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.
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.
Detail of the trim stitched for the dress above.
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Machine couched Celtic design on a hand sewn linen bog dress. This pattern I created/digitized myself.
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Greek key pattern on a linen bog dress that is machine sewn, but done free-hand, rather than via the embroidery unit.
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