Gift Pillow Made by Alayne
The East Kingdom always has a need for people to do projects.
Whether it is making medallions for Kingdom level awards, scrolls for awards
or other projects, those who want to keep their hands busy with needlework,
leather work or other arts and science can always find something to do.
I enjoy doing bead work. In the past I have done many a bead work
Queen’s favor for Pennsic. So it was that Lady Eilis contacted me regarding
the exchange of gift pillows at Pennsic between Kingdoms.
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We were allowed to pick a Kingdom and make a pillow of our own
original design. The Kingdom of Trimaris appealed to me for several reasons,
first the heraldry was very interesting and the design instantly spoke
to me. Second, I know folks in Trimaris, so it was easy to focus
on how nice they are in order to make a gift for their Kingdom with happy
hands.
Bead work is visible in many of the illuminations of medieval and renaissance
periods, giving me little need to dig far in order to document materials
and design. A bolster pillow seemed to be the most regal shape for
a gift, and also the most practical for display of a large beadwork device,
figuring that while beadwork would not be the most comfortable for head
or hair, a bolster could be useful as a kneeler at court. With the
device presented forward the top of the pillow would be free for kneeling
without the discomfort of beads.
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For the body of the pillow I gave a nod to the modern practicalities
of a foam core, but beyond that decided that only hand work and period
materials would do. After cutting the foam core to size, a hand quilted,
kapok filled, muslin outer layer was created and sewn tightly in place.
To accomplish this a curved upholsterers needle was utilized and a small
tight modified locked blanket stitch used.
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For the skin of the pillow a heavy weight satin in royal blue was chosen,
both for its sheen and for its ability to sustain the weight of the beads
applied. This was cut into two circles which fitted the ends of the
bolster with about an inch of overlay, and into a rectangle which would
fit the body of the pillow with about an extra inch as well.
Next the pattern was drawn on a heavy tracing paper, which was chalked
on the reverse side and then retraced for transfer to the material.
Since the bead work would take much longer than the chalk would last, it
was necessary to go over the pattern with a fabric marking pen.
Since the material was blue, the majority of bead work needed to be
done in silver. However for practical reasons actual silver beads were
used only in the crown. In other areas a mirrored glass bead was
used. For the areas which were to remain blue but needed to be beaded
in order to maintain a uniform appearance Venetian blown glass beads were
used in a variety of hues from cobalt to ultra marine.
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The bead work is pretty straight forward, however in order to make the
pillow utile, each bead is locked into place and knotted. While this
makes the work quite time consuming, it also means that there will
be no cascade of beads if an accident should befall the object, making
future repair less labor intensive.
Satin is by its very nature a slippery material. Therefore for
the beadwork the material was locked into a quilting hoop. This type
of hoop has a tongue and groove set up which really snags the material
and holds it tightly, the back of the fabric was best positioned where
most embroidery would put the good side. This was to facilitate knotting
the beads down.
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All in all the project took from February till July. Guessing
the bead count was hardest and I confess that I needed to return to the
bead store twice in order to get it right.
Once all the beading was done the skin was sewn onto the pillow, again
with a tightness that would sustain use and hold the heavy beaded portion
smooth.
You may judge for yourself the success of the project.
Alayne
