The Comet Pouch (2008)

There are many "medieval" pouches available, but none like this one. I don't see too many that contain actual medieval art like this, and I thought that somebody, somewhere would like to have one. I'm selling it--are you interested in being its new owner?

This is a scene from the famous Bayeaux Tapestry, which tells the story of the Norman invasion of England in 1066 AD. In these scene, the people are looking up at a comet (as the words translate into English, "they see the star"). The comet is what we now know as Halley's comet, and this is an early record of its appearance. It is seen as an bad omen for King Harold of England.

Hopefully, though, it won't be a bad omen for its new owner!

The process:

Here is the front panel, in its raw, newly-traced form. You can see the paper pattern up to the right, and the tracing film to the left, and my granite slab underneath everything. I took two neighboring panels from the tapestry--the comet itself (known as panel 32) and the people pointing at it here, and combined them into one design.

Here is a view of just the front panel, prior to tooling.

The tooling has been finished, and now I am starting to apply the dye. I am trying out Fiebing's White dye here, but the results were terrible. You really can't dye leather white at home. I switched to acrylic paint to make it look right.

The Result:

Here it is, all hand-stitched and dyed! The black and white alternating thread looks good, and the antique stain on the belt hanger looks good here, too. The colors are approximations from the Bayeux tapestry itself. The Latin inscription was colored using a small-tipped Sharpie marker! It has also had two coats of water-proofing, which makes it shiny.

Here's the backside--I like the fancy stitching on the belt hanger, and that's my maker's mark at the bottom.

Here is an oblique side detail--you can see the dark blue calf-skin sides, and you can glimpse the hand-made leather toggle and loop that holds it shut.

Here's a closeup of that toggle and loop. Note the circular stitches.

And finally, the inside--I used a large bead and leather lacing here, so it can be tightened around its contents. It also means things are much less likely to fall out!