So far my projects have been pretty “girlie”, with the possible exception of the galaxy cape. I could have seen that going home with some young wizard – though in the end, it went home with a lovely young sorceress in training. But when I saw this crazy blue and gold skirt at the local thrift store, I immediately thought of knights and swordplay. It ended up being my first “boy” project, though I’m all for girls with swords – and boys in tutus for that matter, if that’s what they want to wear.
Anyway, back to the project. The original skirt was definitely homemade, though whoever made it did a nice job (unlike whoever put together the velvet skirt I used for the galaxy cape --uhhh). I took it apart and started lining up the pattern for the best fit on a small-sized tabard. I thought I might be able to squeeze two tabards from the one skirt, but alas – the pattern was too big and the old seams left too many holes that I had to work around. I’ll be using the skirt leftovers as heraldry on another tabard for certain – it’s too nice to waste.
I spent WAY too long deciding on a symbol to place on the front of the tabard. In the end, I settled on a griffin – a symbol of courage and strength in medieval heraldry. I love the look of the red griffin along with the red dagging on the hem and sleeves. The “chain mail” arms came from a great little piece of fabric I found in a remnant bin, and the braided trim is a leftover from another project. So with the exception of the red felt, every bit of this tabard is reused/recycled materials.
The “Gryphon tabard” is available at Nymbol’s Secret Garden on Whidbey Island in Langley, Washington. If you are interested in this tabard, or any other projects, you can contact me via email for more details. And I’m always happy to share what I know, so if you’re interested in more information on any of the techniques I’ve used, I’d love to hear from you.
Have fun today!
Melinda
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