fiber adventures

so, ways to get around this:

turn off AI results. they're literally nonsense to us

don't use pinterest because the sources/provenance is often hard to trace

a standard internet search can be okay, but museum collections are the top tier (list of collections below this list)

instead of broad terms like victorian, regency, tudor, renaissance etc. try using the decade you're looking for. if you're not sure of what decade it is but have a vague image in your head, look on the fashion history timeline and just jump around until you find it. but even changing to e.g. 19th century will give better results than victorian

including terms like womenswear/menswear, daywear, formal wear, evening wear, court dress should increase the value of your search too

including "fashion plates" in your search can give you a nice impression of the intended silhouettes of the era. some of these might be a little stylised but will show you what was considered in vogue

for pre-fashion plate eras or things like makeup and styling, you'll have to look at portraiture or manuscripts. these are harder to actually find what you're looking for, but searching museum collections and limiting results to specific date ranges will be your friend

when looking at art, do bear in mind sometimes artists would paint fabric extra flow-y to show off their skills. it might not have been exactly like that in terms of fabric weight or drape. so, a pinch of salt required!

if you find something on image search where the provenance is dubious, reverse image search and you might find a source! i've been able to trace random pinterest images to real sources, but this does take a lot of time and effort and is often not worth the headache

some online resources and museum collections:

fashion history timeline is an invaluable resource if you're trying to get a feel for everything and should be your first port of call. it'll also link to good examples

the met has a vast number of extant examples of clothing, as well as fashion plates

costume institute fashion plates is a subcollection of the met for fashion plates (1800s-1922)

v&a also has many extant garments, fashion plates, and incredible articles on clothing and aesthetics. read the details of the objects because they'll often reveal a lot about the piece

lacma is good for C19th-20th pieces

nypl digital collection for photographs

national portrait gallery or similar for portraiture, or literally any museum in your country that has historical art

national museums scotland can be useful situationally but might be oddly specific

stout style history is a great collection for finding image references for fat people wearing historical clothes. survival bias of a lot of museum pieces tends towards smaller clothing that couldn't be repurposed, but this aims to counter that. it's not sortable, but is still a really nice resource

wikimedia commons is surprisingly handy! and the images, if you should need to link/repost them, are public domain

auction websites sound like a funny one to recommend. some won't have mannequins and some will. just look up historical garment auctions and you'll find some!

uh. uhhhhh. excuse me??? excuse me?? lap is occupied by spinning? no space for cat?? do you mind???

·₊˚࿐༄࿔𓆤 Dragonfly 𓆤࿐༄࿔˚₊·

I wanted to try something more of my own design for my next embroidery piece. I was inspired by medieval depictions of dragons and wyverns, and I thought the insect wings were a perfect use of my metallic thread! <|:^)

Here's the one I wove with a skein of yarn I spun off a gorgeous wool roving I got at a fiber festival last year! I'm really pleased with how the gradient turned out!

It's got a really fun bouncy, springy texture too! I only wish it were longer!

I still had acres of warp left, so I went into my yarn stash and busted. No idea what these will turn out to be!

More bug embroidery! I tried out some larger, more detailed specimens this time: a house centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) and a giant Malaysian leaf insect (Pulchriphyllium giganteum). 𓆤𓆨𓆧𓆨

I split half of the braid and plied it with a white fiber that had come with my spindle. But I was just unhappy with how it looked. Especially when I finished the full colored skein.

I am still a beginner but it just felt kind of sloppy. In a moment of midnight inspiration I realized it might just be under plied?

Several days and another pass through my drop spindle and I am so pleased.

Completed star shawl, made with Sultan Deluxe yarn from Hobbii. I really love how the beaded tassels really make the rest of the textured design of this shawl *pop*.

Stash!!!!!

I found these in my stash (looking for something else ofc) and immediately wanted to do a Luminous Nine Patch.

Now, now listen.

I know I seem to be making a few of these.

But they turn out gorgeous! How could I not make them?? They’re so easy and fun to do.

Look at this thing! I love her! She’s gorgeous!

She’s bold and dramatic and demands attention!

I think this one is one of the best Luminous Nine Patch quilts I’ve done.

I was correct. The black cuddle and binding are just fab with this.

I did actually find a more golden yellow thread called Dessert Sunset that I used instead of orange to quilt with, and I love it.

After 2 days of weaving I finished my tablet woven belt.

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