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.
 

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.



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.

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.



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.

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