SINISTER STITCHES |
FIONN'S PATCH
June 24, 2008:
Well, this one certainly snuck in while I wasn't looking . . |
| Two members of my household, Baccus and Marsaili, have decided to start up their own brewer's guild called The Guild of Our Lady and Saint Titus the Bastard. What a name! And it's period, too . . The Guild of Our Lady and Saint Thomas the Martyr was a 16th century brewer's guild in London, England, whose charter we based our own on. Yes, I said we. I got roped into this thing as the chronicler, secretary, exchequer, and in-house embroiderer. Which is where this project comes in. |
We were recognized by the Crown of the West at this last June Crown, and our first act was to induct Master Fionn Mac Phail as our first Master Brewer. We're grandfathering him in based on his extensive real-world experience as a brewer (he and his lady wife Maria run Rabbit's Foot Meadery in Sunnyvale) and his many years of contributing brews to the kingdom and the principality. Of course, I opened my big mouth and said "he needs a token!" Enter me and DMC cotton. |
I found his device on the West Kingdom's History site and whipped up a 3" by 3" (I think) pattern that I transferred onto white hanky weight linen. I backed the linen with cotton broadcloth for stability, hooped it up and went to town. I used green, black, and white DMC for his device, and in two weeks I had it done. I actually finished the embroidery last Friday, which was the day before I was to present it. Yikes! |
I sewed some green ribbon onto some black velveteen and backed the patch with the velveteen. Upon completion I thought it needed something else, so I sewed down alternating beads of howlite and malachite. I think the beads really make it pop, and look a little more like a decorated period brooch. |
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I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. I got to present it in court myself (in the dark, no less), and that was the last I saw of it. I think he liked it, though, and I had managed to snag some pictures of it before I sent it on its way. |
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