Shades and Hairwork

I can never remember how to spell "silhouette," one of many words I regularly misspell. In the past, fortunately, silhouettes were called "shades," which is much easier to remember.

For the past few months, I have been attending a monthly craft group for historic crafts. So far, we've done knitting, crochet (missed that one), hairwork, and silhouettes.

Obviously, I know how to knit, but I enjoyed watching someone teach an entire room full of newbies. The hairwork class was also very fun. We got a chance to look at a ton of originals.

Some were much better done than others.

Seeing the less skillfully done wreaths took off a little of the pressure of perfection.

Most pieces are undated and in some ways undateable.

Some can be dated if there's a photograph of the deceased.

This one is dated.

See? 1863.

Later, we practiced the craft ourselves using embroidery floss. One of the joys of this event for me is sitting on a silken, tufted chair to do my crafting. Silly, I know.

Last week, a professional silhouette artist came in and walked us through the process. It would be a hoot to do at a reenactment, if I could figure out a simple substitute for a glue stick. We laughed a ton at our attempts, but I really enjoyed it, especially as someone who doesn't feel particularly artistic. Crafty, yes, but not artistic.

Happy crafting!