Just cover it with fabric and call it medieval

Today I suddenly felt the urge for a small and easy project, and went searching for one of my goldwork-tryouts with 3D-hearts and a small box. Time for fabric-covering the actual period way - fabric covered boxes were and used during medieval times as reliquary boxes. You can see some examples here: http://medievalartcraft.blogspot.se/2010/02/treasury-of-basel-cathedral.html

I learned how to do this at Double Wars this spring and found it a very fun and quick project, not counting the time used for the embroidery part of course. It is also a perfect use for small-scale embroidery and try-outs. So with the green-gold and red embroidery for the lid, I wanted something nice for the sides and went through my stash of fabric scraps. Found a small strip of a two-coloured green handvowen diamond twill a friend made for me which turned out to be perfect! And some herring-bone twill in black for the lining and bottom piece.

So this is halfway through the assembly, I found the lining of the sides a bit tricky as I didn´t cut the fabric diagonally. This makes the lining folding and crumbeling a bit.

This is my two boxes, both made with try-outs from the goldwork class I took last summer and with  handvoven fabric made by friends. I am pretty pleased with the results and will for sure make more boxes in different shapes and sizes. Now pondering a larger square box for my sewing kit. And if you want to try it out your self, you find the description on Åsa´s blog: http://naama.textilverkstad.se/#post54.

Our little summerhouse

We (my husband and I) long dreamt about owning a place, like a big barn, where we could host events and parties. Our house is big and we have a barn, but sadly it is not in good enough shape to make an event site of it.

But then, a couple of years ago, the husband suddenly told me that he wanted to buy a summer house. "Are you mad?" I thought. We barely cope with our house as it is. And could we afford another one? But as it turned out, we did. Because the place is beatiful and here we can fulfill the dream of hosting events. Just some weeks ago our local baronial tourney took place at our "little" summerhouse, that actually is the military field hospital of northern Gotland, complete with underground shelter, surgery halls and 1,5 acres of forest surronding it.

Perfect for small events!

And just as cream on the pie, it is also perfect for the sewing circle I hosted last weekend, themed "Sew something warm for our Lucia-event" taking place in mid December. With large tables, good lighting (surgery halls are good for handicrafts) and plenty of space and a fully functional kitchen so that I could serve everybody with food.

My husband found the amazing furniture at an auction, four tables and 16 chairs that came out of someone elses broken dream of hosting medieval events. And the bench was bought by my mother in law, it is an actual 16th century chest that was remodeled into a bench during the late 19th century. She never found a place for it so it ended up here and looks just perfect. The walls got clad with fabric for the baronial event and it has the lovely effect of making the echoes dissapear and the room to appear more period and more cosy.

We were six people in all last weekend, me, Daniel, Isabelle, Mona, Åsa and Martin, chatting away while making good progress at new and old unfinished projects. Isabelle cut out the pieces for a Herjolfsnes coat and started to assemble it, Mona learned naalbinding, cut out a cap and got the pattern for the Lödöse mittens, Daniel cut out and started putting a thin wool lining in his Herjolfsnes coat. I mended my hose, finished off one pair of children mittens and cut out and got quite far on a hood for the eldest son that has outgrown his. Åsa was making a new kirtle and Martin was working on a new pair of shoes. And we made plans for more sewing days like this one! With new themes of course.