Two years ago, i saw this bag http://clothofstars.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-case-of-red-satin-pomegranate.html and wanted one of my own. So I made one. Did I know how? No. So I took a Viking hat patten, turned it upside down, and used that as the basis of the bag. It’s all back and whip stitched together. To do the checkerboard squares, I spent several days translating how to do the Bayeux Tapestry stitch, eventually translating a page from German. Of course, as soon as I finished all six panels, I found a YouTube tutorial by a lady who does Bayeux Tapestry reproductions for a living and realised I’d done it wrong. Oh well. The cloth is linen, with embroidery in silk. Since pomegranates are associated with the myth of Persephone and Hades, there is copper, gold, and silver metallic thread, as Hades is the god of Precious Gems and Metals. There’s six garnets beads on each panel, for each seed Persephone swallowed, and green malachite seed beads for Spring. (Seeds, get it?) Tying back to Hades the place not the God, the inside has dancing skeletons. (which you can see on Instagram, because tumblr is stupid sometimes, also have close ups of the embroidery) The top stem part has red velvet triangles, cause I want the bag to be rich texturally as well as visually. The tassels are store bought, and dunno where I got the ribbon. There’s some things I’d do differently if I did it again, but it was a heck of a learning process. ^^;; (at Stratham, New Hampshire)
