A love of textiles and a love of making.
I’ve always been interested in things like dress history and cultural dress, but lately, I’ve fallen down a deep rabbit hole of historical costumers on Youtube and Patreon. I think it’s fascinating how different fabrics are made, decorated, and used and I love the community of people who are researching and making all of these gorgeous clothes and documenting them at every step. For my own part, I’m rarely without a knitting or sewing project (or both!).
When I was in college and grad school, I kept an informal little blog with all of my projects on it. Sometime in the last few years, I fell out of that practice, but I’ve been missing it, especially since staying home means I can’t have crafting nights or go to museums and draw with friends. So I thought I should give it another go! And since I’m kicking off this blog again and getting back into a rhythm of documenting all of my little projects while down in my historical costuming/textiles rabbit hole, my recent textile-based works felt like the right place to begin.
A tiny felted cauldron.
My most recent finished project. I have a lot of super bulky yarn from an old project so I’m pushing myself to find ways to use up the remnants. What better way than making a tiny cauldron?
I knitted up a wonky little basket shape, knowing that the top rim would naturally curl back on itself because it was all just knit in the round. Once I had it to the size I wanted (read: once the skein I was using was almost gone), I starting making the bottom.
When it was done, I got it wet and put it in my dryer with a couple of beach towels. Once it was pretty felted, I left it to dry over a wool dryer ball with a couple of rubber bands at the rim to hold the shape.
My first embroidery project!
I’m doing an international craft project with my Netherlands-based friend. After a lot of back and forth on about what we both wanted to do, we chose this gorgeous kit from Hoffelt and Hooper. It has been such a fun way to spend my evenings lately. It turns out that I really enjoy making French knots, although I am only at the beginning of this project. I imagine I might feel differently once I’m closer to the end!
A 1910s wool cape.
American Duchess released a free pattern for this beautiful wrap-around cape pattern that was a perfect match for this black and white wool that I’ve had in my stash for a while. My Zoom calls have all gotten a lot fancier since I finished this.
I do need to fix the wonky hem at some point, but I’ve honestly been wearing this at my computer every day since the day I finished it, so that will have to wait!
