Another Fine Furry Product

... from the Atelier Perigordien de la Couture Préhistorique.  (This is probably the highest level of activity in the manufacture of customized undressed-hide products that our village "Noyerac" has seen at any time in the last several thousand years.)

Y plays the bansuri or Indian bamboo flute, and he wanted a travel case for it so he could take it on fieldwork trips and play it in the caves.   (Since archaeological cave sites are generally not furnished with TV and internet, the fieldworkers have to amuse themselves somehow, right?)  Here's how it was made (photos courtesy of C).

1) We're not entirely sure whose skin this is: Y thinks it might be a goat or possibly a deer.  In any case, he thought the tail would serve well as a flap for the case, so that's how we laid it out and cut it.

2) The next step was closing the side and end seams, flesh side in, with blanket stitch.  (All the dental floss in the house has been commandeered by the Neanderthal Craft Club; I finally went to the supermarket and got some French dental floss so I could have some to use for its intended purpose on my teeth, instead of having to root around in my sewing bag for it. No, it's not a good idea to re-use a leftover piece from sewing for dental purposes or vice versa, although I won't say that the idea never occurs to me when I consider how much of the stuff we go through.)

3) The last part of my contribution was adding a snugging seam on the folded side to give the case a more symmetrical look as well as a closer fit for the flute.  Y finished it off with a thong and button for the flap.

And finally, continuing my previous practice of posting on the combined topics of skin sewing and baby quilts, here are a couple of photos of a project from last year that C took while we were visiting Frankfurt.

Generally, I like to use a somewhat more subtle form of documentation rather than making a separate solid-color label, but the backing and binding fabrics here are busy enough that you wouldn't really be able to read anything embroidered on them directly.

Tools and Projects

In the intervals of exploring caves and walking in the woods and shopping at the market and practicing  my cuisine du Perigord and even doing some work, I've got a few needlework projects finished (including ones on my Ravelry page and not posted here).

To start with, here are a couple of objects that were made (strictly according to authentic stone-tool techniques) for me, not by me, for use with future projects and just general coolness factor.  One bone needle (which I think will become a yarn needle for joining crocheted project pieces) with deer sinew thread, and one flint point.

And here are some things I sewed out of deerskin for Y, who added the bone buttons and deerskin thongs that make them look really nifty.  My contribution was a lot less historically informed, relying not only on steel needles and dental floss but also on "ficelle alimentaire" or nylon kitchen string (for things like trussing poultry or tying bouquet garni: food safe and resistant to heat and moisture, which makes it a good sewing fiber for skins). 

(1) Ruler case and (2) tool bag, before and after having red ochre applied to the seams:

And in keeping with the same early-human ethos of using scraps of things you've already got to construct useful other things, here's one of my patchwork baby quilts made from T-shirts of more sentimental than sartorial value.  The backing fabric is quite an eye-popper, huh?  The recipient is a tropical-climate chick, but nonetheless her parents may have to keep this thing locked in the car trunk as a sunny-day beach blanket, because it could scream the house down if allowed indoors.  But I still like the flamingos.