There is ONE spot left!

 My New Online 17th Century Beadwork Class

Starts October 1st!

I am very excited for class to start~ its going to be super fabulous! Tricia at Thistle Threads is my gracious hostess for 12 months worth of online lessons to work the above pastoral Texas view.  There will be technique videos illustrating stitches taught in class and we are scouting out an online platform so everyone can get together in a group/class setting to discuss the lessons and anything else having to do with period Beugle Works.

This is my most in depth class yet, and I aim to provide a firm foundation of basic techniques that can be used not only for this class piece, but that can be applied to future projects as well.  My lesson on making detached yellow roses can be applied to making any flower that you can dream up in your head~ real or not! 

All class kits are in the mail, so for my students, check your email for your tracking number because they have already been sent.

 There is one spot remaining in class, so if you would be interested in taking this journey with us, please email me at rlkinnison@yahoo.com

Spiffing Up

c1770 Child's Ticking Stripe Shoes

With all the children going back to school, I thought I would share these super cunning little shoes with ya'll. As a mom myself, the children were always asking to spiff up their wardrobe. I would jazz up britches with fun embroidered patches...that sort of thing. When I first saw these shoes they immediately looked like something I would do! Eighteenth century children's shoes are rare enough, but this example really spoke to me. They are hand stitched from a blue stripe ticking

 Upon looking closer...they have been overstitched/embroidered in pink. The construction of the shoes tells us this was not an afterthought. The silk binding, now quite faded, is also pink, as are the kid covered latchet buttons and heels.

I would love to know the original story behind these shoes~ you know there has got to be a great one! They are fully lined so the back of the embroidery cannot be studied, 

but beneath the shelter of the latchets, the embroidery remains bright and vivid. Was there special significance to the blue ticking stripe??? Did the owner have a fondness for all things pink? I wonder if these matched the outfit they were worn with???

In any case, they are just cute as a button.....and in typical Eighteenth century fashion, the stitching on them is beautiful and very skilled. Their wedge heels are covered in the same pink kid (goatskin) leather as the buttons

They show obvious signs of being worn. The stitching channel for the wedge heel has been worn away, exposing the stitching. Super wide throats on these with ever so slight rounded toes.

One of my favorite aspects of early shoes are the soles~ one had to have very strong hands to stitch thru the layers, but yet have a delicate touch at the same time.  I would have liked to have been a shoemaker.

This is actually the first pair of latchet shoes in the collection to have button closures. They make perfect sense though on a child's shoe~ it would be much easier to button once than fight with a buckle to get on and off. 

Sundayes Past Well Spent

It's Finally Finished!

  Super happy that I finally managed to finish painting the last two sides of my flat top casket's travel case. I have been so busy that it's got pushed aside for quite a while now, but this past weekend I finished painting the top and can officially call her done done done!

 I don't think I posted it when I finished painting the back panel. Should have done a little more with the trees, but then I really wanted to portray what my patterns looked like before I stitched them~ so one could compare the case with the casket and see how the patterns evolved as I was stitching them

 Here is the inside when the case is opened~ I wanted it to be like in the beginning of the movie The Wizard of Oz, when it goes from black and white to colour.

 Strange to think of it as finally finished.  I have so many ideas for more, I hope I live long enough to see them all come to life

 There is such a difference between the monochromatic outer shell and the surprise inside.

Here is a short video, really short cause I only have two hands....

 

Inside one of the secret drawers my broken soldiers lie peacefully. Job well done I tell them. The thought of throwing them away just did not sit well with me, so I gave them a true place of honor in the casket they themselves stitched...every single stitch. 
I think it's time to swear in a new group of soldiers and start afresh...time's a wastin!

All Preorders Have Been Shipped

 2020 Ltd Edition Ornament Kit is Very Limited

 The last of the preordered kits for this year's ornament are on the way today, and I have sent out all shipping notices. If you ordered a kit and don't see an email from me, please check your spam box! I want to thank everyone who has purchased a kit, I really, really do appreciate your patronage. I know it is expensive this year, and I really did try to find a suitable substitute for using real gold spangles to keep the cost down~ over half of this kit cost is just the gold spangles.  To appreciate the original 17th century embroidery one really must at least use an all metal spangle, and blast it, I just could not find any in the amount I needed. For that, I do apologize. 

 I spent literally days counting each and every spangle out for each kit~ sorting out any imperfect ones. You will definitely need them all!  
I want to give an update on my remaining kits. I have only 12 remaining, and those 12 are awaiting  the their gold spangles to get to me from France. France is of coarse on their month long annual holiday that runs the entire month of August, so I look for the spangles to arrive hopefully in September. 

Because of the absolute craziness of this year, I am right now not confident that I will be able to offer any more kits past the 12 I have ready to go when their spangles arrive, so if you have your eye on this embroidered bookcover, don't wait too long, you may miss it!

New Online Class Open for Registration!

Beneath Thy Poft Oak

  Last year I was asked to design a 17th century inspired beadwork class to teach in person in Dallas by Access Commodities.  Lamora wanted a pastoral scene that showcased the beautiful Texas Post Oak trees and yellow roses. We had great plans for a 5 day long seminar in Dallas, but due to the current world health situation, travel was no longer an option so we rolled with the punches and decided to take it online.

Tricia Nguyen of  Thistle Threads will be hosting my class at her online university platform. 

  For those of you who keep asking me about teaching here in the USA,  this is the perfect opportunity for you to do so right from your own stitching chair! This is the most comprehensive class I have ever offered, and like all my classes, all materials you need to complete Beneath Thy Poft Oak are included in the class kit. All the student need provide are a few tools and slate frame. The class will be divided  into 12 easy to complete monthly lessons. Each lesson will contain a slew of pictures, step by step photos, instructions and videos for completing this pastoral Texan scene.  This is not just a class to work the shown picture~ it is a class aimed to teaching you all you need to know about 17th c beadwork techniques and how to apply them to other projects you have milling around in your head.

As you can see above, my scenes are complete. Ladye is not just sitting under a tree with a one dimensional top of a skirt draped over her lap....she has beautiful legs, shoes, stockings and garters under her full 360 degree gown!

  Each kit comes with a one of a kind 3 piece hand sculpted papier mache figure set (bust and two arms).

  Along with flat and louped cartouche treatments, speckling, grounded and in hand peyote stitch, flat and curved couching, French wired leaves and flowers, detached hair and lace techniques, netted overlays, designing and working clothing, and bead history, I will also teach you how to make these gorgeous fully detached yellow roses. The same technique can be applied to any flower~ known to nature or contrived of your own imagination. 

The cost of  this year long course is 1,000.00USD, and includes full class kit, kit shipping, and 12 monthly downloadable lessons. I am super excited to offer my class on this new platform! Class starts October 1st~ if you would like more information on how to sign up, you can email either me at rlkinnison@yahoo.com, or Lamora  at lamora@accesscommodities.com. 

2020 Annual Limited Edition Ornament Kit

Fanciful Story is here!

I am so excited to share this years limited edition ornament with you all. It's been a real challenge this year to get this ornament together. Due to the pandemic, I started several different ornaments on more than one occasion and had to scrap them because I was no longer able to get the materials for them. I finally decided, that since this year is the fifth year of my series, I was going to design something GOLD. My version of five golden rings I guess???

I designed this ornament as a combination of an embroidered book cover,  and further study of my favorite embroidered jacket at the V&A in London, England. I wanted to know what that jacket looked like when it was newly made. I wanted to feel how heavy it must have been.... I wanted to feel and manipulate the fabric to see how it moved encrusted with all those gold spangles!  So I designed this book cover in the same fashion, with the same embroidery and ratio of gold spangles....and have to say, it is amazing in person. 

just.

amazing.

As well...each and every one of the 1260 gold spangles used is attached with an antique opal glass bead. So finally beads are making their way into the ornaments!

Cost wise it is the most expensive of all my ornament kits, but this is absolutely due to the amount of real gold on this piece. You will use nearly 2 full spools of gilt smooth passing, and, like I said, an astronomical amount of gold spangles.  The embroidery itself when finished weighs nearly as much as the book that it is covering. 

And speaking of that book~ they are marvelous little miniature books~ Each kit will randomly have either The Night Before Christmas, or The Nutcracker.  

If you are interested in purchasing an ornament this year, you can find ordering info here

2020 Limited Edition Heirloom Christmas Ornament Kit

Coming Soon!

I have been getting more and more questions...when is this year's ornament kit coming? where is it??? Did I miss it?  

The answers....its coming, yes yes...and no, you didnt miss it, I have just had a bear of a time this year trying to design around materials I can actually get.  I think you will really like it~ the embroidery is all done now~ just have the finishin to do