Monday, February 25, 2013

Embroidered Linen Mitts

I broke through my sewing block last night. I finally came across my long-lost pattern from Kannik's Korner for mitts, pockets and stockings. I had been looking for it for quite some time. It was put into the wrong envelope so thus the reason for my confusion. (In passing, the state of organization of my patterns is quite horrific at present. I must go through them and organize them better very soon.)

These took me about four hours to sew. I made them completely by hand (yay!) and am pleased with how they came out.

I missed the last challenge from The Historic Sew Fortnightly. I meant to miss this one, too, since this challenge was "embellish" and I do not very often embellish anything I make. I prefer to make my statements, fashion wise, through lines and fit and color rather than embellishment details. Still, I decided to make this project count for both the regency monthly costume challenge (which I also missed last month) and the embellish challenge by embroidering a simple design on the mitts.

The embroidery design was inspired by these mitts from the Met Museum:

I used black silk thread for the embroidery. (And it must be said, I am not am embroiderer, either by desire or by ability, so the motifs are wobbly and not symmetrical since I used the very scientific method of eyeballing to embroider the design). But, I like how the black looks against the white. The embroidery is not centered properly on my hand when I put these on, though, so I think I will add another line or two of embroidery to even things out. It won't take long.

I am planning (actually have been planning for a very long time now!) to remake my green print regency gown. It has very long, full sleeves and I don't like how they look on my figure. I plan to remake the sleeves to be elbow length and tighter. I think the mitts will look very well with that dress once it is finished. I hope to finish remaking the dress by the end of the month so I can use it towards last months missed regency project!

Love,
Sarah

P.S. Thank you all so much for your awesome comments on my last post. It is so nice to know others feel the same way about things. I really liked the idea of finding old photographs with identifiable information and returning them to the family. David bought an old trunk recently and inside was a packet of pictures dated 1939. The envelope they are in is from the printing store and was addressed to a Mr. George Hurst in Peoria, IL. So, hopefully I can find someone to return this pictures to!

You all are great. Have I said that before? I will say it again. You're great!

Okay, challenge info:


The Challenge: Embellish! (yikes!)

Fabric: Plain medium weight linen.

Pattern: Kannik's Korner.

Year: Late 18th / Early 19th century

Notions: thread and needle for sewing, black silk thread for embroidery

How historically accurate is it? Pretty accurate. Correct cut and construction, because of the awesome pattern!

Hours to complete: About 4.

First worn: Not yet.

Total cost: Nothing. All from stash.



5 comments:

  1. I think they are BEAUTIFUL! You are so much like me with the details, I can't say that enough! I think the flowers are absolutely beautiful, I see no flaw in them at all. :)

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  2. They look beautiful!

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  3. Dear Sarah,

    Love the mitts! The embellishment is just right: restrained but eye-catching. Elegant.

    Hooray!

    Natalie

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  4. I'm the same with the patterns, I just spent 2 hours drafting a lost pattern that I found the next morning...argh....so now I have them in a file box type of thingy, and they are in those file box type of folders, its easier than trying to jam them into an envelope, and it takes a lot less time to search through the folders than squeezing all the pieces out of an envelope and then back in....

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  5. I don't know if this link will work if you don't sign in to familysearch (it's free) but this links to an 1880 census with a George Hurst of Peoria, IL. It appears he lived with his sister, Theresa Schincel, and her husband, Julius, and kids. https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MXKS-WCD

    I don't know if that will help at all. I happened to already be on family search this morning looking at some pictures some of my relatives had posted of my grandfather as a young man, and his father as a young man, and his father with a very bushy beard. :)

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Thank you for your lovely thoughts!