W - White Wolf Tunic

This tunic was an act of love. This is my brother's heraldry for SCA (almost... I goofed up and did purple rather than blue, but the picture I had really looked purple). He hasn't been to an event in a long time, and he is going to a large Alliance event next month.  He was stressing out about what to wear since he didn't have any garb, so I made him this tunic and wrap pants.

The wolf was done with machine applique, and the eye was hand embroidered.

I added some thinner details by triple stitching in some lines on the legs and paws.

I also added a bit of definition to the collar of the shirt.

Back view, mostly of the wrap pants.

I actually found 1" thick cotton twill tape for the pants. I was super happy because making 1" wide fabric ties generally sucks, and twill tape works so much better.

H- Heraldry

Heraldry, also known as Coat of Arms or Device is the historic way of telling people apart. Think of it like football teams in the Renaissance Era. They had to be distinctive enough from each other so that a person could tell if they were a friend or foe at fifty feet. When it comes to crafting, I use heraldry all the time in my designs. Here are some examples:

These are the ones I have done with my heraldry in Amtgard:

E - Ermine

I was given a commission to make a heraldic dress for the above Coat of Arms. The overall design is not very challenging, with one exception. The background design is called "ermine" and is meant to duplicate the fur of a spotted ermine. But, as people used this heraldry, it became more designer, so it developed into something that is a cross between a pretty little art symbol and a little ermine footprint.

 

Doing a single ermine would not be all that challenging, but as you can see on the original Coat of Arms, having a repeated ermine greatly increases the complexity of the project.

Since this is for a person in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), historical accuracy is something that is prized. I chose to use a wood block printing technique to add the ermine to the fabric. I began by carving a woodblock.

I experimented with several types of ink before discovering that there was one specifically made for what I was doing. It takes a long time to dry (a full week to cure and 4-6 hours before I dare try and move it), but it is working nicely.

 

 

 I chose to sew large sections of the dress first so that the ermine would fall exactly in the right spots and would not be cut off in weird ways.

The dress is still in the works, but here is a sneak peek of how it will look. I mixed machine applique with hand embroidery to get a mostly authentic look. I'll post again when this is finished and add a link here.