I had been asked to help in the production of Collette de Raynecheval’s Laureling, specifically with whatever embroidery needed to be done. Although it took awhile for everyone involved to figure out what they wanted, it was finally decided that I would create a pattern for leaves to be cut out of gilded leather and appliquéd to the back of her riding cloak. I am currently working on a pattern for leaves that will work with the cow leather, based roughly on the laurel wreath I found on the West’s roll of arms website. The appliqué will be simple whip stitch, and I might add an additional decorative touch around the edges like silvered pig leather or small beads or pearls. That will be determined after I get the leaves attached, as I might be very short on time at that point.

I was handed over the wool and gilded leather for the cloak last night, and as I only have two weeks to get this done, this project is now my top priority. I am finalizing a wreath pattern that I am happy with, and am working on practicing with the leather. I have cut a leaf similar to those I will use in the finished piece out of the gilded cow leather I was sent and appliquéd it to some random broadcloth cotton in whip-stitch with DMC cotton floss. The leather is much thicker than I had anticipated! I finally got a good idea of how to get the needle through and it went rather quickly. However, there were obvious needle holes in the leather where I had made the stitch. So I cut a strip of the silvered pig leather that I had purchased from the Hide House and stitched it down over the edges. I did the right side of the leaf with the full thickness, then tried the left side after cutting it in half. Please ignore the beads in the photo below, as they were one attempt to cover the needle holes which failed miserably (I’m not changing needles twice for every stitch, thanks!).

Today was a day full of lessons learned, which is another way of saying nothing went as planned. I was expecting a quick day of creating the wreath template, drawing it onto the leather, and cutting out all the shapes. And that happened . . eventually. I picked up a large enough tablet of drawing paper to accommodate the pattern as well as an X-acto knife to cut out the paper pieces. I did a final inking of the pattern and using my trusty lightbox, transferred it onto a fresh piece of paper. I also numbered the leaves as they are all different; I really thought I was clever for thinking of that. Silly me.

So my thought was to cut the wreath vine out of the leather, fill in the remaining donut hole of leather with the outlines of the leaves, then cut those out with cloth scissors. Plan A was to use the now vacant vine section of the clean template and X-acto out the middle. Not only did this take forever as the cow leather is rather thick, but it badly cramped my thumb, leaving me with a tremor that lasted a little over a day, and the resulting vine wound up so thin that it broke when I tried to pry it out. So I turned my attention to the leaves themselves. Now, remember that I thought I was clever for numbering the leaves. I thought I was even cleverer for numbering the outlines I made on the leather to the corresponding shape. What I failed to remember was that because I had made the shapes on the back of the leather, I would be creating a mirror image of the original leaf shape once it was cut out and turned over to the gold front. Theoretically, I can just place each leaf on the opposite side of the wreath and it will turn out fine. And I think it will, but it 1) is going against the original pattern I spent so long perfecting, and 2) made me feel "special."

Another issue that’s been plaguing the project is where to place the wreath on the cloak. The fabric for the back of the cloak I was given did not have this position marked. Not only that, but I was unfamiliar with the shape of the fabric, which had tabs at the sides and a convex neckline. I was really confused, so I placed the pattern where I thought it would go and sent the picture to the seamstress finishing the cloak. We’ve gone back and forth a number of times about where exactly it will go and have finally come to an agreement.

Today, unlike yesterday, was swiftly productive. I pinned the center vine onto the cloak and sewed it down in horizontal stitches with yellow DMC cotton floss (color #834). I had to redo one end as it didn’t lie correctly, but that was the only hang up. For the leaves, I considered tacking them down with thread, but thought that glue would be quicker and easier. So glue them I did. I love glue. Glue is my friend!

I’ve been working on sewing down the leaves and have them almost all sewn down. My finger is a bit pained now, even though I used my leather scissors sock as a thimble. But I’m glad it’s nearly done. I’m actually okay with how it looks without the silver edging, but I’ll do it anyway. Hopefully I can get this done on Sunday – my boyfriend said that if I pulled that off, I would be the embroidery queen. Woo hoo!

I have finished the stitching of the gold leaves to the cloak.

At this point, I cannot say that I hate how it looks. The needle holes are not as dreadfully glaring as I had first thought, and the slightly rough look of the stitching would well compliment a riding cloak. I am considering forgoing with the silvered edging, and have written to Cordelia, the lady in charge of Collette’s outfit, to ask her opinion. I am not eager to give it up because I am sick of the project; in fact, I am a little disappointed that this is all the stitching I might get to do. It is, after all, nothing more demanding than whip stitch. While the silvered edging would look lovely and add another dimension to the design, I am concerned that it would detract from the simplicity of the look. Besides, I ran my fingers against the edge of the test piece and the silvering puckered badly. It is very delicate, more so than I had expected. So I am somewhat hoping that I am done with this project. I will await Cordelia’s e-mail for a final decision.

As of yesterday, I decided that the cloak was done. A number of people I showed it to over the weekend were suitably impressed with the current state of the cloak, and agreed that it looked wonderful the way it was. So I handed it over to the seamstress last night for finishing. In the end, I am happy with how it looks; it has a rough simplicity that is apt for the garment, and the solid gold looks good on the black. Again, everyone present at choir who saw the cloak were also impressed with it. So this project is officially done. As I did with Catherine Lorraine’s Pel-Laurel patch, once I have pictures of it in its final stage and use, I will include them in this report.

Collette’s Laureling vigil and ceremony went off very well, with a beautiful vigil tent utilized until the wee hours of the morning, the horses behaving, and everything running quite smoothly. It was arranged that Emma and I would present the cloak in court together when called. It turned out that as Collette was Laureled with the kingdom cloak, and this was to be just a gift of a riding cloak. However, the riding cloak was well received, and everyone who saw it only had good things to say.

Personally, I feel a little embarrassed by all the compliments, as I feel I didn’t do nearly enough to earn what praise I was afforded. It was only whip stitch, after all! The shine of the gold added greatly to the wow factor, but the stitching was truly simple stuff. But, I was told that it was well done and strikingly beautiful in its simplicity, in which I must agree. And now I have a new, ever-so-useful term to use: embroidery bling.

And here is one last picture for the report, that of the cloak on Collette.

The first six and the final pictures on this page were taken by myself.

The third and second to last pictures were taken by Baccus Kaloethes (William Edgin) on when?