A New Year's Day Well Spent

Ooooo I had a fun day yesterday!

I left the hotel and had a nice long walk to the V&A. Living in Vegas, I'm kind of enamored by pedestrian cities. No one walks in Vegas. It's too hot and everything's too far.

Unfortunately I can't share the exhibit with you, since there were no photos and no sketching even. Which I think is pretty silly, considering you can just pop in a movie, you know... Maybe they want to keep people moving. It was packed in there!

It was a great exhibit. Sooooo many costumes. Period costumes, modern, even digital costume design. All my favorites were represented: Gone with the Wind, Marie Antoinette, Elizabeth, Titanic, Moulin Rouge, Atonement, My Fair Lady, Breakfast at Tiffany's... It went on. And most of the costumes you could get pretty close to, to see, which was nice. 

One of the most interesting costumes had to be Vanessa Redgrave's gown from Camelot (1967). The long, long, train was covered in stitched on pumpkin seeds! Another interesting tidbit: this blue moire dress from Marie Antoinette (2006), was embellished with Christmas tinsel - that's an idea...

After the exhibit - and I was in there for a good two hours! - I went to go visit the fashion rooms. Walking down the sculpture gallery, on the way, I passed the "India" rooms and did a double take.

Yay! Chintz!

So of course I detoured and took a million pictures of each dress. I even got up the skirt of the middle one. It has a different print inside! And the one on the right has a ton of darning and piecing. I love piecing :) 

I'll share more of these pics another day soon. 

Oooh, and this pretty thing, too. A muslin gown from 1795. I don't think I've ever seen this one before. So light and gauzy!

It's almost the weekend. Let's go somewhere! Join me on a little trip to Hampton Court.

Ok, it's friday. Let's pretend we don't have to do anything and we can up and leave and magically appear in a different time zone. Oh wait, we have the internet. We totally can!

Let's go visit Hampton Court today. The home of so many monarchs (and the Royal School of Needlework!), it's often associated with Henry VIII, but William III and Mary II and George II had rooms there as well, so it's not only for Tudor fans, but Baroque as well. William III redid a lot of the palace with Sir Christopher Wren in the late 1600's, and George II completed the renovation during his time there in the early 1700's. Read more about the history here, on the Hampton Court official site.

So on to the trip! We depart from London Waterloo in just a few minutes. Better hurry up!

Stumpwork

The Restoration of King Charles II
English, c.1665
The Holburne Museum

I'm very much in love with stumpwork right now. It is a style of embroidery that first was popular in the 17th century. 

It uses multiple stitches, many of which are also used in other styles of embroidery (like satin stitch) but what makes it unique is that uses many raised, or 3D, stitches, including couching and silk ribbon embroidery. Stumpwork achieves this three dimensional look by also employing padding under the stitches, sometimes even wood chips for noses! On occasion you might also see bits of things (i.e. buttons, beads, twigs, coins, shells etc) worked into the embroidery, allowing the work to be highly personalized.

Stumpwork casket, English, c.1660 (embroidery)
The Bridgeman Art Library

The Basing House Embroidery
English, c 1665

Modern stumpwork is absolutely charming! Check out these modern embroideries using this centuries old technique.

Branching Out, by Lorna Bateman Embroidery

Detail of a stumpwork kit, designed by Lorna Bateman
Image via S is for Snail.

French knot sheep, via 

Detail of a stumpwork sampler
stitched by Jenny at
Vinuela Sew and Sews

And here is small sampling of stitches one might use for stumpwork, from loopylace.com.

The Mantua

Mantua. English, ca. 1708
Bizarre silk in salmon-pink damask with floral
and foliate pattern brocaded with polychrome
silk and gold metallic file
Metropolitan Museum of Art
1991.6.1 a,b

From the Metropolitan Museum of art:

"The late 1670s saw a new development in the style of women's dress that would have a far-reaching effect throughout the following century. The stiff constricting boned bodice-and-skirt style previously worn by women was now replaced with the mantua, a more loosely draped style of gown. The mantua was thought to display silk designs to their best advantage, as they were draped rather than cut; as such, it is believed the garment was named after Mantua in Italy, where expensive silks were produced. However, it has also been suggested that the name derives from manteau, the French term for a coat.

The mantua was a coatlike construction, with sleeves cut in one piece with the back and front. It was pleated at the shoulders and fell to the waist, where it was held in place by a sash. From there it was folded back into a bustle shape and worn over a matching petticoat. As the style evolved, the pleats at the front were reduced in number and the bodice was opened, with the torso now covered by a stiffened piece of fabric in the form of an inverted triangle, tapering into a narrow waist. This piece of fabric was known as a stomacher. Early examples are often intricately embroidered. While these gowns appear quite substantial, they were actually precariously fastened with pins to hold the stomacher in place.

Originally an informal style, and banned for its informality from the French court by Louis XIV, the mantua gradually became acceptable as formal dress and remained a popular choice for court dress in England until the mid-century. Its popularity was such that dressmakers were referred to as mantua-makers."

Mantua, late 17th century.
Taupe wool with stripes of dull orange and blue,
embroidered in silver-gilt thread
Metropolitan Museum of Art
33.54 a,b

Comtess Mailly wearing a mantua, 1698
via www.kipar.org

Lady, 1690.
via www.kipar.org

Lady, 1693.
via www.kipar.org

Pots de Creme

Set of two Chinese Export brown
Fitzhugh Crested Pot de Creme, 1785.
Vandekar of Knightsbridge

I always think they are just the cutest little things!

Originally popping up in the 17th century, these little pots were created with their lids to keep broths and meat juices warm. According to Clare Le Corbeiller, decorative arts curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art "in the eighteenth century this shape cup was called pots à jus." In the 19th century, they started using them to serve desserts, most notably, pot de creme.

Pot de creme is a loose, french custard. It's unbelievably easy to make. I know this, because I made it for the first time last night and it was amazing! I had a friend over so I thought I would give making pot de creme a shot. We took a bite and ohmygosh! The best thing I have had in a while.

I don't have pots yet, so I used porcelain ramekins. I have also seen them made in teacups - just make sure they are oven safe!

Pot de Creme au Chocolat (with a little almond - yum!)

This makes 4 full pots, or 6 smaller portions.

2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate

1 cup half and half

3 Tbs sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp almond extract

pinch of salt

Over a double boiler, melt the chocolate and add the milk. Keep warm. In a second bowl, beat the egg with the sugar and add the almond extract and salt. Temper the egg mixture into the milk/chocolate and remove from heat. 

Fill your pots de creme and place in a pyrex pan. Fill with boiling water, up to 1/2inch from the top of the pots. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. 

Remove the pots from the water bath and cool for about an hour. They will not be fully set until they cool. Cover and chill in the fridge for (suggested) 3 hours, but we ate ours after about 90 minutes. As long as they are chilled through so they set up.

Some other suggestions, if you are not fond of almond: orange zest, vanilla, grand marnier... Lots of options!

Sevres pot de creme, 1765
MB

 English Creamware Covered
Pot de Creme, 1785-95
Vandekar of Knightsbridge

Sevres pot de creme
via Live Auctioneers

Sevres Porcelain Covered Pots-de-Creme, 1768
via Live Auctioneers

Lahoche & Pannier, 1855.
Vandekar of Knightsbridge