Finally finished this UFO.
I started working on this project when Edmund was king of Lochac, about 2 and a bit years ago. I do not have a late period persona, nor am I particularly skilled at making garb. I am however, really really good at starting projects that are either very time consuming OR beyond my skill level. Luckily, this was one of the former. While he was King, Edmund wore a beautiful white linen shirt which had some lovely blackwork cuffs. I suspect they were embroidered by Brooke (Ginger Mischief) as there was a small fox embroidered on the back of the neck. I liked it so much I thought I'd give it a try myself.
I hadn't really done blackwork before and I only dabble in embroidery so like most of my projects I jumped in without really researching all that much. I found a pattern chart online which had interlaced flur-de-lis which 'grew' from the top and the bottom of the fabric. I didn't really like it all that much and my embroidery tape wasn't thick enough to accommodate that pattern. So I got rid of the top line and inserted a rose pattern that I made up on the spot. I figured such a simple design wouldn't take me that long and I'd move onto something more complicated.
Ha.
Two and a bit years later with intermittent sewing, I have FINALLY finished a full collar length with matching cuffs. I don't know what I'll use it for but I'm quite happy with the outcome. Though I sewed this using a small embroidery hoop I wasn't particularly good at keeping the tension right and the tape tended to bunch at times. My thread knots got tighter and smaller as I got less paranoid about the durability of the embroidery. You can see one of my early knots in the image below. The top strip is the good side up, the bottom strip is wrong side up.
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