ACC: Muff

I finally got myself into a craft store and picked up matching floss, and while I was there suddenly decided I wanted a bigger button than I had in my stash, so I picked up a small package of bigger wooden beads.

I spent a couple of hours messing around with different thread wrapping patterns,  and finally came up with one that I can live with. I wanted the buttons to have a little bit of gold in them as well,  so I ended up with gold ribs.

I only have two more buttons to go,  but got bored doing them and moved on to the loops. I'm doing a seven stranded round braid with 4 gold and 3 red. Somewhere along the way, I messed up the cord,  so the pattern shifts a bit,  but it doesn't bother me enough to re-do it!

ACC: Muff

I'm still stuck on muff ponderings.  Right now I'm stuck on whether or not to use faux fur,  or the beaver pelt. (Below, beaver on left, faux fur on right)

I'm leaning towards the faux fur, just because if I mess it up, I wouldn't be terribly upset.  The color is kind of weird, however. 

Hmmmmm *ponder*

I'm going to drop by a craft store in a little while and pick up some floss either way, since I'm going to need it anyway. (I'm still a little shocked that I don't have an appropriate color in my stash, but at about $0.40 a pop, I'm not too worried about breaking the bank!)

ACC: Muff

I messed around for a day and a half with couching and different embroidery ideas, but finally settled on letting the fabric speak for itself.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to do a black (or brown) velvet muff in the very near future as well, so I’ll probably save up my embroidery energy for that project.

I decided to center the muff on the oblong motif on the fabric, and as luck would have it, worked out quite nicely. 

I remembered my nice, wide gold lace from my stash, and decided that it would give a little ‘excitement’ to an otherwise dull muff.  Here’s the trim pinned in place:

It didn’t take too long to stitch down the trim, and I quite like how it turned out. 

The only thing that concerns me is I’m not terribly enamoured of the finished size.  It seems a bit long to me, hmmmm.  If I can convince myself that I like the proportions, I’ll cut into my beaver pelt.  If not, I’ll use some of the faux fur I have lying around and do an embroidered velvet version for the beaver.

I thought that I had some embroidery floss is the correct colors to do buttons, but alas, I do not, so I’ll have to the first (of hopefully few) purchases for the ACC.

ACC Accessories: Muff

 

“Venetian Women of Mature Age, and Dismesse”Vecellio, Cesare, Margaret F. Rosenthal, and Ann Rosalind Jones. The Clothing of the Renaissance World Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas. London: Thames & Hudson, 2008. Print.  (pg. 136)

Muff detail:

“…muff of fine fur lined with silk, velvet or some other fabric for the winter…”

 

“Winter Clothing of Venetian Noblewomen and Other Wealthy Women In Our Time”Vecellio, Cesare, Margaret F. Rosenthal, and Ann Rosalind Jones. The Clothing of the Renaissance World Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas. London: Thames & Hudson, 2008. Print. (pg. 130)

Muff detail:

“At that time of the year they also wear a muff lined with fur, which protects their hands against the cold.  These furs are marten or sable, and the muff is of black velvet or some other silk fabric, fastened shut with buttons of oriental crystal or gold.”

~

I decided on a gold patterned brocade as the outer shell, as gold is fairly neutral and would match multiple outfits.

As I am not fortunate enough to have either marten or sable in my stash (and no, I’m not going to disassemble one of my precious zibies to obtain it!), I’m finally going to use my plucked and shaved beaver pelt*!  I’ve had this fur in my stash for about umpteen million years, and have always been terrified to cut into it, but now is the time!

This fur is the most soft and plushy thing I’ve ever felt in my life, it’s delicious!

The pelt is roughly 13” x 15” in the middle, with various hangy parts that if needed, can potentially be pieced for a larger finished fur.

I need to double-check my stash, but I do not believe I have any gold or crystal buttons or beads that would be large enough for buttons, so I most likely will be substituting thread-wrapped buttons for the closures.

Both muffs pictured below have a relatively thick border around the edges – I have yet to determine what exactly I’m going to do about that. 

I’m also wondering if I want to do some couching on the brocade to give it a bit more oomph – I guess it’s time to sit down for realsies and figure out exactly what I’m going to do!

 

 

*Say that phrase until you giggle!