This Dragonfly’s Clothing and Scribal Projects: A Collection from Three Master of Defense Elevations

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A Gold Silk Doublet in the Sture Style with Pinked Details

Introduction

This is a project that I had been wanting to do for a long time, and pinking silk on the bias was a new experiment that I wanted to try. I had the silk and was hesitant to cut it, but the stripe of the fabric and the sheen of the silk were too perfect to pass up. When I needed to make a new outfit for my elevation into the Order of Defense, I decided that it was now or never: pull out the fabric you’ve not played with yet, and let’s get to pinking it! (This also meant that I had a hard deadline for the project.)

I have a doublet pattern that I have used for many years now that I’ve drafted influenced most heavily by the Erik Sture doublet in Janet Arnold, and it works well for my body shape with some minor tweaks. I went ahead and cut my trusty doublet pattern, checking to see if an old doublet fit me. It did, though my weight has varied up and down, but I proceeded anyway with this pattern because I was short on time to complete this project. This inevitably meant that the doublet was just slightly too small/big… but I couldn’t reasonably cheat the seam allowances due to matching up the stripes and the patterning of the pinking and so I added a triangular patch of fabric into the side seams. Some pinks got sewn over in the process of tweaks. Ideally, next time, I shall have the pattern tested with a fresh mock-up before I begin.

Summary

I realized that due to the nature of the materials I used, I’d end up having to hand sew this entire project for my elevation. Knowing the efforts I’d have to put into this, I ended up also making my Elevation garb that I made for myself ALSO a Kingdom A&S entry. I don’t recommend that.

I am overall very happy with this doublet. There are several things I did for the first time ever when constructing this garment type, and a few lessons learned in the process. I can’t wait for my next project.

Inspiration for the Doublet of my Dreams

I have several pieces of inspiration that I based this project on:

The Erik Sture Doublet (Extant)

I took the general fit and tailoring of the torso of the doublet from the patterns made by Janet Arnold from these extant garments.1. I like the simple sleeve insertion into the armscye without any tabs along the edge. I made some minor tweaks: I don’t need lacing holes in the waistline. I have hips! My neck is much shorter and my general body shape is much different than Erik’s.  I used a different sleeve style. The original doublet was in velvet, and I wanted to use silk.

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/35/8b/1a/358b1a09287abcf60519f7dd20536143–medieval-clothing-historical-clothing.jpg

The Tailor (Il Tagliapanni) painting by Giovanni Battista Moroni

I’ve always loved the simplicity of the pinking on the doublet in this painting.2 I wanted pinking that was small, perhaps even smaller than this example. The color for this doublet is crisp and plain, and the ornamentation is the tailoring and the pinking and the simple belt (a belt which I wanted to make to go with this outfit!)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Giovanni_Battista_Moroni_001.jpg/800px-Giovanni_Battista_Moroni_001.jpg

Antonello Petrucci Doublet in Naples (Extant)

This extant garment 3 shows a series of diagonal pinks in vertical rows between stripes of smaller pinking rows. I really liked the size and pattern of the pinking on this doublet. The alternating rows of pinked slashes are the aesthetic that I’m looking for. While these are vertical, they are between defined rows.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bd/df/4e/bddf4ec34eb2cf2e396b3dd00322362a.jpg

Don Garzia de Medici’s red silk doublet with gold couched stripes (Extant)

I’ve always liked the look of the even horizontal stripes and they were very popular in period.4 The doublet made for Don Garcia de Medici is one of the finest horizontal stripe extant examples,5 but for this project, I managed to find a lovely striped gold silk that has a similar visual effect that I want to pink in between.

https://images.uffizi.it/production/attachments/1506165300829460-3-chiarelliGGC-8723-principale.jpg?ixlib=rails-2.1.3&w=1200&h=800&fit=clip&crop=center&fm=gjpg&auto=compress

Process and Execution of the Project

Patterning

Here is the portion of the doublet pattern I drafted from scratch that I based off of the Erik Sture doublet:

This doublet pattern needed to be modified for some extra weight that I put on, which, ironically enough so did Erik Sture. His doublet showed the addition of gores along the side seam to accommodate weight gain, so that’s how I solved this change of weight as well.

And here is the sleeve pattern that I designed for this doublet, which is based off of several extant examples of sleeve designs,8 though not the Sture doublets. I loved the buttons I found so much that I wanted to put them along the sleeve as well, and I found that the sleeves angled forward are just more comfortable on the arms to wear.

Materials

The silk is by its very nature quite thin. I wanted to back the silk with a construction lining that would contrast and shade the pinks, so I used a mid-weight black linen with a linen canvas for the pad stitched areas. For the lining of the garment proper, I used a bronze silk dupioni. To give the garment proper shaping, I employed the technique of pad stitching a thicker interior construction layer.

An interesting side effect of both the pinking and the crispness of the lines on the fabric meant that the seams had to be lined up just perfect and checked frequently to make sure no slashes or lines moved off of their lining up. With a bit of experimentation, this was a detail that could only be accomplished to the degree of success I wanted if I hand-sewed the garment. 

With the good appearances of the hand-sewing, I decided that all of the buttonholes would be done by hand as well. The buttonholes were still in process a week before my elevation (and I was fighting off a torn elbow tendon while sewing this), so they aren’t as perfect as I would have wanted them to be with unlimited time. I intend to provide a swatch with a more polished-looking buttonhole at the competition that, had I had more time, would be how all of my buttonholes would appear.

Tools & Pinking

I found a pinking chisel that would be the size of the wide stripe when it is tilted at a 45 degree angle. This places the pinking cuts exactly on the bias of the fabric so that it will not fray.

When I began pinking the actual pieces, I made sure to draw the pattern onto the pieces so that I could clear every seam and buttonhole area as to not have any pinking in those areas. Final tweaking of the tailoring of the garment meant that I had to alter a few seams, which then intersected some pinking cuts with seams as well as some buttonhole strips. The lesson learned was that I need to be much more precise with the tailoring pattern prior to beginning this project – this was a known risk with rushing the timeline for my deadline.

Starting the Construction

My timelines meant that I had roughly 2 months to complete this project, but realistically with the holidays – I actively host both Thanksgiving & Christmas – I would not be able to use all of that time.

I began the process, as previously mentioned, on a doublet pattern that I have tailored off of the Erik Sture doublet as documented by Janet Arnold.9 I have several doublets that I have cut and tailored off of this pattern, and they still fit me. Some are a little tight, but still fit in spite of gaining roughly 10 extra pounds. So I went directly to cutting parts: the outer silk layer, the interior silk lining, the black linen interior lining, and a canvas linen lining for the pad-stitching that would need to occur.

Pad Stitching & Basting

I began pad-stitching the thicker canvas onto the back side of the black linen. This was done much like the extant doublet in the Lord Middleton Collection.10

For reference, I used the explanation in The Modern Maker 11 to do the pad stitching as effectively and evenly as I could manage. I made pad-stitching reinforcements on the back panel, the front panel, and the collar parts. This all accomplished stiffening the armscye, collar, and the buttonhole strip.

After finishing off all of the pad-stitching, I basted the interior lining to the exterior pinked silk fabric. This was done on every piece of the garment. I then re-drew the pattern parts on the surface of the parts, to make sure that the pinked cuts would not be intersecting on any seams.

Construction Continued

I quickly found that in order to properly line the stripes up without any sliding of the silk, the only reliable method was to hand-sew the garment. So, I carefully pinned every stripe to stripe, and hand sewed the seams together. After that, I flat-felled the seams and stitched them down. This is a period method of seam treatment that is documented on an extant garment listed in Janet Arnold (at the V&A Museum). 12

I then tried the fit of the doublet on, and unfortunately the midriff was a bit too tight. Due to the pinking cuts, I couldn’t reasonably cheat some extra room in the seam allowances, so I made a very small gore (¾”) to the side seam to fix the fit. (Ironically this was done on Erik Sture’s doublet as well.13)

Next I began work on the tabs for the doublet. In this process, I basted the layers of silk and linen together, then pinned them turned over and ironed them. I then laid the silk lining down similarly, off-set ⅛” so that the lining would not be seen from the sides of the tabs.

To complete this, I did a small pad-stitch inside of the lining of the tab, ½” from the edge, to ensure the structure of the tab would be stable and keep a good shape.

After the tabs were all complete and hemmed, I attached them to the bottom of the doublet. After attaching them, I repeated the flat-fell technique that I did on the rest of the seams on the doublet. 

I moved onto the sleeves next. I chose to make these in two parts like many extant examples, which helps the sleeve comfortably fall forward. Most sleeves in this period of the late 16th century, especially on the doublet-like garments, had the buttons on the back of the sleeves. I chose to make the buttonholes tight and close and on the front of the sleeves for personal aesthetics, as used on the silk loose fitted gown of Sir Ralph Verney in the Claydon House Collection.14

I began work onto the interior lining of the garment. This is made of a lesser quality bronze silk. I then repeated what I did for the tabs and inset the lining pinned down ⅛” from the edge of the doublet (to ensure that the lining would not be seen when the garment was worn). I first sewed the sides and the collar, and then finished off the doublet along the bottom hem by the tabs.

The edges of the lining on the sleeves were then hand-sewn down onto the edges of the sleeves. The entire garment was then pressed and checked again for fit. The fit was much better, but once I was able to pin the front edges of the finished doublet together, I found bunching along the back edge of the doublet. This was caused by the lack of following the curvature of my back and hips. I took out the back center seam and re-tailored it to fit along my lower back.

Buttonholes… in a hurry on a plane!

Once the fit was completely tweaked to my present body shape, I began work on the buttonholes. I again referenced the Don Garcia de’ Medici doublet.15 In order to repeat the hand-sewn buttonholes, which I had never done before, I referenced the instructions from The Modern Maker.16 I began by drawing out the buttonholes: 1 per each wide stripe on the sleeves, and 1 per every other wide stripe on the front (I had wanted to do every stripe along the front also, but I was starting to run dangerously close to out of time).

For the button-hole making process, I would first draw the line needed, then I would stitch a running stitch loop around the hole. Next I would check the fit of the buttonhole with one of the round filigree buttons. After that I would use some matching embroidery floss and sew all around the edge of the buttonhole. I finished each buttonhole by running a stitch of thread under the length of buttonhole stitches to fill out the buttonhole.

After the buttonholes were completed, the buttons were added.17 And then the doublet was complete and ready to wear, with less than a week until the event!

Footnotes

  1. The Erik Sture doublet sketch and pattern can be found on pages 60-61 of Janet Arnold Patterns of Fashion. A good photo of the extant garment itself, found in Upsala Cathedral in Sweden, can be found at: http://thorkell.halberd.org/lorenzo/documents/sture/sture.htm
  2. Portrait of The Tailor (Il Tagliapanni) by Giovanni Battista Moroni, displayed at The National Gallery, London. A digital copy can be found at: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/giovanni-battista-moroni-the-tailor-il-tagliapanni
  3. The close-up of the pinks on this doublet that was made for Antonello Petrucci can be found in Moda a Firenze 1540-1580: Cosimo I de’ Medici’s style., page 208.
  4. Per Landini [in Moda a Firenze 1540-1580], “the practice of decorating the giubboni (doublet) with silk or gold vergole arranged horizontally over the garment appears to have been common at the Medici court and was probably borrowed from Spanish fashion.”
  5. A fine photograph of this extant garment can be found in Moda a Firenze 1540-1580: Cosimo I de’ Medici’s style., page 59. Realm of Venus archives also have a photo at: http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/workbox/extmenclo1.jpg The extant piece is displayed at the Costume Gallery of the Pitti Palace in Florence.
  6. Portrait of Archduke Erzherzog Wenzel, by Sanchez Coello, 1571. Referenced (black and white photo) in Janet Arnold page 14. A Digital (and full color) photo of the painting can be found here: http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/76/7614/GYJF300Z/posters/alonso-sanchez-coello-archiduque-wenzel-de-austria-1574.jpg
  7. There are many lovely examples of metal buttons in this period, even though thread-wrapped-over-wood-buttons was more popular. I wanted metal buttons for this (both due to time deadline of making that many buttons and the aesthetics of a lovely metal button), and I wanted them to be the right size. An example of a decorative 16th century metal button is the acorn button displayed in the St. Alban’s Museum, of which a photo of the button can be found here: http://www.stalbansreview.co.uk/resources/images/902738.jpg?display=1&htype=100000&type=mc3 The buttons that I found, and ultimately used, were more similar to the decorative filigree silver bells (similar to the size of buttons) found on a red velvet purse in the Hendrikje Bag Museum in the Netherlands (photo found in Bags, Pepin Press, 2004). A photo of these bell/buttons on the bag can be found here: http://i0.wp.com/www.trystancraft.com/costume/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/1600s-drawstring.jpg?w=474
  8. For alternative sleeve designs of this pattern cut, there are many in Janet Arnold. The Lord Middleton Collection doublet (page 85), the 1610 padded doublet at the Germanisches National Museum (81), and 1600 Doublet and Trunkhose at the V&A (page 75). It is reasonable to conclude that with the widespread use of this two-part sleeve it has been a development for some time previous to 1600.
  9. Erik Sture Doublet. Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion: The cut and construction of clothes for men and women c 1560-1620. pages 60-61.
  10. Lord Middleton Collection doublet. Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion: The cut and construction of clothes for men and women c 1560-1620. page 27, figure 182. Also page 85. For additional reference of pad stitching, another extant example is found in the pinked doublet from the Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, found in the same book on page 26, figures 175 & 176.
  11. Pad Stitching tutorial found in The Modern Maker Vol 1: Men’s Doublets. Pages 51-52.
  12.  For the flat-felled seam treatment, I’m referencing Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion: The cut and construction of clothes for men and women c 1560-1620. page page 29, figure 197. 
  13. “Erik apparently put on weight” and the doublet was let out on the sides with a gore put into the sides. The “odd little gusset under arm, cobbled in to fit, put in when doublet was too tight” & “there is a gap at the sides of lining where gusset is let in.” Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion: The cut and construction of clothes for men and women c 1560-1620. pages 60-61.
  14. Buttons along the sleeve detail on the lose gown of rick purple silk damask from Sir Francis Verney. Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion: The cut and construction of clothes for men and women c 1560-1620. pages 38 & 98.
  15. The buttonhole detail of the Don garcia  de Medici doublet can be found in Moda a Firenze 1540-1580: Cosimo I de’ Medici’s style. page 174.
  16. I used something similar to the buttonhole hand-sewing tutorial found in The Modern Maker Vol 1: Men’s Doublets. Pages 59-71. I worked the buttonhole first with regular thread, then I covered it up with embroidery thread details. 
  17. I thought I’d want the buttonholes on the top because I wanted to show off my really cool buttons, but I think next time I’ll put them along the bottom edge, as was more common among period doublets.

Bibliography & References

Arnold, Janet. Patterns of Fashion: The cut and construction of clothes for men and women c 1560-1620. London. Macmillian Publishers Ltd. 1985.

Dunkerton, Jill. and Susan Foister, Nicholas Penny. Dürer to Veronese: Sixteenth-Century Painting in the National Gallery. London. National Gallery Publications. 1999.

Gnagy, Mathew. The Modern Maker Vol 1: Men’s Doublets. Charleston SC. Create Space. 2014.

Landini, Roberta Orsi. Moda a Firenze 1540-1580: Cosimo I de’ Medici’s style. Firenze. Edizioni Polistampa. 2011

Landini, Roberta Orsi. and Bruna Niccoli. Moda a Firenze 1540-1580: Lo stile di Eleonora di Toledo e la sua influenza. Firenze. Edizioni Polistampa. 2005.

Mikhaila, Ninya, and Jane Malcolm-Davies. The Tudor Tailor. Hollywood. Quite Specific Group. 2006.

Thursfield, Sarah. The Medieval Tailor’s Assistant. Hollywood. Quite Specific Group. 2001.

Credit for photograph of me at 12th Night: Tessina Felice Gianfigliazzi (Geneva M. Day)

Thank you for taking the time to read this documentation. If you have any comments, questions, or recommendations, please contact me at dragonfly_brighid (at) gmail.com.


Calligraphy & Illumination – Donatello’s Master of Defense Scroll

Introduction

First I would like to start out by saying my view on scrolls in the SCA is to create a piece of artwork to commemorate someone’s achievement, and I would take a new assignment nearly every week. I used to tend to take on quicker scrolls than this – it is not unusual for my scrolls from start to finish including calligraphy to take place in 2-3 hours max. Lately I have been taking on much bigger projects like this than I used to take on.

This is the scroll I made for Master Donatello Asino’s Order of Defense scroll. It is based off the Bible of Borso d’ Este, and is gilded with 24karat gold leaf. The puppies are his salukis, Oysan and Freckles, and his White Scarf depicted is the one his lady embroidered for him.

The request from the recipient, who sought me out for this scroll, was a big scroll (larger than average format), and late period Italian (ideally northern Italian states).

The Research

A dear friend of mine from Atenveldt, Mistress Ari, recommended that I look into the Bible of Borso d’ Este, which is what she used to base the scroll she made for me off of. I looked into it, and decided this would be perfect.

The entire manuscript is, incidentally, available on the World Digital Library. You can find it here:

https://www.wdl.org/en/item/9910/

I selected this page out of the original manuscript that I loved because of its inclusion of two deer at the bottom, and realized that would be a splendid spot for me to include Donatello’s beloved Saluki dogs:

https://content.wdl.org/9910/service/thumbnail/1458158135/1024×1024/1/72.jpg

The Sketching & Layout

I decided to make this a much bigger scroll than I would normally make, per the request of the recipient. I had some problems sourcing pergamenata in the size that I wanted to make the scroll, so I ultimately ended up using Bristol paper board because that is what I had and my deadline wasn’t getting any shorter.

The 24 karat Gold Leafing

The next part of my process is to lay down the gold leaf. This used the last of my packet of 24 karat gold leaf, and I was so excited that I had enough to finish the scroll.

The Fun is in the Personal Details

I only do original scrolls. I do the illumination and calligraphy myself. When I make a scroll, the really important thing for me is how I can personalize this commemoration of someone’s achievement for them into something very special.

It was really important to me that I add in the white scarf that Donatello’s lady embroidered for him. I wanted to not only include his previous achievement, but I also wanted a call out to his very talented lady who made his scarf with gorgeous little blue forget-me-not flowers on it.

PUPPIES! His Saluki puppies are very special to him, and I truly understand how important fur babies are, so I wanted to make sure to include his fur babies, Freckles and Oysan. These were modeled after photos I found of his puppies on his page, and the watercolor ground effect under the puppies is a throwback to how the deer in the Bible of Borso d’ Este were vignetted.

The Detailed Line Work Clean-Up Stage

This is possibly my favorite stage, when I get to make the illumination truly pop with a very lightweight pen work.

The Calligraphy

I did not use the same calligraphy as in the Bible of Borso d’ Este. For one, the typeset in the original document just felt too small with too tight of kerning for how I scaled this up, and I also really appreciate keeping a hand that is easy for people to read when they visit people’s houses and admire their achievements on their walls. This is a standard modified hand that I tend to fall back on as a result.

I was really happy at how I was able to space out the wording of the scroll to make the recipient’s name line up on the left side with the Order of Defense on the right side.

A Completed Scroll!

Signed and sealed!


Calligraphy & Illumination – Maestra Rosa’s Master of Defense Scroll

Introduction

First I would like to start out by saying my view on scrolls in the SCA is to create a piece of artwork to commemorate someone’s achievement, and I would take a new assignment nearly every week. I used to tend to take on quicker scrolls than this – it is not unusual for my scrolls from start to finish including calligraphy to take place in 2-3 hours max. Lately I have been taking on much bigger projects like this than I used to take on.

This scroll for the Master of Defense is the most detailed scrolled I have ever made up to this point in my nearly 20 years long scribal career.

This scroll was for my Provost’s elevation to the Master of Defense. I was so very proud of her and her achievements, and also I had done the scroll for her rapier Grant of Arms (Order of the Bronze Ring, Midrealm, shown to the right) so I wanted to complete her set. The Bronze Ring scroll that I had done over a decade ago was based on the black Book of Hours but on a weird bronze-ish paper I had found (because Bronze Ring!), and I had to paint all of the calligraphy on with a brush because I couldn’t use actual ink.

Research

I had always found the Italian white vine-work style to be gorgeous, and wanted to do one. Because Rosa uses a flying squirrel heraldically, and has an adorable obsession with squirrels, I felt this would be a great style to use for her scroll because of the frequent presence of woodland animals in Italian white vinework.

I selected a manuscript from the British Library of Duns Scotus, which was written in Naples for the King by the royal scribe Pietro Hippolyto da Luna, 1460-1480:

https://www.wga.hu/html_m/zgothic/miniatur/1451-500/2italia4/18variou.html

I chose this original because it had some really great layout capability options. I could put Rosa’s previous awards leading up to the Master of Defense in the various circles on the sides, I could make a portraiture of her in the place where the scribe is, I decided to leave the book because “scholarship,” and I loved the placements of the woodland animals.

The Sketching & Layout

This ended up being a very big scroll, and it’s possibly the longest and most detailed layout I’ve ever made, so the photographs are separated out into parts. It took nearly 20 hours of work just to get the layout just right and do all of the sketching for this scroll.

I also had some fun making the portraiture detail and dueling squirrels with swords.

And of course ALL THE SQUIRRELS.

And the moment I was finally happy with the layout sketching and could move on.

The 24 karat Gold Leafing

I really enjoy using gold leaf in scrolls. I feel like it really makes a scroll a little extra special for the recipient’s artwork they display in their home. The thin little letters were fairly difficult as I had to be very diligent in the use of my sizing.

There was a considerably amount of gold leaf in accent lines all over this scroll, but I’m very happy that I used the gold mostly as it was shown in the original manuscript.

The Fun is in the Personal Details

I only do original scrolls. I do the illumination and calligraphy myself. When I make a scroll, the really important thing for me is how I can personalize this commemoration of someone’s achievement for them into something very special.

Her heraldry is a yellow field with a blue embattled border and a red flying squirrel in the center. I had a lot of fun with this, and inserted it into the location one of the circle layouts that included a heraldic badge on the original manuscript.

I worked very hard on the portraiture from a photo I’d taken of her at an event. I wasn’t 100% happy with the fleshtone shading on it, but it was as good as it was going to get before I overworked the paints. Along the top I began the work of her previous awards the Order of the Cavendish Knot (AOA, Rapier, Middle Kingdom; left corner) and the base red field for the Order of the Bronze Ring (GoA, Rapier, Middle Kingdom; center)

It was important to both Rosa and I that the badge of the Order of Defense was shown over the An Tir gold and silver checky field, because while neither of us are originally from here in An Tir, this Kingdom of An Tir is our forever home.

The Detailed White Vinework and Color Fields

This was when the scroll illumination really started to take shape. The squirrels were the last details I ended up adding into the scroll because I wanted to have the ability to add wispy tails and fluffy ears with gentle brushstrokes on top of the rest of the details.

Also I tucked my signature dragonfly into the lower right corner under the book. All of my scrolls end up having a hidden dragonfly in them.

The Calligraphy

I began working on the calligraphy, this time using the hand of the original scroll as best I could mimic it. I was so proud and happy that the scroll was almost completed and then… tragedy struck.

I missed a line in my zen of writing out my calligraphy. Oh my goodness…

Because I didn’t have a piece of pergamenata big enough to make this scroll, I used Bristol board, which meant I couldn’t just scrape the ink off. I tried to use a specific white gesso I used in college to cover things, and the white was wrong. I panicked. And then I called my friend Mistress Ari, who reminded me that scribes did this stuff all the time, and to put one of those decorative horizontal blocks along the text. Brilliant idea! The scroll was saved!

The Illumination Complete… or was it…?

My calligraphy mistake allowed for me to add this cute little bar of mischievous squirrels having a duel in the middle of the scroll. While it was a last minute “Oops!” cover-up, I absolutely adore this extra detail I was able to add in!

A Completed Scroll!

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12 Replies to “This Dragonfly’s Clothing and Scribal Projects: A Collection from Three Master of Defense Elevations”

  1. Fantastic display! Love the connecting theme between all your projects. And your skills! Wowowwow. Thank you for sharing, and sharing the ‘oops’ moments and how you adapted to them. And your pinking chisel – so very cool… and sooo many tiny exact holes, again wow!

  2. Thank you so much for sharing your art! I have long admired (and envied) your varied talents, and of course anything Scribal immediately catches my attention 😉
    I agree that the customizing of a scroll is often the most rewarding part, and the wee details you added for Maestra Rosa’s and Master Donatello’s scrolls are both exquisite and thoughtful. It was an honour to present Maestra Rosa’s!

    We should most definitely geek out over some Scribal things when next we meet!

  3. Your calligraphy and illumination are superb, but I am especially in love with your doublet! (Drool, drool, drool!) I really enjoyed seeing your entire process from patterning to finished garment. It is so very beautiful! I am still hoping to make a pinked doublet, but have been afraid to do so. You have inspired me to get back to it!

  4. Let me add to those who really appreciated the way you wrote up the work on the doublet. You do great things.

  5. Pinking is perfection! It has such a present texture and really adds to the visual appeal of the garment. The execution along the lines of the silk and matching are excellent. I also really like the pad stitching – I absolutely need to do that on my next doublet! My recollection for linings is that they were most commonly of linen (breathes, never seen, so don’t need anything fancy). Any particular reason you wanted to go so fancy (or maybe that was it! :).

  6. Exquisite presentation! Your work continues to grow in depth, delight and experience.

    Life prevents me from geeking out with you on your art and future goals on Saturday. I look forward to seeing more of your amazing work in the future.

    Aryana Silknfyre, Laurel, AnTir

  7. Wow your doublet is Gorgeous!

    Pinking a garment is on my to do list and like most people I have that beautiful silk that is sitting in a very safe place. So safe that my scissors have not yet touched it in two years.

    Thank you for the great details and lessons learned on the garment. When I get brave enough one day to try it I know who to go to.

    Your scrolls are beautiful not just in your artwork but your calligraphy as well. Great lesson as well that mistakes can be happy accidents.

  8. I know I’ve drooled over your elevation doublet before, but it was so fascinating to see the process images and write-up for the pinking of the silk. Beautiful display in its entirety, but I especially enjoyed that! -Lantani 🙂

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