pearl embellished Italian renaissance headwear
This is a follow up post from my Draped Reta (Italian Renaissance headwear) post from a few days ago. In that post I showed the first draped reta, made using the digital embroidery machine. I mentioned there that I had actually made two – this is the second, much more elaborate, and embellished with small faux pearls.
To see more about the inspiration, and basic design and construction process, please go back to the Draped Reta post first.
Finished embroidered draped reta
I’ve made a few different Retas over the years – all in the same sort of “Juliette cap” style, but for this one I decided to approach a different kind of Reta – one that is draped and hangs down along the sides of the head, rather than being fitted to the back of the head at all points.
Black machine embroidered Italian Reta
Back in 2014 I made a Reta – a netted headdress in the style of 1480s Florence paintings. I didn’t do it as a knotted net, but rather couched trim onto a wash-away stabilizer base, and then dissolved the base. While I DO have a knotted version in my work-in-progress pile, once I started working on the embroidery machine at the Maker Space I attend, I started to think about creating a Reta in the style of embroidered lace – stitching directly onto wash-away stabilizer to create what’s known as Free Standing Lace (FSL).
I started off with a version in yellow/gold, which you can read about here… But honestly… I didn’t love it. The fact that I had to go over the design with machine stitching I think really changed the look of it, and I wasn’t fond of the yellow-and-black either, at least not up close.
I decided to do ANOTHER version, this time in all black.
Back in 2014 I made a Reta – a netted headdress in the style of 1480s Florence paintings. I didn’t do it as a knotted net, but rather couched trim onto a wash-away stabilizer base, and then dissolved the base. While I DO have a knotted version in my work-in-progress pile, once I started working on the embroidery machine at the Maker Space I attend, I started to think about creating a Reta in the style of embroidered lace – stitching directly onto wash-away stabilizer to create what’s known as Free Standing Lace (FSL).
Italian Renaissance themed Pyrography box
After my first round of wood-burned bling boxes, I decided I really wanted to make more – one for each of the costumes I currently have to hold small things like jewellery, belts, etc. I also decided it would be a good idea to decorate not just the lids of the boxes, but also the fronts – so when I stack them on a shelf, I can tell what is in each at a glance.
One of the costumes that has quite a bit of jewellery is my Italian Renaissance costumes. This includes the red and gold striped dress (Gamurra), the gold and black over dress (giornea), the red and gold overdress, the green dress, and the teal velvet overdress to start with… with plans for a few more elements to come…Â Continue reading
Dawn's Dress Diary 