sister_raphael | Entries tagged with workinprogress

Rock crystal and sapphire with little silver roses destined for a stylish 14th century diadem.

It's another one of those projects that I've got half underway and then not been completely happy with and set aside to come back to at a later date.

Happily, that time is now, and I've got all the bits and pieces out again to see if I can solve my issues and get it finished. One of the biggest problems is that I need a drill press for the holes on the silver band, and I don't have one. Drilling without is an unsteady business and I scratched my practice one a little.

The wire stems aren't sitting as flat as I want them to also, and I need to find a better way to bend them.

To be honest, I really should take a course or something, but that's an expensive option, and it's not like I'll be making them prefessionally. Mostly, they're just for me.

Many bentwood boxes are shown in medieval art as utilitarian items, unpainted and used for storage. A very few extant samples are delightfully painted, so many re-enactors are keen to own one!

This little one has the base colours on already, so you can see the colour scheme. Pinks and gold, so pretty and feminine! There's still a lot to do to finish it off, but it will join a couple of other ones for sale this weekend.

It begins!

I think possibly the hardest part of this project is going to be getting the old glass out of the wooden frame. It seems very securely glued, although I'm hoping that a hot hair drier will melt the glue enough to carefully lift the mirror out. It won't be an issue if the mirror breaks, as I'm not re-using it, although I'm hoping it doesn't because you never know when you want one for a craft project.

I've got a few other little odd jobs I need to do, so I may not start this straight away, but I'd like to take it the the Southern Realms Medieval Festival at the start of November. I should easily have it done by then, depending on the brass polishing also.

PROJECT ABANDONED!

This is the story of how I started a project, learned some things and then abandoned it, because it's totally okay to change your mind about something with new trains of thoughts. I had originally thought this was a wonderful image of a person with a mirror case with a bird painted on it. Turns out, his may be St John with his symbol, not a mirror.

I got as far as tracing the bird and transferring it to the back of the mirror ready to start painting before reasonable doubts stepped in.

Here are my original thoughts:

I wasn't 100% convinced this was a mirror as the person isn't holding a comb, or it's a poorly drawn one, but the expression and pose are very suggestive of this, so I'm having a go at reproducing it.

It might be the mirror is polished bronze rather than glass, and shows the reflection of a bird, but the other several mirrors in the same manuscript aren't shown this way. The bird could well be painted on the reverse of the case.

Anyway, I won't be telling people it's definitely one thing or another when I do my displays, but sharing the thought process.

Image Luttrell Psalter, tagged repeatedly as folio 29r, but my phone searches keep bringing up the page of the women in their heraldic surcotes, so this folio number may not be correct. Possibly 13v.

Current, additional thoughts: It looks like St John is holding a book, which it certainly looks like, which explains why it didn't look like a comb, but perhaps you can forgive me for thinking that it may have been a mirror. It has mirror vibes all over it. The very long conversation on Facebook also suggested that the mirror is reflecting his symbol instead of his face, which is possible. For me, the strongest suggestion that it's not a mirror, is that the other hand would usually hold a comb, not a book. The image is rather small here, but in bigger versions, like the top image, it's not a comb. It is a book or a box.

Work in progress!

Because I'm sad I can't paint the mirror back (since it wasn't a mirror back after all, darnit!), I'm painting two little glass containers. At some point I will attempt embossed leather like extant ones, but these won't be seen by anyone, just to prevent breakage in transit. I have two, a plain glass and a glass with prunts, so I'm painting which is which on the lid for easy packing.

No, they aren't reproductions. They're just a side quest to make me happy!

Trying to do other jobs but my sick kitty requires me to stay on the couch with her, (or she won't rest) so a little sewing on a cote which I had no plans to do anytime soon.

Hood glow up continues!

The blue wool hood with red lining, now with new buttons in place and lining stitched around the edges has been soaking in coffee to subtly dye it just a touch and tone down the brightness of the red and the blue. It's been 2 days and soon it will be rinsed and dried! A vinegar soak to help set the dye and it'll be ready to rinse.

Another small glow up job!

Replacing and moving the buttons on a bought hood before stitching the lining in around the edges. It's a more modern thing to have the buttons set in from the edge like the hood had here. Medieval clothing seems to be very much a buttons-on-the-edge, looking at extent samples, such as we have them.

A final over-dye to tone down the colours just a touch will be the final step, but for now... the buttons!

I had always planned to do a velvet backing for my roses plaque belt, but actually, the wool is pretty darn nice too! This is some scrap wool from the many many metres I bought a little while back.

I was able to make the belt portion fairly quickly and easily. It was just a matter of cutting a strip four times the width I needed, then folding the sides in to meet the middle before stitching up the folded sides.

What took more time was stitching the belt itself onto the wool backing belt. Each pewter square plaque needed sewing at each corner, and then repeated for the length of the entire belt. Of course, the belt wriggled and pulled as it was lifted and manipulated for sewing, so it was fiddly work.

The end result was very nice and I'm pleased with it.

Another small job before the next event!

I bought this leaf green wool cloak which will be re stitched by hand, but I also will be sewing these jewelled brooches onto it. I had a mustard cloak I was going to use but it seemed like too much brown. Green is better, yes?

The brooches themselves were a very generous gift, and I absolutely can't believe they are for me! Here's what they will look like on the cloak:

The little linen early 14th century gowne is finished.

I stayed up late and after completing the side seams and hem, pinned in the reinforcing strip around the neck, stitched it into place and made two little eyelets for a brooch closure. I'm very happy with it.

I have cut a gore for the back of the gowne, but since it's being worn by a slender young lady in a few months, I feel it isn't really needed. Before I was it, I will split up the back and put the gore in, as the amount of growing likely to happen before next year and the next wear will be substantial. The extra gore will make a nice flow over her shape, whereas this year, the young lady is still quite slender.

Anyway, it's finished, and I'll post up a photo of it soonish.

More simple running stitching makes for a boring photo, but it gets things done!

A question in this week about the lines of stitching often seen on the outside of medieval re-enactors' clothing. It's not decorative, it's the reverse of the seam being stitched down.

Whether you fold an extra time to encase the raw edge, or not, you will see a faint line on the good side. Two lines indicate wool or a thicker fabric where the seam is opened and laid flat before stitching down.

My photo shows the seam in progress, unironed, with the stitching almost invisible from the good side. Stitching seams down affects the drape of the garment, as overlocked seams encourage the fabric to fold inwards along the seams whereas stitched down seams encourage the fabric to continue the flow of the fabric.

Later this week, stitching a hem! Who knew sewing was THIS exciting?!

Marking out some decorative daggues on the bottom of a man's surcote. Time consuming, but the result will be worth it!

and here's the finished result...

Down where the water lilies grow, wearing my sand wool surcote for the first time!

Another photo from AROW, one of the very few which is usable. My thanks to my friend Nigel for taking this one.

Today at Phoenix Phestival I showed my friend Annette how to make this great new look for herself!

We didn't have everything we needed, but we both love the result!

Boring but necessary jobs continue. Hemming tablecloth number 2.

Potential gold balls roof finial idea number one. Looks not too bad, really! For cake toppers! I have them in two sizes, so this is the first of the two to try. They came wired, so with care, I wound three of them together and wrapped fine wired around the three stems. I glued for extra sturdiness, and of course, the holes I drilled in the roof to accommodate them were too small.

I have ordered some wooden balls which I was going to wire, but this may be a quite reasonable alternative until I figure how to attach a wire thread to wooden balls and not have them slip off repeatedly. I'm sure small children to some extent, and nosy parents to a much larger extent, will be tugging at them to see if they'll come off. Which they will.

It's a making circlets kind of day.

A few for me, but most to sell for a little pocket money to fun this crazy hobby we do!

Brass flowers. 18kt gold flowers. Pearls, peridot, carnelian, red coral. I've had all kinds of troubles getting the brass bases and initially I had two shorter ones joined together, but I've now been able to get a longer brass but it is thinner, which I find acceptible, but whether other people will remains to be seen. There will only be a few at the upcoming Reenactors Market or Abbey Kids Day, and posting none I'm sorry.

I've got to say, that as pretty as they are at the end, the making process can kind of take over the entire kitchen and dining room!

I do love a little medieval bling!

The conundrum.

To add buttons to a sleeve, limiting its use as an under kirtle garment, or making it a better over kirtle and under surcote garment? 14th century problems. What I really might do is add that Holkham Bible embroidery, so it is suited to being an over kirtle rather than an under one perhaps?

So undecided.

Slowly slowly. The neckline has two rows of stitching now and I'm sewing the sleeves on. it really is the loveliest wool to work with and I really am a bit in love with it.

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Rosalie's Medieval Woman

Author Things, Medieval Website & Sewing Tutorials

January 2026

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1: The colours of things to come
2: Bentwood box nuns in progress
3: Bone inlays for comb
4: Welcome to 2026!
5: Zanini comb progress.
6: Reproduction Medieval Comb by Ezio Zanini
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Rosalie Gilbert

Author & Medieval History Enthusiast

Entries tagged with workinprogress

More work on the silver circlet

Another bentwood box

Luttrell Psalter mirror

Bird mirror, only it's not.

Glass case

Blue cote underway

Hood glow upcontinues

Glow up buttons!

Roses belt

Brooch bling!

Mauve linen gowne finished!

Mauve linen kirtle stitches inside and out.

Daggues on a surcote

The surcote in action!

Fun with veils

Hemmings

Shiny balls. I got 'em.

Circlets in progress.

The button situation.

Kirtle sleeves in progress