Jacket reveal
Last night I roused myself from my sickbed to trek down to Plimoth for the Jacket Reveal. I'm so glad I went! They really did everything up right. There was a reception with 17th century snacks (peasecods in lent, oysters, mussels, Shrewsbury cakes, &c.), a slideshow of the whole project (I think I was in one of the pictures), tables with examples of the embroidery, the silk lining, the gold spangles, the lace, &c. Visitors could put a spangle on the coif or see the muslin mock-up up close.
It was good to see some of the stitchers I worked with again, especially L. who comes down from Canada. I know new_man was pretty bored, but he's a good sport.
Finally, what we were all waiting for -- the chance to see Faith (as the jacket was dubbed) in the flesh. We went into a candle-lit room and saw a young woman about to finish dressing for a evening at the theatre at Blackfriars. She walked slowly around her "room" letting us see the embroidery sparkle and the spangles tremble on the lace. It was breath-takingly beautiful.
I actually cried when I saw her. It was a honor to work on this ground-breaking project and an honor to see the jacket being worn for the first and only time. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Since I've been sick, I've had a little time to work on my own embroidery:
I'm trying to be good and "eat my vegetables", that is, do the boring leaves first. Since I took the picture, I started one of the trefoils. I can't actually finish it because I'm missing the palest color silk, but I can do the two outer leaves. There's 5 trefoils all together and the panel will look so much more finished once they're all done. I did let myself work one strawberry in GST as a treat. I'm holding off on the pink (my favorite motif) until later.
It was good to see some of the stitchers I worked with again, especially L. who comes down from Canada. I know new_man was pretty bored, but he's a good sport.
Finally, what we were all waiting for -- the chance to see Faith (as the jacket was dubbed) in the flesh. We went into a candle-lit room and saw a young woman about to finish dressing for a evening at the theatre at Blackfriars. She walked slowly around her "room" letting us see the embroidery sparkle and the spangles tremble on the lace. It was breath-takingly beautiful.
I actually cried when I saw her. It was a honor to work on this ground-breaking project and an honor to see the jacket being worn for the first and only time. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Since I've been sick, I've had a little time to work on my own embroidery:
I'm trying to be good and "eat my vegetables", that is, do the boring leaves first. Since I took the picture, I started one of the trefoils. I can't actually finish it because I'm missing the palest color silk, but I can do the two outer leaves. There's 5 trefoils all together and the panel will look so much more finished once they're all done. I did let myself work one strawberry in GST as a treat. I'm holding off on the pink (my favorite motif) until later.