[Regia-NA] Embroidery? (pics)

[Linda Rice]

Hi Wil~

There's nothing 'wrong' with either wool or linen, they will just give =
you different looks is all.
Wool will be more pronounced in color and substance, while linen is, to =
my eye, a more subtle
enhancement. I use linen all the time, mainly because it's what I have =
to hand and it's what I've
sewn the garment with anyway.  I did try some wool/silk blend, but it =
got too fuzzy after a couple
of washings that I doubt I'll use it again for embroidering clothes. =
I've also tried cotton once,
but I just didn't like it, it really seemed to modern-looking to me, =
although it was easy to work
with.=20

As far as beeswax, that's just a simple thread dressing. I get a small =
lump of wax and put it
someplace on my body to keep it warm, like my waistband. That really =
seems to help the thread to
glide through better. Just take the thread and gently pull it across the =
wax to coat it... some
fibers will come off into the wax, but that's ok. You'll notice how much =
easier it is to sew with
now. You are correct, linen does tend to fray very easily when pulled =
through fabric. Another trick
is to have the "tail" of the thread only a few inches above the work, =
and then keep sliding the
needle a little bit so that it doesn't wear in one spot as you sew.=20

Have fun!

::Linda::
=20
-----Original Message-----
From: list-regia-na-admin@lig.net [mailto:list-regia-na-admin@lig.net] =
On Behalf Of
wjy851@mail.usask.ca
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 6:56 AM
To: list-regia-na@lig.net
Subject: RE: [Regia-NA] Embroidery? (pics)

Hi Linda

That's a very useful site, thanks for your help. I was afraid the =
embroidery=20
was much too simple to be historic, but based on that site, it actually =
looks=20
not bad. I was calling it Herringbone based on the pattern that appears =
in=20
silver on some spearheads etc., the herringbone stitch on that site =
actually=20
looks very different than what I did. Thanks for the correction.

So, which would you recommend I use for my next project, wool or linen? =
We did=20
tablet weaving with some linen thread an SCA lady (Mistress Cybric) wove =

herself, and I thought at the time that for embroidery it was too likely =
to=20
fray, being drawn through the fabric hundreds of times. Might have just =
been=20
her thread though. Is that what the beeswax is for? I've never heard of =
it.

Thanks for your help,

~Wil