What's For Dinner?

Tonight's dinner consisted of three period recipes: Sauerbraten, Spinach Dumplings and Carrots in Cream.

Sauerbraten

(Rumpolt 1581, 47)

47 Nim m ein Rindernbraten/ vnd beiß jn vber Nacht/ thu halb Wasser/ vnnd halb Essig/ auch gestossen Knobloch/ in die Bru:eh/ vnnd ein wenig Saltz/ laß den Braten vber Nacht darinnen ligen/ vnd deß Morgens fru:eh thu jn auß der Bru:eh/ vnd saltz jn ein/ steck jn an/ vnd laß jn braten. Nim m die Bru:eh/ da der Brat innen gelegen/ seig sie ab/ so bleibet das dick auff dem Boden/ thu es in ein kleinen Fischkessel/ mit ein wenig gestossen Pfeffer/ vnd frischer vnzerlassener Butter/ vnnd laß sieden/ setz es in einer vberzinten Bratpfann vnter den Braten/ vnd begeuß den Braten darmit/ so ist es ein gut Essen fu:er die Vngerischen vnd Polnischen Herrn.

Translation:

47. Take a beef roast/ and marinate it overnight / put half water and half vinegar/ also crushed garlic/ in the broth (brine)/ and a little salt/ let the roast lie therein over night/ the next morning early take it from the brine/ and salt it/ stick it on [a rotisserie or spit]/ and let it roast. Take the brine/ in which the roast was marinated/ pour it off/ so the thick bits remain on the bottom (of the marinating bowl)/ put it into a small Fishpot/ with a little crushed pepper/ and fresh unmelted butter/ and let it simmer/ set a tinned fryingpan under the roast and pour this over the roast/ so it is a good meal for Hungarian and Polish gentlemen.

My Redaction:

4 lbs Stew Beef (it is what I had in the freezer that I needed to use up)
2 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Cups Water
1 Tbsp Sea Salt
6-8 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1/2 tsp Black Pepper, or to taste
2 Tbsp Butter

Dumplings

(Welserin 1553)

119. Wiltú gesotten krepfflen machen. So nim ain mangoldt, als vill dú wilt, ain wenig ain salúa, ain maseron, ain rosmarin, hacks vnnderainander, thú ain geriben kesß aúch darein, schlag air darein, bis dú mainst, das es recht seý/ rerlach, negellach, pfeffer, weinber nim aúch darein vnnd machs jn den taig zú krapffen, lasß sieden, wie man herte air seudt, so send sý gemacht.

Translation: (Armstrong 1998, 119)

119. If you would make boiled dumplings. Then take chard, as much as you like, some sage, marjoram and rosemary, chop it together, also put grated cheese into it and beat eggs therein until you think that it is right. Take also cinnamon, cloves, pepper and raisins and put them into the dumpling batter. Let the dumplings cook, as one cooks a hard-boiled egg, then they are ready.

My Redaction:

10 Slices Bread or small rolls (Semmel)
1 lb Chard or Spinach, fresh
1 t Sage
1 t Marjoram
1 t Rosemary
½ cup Cheese, grated
3-5 Eggs
Pinch Cinnamon
Pinch Cloves
Pepper

Slice bread into small pieces and chop the greens finely.  Mix bread, greens, spices and cheese together.  Add eggs one at a time until moist enough to form into dumplings 1 inch in diameter.  Cook in salt water for 20 minutes.  Serve.

Note: I omitted the raisins due to my family's taste preferences.

[1] Bread is not listed in the recipe but I believe it was because any good hausfrau would know that to make bread dumplings you must add bread as was common at the time.

Carrots in Cream

(Rumpolt 1581), Vegetables 186

186. Nim{b} Ruben/ setz sie in einem Wasser zu/ vnnd lasz sie sieden/ bisz sie gar werden/ schu:et sie auff ein Durchschlag/ vnd ku:els ausz/ hack sie klein/ nim{b} butter in einen Fischkessel/ vnnd mach sie heisz/ thu die gahackte Ruben darein/ vnd ru:ers vmb. Dasz wolgeschweiszt wirt/ mach es mit gesottener Milch vnd Saltz ab/ gibs warm auff ein Tisch/ so ist es gut vnd wolgeschmack.

Translation:

186. Take roots/ put them in a water/ and let them simmer/ till they are done/ pour them onto a strainer/ and cool them/ chop them small/ take butter in a fishkettle/ and make it hot/ put the chopped roots therein/ and stir it. Sweat it well/ season it with scalded milk and salt/ give it warm to the table/ so it is good and welltasting.

My Redaction:

1 lb Carrots, sliced thick
2 tbls Butter
1 tsp Sea Salt, coarse
1/4 cup Heavy Cream

Cook carrots in water until just fork tender (not too soft).  Meanwhile heat heavy cream in a small saucepan, do not boil.  Strain carrots and saute in butter.  Season with salt and add cream to coat. Serve warm.

Sources:

Armstrong, Valoise tr. Das Kuchbuch der Sabina Welserin (1553). 1998. http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Sabrina_Welserin.html.

Grasse, M. (Gwen Catrin von Berlin) tr. Ein New Kochbuch by Marx Rumpolt (1581). 1999-2002. http://clem.mscd.edu/~grasse/GK_Rumpolt1.htm.

 Rumpolt, Marx. Ein New Kochbuch. 1581.

Making a Lucet Cord

As I was busily making a lucet cord while watching TV tonight I was struck by the memory of how challenging a skill it was for me to learn.

As with most things I do, I had no one first hand to teach me. Normally, I don't have much of a problem with reading how something is done and then just jumping in and having a go at it. Usually with good success. Not so with my experience with the lucet.

First, I read the pamphlet that came with my lucet... confusion, followed by a knotted lump of string. I am left-handed so I thought it may have something in my translation so I turned to the Internet for more reading on left-handed instructions. Still no luck.  I just couldn't seem to get the tension right, it was either too loose or so tight I could not pull the threads over the tines of the lucet.  It was after much frustration and many websites that I finally stumbled across this YouTube video that for some reason, in its simplicity, made it all so clear to me.

If you have been struggling with Lucet cord making, don't give up, watch someone in person or on video and the light bulb will eventually go off for you too.

And, yes, I am using the right handed method.  I find it easiest to learn most new skills that my hands do not already have a primary roll in preforming with my right hand (for example I knit right handed but embroider with my left).  It makes it easier for other people to teach me and so I can teach others later on as well.

Belt Accessory - Keys

I made an eBay purchase today for some reproduction keys to hang off my belt.  You can see keys hanging from the belts of many german women in period artwork.  Keys were often worn visibly on the belt (by both men and women) as they respresented certain rights (or an office) of the wearer. As the head of the household, a wife would own a chain of keys.  Here are just a few examples that fit my persona's timeframe:

A seated woman by Albrecht Durer, 1514.

Melencolia I , Albrecht Durer, 1514.

Couple Seated on a Bed, from Scenes of Daily Life by Israhel van Meckenem.

I felt it would add that touch of authenticity to my garb if I had a set of keys too.  Having a period correct gown is a wonderful thing but it is often the little extra accessories you add to it that make it really special.  The keys I bought aren't perfect but they fit my budget for now.  In the future I may replace them with nicer ones but these will do for the time being.

Above are the reproduction keys I purchased.

Extant 15th Century Keys.

Pearl Necklace

I have been wanting to recreate this pearl necklace for some time.  It is simple, feminine and very "me".  It appears to me to be constructed of small pearls double strung in groups of eight separated by a black or dark green bi-cone.  Ten bi-cones can be seen in the portrait and it hangs to the top of her breastbone.

Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman by Albrecht Durer, 1505.

Many years ago, my husband surprised me with a bundle of stranded imitation pearls.  They are quite small, maybe 2-3 mm in diameter.  They have been stowed away in my beading supplies until now.  The bi-cone beads were the hard part... I couldn't seem to find a black glass or stone bi-cone of a size that matched well with the portrait.  I ended up having to settle for a black 7mm bead which was smaller then I wanted.

Stringing them was pretty easy.  I used two strands of nylon beading thread (not period but very strong and will prevent breakage from little toddler hands).  I threaded each strand onto it's own beading needle.  I began by passing both strands through a bi-cone bead.  Then strung four pearls onto each strand and then passed both threads through a bi-cone again.  I repeated this pattern until I felt it was the correct length when held up around my neck.  The final necklace has 29 bi-cone beads strung on it where the one in the portrait has somewhere around 14-16 I would guess.  The ends where tied to a simple pewter hook and eye clasp.

I am fairly pleased with the result.  I wish the black bi-cones were larger, I think it would match the inspiration piece better.  The completed necklace will be counted toward my A&S 50 Persona Challenge.

Backstrap Loom Construction

A simple loom which has its roots in ancient civilizations comprising two sticks or bars between which the warps are stretched. One bar is attached to a fixed object and the other to the weaver usually by means of a strap around the back.

"A Backstrap loom would suffice or any variation upon that to produce complex patterns of band. This would of course leave very little in the way of archaeological finds, and perhaps answer why nothing in the way of looms as described have been found. Ethnographic evidence from the Middle-East prior to WW2 shows ladies weaving bands with backstrap looms made from little more than sticks..."

Leather Tablet Weaving Cards - a good start

Today's goal was to make the leather tablet weaving cards for the trim on my Norse hat.

The first thing I need to do was test a few methods to harden the leather.  (Here is a link to a wonderful PDF on Cuir Bouilli and Wax Hardened Leather by Jean Turner).  Using scraps of two different leathers I first tried a water hardening method.  In the water method I placed pieces of leather into a water bath held at 180F (using a candy thermometer) for 30 seconds.  The results proved inferior for this project.  One of the leathers shrunk up almost completely and the other did not seem to harden at all.  I am assuming that the later was not a veggie tanned leather which is required for the process to work properly.

That brought me to me second option of wax hardened leather.  Please note: it is my understanding that wax hardening of leather is a modern technique and was never used in period.  It is a common practice among Scadians when making leather armour so I opted to try it for this project as well.  I used pure beeswax for this project knowing that honey was used in the Viking/Norse eras so beeswax must have been available as well. Both leathers seemed to do well in the wax.  One got really dark, almost black, and quite brittle once fully cooled.  The other had a nice stiffness to it with very little shrinkage of the holes.  I decided on this second leather, which is a suede reddish brown leather.

I cut thirteen - 2 1/2 inch squares.  I started punching the holes in the corners of the squares when after three cards the hole punch broke.  That put a damper on finishing this project today!  I went ahead and dipped the three cards I had finished into the wax to see how they would turn out (since I already had the wax melted).  The suede texture did not make for smooth cards once out of the wax.  So, while still slightly warm I burnished them with the back of a spoon and was pleased to see how smooth and flat they became.  I am very happy with how they came out.  They are a bit tacky still.  I hope that after using them with some wool yarn that they will polish up and become less tacky.

As for the use of beeswax; Sturluson mentions honey twice in the "Heimskringla" (Sturluson, Chapters 17 and 40).  If the Vikings had access to honey they most likely had similar access to beeswax.

Sources:

"Heimskringla" or "The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway", Snorri Sturluson c.1225; online medieval and classical library release #15b; original electronic edition Douglas B. Killings with Diane Brendan 1996

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Heimskringla/

Turner, Jean.  "Cuir Bouilli Technique - An Historical Method of Hardening Leather"

http://www.jeanturner.co.uk/static-content/tutorials/CuirBouilliTechnique.pdf

First German Dinner

I have been working all week on collecting period German recipes for my A&S 50 Challenge cookbook. I have collated almost 100 recipes from several sources. Some are already redacted others are not. The plan is to work through the list cooking each of the recipes myself. So, tonight I cooked my first German redacted dishes for dinner.

I made Chicken & Pear Stew from Das Buch von Guter Spise (1350) translated by Alia Atlas.  I found a few redacted recipes for this dish online.  I ended up taking a little something from two different versions and then adjusting the spice to the taste of my family.

#30 A good food
Take hens. Roast them, not very well. Tear them apart, into morsels, and let them boil in only fat and water. And take a crust of bread and ginger and a little pepper and anise. Grind that with vinegar and with the same strength as it. And take four roasted quinces and the condiment thereto of the hens. Let it boil well therewith, so that it even becomes thick. If you do not have quinces, then take roasted pears and make it with them. And give out and do not oversalt.

My Redaction:
6 chicken breasts on the bone
4 pears
1 cup Breadcrumbs
½ tsp Ginger
¼ tsp Black Pepper
Sea Salt to taste
Pinch of Anise
3 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
3 cups Chicken Stock

Roast chicken pieces, covered, in a medium oven (375F) for about half an hour. Core pears and cut into quarters or eighths leaving the skin on for added flavor. Remove cover from roasting pan and add pear pieces to the pan, making sure they pick up the meat juices. Continue roasting uncovered until the chicken is brown and the pears are soft.

Remove from oven and allow chicken to cool slightly so you can cut it up and debone it without burning your fingers. Remove flesh from bones and cut into bite-sized pieces. Mash pears into a lumpy consistency and put chicken and pears into large pot.

Soak breadcrumbs in vinegar and 2 cups of stock. Grind the spices and add to breadcrumb mixture. Deglaze the roasting pan with stock – heat slightly to make sure you get all the juices off the bottom. Add bread mixture to the chicken and pears, adding enough stock to make sufficient gravy for the meat. Cook stew slowly until gravy has thickened slightly and meat has heated through again.

I served this over buttered egg noodles sprinkled with parsley.

I also made Sautéd Mushrooms from Ein New Kochbuch by Marx Rumpolt and translated by Gwen Catrin von Berlin.

196. Mushrooms. White bitter Mushrooms wash off/ pepper and salt (them)/ then one lays them on a Grill/ roast (fry) and baste them with Butter. And when they are roasted (fried)/ then give them warm on a Plate/ strew them with Pepper and Salt/ thus are they all the more better.

I didn't find an existing redacted recipe for the mushrooms but it is pretty straight forward. This is my redaction:

1 lb White or Cremini Mushrooms
3 tbsp Butter
Sea Salt
Black Pepper

Cut mushrooms in half or quarters depending on size. Sauté in butter over medium-high heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Both dishes were very good and I look forward to cooking more for my future cookbook.

One other thing to note today is that the beeswax I ordered came in today.  I think tomorrow I will try to make my tablet weaving cards.

Building the Backstrap Loom

I am moving forward on my project list for the Ymir A&S Competition.  I am having to do a few things out of order from the natural flow of the finished project since some of the items I needed had to be ordered online, like the soapstone for the spindle whorl and the beeswax for the leather tablets.  So, I am working on construction of the backstrap loom so it will be complete once I am ready the do the tablet weaving.

Yesterday I stopped by the hardware store and picked up some oak dowels.  I got two 36" long, 3/4" oak dowels and one 36" long, 1/2" oak dowel.

I am using the instructions for making a backstrap loom by Laverne Waddington whose Blog you can read here.  They are very clear and not intimidating at all.

The first thing I did was to cut my 3/4" dowels to length.  I made the two loom bars 20 inches long.  On the ends of loom bar that will be closest to me as I weave, I sanded down two indentions around the dowel to hold the ties from the backstrap.  This should help the ties from slipping off.  The remaining 16" pieces will be used for the roll up sticks.  I then cut the 1/2" dowel into thirds to create three 12" pieces.  One of these I set aside to be used for my spindle later on.  The other two will be used for warping sticks and the shed rod.

That is the end to the construction of the wooden parts of the backstrap loom.  I now need to make the woven backstrap, the ties for the backstrap (possibly finger woven) and some smaller lucet cord for ties on some of the other sticks.  If I can find some suitable wool to use I will try to get it warped tonight.

Youth Rapier

The kids have been excited to get involved a bit more in the SCA and do some fun activities themselves.  Tonight we attended a class covering the rules, etiquette and safety of Youth Rapier in the SCA, taught by the local Youth Rapier Marshal.  This class is the first step in getting the kids "authorized" to practice or compete at sanctioned SCA events.  The next step is to have the kids attend and watch a youth rapier event.  Then, once we get them covered in safety gear, they will be able to compete at events.  What fun!

If all goes as planned they will be able to watch the youth rapier competition at Ymir next month.

Bone Nalebinding Needle

Well, with my new plan in place for the A&S competition I wanted to get started on the list right away.  It just so happened that I had all the items I needed to make a bone nalebinding needle here in the house so I started with that today.

From Viking age into late-medieval times needles were often made of bone or antler.  Hald's book says that wooden and bone needles may have used in Viking Age Denmark.  They would vary in size and shape depending on the intended use.  Nalebinding needles tend to be long and flat with a blunt tip as to not split the fibers as you work.

Ref: 002215 Needle-like objects from 16-22 Coppergate, 9th/10th century.

I stole some beef rib bones out of the dog's kennel that I had given him a few weeks ago.  Then following the directions for preparing the bone from this site I got to work.  I boiled the bones to soften them a bit.  I marked on the bone the basic shape I thought the needle should be.  Then using a Dremel, I cut the rough shape of the needle away from the rest of the bone.  Using a grinding bit, I then did more shaping and smoothing of the needle.  Once I was happy with shape and thinness of the needle I drilled an oval hole on one end and smoothed that over as well.  Finally, I buffed the needle until it felt smooth in the hand.

Sources:
Cadfan, E., How to Make Bone Needles, Fettered Cock Press. (Purchase here)
Hald, M., Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials. Aarhus University Press, 1980.
Ceara ni Neill, website "Past Times on the Web", http://housebarra.com/EP/ep02/18bone.html

First A&S Competition - The Plan

The next SCA event that we are attending is Ymir XXXVI in Reidsville, NC on February 18-20th, 2011. Ymir is a Viking themed event but one doesn't have to garb like a viking to attend.

This year at Ymir the A&S competition with include three different entry options:

As Plundered:  The As Plundered Competition is designed to get new people entering Arts and Sciences competitions.  Since the items in the entry represent plunder, documentation is not required nor rewarded (unless the entrant is entering a research paper).     The competition categories will be the same as those of the Kingdom A&S Persona Pentathlon competition, and the judging sheets will be the same (sans documentation points).  However, since this competition represents selling the items in the marketplace at Hedeby, the ability of the plunderer to talk up the items fine points will be taken into account.   One bonus point is awarded the item if it is NOT from Nordic lands during the Viking Era, but could have been plunder brought back.  Two bonus points if the plunderer can quote a period stave from memory identifying the item as one belonging to a hero from the sagas.

Persona Triathlon:  The Persona Triathlon is designed to get more experienced artists to stretch their abilities into a number of different fields, plus do the research necessary to tie three items together into one persona.  It will use the same rules as the Kingdom A&S Persona Pentathlon competition, except that the entrant only has to supply 3 entries in 2 categories.  One bonus point is awarded if an item is from Nordic lands during the Viking Era.

From the Ground Up: The From the Ground Up competition is designed to get artists to learn to make their own tools and general purpose materials for their projects instead of using commercially available tools and materials.  The artist is not rewarded for the quality of the work in any way, shape or fashion.  If the artist completes the item, they get 1 point.  For every unique tool they create to build the item, they get 1 point.  For every unique general purpose, re-usable material they make and consume in the item, they get 1 point.  For each of the preceding that is documented, they get 1 point.

I am intrigued by all three of these options but I think I am going to concentrate on option three for the moment.  I have decided to make a Norse hat using nalebinding with a tablet woven trim for my entry.  So, for this competition I started mentally deconstructing the finished hat to determine which tools I would need to complete it and which tools I could make for the entry.

Here is my list so far:

Nalebinding hat -

• 100% Wool bulky yarn
• Combs
• Drop Spindle
• Soapstone whorl
• Wood spindle shaft
• Distaff
• Bone nalebinding needle (done 01/18/2011)
• Soap (for felting)

Tablet woven trim -

• Back strap loom
• Leather tablet weaving cards
• Bone or wood belt shuttle/beater

That is all that I can think of so far.  The hat will be for my son once finished.

Tablet Woven Garters - Finished!

I have been working on my first piece of tablet weaving in the evenings while watching TV with the family. It was probably not the best time to be working on a project that needed a bit of concentration in order to keep the pattern straight. I made more than one mistake along the way. I looked at it as a learning tool... having to turn back the cards and unweave.

The thing I really need to work on is getting my selvages smoother. I am just not sure if I am pulling too tight or not tight enough. It will come with practice I am sure.

The other major lesson I learned was to always allow for more warp then you think you will need for the project. My poor husband got recruited to hold the loose ends of my warp for my last eleven turns as I didn't have enough warp left to tie a knot and still turn the cards.

But, here they are... my first tablet woven item... garters! Now I just need to make stockings to go with them.


For the A&S 50 Challenge these will be one item under my Persona challege (linen garters) and also one item for my skills challenge (tablet weaving).

I have also started researching period German recipes for my third A&S 50 Challenge. I have found many that I can make and feed to my family to test them out. Once I have tested a recipe I will add to a cookbook doc which I will print out at the end of the challenge for display.

A&S 50 Challenge - My Personal Challenge(s)

Ok, I have been doing a lot of thinking about the A&S 50 Challenge and exactly what the challenge meant to me personally.  There are so many options (even within the three major options posted on the site) to choose from.  It seems that the mantra of the people involved in the challenge is, "It is what you make of it."  Which of course means that it is different for everyone and that the challenge is to challenge yourself.

So, all my thinking has got me to this end... I will be doing three sets of challenges!

The first will be to have 50 new things that I have personally made that my persona would have owned and used (under option 3 in the official challenge).  What this means is that the 50 things must have been created by my hand even if my persona, Elsbeth, would not have personally known how to create it herself but still would have owned the item.  This will include individual pieces of clothing, sewing tools, cooking equipment, household items, books, etc.
The second challenge will be 50 new skills that I learn along the way (under option 2).  So, these are not necessarily skills my persona would know how to do but things that I learned here in the mundane world to make her world more real.

Finally, my third challenge will be to research and make 50 new recipes that my persona would have routinely made in her home for her family.  I may stretch this a bit to include baked goods which were not often done by the home cook due to lack of ovens in the home.  Baking was usually done by the town baker.  Still if it was an item that my persona would have purchased to serve at a family meal I will be including it in the challenge.

So, that's it, my personal challenges.  I am so looking forward to getting my list started.  Look for additional pages to this blog to track my progress.

A&S 50 Challenge

While researching different areas related to my persona, Elsbeth, I kept seeing references to an "A&S 50 Challenge".  I wasn't sure what it was all about but after seeing it on many Scadian's sites I decided to look into it further.  I was very excited to learn about the ongoing challenge to create 50 new things by the 50th anniversary of the SCA in 2015.  You can learn more about it on the A&S 50 Challenge website.

There are Three Kinds of Challenges:
The Depth Challenge -
*50 of any one type of thing, in order to push your skills and knowledge to new levels (how broadly you define this is up to you)

The Breadth Challenge -
*do/make/learn 50 new and different things (how new, and how different is up to you/your group), or,

The Persona Challenge - 
*making/learning 50 different things that your persona would know, have, or know how to do

Since I am jumping back in the SCA with both feet and starting at square one with my persona I will be attempting the Persona Challenge for sure.  It should be pretty easy to think up 50 things that are new to me that my 15th/16th century persona would have known how to do.  Some broad categories will include clothing, embroidery, weaving, knitting, hygiene, cooking, etc.

Yeah!  I love a good challenge!

In future, when I complete a project that will be part of the A&S 50 Challenge I will add the tag "50 Challenge" to the post.

More original artwork of aprons

The Fountain of Youth (detail) by Lucas Cranach the Elder

Pyramus and Thisbe by Hans Baldung Grien, 1530.

But the image am so excited about finding is the one below clearly showing smocking at the top of the apron of the women cooking!

Camp scene of Charles V- Zeltlager Kaiser Karls V. vor Lauingen, 1546.

Next Project - Garters

I know I haven't finished the apron yet, but I am waiting on some linen thread to do the hem with so it has been set aside for now.

That allows me the time to play with some new things that came in the mail today from Halcyon Yarn...

A belt shuttle, as the Inkle Loom I got for Christmas did not come with a shuttle, and two dozen tablet weaving cards. 

I also ordered four mini spools of linen warping yarn (the black is on backorder).  This linen yarn is Newport 16/2 Linen in the 300 yard cone.  It is a dry spun yarn that has a nice sheen to it.

With all these new things to play with I started on my next project - garters to hold up my future stockings.  The plan is to use this small project as a learning tool for tablet weaving.  I plan to use my Inkle loom to weave on.  Some people often refer to this as a "TWinkle loom" when tablet weaving is woven on an Inkle loom.  Whatever one calls it, this will be my second weaving project ever and my first tablet weaving... we will see how it goes.

The Apron - Smocking Finished

I finished up the final rows of smocking stitch tonight while watching a movie with the family.  I just love how it came out! 

Smocking done, gathering stitches still in place.

Gathering stitches removed, loosely layed out.

Stretched out to finished width by help of my son.

The Apron - Day 2

Today's goal was to get my apron pleated up and I managed to get it done too!

There are a couple of ways to create pleats in your fabric.  If the seamstress was very accomplished she could simply eyeball the distance between basting stitches... I am not that accomplished.  I need a tool to help me get perfectly even basting stitches.  The two most common options available are iron-on dots that can be found for purchase on-line or using a sheet of plastic canvas (used for 3-D needlepoint projects) to measure out the dots.  Since I happened to have a large sheet of plastic canvas in my stash of craft stuff, that is the option I used.

I aligned the long edge of the plastic canvas sheet with the basting row I put in yesterday (for my straight cutting line).  Using a #2 pencil, I made a dot in every third square across and down for a total of seven rows.  I plan to only smock 6 rows but it helps to have nice straight pleats to work on when smocking so having an extra row is helpful.  When I filled all the squares in the plastic canvas I lifted it and repositioned it further down the length of my apron.  It took four placements to cover the 60 inches of the fabric to be pleated.  Here is what a 9 inch section looks like fully marked...

I used a black quilting thread to make my basting stitches as it is a strong thread that resists breaking when gathered into the pleats and the high contrast in color helps with placing the smocking stitches later on.  Here is that same nine inches after basting...

And finally, here is what the whole 60 inches of fabric looks like after drawing up the basting stitches...

Next step is the make the smocking stitches.