Silver Wheel Medallion

This medallion was commissioned by Countess Marguerite to go to Magdelena Carminante at SCA 50 Year.

It's done in the same setting as the Maunche medallion I previously made using Splendor silks on linen.

Maunche Medallion

When the new awards came into existence, there was a call put out for award medallions. I started thinking about how I could make some - my only relevant skill is embroidery, and I haven't really liked the embroidered medallions I've seen so far. They are well made - but they're all counted, and counted isn't my style. So I went on a search for settings I could use and started experimenting!
I decided this was also a great time to try out some new embroidery styles, and practice the stitches I have a harder time with.

Despite the new awards being the catalyst for this, the first design I tried was a Maunche. I wanted to try padded satin stitch, and just so happened to already have the colors I needed.
I padded the M shape with cotton floss using split stitches, and then used Splendor silk for the satin stitches. I really like the look of it (the purple side came out much better than the yellow, even though I did it first. Maybe I got distracted.) The background is the same silk in split stitches.


I used a setting from Etsy for this first experiment. It comes in a variety of shapes. The setting seems pretty sturdy, and was easy enough to work with. I did need a little help from a thimble to bend down the pins in the back.

I didn't notice until after everything was finished and I took a nice high res picture that there are plenty of places the split stitching could be more full. Luckily, from a distance you can't tell. That's also when I noticed that it was a little crooked, but that was easily fixed.

My only worry now is if the satin stitch will be able to survive any length of time. The setting has a slightly convex shape to it, which looks very nice, but really puts that delicate stitching out there to catch on everything.