Eleanor Grey

Challenges Entered: Period Poetry, Embellish It

Projects: 16th century Poem, Partlet inspired by Anne Boleyn

Period Poetry:

Strong is the arm that smithing hammer wields

As with each strike the anvil purely chimes

This sound attends the birth of swords and shields

Like poetry in meter and in rhyme

Such a smith is sought by the Eastern King

A careful craftsman, maker of renown

An artists skill of which the bards shall sing

To forge a sword that’s worthy of the crown

Their search ended where the mountains are free

There lives a smith with hands strong and true

The blade on which we swear our fealty

By Tearlachs hand a symbol forged anew

No longer shall the Sovereign have to wait

Completed is the Eastern Sword of State

This sonnet is written in the Shakespearean style, which is more or less appropriate to my late 1500’s persona. I was inspired by the idea of my dear friend Sir Tearlach the Profane forging the Eastern sword of state. I am sure this poem isn’t a true, concrete retelling but I liked the idea of telling this story as a search for a blade worthy of the honor it bears. I wordsmith for the Tyger Signet, and this was a lovely way to expand my skills. It has been about a decade since I last wrote a sonnet, and I look forward to revisiting this artform in the future.

I am open to and welcome constructive feedback, should anyone choose to give it. I have begun the process of updating work both past and present on my blog, and my adventures can be followed at https://stitchesandstories996595927.wordpress.com/

Embellish It

This partlet is my first entirely hand sewn piece of garb, in addition to stretching my embroidery repertoire. The ground fabric is medium weight linen, and the embroidery is holbein stitch worked in black splendor silk. The construction sewing was also done in splendor silk in white. The interesting (and challenging) thing about Holbein (aka double running stitch) is that it is reversible. On my partlet both sides are seen on the edge embroidery down the front, and the collar is doubled over and the inside partially embroidered. I chose to go this route to give more structure to the collar. The embroidery is inspired by a famous portrait of Anne Boleyn. My partlet features two variations of the embroidery on the neckline of her smock. All in all I am pleased with how this came out, and I learned a lot about this form of counted work. I would be interested in trying something more complicated in the future (which is exciting for me, because counted work is usually not my favorite.)

Image Source for the Portrait of Anne Boleyn

https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw00142/Anne-Boleyn