Because I am an overly ambitious woman, I decided some years ago (OK, around 20) to attempt to replicate a set of Dragon Robes, despite the fact that even in professional workshops, working with multiple embroiderers, full-time, a full set of robes often took 7 years of work to complete. Did I mention overly ambitious? [...]
Stitching with a Shimmy
Shimmying through life with needles and thread…Archive for January, 2010
Dragon robes fascinate me. Not only from an embroidery standpoint, though they are gorgeous, but also from a symbolic standpoint. Think about it: all that time, effort, and sumptuousness, and: they were never meant to be seen! They were usually worn under a plain robe with the rank badge of the courtier on it. Rank [...]
I’ve been fascinated by this for years – specifically the later centuries – 18th century and later. Part of this is probably due to the fact that the University of Oregon Art museum has one of the largest collections in the US, and I got to spend hours and hours there when I was in [...]