Stretching out for the Marathon......

I guess I am just plain going looney as I get older, as I have decided to make Marguarite up a' la 17th century..... embroidered jacket and all. I have been researching for several months now and am delving in deeper and deeper......kind of like stretching before a big Marathon run....I'm not a runner, so I don't know what the biggest Marathon on earth is, but I know the Boston is quite long, and embroidering this jacket for me, will be like running the Boston ten fold. And I don't run. Heck, some days walking is hard!

For months I have been following the "Embroiders Story", a magnificent blog detailing the reproduction of a 17th century embroidered jacket. It was started at Plymouth Plantation, and due to budget cuts, nearly was set aside. Dr Tricia Wilson Nguyen took the project over and has done such a marvelous job~ jacket is nearly finished now and SO much information has been gleened from this experience. I am looking foreword to her books to come out on it soon. So many hours and so many people have had a hand in it, its really an amazing story and I hope you will stop by the blog and read up on it here http://thistle-threads.com/blog/ . You can immerse yourself in history at the Plimoth Plantation website here http://www.plimoth.org/ ~ they have lots of great fall programs that you wont want to miss if you are close by~ I wish I could take the children to see the Haunted Ship!

I am close to starting Marguerite's clothes, and thought you all may be interested in following along. I will start out as with all my dollys, from the nekkidness out. I would really love to do her jacket first, I am so very obsessed with the history and process of it all, but to get the proper fit, her underthings must be made first. You can follow her progress by clicking the 'Marguarite' tab on the sidebar. So get ready for Jacobean embroidery, hand stitching, little historical tidbits and lots of gorgeous pictures along the way to a complete 17th c wardrobe for my girl. In the means, do travel to the Thistle Threads website, where you can find history mingling and joining with modern technology to make for a fascinating ride of a lifetime!

***top photo of painted portrait of Margaret Laton, 1620 , kept in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, along with the original embroidered jacket