Fabric of Love by Anérea

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Fanwork Notes

Written for the Jubilee Instadrabbling Holiday Party prompt: Gift-giving.

(100 words.)

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Young Andreth receives a very special gift from her mother.
(A drabble.)

Major Characters: Andreth

Major Relationships:

Artwork Type: No artwork type listed

Genre: Fixed-Length Ficlet

Challenges: Holiday Party, Jubilee

Rating: General

Warnings:

This fanwork belongs to the series

Chapters: 1 Word Count: 101
Posted on 16 February 2023 Updated on 16 February 2023

This fanwork is complete.

Fabric of Love

Read Fabric of Love

They were the prettiest shoes Andreth had ever seen.

Their fabric had a deep green, which she knew her mother achieved by boiling together foxgloves, chamomile and coneflowers — a rare indulgence considering their usefulness as healing plants. Intricate swirls embroidered in threads of paler green, bright yellow, and deep crimson chased each other around the toes and along the sides. The centre of each spiral sparkled with a tiny coloured stone bead — payment received from Elves who valued her mother’s fine creations as much as she did.

With so much love stitched into them, they were a treasured gift indeed.


Chapter End Notes

By this time the folk of Bëor and Marach had been settled in Estolad for half a century and would have established food and herb gardens. However, I imagine that using plants that had other, more essential uses, for dyes might still be a slight extravagance.

In my headcanon, Andreth's mother is a skilled textile craftsperson, creative with her techniques and unafraid to try out new things.

With everything painstakingly handmade, focus is on lasting quality rather than quantity, so items like this would probably be rare, and treasured, in regular households.

 


Comments

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I'm absolutely delighted this little peek into Andreth's life appealed to you! It was one of those that just popped into my mind from who-knows-where. (Although it was Lferion/Wander's quilt that led to her mum being so skilled with textiles, and teaching her about plant dyes, so perhaps that's where the fabric nature of the shoes comes from.)

In their relatively rural/outdoorsy lifestyle (as I envision it), I think fabric shoes like these would be a real indulgence, especially for someone who would likely outgrow them soon.  Although I guess they would be willingly received as hand-me-downs. (Her younger sister Beril probably kept eagerly suggesting they had become too small for Andreth!)

The useful plants are a recurring theme in my tales with Andreth and Adanel, and the shoes are waiting in the the wings for their next appearance...

Thanks so much for sharing your enjoyment of this!