For someone so gungho on authenticity, I am surprised that you would do period (whatever that may be) embroidery by machine rather than by hand.
Cactus --- On Sun, 4/27/08, Lavolta Press <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Lavolta Press <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [h-cost] How Many Costume Books/Magazines/Photos Do You Own > To: "Historical Costume" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Sunday, April 27, 2008, 4:27 PM > " to buy costume related books? > > > > What may be misleading is that a large proportion of > the people on this list > > work in the medieval and Renaissance periods, so most > of the people answering > > have been mentioning books from those periods. > > Perhaps a large proportion but not necessarily a majority. > In a > multi-era e-list, SCA members are usually the most vocal, > therefore they > often seem like a higher proportion of a group than they > really are. > > Many of those people are in the > > SCA, which is understandable given the size of the > organization compared with > > other "groups." So the impression may be > more a question of the proportional > > representation on this list than anything intrinsic to > a specific group or > > study of a particular period. > > I belong to almost 100 Yahoo lists for historic costume and > reenactment, > and have for some years. Though, admittedly, I do not > receive direct > email from the vast majority of them, and these days, > don't have time to > drop into their website archives more often than once every > few months. > > However, my impression is that SCA members are the group > most inclined > to research and with the highest understanding of what > research actually > consists of. That is, they are the least likely to do > things like assume > that original sources are always 100% accurate and > unbiased, that > secondary sources are always useless, and so on. They are > the most > likely to assume that a multi-era e-group is "for > them," often throwing > out references to things like "Is X in period?" > under the assumption > that everyone on the e-list is always talking about some > SCA period. > However, they tend to be more interested in a variety of > time periods > and types of clothing within the SCA time frame. They tend > to spend the > most money on books, and buying the most expensive ones is > a status > symbol, as is buying other expensive things (such as > fabric) that help > in some way with an SCA "impression." > > Although I've had less contact with them, 18th-century > reenactors strike > me as the group next most interested in research and in > books. > > Early 19th-century reenactors come third, with an interest > in "original > sources," but tending to confine them to sources > approved by some group, > and especially reprints of diaries and other personal > accounts. > > The Civil War reenactors are a very large group but with > few exceptions, > tend not to be very interested in books or research. They > seem to regard > it as somehow virtuous to be conspicuously disinterested in > everything > beyond their immediate and very narrow time frame and > geographic area, > thus tend to lack a sense of context. They are conformist > in ideas, and > rely heavily on the system of one group > "authority" reading a book and > giving them a set of approved ideas to worth with. All > reenactment > communities do this to some extent, but the CW reenactors > are the most > likely to come onto an e-group and say, "What is OK > for me to wear? I > want to 'fit in,'" rather than doing any > research or original thinking > themselves. They also seem to have less formal education > than the other > groups, judging by how they write, spell, etc. > > > > > I am not in the SCA or any other group, but I work > only on medieval clothing, > > so my answers reflected that. I have lots and lots of > books. It's the nature > > of my work. It's also the nature of Penny's > work (she having started this > > thread, and she also specializes in periods later than > medieval -- which is > > why she has lots of photos and magazines, and I > don't!). > > I'm not in the SCA or any other reenactment group, but > it's also the > nature of my work to have lots of books and magazines, and > I also > collect vintage clothing. I don't have nearly as many > photos as perhaps > I should. They are mostly ones my parents bought at estate > auctions, I > haven't gone in for buying them myself. > > > > > The nature of someone else's work might be > served by a very narrow set of > > references, depending on type of the costuming they do > and the availability of > > sources. > > And very often it is. But because my lifelong profession > has always been > various aspects of writing, editing, and publishing, > naturally I like > people to want to read lots of books. Everyone working in > publishing > wants people to read lots of books. Not only for marketing > reasons, but > people who read a lot usually believe that reading is > enjoyable, > educational, and generally a good thing. > > > > > And a lot of people have to choose between books and > fabric. You can't get > > fabric (or sewing machines!) from the library, so that > often is where the > > money has to go. It doesn't mean these people > aren't using books. > > I admit, I not only think books are where the money should > go, I would > always rather own the book, if at all possible, than go to > a library. I > like things right at hand where I can reach them instantly. > > I have a lot of fabric and lace too, but only one sewing > machine. I've > always sold the old one when I bought a new one. I hate the > idea of a > serger. I understand that many people find them very > useful, but I don't > want one myself. > > I'm going to buy an embroidery machine, though, when we > move to a bigger > house and have room for one. I want one that will do big > motifs and > where I am not using canned patterns, but where I can > create my own with > an embroidery graphics program, one that interfaces with my > PC. I'd like > to scan in antique patterns from magazines and apply > stitches to them > with a graphics program. I understand that the ordinary > graphics > programs I use, which these days are mostly Corel > PhotoPaint and Corel > Draw, don't apply stitches to embroidery patterns. > Corel has a special > program for that which I have not really looked into, but > I'm biased in > its favor anyway because it's Corel's. I have not > looked into the > hardware all that much yet because buying a sewing or > embroidery machine > these days is partly buying a computer; and with a computer > both the > features and the prices change so rapidly, that it > doesn't pay to > research too far in advance. I'm open to suggestions > though. I could > either get an embroidery sewing machine--if it does big > motifs and > allows me to create patterns--and sell my current > Husqvarna, or get a > dedicated embroidery machine. > > I admit it, I want a low-tech knitting machine too, since I > love knitted > garments but have never cared for knitting. I used to > crochet and I > enjoyed it a lot, but there is something about hand > knitting that has > never appealed to me. Maybe it's just that I need to > sit down and work > on it some more, but having a knitting machine also > appeals. It seems > rather like weaving and though I quit weaving when we moved > here and had > to put the loom in the garage, since there wasn't > enough room for it in > my sewing room, I really loved the process. > > Fran > Lavolta Press > http://www.lavoltapress.com > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
