Author: kendra

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Tambour Embroidery Project

So I mentioned in my last post that I’ve been doing some sewing… Although work has been busy, I’ve also been enjoying the fact that I have no looming deadlines for any sewing projects, so free time plus limited energy means I’ve been working on some noodle-y stuff.

You might remember when last year, my fabulous friend Francis made me some handmade reproduction Elizabethan shoes.  I’ve been wanting to gift him back, but of course he’s a costumer too, so have been trying to think of something I can make for him that he can’t make for himself.  We figured out that he doesn’t do embroidery, so I am planning to make him an 18th c. hand embroidered waistcoat.

I have dabbled at embroidery and I know it’s one of those things I can do, it just takes a lot of time.  I’ve been wanting to learn to do tambour embroidery for years, so decided that’s what I’d do on his waistcoat.  But since the waistcoat is supposed to be a gift, that means I shouldn’t be experimenting on it!  So I thought I’d better to a project for me as a learning experience.

To that end, I decided to make a hand-embroidered 18th c. fichu using tambour.  I’ve had some REALLY fine white linen in my stash for a while, which I’ve been using in small pieces for special elements, as I have no faith in ever finding linen this fine again.  I have Peri’s tambour frame on long-term loan, so all I needed was a tambour needle, the right thread, and some instructions.  I got the needle and thread from Lacis, and then read through the books Tambour Work and 18th Century Embroidery Techniques to learn the technique.

I ended up using a pattern from the 18th C. Embroidery Techniques book, as it helpfully includes a pattern for a late 18th c. tamboured fichu from the (Bath) Museum of Fashion.  I don’t love fichus that bunch up around the neck, so I decided to follow the cut of this fichu at the Met to hopefully avoid that.

So far, so good!  It’s certainly taking time, especially now that I’m done with the long continuous line things and am on the 5 million individual flowers, each of which needs to be done separately from the others (as I’m trying to keep the back of the embroidery neat).  The one thing that’s stymied me are the little dots, which on the original pattern are tiny spirals… there just isn’t enough embroidery to bring the tails through on the back, so I haven’t figured out whether/how I’m going to include those.  I could of course NOT cut the thread off between dot/spirals, but then I’ll have all those extra bits of embroidery thread on the back of the work…

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It’s Faire Season!

And busy work season, which combines to mean not too much sewing and not very much posting from me! But work is starting to calm down, so I thought I’d tell you about what I’ve been up to lately. I have been doing SOME sewing, but I have no pictures, so that will need to wait another day or two for a report.

Mostly it’s been Renaissance season, performing with my Venetian courtesan singing/acting group, Bella Donna.  First on our list was Much Ado About Sebastopol, a new-ish Renaissance faire that is A) a benefit for local schools and B) trying to create a new version of a faire that is based on some attempt at focused historical accuracy.  This year it expanded from one to two days, and it was a BLAST.  The focus is on an English village with English villagers doing lots of crafts and activities — sewing, weaving, etc. — with a visit from the Queen and Court.  Bella Donna is the only foreign group there, which means there’s a more cohesive village-y feel than you get at most faires.  The crowd is fun and more history/family oriented than the barbarian crowd (not that there’s a problem with barbarians…).  And again, they have craft demos and activities for kids… and a REAL BUILT STAGE, which we love to perform on, where we and the audience are in shade most of the day!  (Nobody wants to watch a stage show when they’re sweltering in the direct sun on a day in the 80s/90s). Lots of fun and sillness ensued — at one point I sat in the Queen’s chair and tried to encourage customers to annex Russia for me, although it was hard to convince them.

Singing on stage | (C) Robert Eli Bynum
More stage show action | (C) Laurie Tavan
Our ruffiano, Bastiano, gets vicious with Tullia | (C) Claudia Laughter
Hanging out in our pavilion | (C) Claudia Laughter

Then two weeks later was the San Francisco Italian Heritage Parade, an annual event that winds through North Beach, the Italian neighborhood of SF.  Its a ton of fun, with queens and courts and marching bands and Italian-themed groups like us and totally non-Italian themed groups.  The best part is the last 10 blocks or so are a complete street party, as restaurants move tables out onto the sidewalk and everyone eats and drinks wine and watches the parade.  We were joined again by some friends from the German Guild of St. Max, and they — plus our Venetian boys — were the hit of the parade… or, I should say, their codpieces were!  We do some singing when we can, when the parade slows down enough to let us breathe, and did a combination of singing and dancing for the judges at the end of the parade.  Then we were off to the Colosseo and Mona Lisa restaurants, who were our sponsors this year, to sing for their customers and eat lunch (some SERIOUSLY good pizza, people!).  My feet were killing me by the time we were racing to catch the ferry home, but I’d had so much fun that it was totally worth it!

Bella Donna plus friends from St. Max
Isabella hangs with a German landsknecht
Caterina attempting to conjure the Mona Lisa
Lucrezia in her pearly glory
Posing in the restaurant owner's vintage fiat, painted with the Mona Lisa

 

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Movie Review: Plunkett & MacLeane (1999)

Starring Johnny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, and Liv Tyler.  Costumes designed by Janty Yates.

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I’ve had a review of this film posted for a long time, and it was written based on only a vague memory of the film. However, my friend Shawna encouraged me to watch it again because the costumes were so whacked… so this one’s for Shawna!

Johnny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle play highwaymen — Miller is the classy one, Carlyle the down and dirty — who team up to rob from the rich in a generally very light-hearted, dark comedy, “modern” take on the classic buddy/adventure film.  Miller falls in love with Liv Tyler’s character, who’s a well to do lady who falls in with the bad boys.  Alan Cumming plays a super fop who is hilarious.  It’s fun and fast-paced and not too deep.

And… the costumes.  Oh, the costumes.  When the movie opens, a title card tells us the year — I’m pretty sure it’s 1748, but I could be off by a year or two.  Here’s why this matters:  Look, filmmakers — you clearly were not trying to make a Merchant/Ivory, historically accurate down to the toilet paper masterpiece.  Why throw a year on there?  Why not just let it be an 18th century-esque period-ish film?  Because lemme tell you, the costumes are a TOTAL MISHMASH of different eras, some historical, some not.  Someone will be wearing a 1770s pouf hairstyle and sitting next to someone else in a 1750s tete de mouton.  Liv Tyler has one scene (the ball) where she wears an 18th c. hairstyle, but the rest of the film she runs around with her hair down.  And the dresses are, by and large, totally goth-ified, sex-ified, and modern-ified, which you can see in the images below.  At least Liv’s are generally pretty… With the aristocracy, they’re very amped up and over the top in a silly way.  Many times it works, even when Alan Cumming (complete with eyebrow ring) is wearing the 18th c. equivalent of a purple Mad Hatter hat.  But there’s a minor character who, at her wedding, wears a sort-of-francaise that has, I kid you not, what looks like 2×4’s for panniers — it’s so bad I went and screencapped it from YouTube so I could show you.  Of course, the screencaps don’t really do it justice, so you might want to watch the scene starting at 0:43 yourself.

In the end, it’s a fun movie, and laughing at the costumes is part of the fun, so I do recommend it!

My review:  3 (out of 5)

If you like this era, you might also want to check my 18th c. Costume Movie Reviews.  If you’re in the mood for more silly-take-on-18th-century, I specifically recommend the following costume movies:  Abduction Club (2002), Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), Casanova with David Tennant (2005), and Fanny Hill (2007).

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Movie Review: Water for Elephants (2011)

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (2011)

Starring Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, and Christoph Waltz.  Costumes designed by Jacqueline West.

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I have a particular connection to the history of the circus, as my father’s family were circus and vaudeville performers in Germany, England, and the US during the 19th and early 20th centuries.  So I may be biased in enjoying this story based in the circus of 1930s.  Robert Pattinson is actually relatively good as the veterinarian who, when his life crumbles, runs away and becomes a circus vet.  Reese Witherspoon is the star performer who, in gorgeous costumes and with faaaabulous hair, does a beauty act with elephants; Christoph Waltz is her anger-management-issues/abusive husband who owns the circus and so has a hold on everyone’s lives.  Of course, Pattinson’s and Witherspoon’s characters fall in love, and tragedy strikes, as you might expect.  It’s not a revolutionary story, but it’s good, and it’s an interesting milieu in which to set a film.  And Uggie (the fabulous dog from The Artist) is in it!!!

The main focus of the costumes are of course on Reese.  She has beautiful sparkly stage costumes and a great casual yet chic 1930s wardrobe.

The only real down side is that after the film’s release, it came out that the trainers may have abused the lead elephant from the film, which is really horrible.

My rating: 4 (out of 5)

If you like this era, you might also want to check my 20th c. Costume Movie Reviews.  I specifically recommend the following 1930s costume movies:  The Aviator (2004), Cold Comfort Farm (1995), Glorious 39 (2009), A Good Woman (2004), Gosford Park (2001), I Capture the Castle (2003), Love in a Cold Climate (2001), Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008), South Riding (2011), and Upstairs Downstairs (2010). Phew, there’s a lot of great 1930s-era costume movies!

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Movie (TV miniseries) Review: The Devil’s Whore (2008)

(Note: I am catching up on all the movie reviews that I’ve been needing to post!  There will be more reviews coming!)

THE DEVIL’S WHORE (2008)

Starring Andrea Riseborough, Dominic West, and Michael Fassbender. Costumes designed by Michele Clapton.

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A few months ago, somebody asked if I took requests/recommendations for movies to review.  I wasn’t organized enough to respond at the time, so this review is my response, as it’s one of you who recommended it!  I totally missed this British miniseries when it came out, and I confess, the title conversely made me think of cranky Puritans and boring giant-white-collar butter-churny dresses…

I was wrong!  This was GREAT, and the costumes were gorgeous!  Andrea Riseborough stars as the fictional English aristocrat who is a part of Charles I’s court and then is caught up with Oliver Cromwell & Co. during the English Civil War.  Sure, it’s awfully convenient that Angelica happens to be involved with all of these key people, as well as different events and movements of the period, but hey, that’s the fun of good historical fiction.  She starts off young and somewhat unsure, and over the course of many trials and tribulations finds A) love and B) herself… and Michael Fassbender plays her love interest, which:  RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!  Dominic West plays Cromwell, and while West can be attractive, he’s definitely not in this!

The costumes were gorgeous, with Riseborough in various beautiful 1650s-60s-esque dresses.  They did stick with basically the same dress cut throughout the film, which ignores the developments of women’s styles over time, and they definitely needed more petticoats under the gowns.  Okay, and sometimes the off-the-shoulder was WAY too off-the-shoulder.  I don’t know enough about men’s costume of this era to be able to say whether it was accurate or not — it certainly looked good to my eye, but maybe you can tell me more!

If you like historical fiction (and I do), you’ll like this.  So, a big thank you to whoever recommended this miniseries!

My rating:  5 (out of 5)

If you like this era, you might also want to check my 17th c. Costume Movie Reviews.  I specifically recommend the following shiny 17th c. costume movies:  The Last King (2004) and Stage Beauty (2004).