Beading: Fatigue & the Basics of Making a Headpiece

The bridal headpiece is very nearly finished (making the lining almost finished me, I've never made one that would be seen in its entirety, in the round).

I spent today cutting and fitting it, and adding a few more beads. One more bout of beading--an hour or so should do it--and it's done. The acid-free tissue arrived today, and I already have a box for storage. I will also enclose it in plastic, as there are some silver beads, which will otherwise tarnish in storage.

It's a long process, to make a really fine beaded headpiece, but it's worthwhile, if you're making it for someone, or you'll be wearing it yourself. For a stage production I'd be inclined to advise a quick and dirty method, unless you were making it with the idea of wearing it after, at 20s themed events.

Still, here is the basic process:

1. Choose your style (tiara, full circlet, etc.) and order a buckram frame online.

2. Sketch out a design.

3. Choose your colors and buy beads and fabric and felt (for padding) as well as any additional trim.

4. Use dental floss for thread. I prefer very tiny quilting needles for beading, as real "beading" needles are extremely flimsy and long.

5. Make a pattern for your padding and your fabric covering. Cover with felt; trim excess. Cover front with fabric. I prefer to sew these on, as glue makes beading difficult.

6. Start beading! For anything complex, do single beads. You can do long strands, and couch them (or not) but they won't be as strong or liable to stay where you put them. I do not trace a pattern onto the fabric, or even use basted tissue. It's best to begin with something simple and geometric, and add slowly to the pattern as you progress.

7. When the beading is done to your satisfaction, add combs or elastic, if any. I usually sew these in, and then glue them. Pad over with felt (you can use glue now, if you like; I suggest jewel glue).

8. If the back will be visible, cut another fabric pattern out. Turn edges under and whip-stitch it into place, using the tiniest possible stitches.

Trial and error will teach you quite a bit. Take your time. If you start to make mistakes, stop. Rest, read, do something else for a while. It's not much fun to unpick bead work, and it can leave visible holes in the fabric.

Time? Most will take anywhere from two weeks to three months, so long as you take frequent breaks in order to retain your sanity and small muscle control.

Laurie Lambkin

That's the official pattern name.I still need to sew and stuff her, obviously, but am holding off until I finish the headpiece, which requires about a day more of beading; then I need to add combs, cut the lining out, piece it, and whip stitch it into the headpiece.

When it's complete, then I'll go back to the toys. The bunny still needs to be washed and blocked. The bookmark is blocking.

Not bad for the Ides of March!

Golf Stockings: Finished

At long last! I began winding the yarn for these on Thanksgiving evening. (I should just be happy I finished before Easter, I suppose.) Lots of Christmas knitting, then the toys, and...life...intervened.

The socks pattern is one from Sensational Knitted Socks, with calf shaping added. I used a toe I came up with that's a variation on a simple toe usually finished with Kitchener stitch; one round of decreases, five knit rounds, decreases every other round until twice the number of ending stitches is achieved; then, k2tog for the first half; SSK for the second half. Cut the yarn, and run through snugly two times and weave in the loose end. No grafting required, and it's a round-ish toe that fits very well, even on my narrow feet.

The tops are afterthought. The pattern is from The Big Book of Needlecraft, ca. 1927, from the look of the patterns inside (Odhams Press, Ltd Long Acre, London W.C. 1). It's a hardcover from England. I first saw it at the Providence Athenaeum, and decided I wanted a copy for my own. It covers quite a bit, and also gave me the embroidery pattern I used for the Caroline Cloche I made a few years ago.

In order to furnish enough ease, I picked up the same number of stitches with a #4 needle. (The socks were made with #2s.)Then I resumed knitting with #2s, and bound off, after six rows of 1x1 ribbing, with the 4s, but with a small picot (one stitch added after every bind off stitch as I was binding off).

They're a good fit, but next time I will definitely begin with the stocking tops!

A Mark of Thanks

I love a mystery. The written sort, especially when it's real Golden Age, or set in that era. There are some wonderful authors doing the latter: Carola Dunn, Kerry Greenwood, and Rhys Bowen, for example. (Daisy Dalrymple, Phryne Fisher, and Lady Georgie.)

The most recent in Ms. Bowen's 30s series is Naughty in Nice, and it's as charming and interesting as all of her books are. I recently won a copy in a drawing from a librarian who reviews large numbers of books online and features them on her blog. She then very kindly gives them away in drawings. No strings attached. Not only that, they are sent with remarkable speed, and a hand-written note.

I wanted to send her something in return. Not another book, goodness knows how many she must have, not even including the ARC (advance reading copies) and other review copies she has lying around, but something book-related. As I knit, I thought a knitted bookmark would do the trick.

Firmly knitted lace, with a touch of starch, in fact. So I've been noodling around with various small "knitting pins" and crochet cotton. I started with American size 4s. Much too big. And quite floppy.

Then I choose the next extreme. I dug some Victorian steel DPNs out of my needle stash. They're so tiny that I don't have a needle gauge to size them, but at a guess they're at least 000s. Perhaps 0000s. Or smaller? (I have sewing needles that are thicker.)

The resultant fabric was beautiful, but it was murder just to make a knit stitch, to say nothing of a SSK. I couldn't even get beyond Row 8 of the pattern.

So I decided to slide back to the middle (in more ways than one); the first needles were from the 1960s, the second pair ca. 1860, and these needles are ca. 1930. These are size 15 Aero Knitting Needles, from England. They're coated and nicely pointed and slippery. The fabric is firm, but a touch of starch won't go amiss. And last night I sailed through the first two repeats with no trouble at all, so I think I'm on to something!

Still Progressing

Bunny is finished; that is, the knitting of. The golf stockings are finished, though not yet washed.

The work on the headpiece continues. I'm hoping to finish it entirely, soon, so that the bride can have it early; I know that she'll need to try out hairstyles before her big day.

Today, though, I gardened. For the first time in many months. No, I didn't uncover my still-mulched roses, but I cleared up dead vegetation and some leaves, and checked the two roses I started from cuttings. They made it through the winter!!

Things are looking up.

In Progress

That's the state of quite a few things right now. The lamb toy is (and has been) blocking. The bunny is finished, but for his ears. My golf stockings are plaguing me--it's far more difficult to add a stocking top after the stocking has been knitted; it's hard to get the right elasticity in the pick-up and bind off stitches.

And most importantly, I am making a bridal headpiece for a friend of mine. She's a young woman in the local retro and burlesque community, and she's marrying my favorite local dance partner. When she told me of their engagement I offered to make her a headpiece as a wedding gift.

As some of the wedding guests will be reading this, I won't be posting photos until after the ceremony. However, the piece is beaded, on white velvet. It's more of a tiara than a bead-heavy 20s look; she has a lovely dress that conjures up the 50s. I can't really say more without giving things away!

That's what I'm up to these days, as well as beginning to consider a costume for the next big Chifferobe event, which has a theme of Cleopatra!

Pictues of at least the lamb-in-progress to come, as I really need to get these toys off to the babies soon.

Deco Fangirl: Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester

If you are a devote of Art Deco era music, it's quite likely that you've heard of Max Raabe. Herr Raabe is a singer of cabaret and cabaret style music. He studied to be an opera singer, but in the mid 1980s, with a group of friends he got together to rehearse hot jazz charts and ballads from the 20s and 30s. They played their first gig a year later, and much to their surprise, were an instant hit.

He and the Palast Orchester tour not only Germany, but the US, London, (as of this year) and other places. He's brilliant--funny, charming, handsome, and a fine musician with the best comic timing.

My husband and I bought tickets in September of last year for this show, as soon as we heard about it. They played Symphony Hall, in Boston, this past Sunday, March 4. We decided to pull out all the stops, clothing-wise, and made a day of it. We had matinee tickets, so it was 30s daywear. It took me weeks to decide what to wear--I don't have many real 30s day dresses--and a day or two to put it together.

The show was terrific. They are all talented musicians, and the pace of the program was wonderful. Herr Raabe is an elegant figure and will make you think you've fallen into a German film from Weimar Berlin. He was in faultless white tie and tails, with the other men in the group in black tie, and the lovely violinist wore red.

After asking quite a few people inside, we located the stage door and joined the crowd of fans. He did come out, after one of the orchestra members noticed us. I suspect they're all weary of touring, and there was no place inside for a crowd. They probably hoped to get some rest for a change (and I don't blame them). However, he graciously told us he'd tell Herr Raabe, and off he went.

When Max Raabe came out he'd changed into street clothes, and he did look weary, but he was courtly and gracious, and he bent over my hand (fool that I am, I was still wearing gloves, so I did not get my hand kissed...just the same, I'm still fluttering). His charisma is...well. Wonderful. He also signed the new album for us, and was even kind enough to pose for a couple of pictures. From left to right: my husband (in glasses), me, and Herr Raabe.

The new CD is entitled One Cannot Kiss Alone, and it's not quite as much to my taste as the cabaret pieces, but it's clever. If you love 80s music, you should adore it. I don't know if it's available yet here in the normal course of things, but if you are curious about the title song, here is a video they created to highlight the English version.

(Please excuse the absence of a proper link; as usual these days, I can't get Blogger to accept one. Just copy and paste to get to the video.)

http://youtu.be/RdbGNttzP0I

...and joined the Circus

Cirque de Ville, anyway. At The Dorrance, in downtown Providence. Another spectacular Chifferobe event.


(B&W image courtesy of LuLu Locks, of Providence Pin-Up. The color pic is one taken by a friend of the snake's handler.)

Mardi Gras Brings You...

...masks.

I know. There should be pictures. (Sorry.) However, we're going to a Mardi Gras party tomorrow. DH doesn't want to wear a costume, but he thought he'd like a mask. Me, too.

He'll be in black tie, but I'm going a bit steampunk. Think Idris (Sexy. Mrs. Doctor [Who]). I've dug out an old--15 years or more--stage costume, including corset, and though I won't be as Suranna Jones was costumed, the look will be similar.

The masks are quite simple. I took a plain plastic mask and used it as a pattern. It has two layers: one of brown felt, for against the face, and one of burnt black velvet, for the outside. My husband's is very plain. It's velvet, with binding around the outide, and fabric ties. Mine is of the same fabric, but with beadwork around the eyes. The ties (not yet attached) will also be of fabric.

These are the second and third masks I've made from scratch, after the papier mache mask I made for a Halloween event.

Who else makes masks, and how? Of what fabrics?

Knitting for the Nursery

Ravelry to the rescue, again. Please excuse the lack of a link, Blogger is again being useless in that regard.

As several of my friends have presented the world with babies recently--girls, too!--I had a perfect excuse to look for something really fun to knit.

What's better than toys? Bearing that in mind, I went to work, and came up with a couple of charmers: Vintage Rabbit and Laurie Lambkin. The rabbit is a free pattern, but the lamb is from an OOP book, Nursery Knits, by Tessa Watts-Russell. The lamb is so adorable that I went straight out and found a copy online. The book also includes some good teddy bear patterns and baby and toddler sweaters, as well as plenty of bear wear.

The bunny is coming along on #3s. It's very appealing, much like the Velveteen Rabbit in looks, and adapted from a vintage pattern published by Patons, in the 40s. The lamb is written for #5 needles, but I went up to a #6 to get gauge. She's a very quick knit; I cast on yesterday, but am nearly half-way on the knitting.

Both require quite a lot of seaming, as most vintage style knitted toys do, but it's going to be worthwhile. When they're complete I will post photos. And, quite possibly, will cast on for a couple more, to keep!

Back to the Frog Pond, or, In Need of Instant Gratification Projects

Lately I can't seem to knit even the simplest item without ripping back. I began the heel of Gray Sock #2 before completing the leg. On the golf sweater I forgot to begin bind offs for the armseye while working on the front. I'm back on track with the socks, but haven't yet ripped back on the sweater.

It's time to make some small, quick projects, the kind of things that are finished so quickly and easily that they provide almost instant gratification. Baby socks, maybe (lots of new babies out there lately). Or lacy washcloths, or even doll clothes, though I don't know any doll parents or collectors!

I know I'm not the only one who ends up in this situation periodically. What kind of items would you make in like circumstances?

Thrift, thrift...

January 2012 hasn't exactly been an outstanding beginning to the year, but the last day is giving me hope.

After my second bout with a cold that DH & I have been passing back and forth I finally got out of the house today. I headed straight to the closest thrift shop. It's not always the best one, but it has its days.

Today was one of them. For a grand total of $4.01 I got a brand new edition of a Georgette Heyer Regency (her first, originally published in 1926), a pair of argyle socks for DH, and seven Limoges bread and butter plates!

They're perfect, and though I don't know the pattern they'll go nicely with the china I already have. At a guess, they're ca. 1900: white, with gold and misty green rims. According to the mark they were made especially for a store in Pennsylvania. I am very pleased; it's been a long time since I've found Limoges in a thrift shop.

Taken From Books

I imagine those of you who read this are also "readers". By that I mean you buy a book when you know you'll re-read it. You have a shelf of favorites-from-childhood, the books outnumber everything else, and somehow, there are never enough bookshelves.

This means that there are things in those books that you've always promised yourself you'll try someday. This past Christmas I made that Christmas Cake. I've been promising myself that since reading Betsy and the Great World, by Maud Hart Lovelace.

One of my favorite plays is "The Lady's Not for Burning", by Christopher Fry. I learned about that not in school, but in Tam Lin, by Pamela Dean.

Those are only two examples; I have more. Now, there are also the ones you can't understand: in spite of repeated readings of Little Women, I have never learned to love Milton or even The Pickwick Papers (the only Dickens I love is A Christmas Carol.

This gift within a gift of books suggested by favorite books is only one of the reasons I've been a lifelong reader, but it's a potent one.

Christmas Knitting 2011

Please excuse my abysmal photographic record keeping! This scarf and beret were gifts to my MiL this year. The beret (same alpaca silk blend as in the scarf, photo not withstanding) was for her birthday, and the scarf Christmas, but I made two other berets in very different yarns (but the same pattern) for dear friends.

One was in a burgundy homespun, to match a lace neck cowl I designed for her last year; the other in a Schiparelli pink with turquoise flecks (it was for a birthday); I designed a 30s style muffler with a narrowed neck to match as a Christmas gift.

The pattern information for the purchased patterns isn't to hand, but they're both modern.

January 1936 Golf Sweater

Not a whole lot is going on around here, though we finally got some snow. Mind, tomorrow it's supposed to be rainy and in the 50s, so it probably won't last. Welcome to New England in 2012!

The Long Gray Socks are coming along--I'm well into the leg on #2, past the calf shaping. Stocking tops, if I add them, still haven't been designed.

I've also begun a 1936 golf sweater, from the January 1936 issue of Home Arts Needlecraft. It's simply called "sweater with buttoned front". It's 4 sts = 1 inch, and I'm using a double strand of orchid colored Shetland. The back is finished and I am working on the first side of the front.

I hope your 2012 has begun on a good note!

Happy New Year!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwT4GV9qkV8Sorry, this isn't the elegant solution, but Blogger is again acting up.

Just the same, if you were wondering with whom you should spend New Year's Eve, I can recommend Mr. and Mrs. Charles!

Happy New Year's Eve EVE

It's a great thing to celebrate, especially if you're in New York. There are some fantastic doings tonight at Patrick Soluri's Salon. Look it up in T.O.N.Y. or the Wall Street Journal, or Facebook if you're a vintage loving soul with a taste for good company and music. You won't be sorry!

We're staying here, I'm afraid, but don't plan to let it cramp our style. I spent today shopping for goodies. Tomorrow evening we're having a good dinner--filet mignon with some trimmings--and then we plan to nosh on some fabulous things: oysters, pate, caviar (flying fish roe), fruit and sweets, and wash it down with Champagne cocktails and Champagne.

As it's just the two of us we won't be going for black tie, but vintage pajamas instead. I haven't decided whether to go 20s, 30s, or 40s, but I've got them all, with slippers to match.

Another Christmas Gift

This is a box of marzipan I made for my husband with leftovers from the Christmas Cake. There are peaches, cherries, Delicious apples, avacado, and lemons.

I'll post photos of more knitted gifts as I find them. They're tucked away in various photo albums on my computer.

On this third day of Christmas, I hope you're having a merry time.

Merry Christmas...and Christmas Cake, Part III

Here it is...the final product. (And the star of tomorrow's Christmas tea.)

I wish the very best to you and yours, whether you celebrate Christmas, something else, or nothing at all. Enjoy your holiday!

Happy Booze Cart

These were taken at the request of a friend who is compiling a particularly boozy photo album. Yes, when this was taken we were out of gin (or as my husband likes to call it, martini juice). No longer...