Wedding/Handfasting Commission

I was recently commissioned to do wedding/handfasting bands for/by Lady Constance, a fellow member of my barony.  I don't normally take commissions... I do some trades sometimes, but I mostly gift things to my friends and/or make largesse.  I decided to do this particular project because I was flattered to be asked to create something for someone's special day and thought it would be a neat opportunity to try out some nice end-finishings I've seen on other bands for non-trim uses.

I work mainly in silk, but the colors available to me for that didn't work with the bride's chosen colors.  After researching a bit, I decided to go with a 2/18 super fine merino wool that came in sage and navy.  I don't work a lot with 100% wool (though I've recently bought a decent amount of it), so this was a new-to-me fiber to weave with.  It was an adventure!  Wool doesn't break like linen does under higher tension, but it felts (which I expected) and stretches a lot!  That did cause a few breaks that I needed to deal with during the course of the project.

Originally the bride wanted two solid color bands, one sage green and one navy.  After discussing it with her, I let her know that I could do a pattern and the inverse of it with relatively the same amount of effort.  We decided to go with a pattern from Applesies and Foxnoses that is pretty and would really show off both colors.

I'm really pleased with how the tassels turned out on the end of the bands - I think it gives it a nice finishing touch and makes it look more like a handfasting ribbon than a piece of trim.

Here is a photo taken by the bride's sister (N. Collins) of the handfasting ceremony: