly because I have not done any new embroidery. However, I thought I should post a report on a success I had at Double Wars.

Meisterinne Katheryn asked me in the middle of the week to enter the A&S competition with my apron, which I had out at the time to show off, and I agreed. My documentation was not exhaustive or very long, so I quote it here:

ITEM: Embroidery, 16th Century on an apron. PLACE: Italy.
Documentation:
The embroidey on this apron is done in madder dyed silk thread on linen. The pattern is taken from the facsimile of a 1561 pattern book by Giovanni Ostavus(*) and the stitch is long-armed cross stitch(**) which was commonly used in the period(#).
This kind of counted embroidery was commonly applied to aprons, shift, smocks and shirts. Black and red were the most common colours, being very effectful against white linen. Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlockd lists an apron with "carnacion in graine silke"(##) - being a red colour. In Moda a Firenze a photo fo a detail of a painting by Alessandro Allori shows an apron with embroidery done in black(¤).

* La vera perfezione del disegno di Giovanni Ostavus, 1561. Available on-line at the University of Arizona.
**, # Embroideries at Hardwick Hall, a catalogue. Levey, Santina M.
(Stitch diagram drawing here).
## Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlockd. Arnold, Janed. Page 225.
¤ Moda a Firenze. Orsina Landini, Roberta & Niccoli, Bruna. Page 130.

I had no expectations, so when they called my name in court as the winner of the competition it was a complete surprise. But there you go, embroidery can be a winning concept. :)

Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild - Newsletter May 2008

Dear honourable Lords and Ladies, gentle members of the "Dragon Needle Embroidery Guild" & "-eMail Group"!

Less than two months are left until the Summer Coronation event - I am very looking forward to this event and I hope to see some of you there to get to know you better. ...and again there are some very interesting news concerning the kingdom overall "A&S 50" challenge, our Guild Meeting & Guild Display & Classes at Summer Coronation,... therefore again a small summery of all Guild News:

Guild Membership Roll:
No new members joined during April - we have still 34 members :)

Guild Badge:
The fee for the registration of our badge will be payed at Summer Coronation by myself and I hope that I will have a layout for our Badge available soon for you :)

Guild Charter:
In progress - I am very sorry that I still don't have news concerning a new guild charter but I am still very occupied with a lot of different challenges, projects and also with my real life and my rather new job - I am very sorry for this delay and therefore I ask for your understanding. I hope that I will be able to put the Guild Charter down on paper soon (at the latest after Summer Coronation in July/August) and I really hope that we will have a working basic Guild Charter until the end of the year. I am also very looking forward to talk to all of you who will visit Summer Coronation at our Guild Meeting, where we could discuss your wishes and ideas for the new Guild Charter.

Dragon's Embroidery Workshop:
A big "thank you" for every photo of your beautiful work and of your projects in progress that were posted on the Dragon's Embroidery Workshop in April; therefore many thanks to the contributors of the Dragon's Embroidery Workshop Blog - please keep on posting! ...and once again: for all who would like to join the Workshop but haven't dared to show their work till now - please don't hesitate to contact me, I am very looking forward to see your work and would really love to send you an invitation for the blog - http://dragonsembroiderers.blogspot.com :)

Upcoming Events - Summer Coronation:

1) Guild Meeting: First I would love to get to know each of you better and second I would like to talk with you about the Guild Charter, the next project/challenge after the "Something to keep you warm project" started by Mistress Anya and myself, the A&S 50 challenge - I would really love to see more of the great artisans of our beautiful Kingdom involved in this challenge :) ) and last but not least - third I would also love to see some of your great work in real :D and therefore I would also like to mention my next "point":

2) Guild Display: For everyone who would like to show work in progress or finished projects (or who can't or don't want to join the A&S challenge for some reason) I would ask you to join me and display your work at the "Guild Display" - please tell me if you would like to join this Guild Display because I would like to give the coordiators of the event some facts (because I hope that more than one person - me ;) - wants to display something and that we will need some free space at one or more tables) - I hope we will be able to cooperate with the A&S display in some way :)

3) Classes: Maybe some of you know that I will hold two classes at Summer Coronation (my Klosterstich & Refilsaum classes) and besides that I hope that some people will attend my classes, I would love to attend one or two classes also by myself and therefore I hope that all of you who would like to hold a class have allready contacted Lady Jahanarabanu Vivana and if there are some members out there who would like to teach something (like smocking, blackwork, goldwork, beadwork, ...) and haven't written an eMail to Lady Jahanarabanu Vivana till now - please do so! Please share your enthusiasm for your favourite techniques with others - please keep on to inspire others with your work and also with your classes! (If someone of you would like to hold a class and has never done a class before - please tell me, because I would love to attend your class and help you if you like, or to give you some extra encouragement if needed :) )

4) Queens Basket: A very talented lady and good friend of mine who does beautiful embroidery and needlework by herself will become Queen at this Summer Coronation event - Lady Fiona Wiggins - but regardless to this facts the Queens Basket was always a matter of importance for me since I got my very first small precious gift from my very first queen at my very first SCA-event and get to know about what the Queens Basket is. I would love to surprise the new queen with some gifts from our Guild and the talented hands of the great artisans of our Kingdom and therefore I would ask you if you would also like to provide small gifts for the Queens Basket - please contact me if you would like to provide something - I am very looking forward to every small gift you can and want to provide ( ...and I think that the gift has not to be only something embroidered - every small gift is welcome :)

Misc.
..and once again: If you would like to participate in the "Something to keep you warm" Project/Challenge of Mistress Anya and me - there are still some months left for starting and completing a small project! Really! :) ...and if you would like to join the Embroidery Workshop Blog or know someone who would like to join the Guild - please don't hesitate to write me an eMail! :) Furthermore I would like to draw your attention once again to the A&S 50 Challenge - it would be really great to see more artisans from our beautiful kingdom joining this challenge.

Yours faithfully
Racaire
Dragon's Needle Embroidery Guild Head

Sahra´s new hood

Sahra is a member of Aarnimetsä Embroidery Guild, and she has made a marvellous hood. I only helped with posting ;) - Eilgri

Sahra:

I had a small piece of nicecoloured wool, so I made a hood embroidered with few decorations.

Two horses are originally from a piece of whalebone that was used to iron seems, the original piece is in National Museum in London (I think).

I drew the model on silkpaper and sow it on fabric using thin white thread. Then I did the embroidering and took the white thread away.

ALL the thread in decorations is thin wool, dyed with plants from Finnish nature! No, not me, I know an old lady who was a biology teacher and has a private arboretum... she makes wonderful colours!

In horses I tried the Bayeux tapestry´s stich for the first time, as you can see...

Still, I´m pleased to present this work to you, the hood looks actually very nice : )

And of course the hood is all handmade.

Yours

Sahra, Aarnimetsä

More Progress

I've finally completed one border! I now need to draw in the ivy, fill the middle and then do the second border! I had hoped to have this finished for Viceroy Tourney, which is about a month away. I also need to get some rigid heddle weaving done for prizes for the A&S Competitions at Viceroy. I seriously doubt that I will be able to get both projects done in time! I still have a bit of hope though. I am very pleased with how this is turning out so far. I think it will be a very good representation of my work!