One thing that machine embroidery is definitely good for is making favors!

I have started to make favors for the members of my household (or replace worn favors for those who already had them).  It is a slow process, but I am working them out.

Some of them are simply our household insignia while others are more customized to individual member's personal tastes.

Left is one I created for our matriarch.  Its lightweight linen and is meant to be worn with Middle Eastern garb.  The green and blue scroll work behind the gold Thunder wheels signifies the green and blue cords she as earned for the Arts and Service, respectively.

Even though I try to manipulate my machine embroidery to make it look more period, there are times when you just have a design you are itching to use as is...

To the left is an apron I made for my boyfriend.  He loves to cook and he was awesome this year about cooking a couple of for feasts.  After cooking two events in just a couple months, I made him this apron as a thank you.  (There are wyverns and and a checky-racing pattern on his device.)

If I had an unlimited amount of time, I would finish every bit of garb I own by hand.  Hell, I would likely be hand sewing most of my garb as well.  My day-job, unfortunately, interferes with this dream.

To take up the slack (and fill my need for lushly embellished garb) I employ my machine to do some decorative finishing for me.

I tried, only a few times, to use the machine's built-in stitches to finish the edges of garments.  I was never happy with the results, they always looked machine made. 

Then I discovered Madeira's Lana Wool machine embroidery thread and I was blown away with the handcrafted look that you can get by using these threads.

I have done some embroidery with the thread, but the machine is temperamental about using the thread.  You really have to tweak the designs to get them to work and you definitely need the titanium needles made specifically for these threads.  I hope to eventually get the bugs worked out and be able to do some very hand crafted larger pieces of embroidery at some point.

What does seem to work well is decorative stitching.  Not every stitch works well with the thread, and of those, not all aesthetically work for garb.  Above is the border of a linen Norse coat I made this year for my boyfriend.  This arrow-stitch seems to work very well on earlier period garb.

I love working designs in thread by hand, but I also very much love my embroidery machine.  And, as I have said before, I also love having a more than a fair amount of garb for events like Pennsic.  I do occasionally use the very modern looking embroidery designs as they are, even though they do not pass for period even from 10 feet.  But what I enjoy most in this medium, is playing with patterns and thread choices to try to get items that not only pass the 10 foot rule but often draw someone in to take a closer look.  My experiments so far involve yarn couching by machine and decorative stitches or embroidery designs with wool blend thread.

The image to the left is a tunic/gown in linen with machine couched yarn.  The pattern in this case is applied by the machine and I merely go back when its done and finish the ends and possibly tack down a few missed spots.   The red trim on the facing at the neck is a 5 strand braid I did out of the same yarn and hand tacked to the garment.  (The over and under tunics are rectangular cut tunics with underarm gussets and side gores and are machine sewn.)

For those wondering, I use a Husqvarna Designer SE machine with an adapter kit that has a special foot and hooks/yarn guides that attach to the back of the machine.  The pattern used on this gown is one of the patterns that comes with the kit.

I had to play with several types of yarn before finding one with which I was happy.  Some yarn had an issue of it unplying as it was sewn, some would not feed smoothly, and one seemed to apply well but fuzzed up too much after washing.  My favorite yarn so far is definitely Caron's County yarn - a Marino/Acrylic blend yarn - that has some sort of cable plying that allows the structure to remain intact when passed though the foot of the machine.

When I first went to Pennsic, I had merely 3 outfits for SCA events.  That is definitely not enough for a week spent at a hot, humid event.  (And yes, I know that in period three might well have been more than and individual had, but this IS The-Middle-Ages-As-They-Should-Have-Been... plus, I don't care to spend my entire vacation doing laundry.)

The woman in charge of my group assured us that it was easy to get garbed up for a long event as we could just make a bunch of plaid "Bog Dresses".

Please understand that this all happened before internet took over the world.  Back then, there was no quick way to do a bit of online research before embarking on a project. I merely took her word that this was an early Celtic garment and set off to make my dresses.  I first gathered yards of plaid from the quilting section of Joanns (you know, those dusty looking cottons that are used make curtains for country kitchens?  That is what we used, in great quantity!).  I was instructed to take two rectangles of fabric, tack them at the shoulders and belt at the waist and you have an instant dress.  You could have a folded flap in the front and back at the top, or not. 

Let me just sat that trying to keep those on, belted properly (with the same cord usually used as curtain ties) and not flapping around showing your bits was not a joy.  We did have variety of dresses though (budding Pennsic fashionistas that we were!) - we had some that pinned at both shoulders, some that had flaps, some that only pinned at one shoulder, long ones, short ones, and I even tried to pleat some at the shoulders to get something that looked less like a grain sack.

Never again for me! While I do see the advantage of that particular rendition for people new to the SCA and sewing and who need garb in bulk for their first Pennsic, I am glad I have moved beyond those garments.  (I am, however, dreaming of the day I can do a reproduction one, in handspun, handwoven fabric.  However, even this would be more for my own educational purposes than because I want to wear it.)

I actually wish I could have taken the class about these types of costumes that was offered this year at War because I would love to know more about what is and what isn't authentic regarding these dresses.  Maybe next year!

More forward a bit in time and there were a couple of years I was unable to go to Pennsic.  During that time there was a hurricane that caused flooding at my house, effectively destroying all of my garb.  When I went back in 2005, I had to recreate wardrobes for myself, my boyfriend, my friend Galyana (who often shares my clothes) and another friend and her husband.  I put together then necessaries and we all enjoyed that war and then next as both had fairly temperate weather.  The year following those saw extreme heat and humidity and I started to plot garments that would be passable in the SCA that would use little fabric and have little bulk.

I revamped one of my early Pennsic bog dresses and came up with something that suits the purposes of Reasonable Attempt (at being period) and is also cheap and quick to complete (even given that I hand sew mine). 

Want to learn how to make Elf's rendition of a bog dress?  Just click here:

The bog dresses I make for myself are entirely hand sewn (as detailed in the  document above).  I do however, want to note that if you see me in one, it is likely embellished.  And yes, I "cheated" for that. 

I have an embroidery machine and have been experimenting with couched designs in yarn.  From a few feet away they look quite believable.

The yarn is Caron Country - a Merino/Acrylic blend, stitched to linen fabric.  http://www.naturallycaron.com/shade_cards/country_sh.html  It is a delight to work with on the machine.