Casalguidi, lace and calorie free macarons!

 What a great day we had yesterday with Wyn Ingham; Wyn has visited us several times before and it's always a great pleasure and fun. This time she came to give us her talk on Casalguidi and lace in the morning and the in the afternoon we did a mini workshop creating some cute macarons.

Wyn has been collecting textiles for a long time and has some gorgeous pieces of lace, some she has bought as little samples and other pieces are family heirlooms she has gathered and saved. Her family have long been connected with textiles, craftsmanship (cabinet makers, confectioners, weavers) and teaching; as a young girl she stitched and embroidered with her tailoress grandma. This was particularly interesting for me as my grandma was also from a  family of tailors and we have a history of weavers and confectioners too - spooky! 

She took us through family stories involving pieces of embroidery and told us fascinating tales of visiting Rachael Kay Shuttleworth at Gawthorpe Hall with an aunt and carrying biscuits round in a casalguidi bag. Holidays have inevitably got visits to fabric stores and textile collections woven into them.

Wyn's earliest piece is a 5th century coptic Christian embroidery - beautiful little birds.

She then took us on a journey through Elizabethan sumptuary laws, dyeing and bleaching fabrics, Schiffli lace (chemical lace) and of course Casalguidi which was produced in a short window of time.

Here are just a few of the lovely pieces of lace from her collection.

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In the afternoon we made macaron - not all finished but everyone loved them! Wyn has a dishful, and here are three completed ones - speedy stitchers!

Carolyn came in her underwear and it was brilliant 😮

Now, it's not quite what it seems... Carolyn is one of our very talented members and belongs to The 1635 Household - a Jacobean re-enactment group. They mainly deal with domestic life rather than battles and the like. Carolyn kindly agreed to come and talk to us about Jacobean costume and what a fascinating morning we had. She brought lots of her 'higher-end folk' outfits - all of which she has made herself and also embroidered - her work is absolutely stunning, it was a real privilege to see them and hear about the process of designing and making.

Carolyn does lots of research to try and be as authentic as possible and takes inspiration from period portraits and original pieces found in museum collections. Her clothes are made from authentic materials - wool, linen, silk, taffeta and silk velvet. She also makes lace where possible. Thought has to be given to budget and practicalities such as washing.

Carolyn brought shoes, hose and ties, smock, fitted kirtle aka a pair of bodies, ruffs, collars , jackets, skirts and coifs. 

She started in her underwear - the shoes to kirtle... 

...and then gradually added the other layers explaining each as she went. As all items of clothing are made to fit the wearer everything was far more comfortable than you might imagine. 

This jacket was inspired by the Maidstone jacket and has a lovely peapod motif and looks stunning in white and red.

The black and white jacket was inspired by the Dandelion jacket in the Bath Museum

Often when we see historical items in museums the colours have faded but in reality the colours would have been much brighter sometimes with the addition of spangles (Jacobean equivalent of sequins) and the use of gold and silver threads.

The Margaret Layton jacket is perhaps one of the most famous embroidered pieces of period clothing you may have seen; it's in the V&A and is unusual as we have the actual jacket and a portrait of Margaret wearing it. Carolyn has a beautiful jacket invoking the V&A one.

Then we get to the coifs. We all loved the ingenuity of these items and the fact they were constructed in such a way that they fit almost anyone because they were gathered with a tie. Carolyn brought various examples all based on originals.

Clearer photos below! Then we were on to ruffs and rebato collars, pockets and knife holders, all beautifully made. 

What a talented lady you are Carolyn, it was such a pleasure to have you speak this morning and share your exquisite work.

Here's Carolyn fully clothed and some close ups of the embroidery - and yes, it's all her own work and all clothes are hand stitched too.