Playing catch up so I can do my wrap-up

I just realized how much stuff I don't have reported to Bella, in addition to all the items I haven't shown pictures of here.  So much for keeping on top of things. . .

So, I guess we'll start with the most recent thing (because I'm most excited by it) and work backwards.  My sweetbag!  I have wanted a 16th century sweetbag for a very long time, but the time commitment required for the embroidery has continually put it on the backburner. Then I found this!  The Metropolitan Museum has several Italian drawstring bags with the unique style of tassels that get them grouped with sweetbags.  The other two are embroidered, and they are all listed as 17th century, but the first one that caught my eye is listed as macrame or punto a groppo.  Knotted lace is much more my style, not to mention more easily done with materials I had to hand.  I was lucky enough to snag 3 yards of a beautiful thick reticella border/trim on ebay a while back, and wanted a way to display it, since it seemed too lovely to just use it on the edge of a random clothing item. 

There are a couple of extant sweetbag sets with a knife sheath and pincushion all matching the main piece.  I was particularly interested in the one in the Manchester Gallery. (I'm having some trouble with their site right now and it doesn't want to link.)  I decided to go for a full blown sewing kit with some pieces based on the extant ones and a few more modern takes on the theme.  I decided to adapt the knife sheath into a holder for my stiletto, go ahead with the pincushion and main bag, add a needlecase with sliding cap sort of based on the Italian one I talked about here, do an additional more modern needlebook, and a modern style scissor keep.  I've also got some gold shell threadwinders I intend to add to the set.  When it hangs the pincushion, the needlecase, the stiletto case and the bag will show, and the more modern pieces will be hidden inside the sweetbag.

I tacked the reticella into place on a gold wool fabric, and lined things in a peacock color silk.  The pincushion is stuffed with wool stuffing, the needlebook has wool felt pages. I rubbed a little gold enamel paint onto the pewter badge I got for completing the Artemisian Costuming Challenge so that it would blend with the gold of the set, but still show the amazing detail Mistress Giliana Attewatyr included on the pewter piece. The part that was both most time consuming and the most fun was doing the tassels and beads and all the buttonhole rings to attach everything.  I hope to eventually find smaller wooden core beads and do the tiny beads/buttons in silk more in keeping with the extant types, but I wanted to at least do the right shape and style of tassel since that seems to be the identifying factor for sweetbags.   Thirty-three buttons, thirty-one tassels, fifty-two loops, and a couple of yards of interlooped trim later, it is done.

Splat!

Well, that didn't work. I was trying to make a little needlecase to hang from my pocket, like I talked about last week. Epic Fail. It didn't work. Not even a little. The little tubes I had made from leather were too large and just looked bad. They sort of looked a little like a family of tube worms. The embossing metal I bought is like gold tin foil and just got all crinkly and looked horrible. I tried curling a metal embossing plate that I had into shape and just got metal splinters for my trouble.

I eventually just made a little cone shape with some red faux-suede. I made a strip of the material and stitched it to the lining in several spots to make pockets and then sewed it to the outer. It's not terrible and it does hold my scissors and some pins, but it really doesn't have the vibe of the picture. I think I'm just going to walk away. Eventually, I'll get around to the crazy project where I make the gorgeous embroidered one with peacocks. That's the one I actually want and I at least have a clue when it comes to embroidery and cardboard.

Pennaivolo

Please excuse the research geek out, but I had an idea and I'm excited about it. As usual for me, there's a big long story behind a very small item.

Well before I ever considered making an Italian dress, I fell in love with an extant embroidered needlecase from Venice. Its just plain gorgeous, as well as being very functional. Its basic shape is like a penner with cords down the sides along which the lid slides to open and close it. I'm assuming it would be worn from a girdle in the same sort of way a penner ( a case worn on the belt that holds scribal supplies) would. According to Bella's Glossary of Italian Words Related to Costume the word for penner and needlecase is the same in Italian so there are certainly some similarities. Totally random fact, but in old Russian the words for writing and needlework are the same. Cool, huh?

I ran across the pennaivolo while doing other research (isn't that how everything is found?) I made some Norse style carved bone needlecases awhile back, and in the process of my research read this survey paper on needlecases and saw a drawing of the incredibly lovely embroidered example featured at Historic Needlework Resources Its heavily decorated with peacocks and flowers embroidered over a painted tube. The guilded and painted collar with its flaming heart, skull, and bones reminds me of my friend Fiametta. Needless to say, I'm not getting a reproduction of that needlecase made any time soon since its a 4 (or 6 or more) month project on its own.

I still like the idea of a needlecase to wear with my dress, however, and its been brewing in the back of my brain. When I did my pocket, I saw this image of a needlecase dangling from the pocket and it seemed a lot more doable than the first. Well, maybe. It has its own difficulties. Like the fact that it is a tiny picture with not much to go on. It appears to be metal to me. Metal is second to bone use for needlecases in the extant ones we have across cultures so that makes sense. There are certainly Italian examples of needlecases done in metal, like this one dated from around 1500. The shape of the one in the link isn't at all similar to the one in the painting, nor does the open topped cone in the painting match extant English pieces which tend to be more tapered and thin. And then there's the fact that I have minimal metalworking skills. Difficulties.

I still want to try it, however. I have some ideas. Many of the extant needlecases have interior tubes of either metal or leather to separate the space into sections. The 1500 Italian metal example has grooves as well. I'm thinking if I do a cone out of embossing metal and wrap it around leather tubes it might work. I picked up some thin metal sheets to play with while I was out today, so I'm going to do some playing this afternoon and see what happens. Wish me luck!