Some of the earliest articles that featured photos of my own hand embroidery here on Needle 'n Thread were two posts that examined a project worked with silk threads on silk fabric. The two articles focused on one half of an embroidered stole worked predominantly in satin stitch and stem stitch filling. The first article featurs close-up pictures of the stole, and the second article featurs a photo of the whole stole.

This past weekend, at the request of a friend, I pulled the embroidery project out again, including the second half of the stole, which has been laced up on a scroll frame, neglected for many years.

In revisiting this project, I've had the opportunity to rethink a few things about it.



This is the beginning of the second half of the stole. In my mind, I remembered being about a third of the way finished with this half of the project. I'm not sure why I thought I was so far along. It's discouraging, actually, to see that I finished so little on the second half!

What slowed me down on this project? Why did I resign it to the shelf?

The first thing that happened was that Life got in the way. I remember frantically applying myself to the first half of the stole, and, after about 3 months, finishing it, setting up the second half, and making a start on it. But it was the middle of the school year by then, and things just got busy. So the project was set aside for a time.

Then, one day, I had visitors, a lady and a little girl. And the lady wanted to see my current embroidery project. The little girl - about six years old - was playing outside when I took the piece down. I looked at the piece with the lady, and had just turned away from it, when the little girl came in. I didn't think to pay close attention to her - her dirty hands were wet and sticky and a little muddy. And she made a bee-line for the frame. Before the thought could formulate in my head (I don't think I got beyond the internal "Noooooooooooooooooooooo!"), she had applied one particularly grimey finger to the fabric and threads, leaving a big, wet, dark spot on both the embroidery and the ground fabric.

Do you know how it is, when you have a "big" obstacle to overcome in a needlework project, and the obstacle kind of takes the wind out of your enthusiastic sails? This was the case for me. At the end of that day, I wrapped the frame up in a cloth, and tucked the whole thing away on the highest shelf, in a box. And it has been there ever since.

But in taking it out again this past weekend, I discovered several things.



First, I discovered that the way in which I originally transferred the design had been a good idea, for the image has withstood the test of time magnificently. On the soft gold silk ground fabric, I had used white dressmaker's carbon. The white, once embroidered over, is not visible at all - even if a little fringe of it is left beyond the embroidery. And yet, it is clearly visible on the silk ground fabric, due to its light white-ness and its matte finish against the shiny silk.

Dressmaker's carbon can be an excellent way to transfer a design on smooth fabric. You can find transfer paper in the sewing notions section of fabric stores. Saral Transfer Paper is a good brand to use if you can find it. The variety packs come with a sheet each of red, white, yellow, blue, and graphite (greyish black). The sheets can be used many times over. If you can't find Saral, Dritz also makes a wax-free dressmaker's transfer paper in five colors. It is probably more commonly available at sewing stores, and the size is actually perfect for a project like this stole, which is long and narrow. It comes in 5.5" x 19.5" sheets.

Though the frame for the stole was wrapped in fabric that rested against the design, and then packed again in a box with other stuff, and put on a top shelf for several years, the design is still crisp and fresh and hardly smudged at all. I'm glad to see that.



The next thing I learned is that I tend to exaggerate in my mind how serious a "flaw" is on a piece of needlework. The wet, dark smudge (that I thought could never be cleaned away) was right here, between these two "petals" on the embroidery. Where is it now? Did time take it away? Or was the flaw not quite as bad as I had worked it up in my mind to be? Whatever the case, that excuse for shelving the project is now completely gone. There was only the slightest sign of a bit of dirt on the silk threads in the top petal. A little scratch with the fingernail, and it was completely gone.



I've learned a lot more about embroidery in general, ecclesiastical embroidery in particular, and individual stitching techniques since I embroidered this piece. In my mind, I recall this piece as being a "beginning" step in my pursuit of serious embroidery. As a beginning step, I somehow had adopted the impression, over the years, that I didn't do a very good job on the piece. But in looking at it (and this isn't to honk my own horn - just to make a point), my satin stitching was actually pretty darned good. Had I convinced myself that it wasn't up to par, as a further excuse not to return to this project? It is Certainly Possible!



I can't help thinking that I might be hard-pressed, now, to replicate this satin stitching!



Finally, there is the question of this frame. When I first started this project, I would've killed for a slate frame (not literally, but...). I looked high and low, here and there, and absolutely everywhere for one. I settled for a scroll frame, because it was the only thing that could accommodate the silk, keep it relatively taut, and roll up the excess fabric.

But in looking at the framed up piece now, I can confirm that I was right about my lousy lacing job. And, on top of that, using masking tape to "finish" the edge was probably just downright stupid (though there is actually about 6" of excess fabric on each side of the design).



In my mind, whenever I thought of this project (because it does still hang over my head now and then, and I think on it with regret...), this lousy lacing job and the tape fiasco were obstacles to completing the piece. But are they, in reality, obstacles? Not really. It would be nothing, now, to take this frame apart, remount the piece on a slate frame using proper fabric edges, and tighten it up to work on it.



Going back to the original first half of the stole, I took some photos of it again. Since that first post on the subject oh-so-long ago, I've had two different cameras, each progressively better, and I've learned a bit about light, and also a bit about photo editing programs.



I can't help looking at images of the original finished half of the stole and asking myself if it would be worth revisiting this project and even finishing it.

But now that some serious time has passed since I shelved the project, some serious issues have arisen that are truly obstacles. Of course, obstacles exist in order to be overcome!

The greatest obstacle is that of thread: the original piece was worked with Au Ver a Soie's Soie d'Alger. Though I had, at the time, purchased enough of the same dye lots for both sides of the stole, over the years, I have used those threads. Can I match them closely enough in order to finish the second half of the stole? Maybe. It is worth looking in to, but can't be done until I visit a shop that carries the threads.

There are several - actually, many - things that I would do differently now, if I were making this stole from the beginning. And this is another obstacle for me! It is more of a mental obstacle, though - which are the worst types of obstacles, because they require overcoming self, rather than overcoming something tangible outside of one's self.

I can't guarantee what I will do with this - whether I will finish it or not. Most of the trivial barriers that I had built up in my head regarding the whole project are gone, but a few serious ones still linger.

So, those are my musings on this project from the past. What would YOU do at this point? How would you come to a decision about whether or not to finish such a project?

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, Embroidery Projects, miscellaneous embroidery musings, needlework pictures, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, September 29, 2009
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When Ruth O'Leary contacted me about her taking an embroidery commission on a banner for Durham Cathedral, I was really intrigued about her banner-making plans. Since then, she has undertaken the commission and begun the work. And best yet, she's blogging the whole process!

If you haven't had an opportunity to stop by Ruth O'Leary Textile Arts, now would be a good time to do so, while she's still in the relative beginning stages of the St. Cuthbert's Banner.



Of course, if you like goldwork, you should stop by just to take a look at her header on her blog. I love it.

Ruth has been commissioned to re-create the St. Cuthbert's Banner, a banner of which there is no surviving image, but which was described in detail some five hundred years ago in writing. From the written description, she is creating her version of the banner.

So far, on the St. Cuthbert's banner, you can see Ruth's fabric choices, the conceptual design, a mock-up, the appliqué process, and the first leg of the cross, which is worked in red velvet, with red satin pieces appliqued on to create the design. You can also see a very nice goldwork circle already finished. She also shows how she neatened the edge of the applique cross with couched gold Jap - all the steps being interesting and suspense-building components of the whole creative process behind this banner. I can't wait to see it finished!

This year, I agreed to make a banner for a church-related event that takes place at the end of October. Oh golly, October is coming up fast! While Ruth's banner is much more complex, much more artistic, and much more historically relevant to the church for which it is commissioned, mine is - at least in concept so far - relatively simple, and mostly appliquéd. The color scheme, though, is the same - red, white, and gold, which are typical (and glorious) liturgical colors. Though time seems to be somewhat scarce, I have to admit that watching Ruth's process inspires me to want to push through my banner project and make some headway on it!

You reckon I can manage it? Realistically speaking, I'm somewhat doubtful. And if I don't, that's ok, I suppose. I can still enjoy the whole banner-making process (and actually, I can enjoy it a whole lot more!) by watching Ruth's St. Cuthbert Banner unfold.

I hope you get a chance to check out her website and watch this historical re-creation come to life!

Enjoy!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, embroidery resources, goldwork, historical needlework, needlework websites

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, September 16, 2009
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Mains & Merveilles Point de Croix is a French needlework magazine that I subscribe to. I often forget what needlework magazines I subscribe to, actually, because needlework magazines are notoriously (and understandably) far-spaced when it comes to yearly output. But the other day, I was reminded of my subscription to this particular magazine when it arrived in the mail. It is a cross stitch magazine.

I've written about this magazine company here on Needle 'n Thread in the past, when telling you about the Mains & Merveilles iron-on transfer collections that are very pretty (and used to be available at Hedgehog Handworks, but are no longer available there...)

Well, the company that put out those very nice iron-on transfer collections (Les Éditions de Saxe) also produces some Very Nice embroidery magazines: Embroidery, Creative Embroidery, and Cross Stitch (my translations of the titles). I only have a subscription right now to the Point de Croix line, having subscribed a little over a year ago because they were running a series I wanted to watch develop. Eventually, I'll pick up the other two subscriptions and probably let this one drop - when the others fit into the budget!

The needlework magazines from Les Éditions de Saxe have a distinctive European flair to them, and they are quality magazines - very pretty to look at, printed on good paper, filled with informative and interesting articles, and featuring a large paper pull out pattern section for all their featured projects. And the projects are generally beautiful. The magazines are printed entirely in French. If you don't read French, though, the content is still worthwhile - the patterns are beautiful, the instructions usually include step-by-step photos, and the pictures overall are simply worth looking at! I'd say the magazines rival Inspirations, as far as quality goes, though they don't have as much in them as each individual Inspirations magazine, and the projects differ a bit in flavor.

Getting back to the latest edition of Mains & Merveilles Point de Croix, three articles struck me in this latest issue (#74).

The first was a project article for these pretty paisley table and household linens that just look fun to embroider!



The paisleys are worked in various pinks and reds, entirely in surface embroidery stitches.



Of course, the color scheme can always be changed to match your own home! I think they're cute, and perfect for a casual, fun setting.

The next article that caught my eye was focused mostly on whitework and drawn thread techniques. As one of their regular features ("Passion Broderie"), this article shows the work of Jocelyne Dubois, who always has embroidery at her fingertips!



The whitework photos that accompany the article are gorgeous - the pieces are so impressive! What a talented embroiderer!



Her edgings are intricate and perfect. And while I don't normally pour over this particular magazine and attempt to read it, I found myself engrossed in this article (accompanied by my French-English dictionary from college days!) I was thrilled to open the magazine and find this article!

But, you know, while these two features excited me more than usual, the publishers had one more thing in store for me when I finished the whitework article. Flipping the page, I came across this layout:



There was a whole feature article on a currently running ecclesiastical embroidery exhibition that honors the work of the Visitation nuns in Europe, dating from the 17th century to the present day. And this being one of my favorite topics - historical ecclesiastical embroidery - I was really excited about this article! Better yet... I've got to go to France! NOW. The exhibition lasts until November 28, 2009, at the Museum of the Visitation (convent?) in Moulins, France. I'm ... I'm so stuck in Kansas, it isn't even funny! Anyway, I'm stuck - but if you happen to be in the area of Moulins, France, through November 28th, I bet this will be an exhibit that will knock your embroidery-loving socks off! Even if you aren't inclined towards the religious aspects of church embroidery, it cannot be denied that it is among the most beautiful embroidery work on the planet. The Visitation nuns were known for their exquisite work - the collection will certainly be worth seeing.

(If you happen to go, may I live vicariously through you?)

So I was really pleased with this last edition of Mains & Merveilles Point de Croix from Les Éditions de Saxe. While I normally just flip through the photos once and note the things that may interest me later (or my nieces or friends), this time, I spent quite a bit of time pouring over the articles and trying to get over my rusty French. It was fun - and it was the first time I really appreciated my subscription to this magazine!

Do you subscribe to any needlework magazines? If so, which ones? What's your favorite? Are you generally thrilled to get them, or do they just strike your fancy once in a while? That seems to be the case for me often, with all my magazine subscriptions (Inspirations, Pieceworks, Sampler & Antique Needlework, and M&M). Sometimes, they just don't grab me, but then suddenly - wow! They bamboozle me with magnificent content, and that's when I most appreciate the subscription. What about you? What's your experience with needlework magazine subscriptions?

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, embroidery resources, miscellaneous embroidery musings, needlework magazines

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, September 15, 2009
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While visiting San Carlos Borromeo Mission in Carmel, California, last week, I enjoyed looking at their display case of old embroidered vestments. One in particular caught my eye, because it was very similar to another vestment I had seen several years ago on display in Clyde, Missiouri. I thought I'd put the two similar elements up together here so that you can see the similarities, too.

Both vestments were certainly hand embroidered. I know for a fact that the vestments in Clyde, Missouri, are hand embroidered, and, looking at the ones at San Carlos up close, it is obvious that they, too, were worked by hand.

Both vestments are "Roman" in style - that is, they are oblong rectangles - and in the middle of the back of the vestment (the part that, in the traditional ceremonies of the Church, face the congregation most of the time), there is a round medallion featuring the face of Christ, with a small bit of text surrounding the face. The medallions are centered in an elaborately embroidered cross. The surrounding embroidered cross is not really the focal point here, because, except in size, they aren't similar at all.

The following medallion is on a vestment at the Benedictine convent in Clyde, Missouri:



The colors are a little surprising. The photo was taken inside, in regular lighting, and the piece was behind glass. Still, these were the colors, more or less - predominantly blues and pinks.



The vestment at San Carlos in Carmel featured much warmer colors - golds, reds, deep bluish-greens.

The overall look of the two vestments reflect completely different "eras" of art. The top piece, for example, has a somewhat art-nouveau look to it (this style of art being popular from the late 1800's through the early 1900's, with the peak of popularity being between about 1890-1905/10 - about a 15 to 20 year spread of time). The second piece, from San Carlos, is more conservative in style and color selection. But the similarities between the faces is what is intriguing.

The points of similarity that strike me especially are:

1. The arrangement - the circle, the text, the face.
2. The nose and eyebrows
3. The cheekbones
4. The eyes
5. The lips - though dissimilar in color, the are similar in structure, including the space just below the lips.

The hair and beard on the two pieces are different, too - the stitching on the beard on the second piece is much "lighter" and fuzzier looking. The top medallion features very dark lines under the edge of the moustache, which draws the mouth down. Yet, essentially, the two moustaches are the same shape, even to the point of the left side looking less angled than the right.

It is pretty clear that the two pieces were worked from the same image as a pattern, but the interpretations are slightly different. My guess? That a line of patterns with this image of the face was available from the late 1800's through the early 1900's, but that, though the face was the same, the embroiderer could select from a series of patterns that featured different styles of text, wording, etc., and that the individual embellishment of the cross and halo and the surrounding edge were left to the embroiderer's imagination and skill. Probably, a catalog of embroidery patterns was available at the time, and convents, houses of embroidery, or individuals selected their patterns from the catalog.

That's just a guess. I have a couple other images from different vestments in different parts of the country that support the notion that common patterns were used (probably ordered from catalogs) in ecclesiastical embroidery found on old vestments. One image in particular comes to mind, so when I find those photos, I'll put them up for you to see.

I thought it was kind of neat to find two such similar images in hand embroidery, some thousands of miles apart, but both in museums that reflect the religious heritage of the area in which they are located. I also like the fact that the choice of colors and the arrangement of design on the back of the chasuble (the embroidered cross) reflect both the individual embroiderers' tastes and the location / use of the vestment. The second medallion above, for example, is perfect for San Carlos, as far as colors are concerned. The vestment belonging to the first medallion would look entirely out of place in the sanctuary at the mission in California, but it probably worked great in the chapel in Clyde, Missouri.

Any input or observations?

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, historical needlework, needlework pictures, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, July 11, 2009
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After stitching all the lines on my current embroidery project, the next step was to add some seed stitching. I figured filling in certain areas in seed stitch would accomplish two things: it would add some texture and it would make the prominent parts of the design stand out. And so, I proceeded to stitch hundreds - perhaps thousands! - of tiny seed stitches.

There's nothing at all complicated about seed stitching! Some books show seed stitch as two tiny stitches stitched as a pair perfectly parallel to each other, randomly covering an area. I only use one stitch, personally, stitching tiny single stitches randomly to fill an area.



Above, you can see the beginnings of the seed stitching. I started in the diamond area on the right, which was probably a mistake. Actually, I'm sure it was a mistake! You can see one spot in the center of the diamond that's a bit crowded. See, the diamond is relatively small, so there's not a lot of room there to really get up a rhythm with the stitching and gauge distance and so forth. Once you get the feel for the spacing and all that, seed stitching is a breeze. But starting and stopping in a tiny area doesn't really do it.



Now, you might wonder why I didn't take out the seed stitching in the diamond area described above, and there you have one disadvantage of closely-worked seed stitch: it makes a jolly mess of the fabric if you decide to pick it out. Oh, and the picking! It just isn't worth it! I figured once the whole piece was stitched, that little crowded area in the diamond would not really be noticeable to anyone but me.

In the photo directly above, I've progressed a bit further with the seed stitching, and managed to take a picture in "natural" light as the sun slanted in.

Notice that I didn't seed stitch the main element of the design itself (that's the "M" in the center of the scalloped circle). I thought that seed stitching on the background, around the M, would actually take the background further back, and make the M stand out more, as in relief. That was my plan, anyway, and I think overall, it worked out.



You can really see the bumpy texture of the stitching here. For the outlines on the project, you may remember that I used #20 coton a broder. For the seed stitching, I used #25 coton a broder, for two reasons: 1. I ran out of #20 (which really narrows it down to one reason, I guess - it's not as if I had a choice!) and 2. I figured the finer thread would look better. I had planned on using #25 for the seed stitching, anyway. What's funny is that I ran out of #20 coton a broder for the outline exackitackily as I finished my last few stitches of the outline. I had about 4" of thread to spare when finished. I've never come that close to running out of thread before!



Here's the whole central medallion finished, and one crown (lower left).



My favorite part of the design are these scrolls and fleur de lys tips surrounded by the seed stitching. I think it looks ok, don't you? I mean, I don't want to say, "Golly, am I good, or what?" because that's not what I'm thinking! I'm just glad it came out looking pretty nice. There's quite a bit of chance involved in that, you see - I really had no idea that the seed-stitched background would be successful. It was just a hunch, and once I started, I knew I was in it, so I had to finish. I was glad that it worked out!



From a bit of a distance, here's the whole piece with the seed stitching done. Hm. At this angle and in this light, you do kind of lose the center image.



But this is more what you see without the bright light (Ott light), and here, the central M is pretty clear.



Another disadvantage of seed stitching... not to be negative here!... is the finger hole. The finger hole? The finger hole!

I ended up with one of those tiny little needle holes in my middle finger on my right hand, which is the finger I generally use to manipulate my needle. Oh boy - you know, one of those teeeny holes made by the eye of the needle, and which the eye miraculously finds, no matter how hard you try to avoid it! There's nothing quite like it when the back of your needle slides on into a little hole like that!

You know what my solution is? Oh - I know you're thinking, "Wear a thimble, dummy!" But no, no... Super glue. I put a dot of super glue over the little hole and let it dry. It works great!

Ok, so that's the seed stitching, done! Yippee. I've sewn the pall together already, and made the back - I'll show you that in a future post, along with the finished pall with the lace attached. I'm halfway through sewing the lace right now, and will have it done probably before you even read this post!

Thank you for your oh-so-nice comments on the Blogiversary Post of yesterday! If you haven't signed up for my three year blogiversary give-away, don't forget! It's over tomorrow morning, at 5:00 am CST. Thanks also for the insight into your likes and what you'd like to see more of on Needle 'n Thread. I've got a post planned that will have a permanent link for all 'tags' - which will help make things a bit more searchable, I hope.

And, on that note, I'm off to finish up the lace, then shopping in preparation for my trip (leaving Thursday morning!). Don't worry - I've got some Super Duper articles lined up for you while I'm going, and I hope to be blogging a bit along the journey, especially about any tidbits that might involve needlework shops!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, June 16, 2009
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Here's a wee update on my current embroidery project, a white-on-white ecclesiastical piece. I've finished all the outlining on the design, and now I'm going to seed stitch certain parts of it.

On this piece, I'm using whipped backstitch to form the ridged outlines. I wanted a firm line with a little height to it, but I didn't want to work an overcast or trailing outline around the whole design, because that would've taken ten forevers! So whipped backstitch was the choice, as it's relatively quick to work and I do like the look of the lines created by the stitch.



You can see above the difference between the backstitching and the whipped backstitch - the crown part of the design at the top of the photo has already been whipped, and the line is much smoother than the backstitch line. It's funny - in these photos, which were taken under a bright light, I really like the look of the backstitch, too. Actually, I like to look at the contrast between the backstitched line and the smoother lines of the whipped backstitch.



A couple little warbly problems presented themselves in the whole backstitch-whipping endeavor. Why does this happen? Pretty much, it's because the working thread gets too twisted, and as it twists on itself, it stiffens as it wraps around the backstitches. The solution: drop your thread and let it untwist every so often. In fact, when whipping the stitch like this, depending on the direction you're working in, the thread will often become twisted very quickly, so it's a good idea to drop that needle and let it dangle from your work quite often, in order for the tread to untwist.



Overall, I like the design and the ridged line created by the stitch. My intention was to create a high enough line that it would cast a small shadow, making the design more visible from afar. I wasn't sure how well that plan would work, but at least, with a ridged line rather than a flat outline, I know it will be somewhat more visible from afar.



I tried photographing the piece at different angles in different light to see if I could get a decent shadow from the lines...



... but I'm no grand photographer, and I don't always "get it," when it comes to picture-taking!



But then, just as I was closing up shop for the day, for the first time all day, the sun came out. It was slanting in the western window in my studio, right across my work, and I said, "Wow. Now there's a shadow!"



The linen doesn't look as white here through the eye of the camera, I suppose. BUT ... the relief created by the stitching is much more obvious.

Yes, I'm satisfied so far with this part of the stitching. It's the look I wanted, anyway. Now, on to the seed stitching! I'm trying to optimistically think that I'll be finished with all the stitching by this evening, and able to assemble the pall tomorrow and put a hand-tatted edge on it. Um. Well, there's nothing wrong with optimism! I'll let you know if it happens!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, June 13, 2009
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Eventually, you are guaranteed an in-depth look at my current embroidery project - I promise! - along with all kinds of explanations, information, troubleshooting and whatnot. Today, in fact, besides the little annoying slip knot, I have another problem to fix...

But, given a bit of limited time right now, I'm going to show you instead some of the stitching, and pretty much leave it at that!

Now, I suppose you are probably expecting something grandiose. Something so Complex and Time-Consuming that your sympathy will be aroused as you contemplate my sweating over a looming deadline while having to stitch some intricate technique...

Oh, golly. Please don't be too disappointed!



Yep. That's backstitch, all right!

But don't underestimate the backstitch - it has come through for me before, and I think it will this time, too.



That line on the right is really what I am going to achieve with it - whipped backstitch, to be precise. There are other more complicated ways to make a nice thin, firm line in embroidery, but the whipped backstitch is a fairly quick and painless way to do so while still achieving nice-looking results.

I've never considered backstitch a very "formal" or elegant stitch. At best, on its own, I'd call it clean-looking and sometimes even "cute." But elegant or formal is a bit of a stretch. Whipped backstitch, on the other hand, dresses the backstitch up a bit, smooths it out, and turns it into a precise line stitch that looks good on slight curves and even around tight corners.

Believe it or not, despite its simplicity, whipped backstitch can be a bit more time-consuming than other line stitches (such as stem stitch), only because whipped backstitch takes two steps - first the backstitching, then the wrapping. But the latter part goes fairly quickly.

A hint: when you finish your backstitching and are getting ready to whip the stitches, switch to a tapestry needle with a blunt tip. Much easier!

Once the backstitching is finished, I'll progress to filling up certain spaces with very tiny seed stitching and lots of it. That's the time-consuming part!

Today, I have to deal with an onslaught of high humidity that has taken its toll on the framed-up fabric! What was all smooth and tight yesterday morning is ripply and loose and warped-looking today. I'd turn on the AC to elminate the humidity, but Kansas being what it is, it's only 64 degrees out! Thank goodness for evertite frames. If tightening doesn't do it, though, stay tuned for Plan B!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, embroidery tips and tricks, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, June 10, 2009
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Have you noticed that I don't often miss writing a post in the morning, especially on week days? I thought about that this morning, and I really wanted to write something spectacularly engrossing, all about embroidery and all about the great strides I'm making on my current project. Unfortunately, the morning got away from me, and then I had to make frantic headway on stitching and other craft doings (preparing some wedding shower gifts). I only have one thing to say about all of it, and I'm going to say it with a photo....

I mean, really, what's the most irritating thing that can happen while you're engrossed in your embroidery, stitching along, making good progress, thinking all's going well?



Right. You turn it over to finish off, and you see that.

It's called a slip knot.

I hate them.

That's about how my day has gone! Fortunately, these are relatively easy to take care of. I'll show you how I remedy problems like this in an upcoming post!

I hope you have had a much more satisfactory day!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, June 09, 2009
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This ecclesiastical embroidery piece is an icon of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, from the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Lynn, who is an iconographer, has taken to embroidering icons lately, and this one is gorgeous!

You will probably be amazed to know that this is Lynn's first attempt with goldwork!



The Theotokos (Blessed Virgin) was embroidered separately, then appliquéd to the veleveteen background, onto which the text and flowers are directly stitched. The finished embroidery measures 12" x 21".



The figure is worked in silk shading techniques, following the traditional color schemes and definition found in icons. The cloth on which the figure rests is worked in Or Nué and the gold background is made up of couched double gold threads.



The halo or nimbus is also couched gold - very neatly and well done, I'd say! The head of the Virgin rests on a very life-like pillow. You can also see here the neat stitching in red, and a close-up of the white stripes on the background cloth.



In iconography, the art is more two-dimensional. Unlike the realistic shading found in later art (Medieval, Renaissance, and beyond), the Byzantine art and icons tend to look flatter. This was done on purpose, to concentrate the viewer's thoughts on what the art is expressing, rather than on the art itself. (This is also one of the reasons why most iconographers in early history were anonymous, and the same holds true for church art in the West, even into the medieval era just before the Renaissance.) I think this icon tradition is reflected really well here at the base of the gown. It's just realistic enough to give the impression the artist wants to give, but not overly detailed - perfect shading for an icon.



Here are the hands, folded in repose. I wanted actually to draw your attention to the very fine gold line around the red robe. A nice touch!



Lilies are a symbol of the Virgin. These were stitched directly onto the velveteen background, along with the text:



Isn't this piece beautifully done? I think it's absolutely gorgeous. And to think that it is a "first attempt" at goldwork is astounding!

Thanks, Lynn, for sending the photo! Congratulations on a beautiful piece of art!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, needlework pictures, pictures, readers embroidery, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, June 05, 2009
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Last week, between the relative chaos of ending another school year, I managed to get out to the studio and set up this ecclesiastical embroidery project. The project is another pall, this time with a different design on it.

The design for this piece of embroidery comes from a book called Designs for Church Embroidery by Thomas Brown & Son. I'm lucky enough to have an old copy of the book - it was a catalog at one time, actually - but it has since been reprinted by Lacis, and you can find it in their online catalog. Just search the title, and it'll come right up.

I altered the original design a bit. It was originally just a circle with the "M" that you see in the middle. I added the tips and the little fleur de lys to it, to make it a bit more decorative.



The Bohin ceramic pencil came in really handy for the transferring of the design. I used the greenish-blue ceramic lead, and it worked quite well. The pencil gives a crisp, fine line. Before I used it, I tested it on a piece of scrap linen, writing with various amounts of pressure on the linen, then trying out the eraser - which worked fine on the light to medium pressure lines - and I also rinsed the fabric, which took out all but a trace of the heavier pressure lines. I was satisfied that it would work ok for white-on-white embroidery.

Ideally, when you're working white-on-white embroidery, it's a good idea to use blue for your transfer. The dressmaker's blue pencils work fine, for example, as does dressmaker's blue carbon, both of which are available in the notions section at most sewing stores. You see, white absorbs the blue, so even if a trace is left on the linen, it isn't normally noticeable, and with time, it goes away. When you use grey or red for a transfer in whitework, the thread will pick up the color and will be tainted grey or red. But with blue, even if the thread picks up the color, you don't see it - it absorbs into the white, making it seem brighter.

I don't really know why this is, but I'm sure there's some sort of scientific reason!

Anyway, I liked the Bohin pencil. I haven't started stitching yet, but I think the transfer will be fine for white-on-white.



Here's the design, transferred. The pall is a 6.25" square piece of linen, made like a pocket, with the top side decorated. I cut the fabric 16" long and 9.5" wide to give plenty of room for seams and for mounting on a stretcher bar frame. The fabric will be folded in half, to make the pocket, then the two sides of the pocket will be sewn up, and a 6.25" square piece of mat board inserted into it. Then the last side is hand stitched closed. Lace of some sort is generally applied to the edge by tacking it on after assembling the piece. I like to use hand-tatted lace, as I think it looks quite nice on a pall. Tacking the lace on allows for removal of the lace for cleaning purposes, in case of need.

One of the most frequent questions I get asked via e-mail is how to transfer an embroidery pattern after it is printed or drawn. I do have a list of links that deals with this question in various ways under the Tips and Tricks for Hand Embroidery section. For this project, I'm using a light box to trace the design. You can use a sunny window with equally good effect, though it is sometimes a bit harder on the arms if your pattern is complicated and takes time to transfer!

My next step after transferring was the frame up the piece, which I've already done, and then to pick out threads, which I've already done as well. Now, it's just a matter of stitching! I'm going to use #30 coton a broder on this, in white. I think. I'm oscillating between #25 and #30, actually, though I don't think there's that much of a difference between the two sizes to justify hesitation!

This will be the project I'll be stitching on for at least the next week, I figure. I hope to have it done by the end of the upcoming weekend, if all goes well. Once it's done, I have one more to do, too. Although I like doing this kind of work, I have to admit that I don't normally like making two of the same things in a row, so for the second one, I've chosen a design I've done before, but not for a while.

And then, once these two projects are finished, I can move on to something that involves color - and I can't wait to show you what that is! I'll tell you tomorrow!

Coming up this week on Needle 'n Thread: a special give-away. Once you see tomorrow's article, you'll probably be able to guess what the give-away is!

Now that the school year is officially over, I'll be able to devote a little more time to embroidery projects, tutorials for the website (in various forms), and some other projects, all of which I'll be keeping you up to date on!

I hope you've had a great weekend!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, embroidery tips and tricks, linen, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, May 31, 2009
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Happy Easter! To celebrate the day, I want to share with you another piece of ecclesiastical embroidery - this time, an elaborate super frontal for an altar.

In Catholic and Anglican churches, the altar in the front of the church would sometimes be adorned with an antependium, or frontal. If made of cloth, the frontal was usually embellished, either embroidered or appliquéd. In some churches, especially larger churches, a super frontal would also be used ("super" actually from "supra," meaning "above" the frontal) in addition to the frontal. The super frontal was a long decorated piece, not very high, but wide enough to span the width of the altar. Sometimes, it was "built into" the frontal (separated, for example, by trim, to mark off the super frontal area), but more often, especially in more elaborate churches and chapels, it was a separate piece. Think of it like a valance, almost, floating above the frontal.

This super frontal was embroidered by the Benedictines in Clyde, MO, before the 1950's. If you've been reading Needle 'n Thread for a while, you will probably recognize the look of it, as it was a source of inspiration for me when I embroidered an ecclesiastical piece a few years ago.



The piece is very long - I would guess at least 10 feet in length, perhaps longer. The center medallion is the Agnus Dei symbol. The Lamb with the banner is a representation of Christ, sacrificed and triumphantly risen from the dead. Around the central medallion are many colorful scroll designs featuring plenty of stylized pomegranates, which, in ecclesiastical embroidery, symbolize resurrection and new life.

The embroidery on the center medallion is worked on a dark gold-colored cloth. It's not shiny silk, though it might be silk. It has a kind of noticeable weave to it. When I first saw it, I thought it was a strange color for the background - but, in relation to the colors in the rest of the super frontal, I think it works really well.



From this side view, you can also see that there are banners with text embroidered on them.



Here, you can get a better view of the scrolls, acanthus leaves, and stylized pomegranates. The leaves and vines are worked in chain stitch.



The stylized pomegranates are worked mostly in long and short stitch, although the undersides of the turned up leaves are worked in satin stitch.



Across the entire length of the top of the super frontal, there is a goldwork strip, punctuated by lettering satin stitched in red. The gold background threads are evenly couched in a pattern, and on top of the gold, inside and around the lettering, are scrolls worked with a wavy gold thread, like rococco. I have heard that the Sisters at this convent, and at the (no longer functioning) convent in O'Fallon, MO - where the Benedictines also made elaborate ecclesiastical pieces - had machines that couched the gold background threads two at a time. I've never seen a couching machine, but I've heard from someone who was fortunate to receive one of the machines from O'Fallon before they disbanded their embroidery workshop, that the machines do indeed couch two laid threads at a time with precision, without damaging the threads. It'd be interesting to see that in action!



At the base of the Lamb is a book with the Alph and Omega on each page. I really liked this symbolism, so I was sure to include it in my Agnus Dei.

Here's the piece that I worked a few years ago, taking some inspiration from the super frontal featured above:



The lamb I drew is not as angular, and the banner is a bit less angular as well. The wool on the lamb on the super frontal above is what really caught my eye - it is the most realistic wool I had ever seen embroidered, so I wanted to imitate that. It was fun, figuring it out, and it turned out well. I'd love to do another piece like this - not the same piece, but similar - one day soon!

If you want to read about the progress of this piece from beginning to end, you can check out my gallery. It's near the top of the list, under ecclesiastical embroidery. You can also see close-ups of different elements in it, including the wool.

I wish you all a very joyful Easter!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, historical needlework, needlework pictures, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, April 12, 2009
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Two years ago on Good Friday, I posted photos of a magnificent piece of ecclesiastical embroidery, a chasuble featuring the Crucifixion.

The work on this piece is stunning - if you haven't had a chance to look at it, you should! You'll find amazing detail in the faces, especially.



The color range used to embroider the faces is amazing - from regular flesh tones, to reds and greens. From far away, these blend together and are not discernable as separate colors.

You can read about the chasuble on the original article. It's worth looking at - such pieces of ecclesiastical needlework are quite rare.

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, historical needlework, needlework pictures, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, April 10, 2009
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Last weekend, I began a marathon embroidery project on short notice. In about 35hours or so from start to finish (including set-up), I hand embroidered this piece of linen. I probably didn't go about it in the most prudent way in the world, but, regardless, here 'tis...

A maniturgia is a long strip of linen that is wrapped around the hands of a priest during the ordination ceremony. The strip is often embellished - either embroidered or painted - and, after the ceremony, it's given to the priest's mother and normally buried with her.

The strip of linen can be different sizes, but customarily, it's about 3 inches in width and about 5 or 6 feet long. The embellishment is not really essential, but it's nice. At its simplest, the maniturgia can be left blank. But then it just looks like a long strip of linen...

So, after the phone call on Friday night that I already told you about, it came to pass that I undertook to make, in a weekend, a maniturgia. It shouldn't have been any big deal, really - in an hour, I could have cut the strip of linen and folded it, sewn a seam, hemmed the short ends, and called it done. But nooooo. Noooo... I just had to get into my ridiculous head that I Must Embellish. At first, I thought painting would be quicker, but actually, since I'm more familiar with the needle, I settled on embroidering it.

Often, on a maniturgia, what you will see is text - either some sort of Biblical reference, or a snippet from a prayer, or something of the sort. Often, the text is a Marian reference; that is, it refers in some way to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. I learned all this, by the way, in the space of about an hour, consulting with people, making phone calls, and having them make phone calls. I didn't know anything about a maniturgia before the fateful phone call Friday night...

I went to bed Friday night with a clear idea of what the maniturgia is and what it looks like, but without any idea of what I would do.

Saturday morning, I started playing with texts. The quickest way to layout any text for embroidery is, without a doubt, by using the computer. Sure, it's nice to pen your own, but when you're pressed for time, All Hail the Computer! I found a font that I liked that had decorative filigree capital letters, and then I took different texts and printed them out, word by word, in letters three inches high.

I had one phrase - Ave Maria - that was two words and would've worked fine.

I had another phrase - can't remember what it was - that was about 14 words long. Um. Yes. I can't believe I even considered it.

Finally, I settled on this phrase: "O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria" - I liked the phrase itself, I liked the amount of coverage on the linen, and I liked the layout of the decorative capital letters.

I should've stuck with "Ave Maria."

Anyway.... first thing I did was space the words correctly, taping together the words as printed out on separate sheets of paper. You know, sometimes it's good to have to work under pressure. I took a lot of short cuts I would not normally take, and learned that some steps in working up a design can absolutely be done away with.

Then, I found, among my collections of ecclesiastical patterns, a decorative cross to go on each end of the phrase. I made photocopies and taped them onto the same sheets of paper the letters were on.

Next, I cut my linen strip 12 inches wide and 60 inches long (well, it was 60" fabric - so I just had to cut a 12 inch strip). I made the strip 12" wide to accommodate a hoop easily. I dampened and ironed the linen, and then I was ready to go.



I marked off the 3.25" inch strip that would be the front of the maniturgia, using a blue dressmaker's pencil. Centering the linen over the center of the text, I pinned the linen to the paper.



You can see that the linen was sheer enough to see the pattern quite well. I used Legacy Linen's Ecclesiastical linen, which is a beautiful, fine linen with a close weave and a super-smooth hand.



This is a blue dressmaker's pencil, which I used to trace the pattern. An electric pencil sharpener comes in handy for quickly achieving a sharp tip on the pencil. It unfortunately tends to waste a bit of the pencil in the process, but time was my biggest concern, so I used the electric sharpener!



After tracing the whole design out onto the linen, I gathered together threads - two shades of gold, two shades of blue - needles, hoop, and the linen strip, and was ready to start stitching! By this time, it was around 4:00 pm on Saturday.



Stitching from left to right, this is what I finished on Saturday night. (That rhymes!)

Whoa. Not Much, in the scheme of things...



The entire piece is worked solely in stem stitch. As it worked out, I didn't use four shades of color - only the darkest blue and the darkest gold, with the exception of the middle of the crosses, where you can see the lighter blue.



On Sunday, I stitched all day, practically.... until midnight! By the time midnight rolled around, I had finished "O clemens, O pia, O dulic Virgo..." and I only had "Maria" and one cross left. I hit the sack!



The last thing I did Sunday night was the gold filigree on the V. It was a lot of fun - I like all those little scrollies...



To start my threads on this project, I used a series of backstitches worked towards the starting point on each part of the motif, away from a knot on the top of the fabric. As I worked back towards the knot, covering up the backstitches, I snipped the knot.

But as I continued towards the last half of the project, and saw that I was running out of time, I elminated as many steps as possible - I started using (gasp, horror!) knots on the back of the fabric!

But I never carried threads from one letter to another - that would have made too obvious of a blue shadow. So, while there were some places I was willing to take shortcuts, there were other places I simply wasn't! I don't like the look of carried threads!



Monday morning, I got up and launched right in to the last word. My family from Florida was going to be in town all day, arriving around 11:00, so I wanted to try to finish the whole thing before noon.

But, no luck. It took so much longer than I thought it would!



I finished embroidering the piece by 5:00 pm on Monday. Here it is, across the couch. It doesn't seem very long, does it?



Even from this angle, it still doesn't seem like much! But gosh. It seemed interminable when I was working on it!



And here it is, on the ironing board, after it's been sewn up.

And, in sequence, here's the finished piece:



"O Clemens"



"O Pia, O dulcis"



"Virgo"



"Maria"



And then I tried a side shot, to show you the gleam of the silk on the linen, but it doesn't look that great. I'm using Soie d'Alger from Au ver a Soie, by the way - it's a spun silk, so it doesn't have as high a sheen as the filament silks. Still, it's nice!

And that was my marathon embroidery project!

I'm needled out....

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, linen, needlework pictures, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, December 31, 2008
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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, December 28, 2008
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I've been somewhat short on TIME this weekend, but even if you are, too, you'll probably find the following (brief) online exhibit of a gorgeous piece of historical ecclesiastical needlework awe-inspiring...

This cope is one of the vestments of the Order of the Golden Fleece, housed in a museum in Vienna. This particular cope is called the Mantle of the Virgin, about which I wrote a wee little bit a while back.

This vestment is worked in Or Nue - silk over gold threads. The great thing about this online "exhibit" of the Mantle of the Virgin is that you can zoom in on the various sections of the cope.



Check out the folds in the sleeve - and the pearls on the pillar! It's really something else to be able to see these relatively upclose. Of course, I'd rather see the piece in person - but in the meantime, I suppose I'll settle for this way of viewing the vestment!

Thanks, MC, for the link!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, needlework websites, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, November 15, 2008
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I want to embroider a face. I've never done it before. I want to learn how. But every time I face the task of preparing to do so, I falter! Why? I'm not sure... but, still, I want to embroider a face. Let me show you what I have in mind.

I'm working on (or getting ready to work on) an ecclesiastical piece of fairly largish proportions. It's riddled with faces. In fact, yesterday I sat for about half an hour, chin in hand, staring at the thing, and contemplating which faces to erase. There are just too many, and I've never embroidered a face.

But I want to embroider a face!

I mean, really! How hard can it be???! And why does it intimidate me?

Take a look at this picture below. It's a close-up on an embroidered face on an ecclesiastical piece. The face itself, in the context of the piece, is probably 2.5 to 3 inches long. I've left it large, so you can click on it to see a much bigger image.



Up close, it's interesting, isn't it? Check out the stitch direction, the color changes, the outlines around the eyes, the chin, the lips, etc.

But if you're looking at it the large size, it may not really strike you as "quite right," as it doesn't look smooth or even beautiful, really. The eyes look kind of bulby, the bottom lip looks kind of square, the face (especially on the left) looks flat ..

But look at it from farther away:



And from even farther away:



The shading around the eyes is nice, isn't it? And the lips look right, now, don't they? And the left side of the face, which looks so flat and linear in the close-up, looks fine. The chin line and the neck shading blend to look dimensional.

I want to embroider a face like this!

This is my problem: I sit down to work out the picture, and it ends up looking like a cartoon. Somehow, I can't bring myself to transfer the drawning - I don't want to embroider a cartoon!

I wasted a lot of time yesterday trying to figure out how to approach this. Finally, I gave up and went back to my goldwork, which couldn't keep my interest because I was still engrossed in the face thing. So I pitched the goldwork (well, not literally), and didn't do anything needlework related the rest of the day.

Do you ever have a needlework idea or plan that eats away at you? This one eats away at me - I've been toying with it for years, thinking seriously about it for months, and obsessing over it for weeks. Yesterday was to be the day. But I quit! What does that say about me????

I finally came to this conclusion:

So what if it looks cartoonish? So what if the colors aren't "just right"? So what if it actually flops and looks like... garbage? So what?! What's the big deal? Wasted time? No - I'd be learning. Learning is never a waste of time. Waste of materials? Have you seen my stash cabinets? That's not even remotely an excuse!

Oh, dear! Could it be.... fear of failure? Heh heh. Wellllll...

You don't know, until you try! And that holds true not just for any embroidery technique or needlework project - that holds true for anything. You don't know, until you try.

So with renewed determination, I will begin this afternoon.

I am going to embroider a face.



Um....


if it turns out great, you'll be the first to know!






If it flops,


I might admit it... some day...

maybe....

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, needlepainting, needlework pictures, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, September 21, 2008
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Now that I finished the embroidery on "Breath of Spring," and with the busy school year underway, I want to line-up my next needlework projects so that I don't have to focus so much on set-up, and so that I always have a "carrot." You do use needlework as a carrot, don't you?

For me, needlework is absolutely a carrot - it is my inducement to get myself to perform (whether household tasks, job-related activities, whatever) so that I can embroider with a clear conscience. Basically, I do what I have to do so that I can do what I want to do. That's not to say that everything besides needlework is drudgery; on the contrary, I like my job and I like doing other necessary things that relate to normal living. I always find, though, that if I have a goal (get this done now so I can do that later), I work with more energy and focus.

Do you want to know what my carrots are right now? Well - here they are:

First, I'm working on a goldwork project - a small project that's a lot of fun so far. I'm giving it to my niece for her wedding in November. I would like to have it finished by the end of next week, which isn't impossible. I've done all the silk shading, and now it's just a matter of the goldwork.



This is a picture of part of the project. I can't blog the whole thing right now, as the project isn't really "mine." Once it's published, I'll show you my finished work and tell you about it at length. But don't you love the colors so far?



Here's a little shot showing you how a vine is narrowed using gold passing thread. The vine is originally two pairs of passing thread (gold passing thread is generally couched in pairs). Then, about halfway around, I plunged one thread (half of a pair), and then a bit later, another thread, to narrow the vine to only one pair of passing threads. I think the designer was ingenious with this little touch.

After this is finished, I'll move on to beginning my Pelican.



This is the piece that I bought the threads for on my recent shopping venture. It's painted on 18 ct. canvas and the whole thing will be worked in tent stitch. The canvas was designed and painted by Judy of Possibilities, etc. I've had it for a while, and had every intention of starting it last spring, but, amazingly enough, I never had a chance to go shopping for threads until just a few weeks ago.



I don't plan to stitch the whole piece in one sitting. (Oh, no kidding??) Actually, it's going to be an on-and-off piece, for something to stitch on now and then, between projects and whenever I'm on a needlepoint roll. I don't think I would enjoy glutting myself entirely on tent stitch for months until this is finished. I'm looking forward to working it.

My next little project is going to be BABY BOOTIES. I'm excited about this one!!!! I'm going to make a couple sets of little baby booties out of wool felt (I think I'll try some different lining ideas, though - like lining them with flannel, or, for cold weather, perhaps fleece?). They'll be embroidered, of course, and I hope they turn out cute. I've got a pattern set from McCall's (pattern #2867).



I've also found some cute patterns online. I especially like this Bitty Booties pattern from Heather Bailey Designs (PDF). You'll find it on her blog Hello My Name is Heather.

I've also been in the process of designing a really ambitious project.



It's ecclesiastical embroidery and will feature mostly silk shading and goldwork. The design is still in the works, and it's really l-a-r-g-e. I still have some sketching to do on it, like finishing the angels in the arm of the cross:



My plan is to break the design down into workable elements that will be appliqued together onto the main ground fabric. This is a whole new adventure for me - at least on this scale. I'll definitely be keeping you posted on this project's development. If I flop or just give up, you'll be the first to know!

For light work this winter, I've got a couple of Tanja Berlin's kits still - the squirrel and a bird, I think. So it's likely I'll set those up for stitching.

And between these projects, for more immediate purposes, I'd kind of like to make a stack of Christmas cards before the end of November rolls around. I'm thinking about getting some kids together - or at least a couple of my nieces - and doing a kind of group card-making session or four on Saturday afternoons.

All this is fun stuff and really exciting to me. But the reality is that, as much as I'd like to have all these projects underway with a certitude that I could finish them this winter, I know it will not be likely that I'll get them all done. Oh, the ecclesiastical piece will take years, I know. But it's nice to have stitching goals for the fall and winter months, even though I know that my real job is going to be taking the bulk of time. Still, I do plan to stitch, and stitching always makes a Really Good Carrot for me. If I do my work like a good girl, then I can settle into some serious needlework!

Is embroidery your carrot? Do you make up stitching goals for yourself? If you do, how many projects do you have on the burner? (Or at least stewing in your head?) In short, how do you go about planning and executing your stitching adventures? Maybe if we share ideas on this, we can all become more efficient with our time and our approach to our projects!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, needlepainting, needlepoint, needlework pictures, organization, personal, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, September 13, 2008
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I wasn't quite up to finishing the anticipated post on gold threads (perhaps tomorrow), but I didn't want the day to go by completely without contemplating something embroidered. So I'm putting up these two pictures of an example of silk shading in ecclesiastical work, to see what you think ...

These two pictures are both from the same wide decorative band down the front of a cope. The embroidery is done by hand, probably in silk, with a bit of gold thread in there, too, I think.

So here are the pictures:



Above this part of the motif, there are some green leaves. I missed them in the cropping, but they're the same colors as in the photo below:



Instead of concentrating on the stitching here (though you're welcome to comment on that, too, if you wish), I wanted to ask you to look at the colors. What do YOU think of the color scheme / combinations here? I'd love to hear your opinion!

I'm ever-so-slowly coming around, but it's taking a bit longer than I thought to feel quite up to par! Don't give up on me! I'll be back in "full swing" soon!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, needlework pictures, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, September 02, 2008
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Despite wear and tear, this is a gorgeous piece of ecclesiastical needlework. In fact, most of the wear and tear, from a distance, isn't noticeable - but when you look closely at the piece, you realize that there are parts that really need attention if it is to continue in use.

Christiana has undertaken the formidable task of repairing this cope hood so that it can be used again. I thought I'd show you some photos she sent along. I never tire of studying this type of work up close - the details always amaze me!

So this is a hand-embroidered element mounted on the back of the hood of a cope, which is a garment (like a cape) used in liturgical ceremonies. The image on the back of the cope is a representation of the Trinity - God the Father, the Holy Ghost (the Dove), and God the Son (the Lamb of God, or Agnus Dei).



Here's a view of the whole piece of embroidery.



This is a close up on the face. I love examining faces. Look at the difference between the face from far away (in the first photo above) and the face close up. Who would've ever guessed there was a red line down the side of the nose and above the eyes?



Here's a close-up on the crown and nimbus. It looks like the goldwork here is in very good repair, as you can see in the photo below:



But as you travel downwards in the design, the need of repair becomes more obvious, as seen below:



You can see the loose gold threads around the feet of the lamb, and the red cording hanging down (visible in the first picture above as well). You can also see in this photo - if you look in the colored folds of the garment - that some of the line stitching is loose there.



Here's the face of the lamb up close. I have to agree with Christiana - I love the way they did the wool! You can see on the left side of the nimbus (halo) one of the threads tweaking off.



And I think this is great! This is Christiana's set-up for repairing the cope hood. First, she had to separate the hood from the lining, picking out by hand all the little stitches in the fabric around the hood (which is cloth of gold - not an easy task!). Then she had to contrive a way to mount the piece so that she had both hands free to work, without mounting it in anything that would damage the fabric or the embroidered piece. She's using a frame her dad made for her, which she's wrapped in fabric to protect the cope hood and also, I imagine, it provides a bit of friction to keep the work in place. She clamped the sides of the frame together to hold the piece while she works, keeping an even tension on the piece, but not so tight that it's pulling anything that's already stitched.

By the way - yep, she's stitching through the cloth of gold on which the piece is mounted. Talk about sore fingers!!

Keep up the good work, Christiana! I can't wait to see the finished product! (I wish I could see it in person!)

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, historical needlework, needlework care, needlework pictures, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, August 26, 2008
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I'm still rather elated to have the linen pouch finished. It's been delivered, so that project is completely behind me. I'm going to start on Something (???? so many ideas !!!!) with color in it now. Or perhaps dig out an old project! Whatever the case, my embroidery thread will be COLORED. But, anyway, I still want to show you how the pouch finished up...

After getting all the pieces together - the embroidery was finished, the piece was ironed, the cord, tassel, and button made, and the lining cut - it was time to put the pouch together. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures at every single step, but I'll do my best to explain it!

First of all, the lining is the same as the outside piece of fabric, so I don't suppose you would actually call it a "lining." It's just two pieces of linen (Alba Maxima by Legacy), the outside piece being embroidered.

I turned the embroidery to the inside of the two pieces, and pinned together the part of the pattern that comprised the flap (where the embroidery is) and the very base of the pattern - but not the actual sides that comprised the bag. At the center point of the flap, underneath the tip of the embroidered cross (so they lined up), I pinned in the cord and tassel and left them between the two layers of fabric.



So right there, you're looking at the back of the embroidery. Notice that the flaps of the pouch have angled corners. That was a last minute decision, but I think it improved the looks of it.



This is the base of the pattern. Think of the pattern as just one looooong rectangle, with the flap at one end - with the embroidery and angled corners - and this straight edge at the other end. I pinned the base together, but didn't sew the whole thing, as I needed a turning hole. So the red line in the photo above represents the turning hole.



I sewed the base together (except the turning hole - and the top flap together (wrong sides facing). Now, refer to the diagram above, and I'll explain what I did next:

I pinched together the outside layer of the bag at the folding line between sections B and C, so that sections B and C of the outside layer were now folded with the right sides of the fabric together for that piece of linen (not the lining) only. Then I did the same with the lining linen, creasing it at the folding line between sections B and C, and putting the right sides of the fabric of the lining face-to-face.

I pinned those carefully, up the point where they met the end of the seam of the flap (section A), which was already sewn together. So the base line of the fabric (where the turning hole is) was now meeting just below the seams on the flap.

Then I sewed up the folded sides, almost to the seam on the flap, but not sewing into it.

Then I turned the whole darn thing inside out through the turning hole, which was no small accomplishment! Next time, larger turning hole!!! In fact, I wonder if the base actually needs to be sewn together at all, until the rest of the seams are sewn up - that's for further experimentation later.



But, it wasn't that much worse for wear after turning.

Then, once turned out, I pressed the seams and pushed the lining down into the bag (which turned it "inside out" again, but only now it was "right side out, going inside.") So the seams on the inside of the bag are completely finished. You don't see any turned-in fabric edges or anything inside the bag.



So there it is, ready to iron out...



...which I did, and then I decided to add a little knotted detail along the inside seam, in Palestrina stitch...



...which I did. I took the stitch horizontally and extended the leg, to overlap the seam. Actually, the way the stitch was worked, it becomes the "knotted pearl stitch," which is exactly the same (in movement) as the Palestrina stitch.



And you can see there the back of the flap on the right side of the picture, and the bag itself on the left side, with the detail of where the seams meet to form the bag, and the decorative stitching.



And that's the seam on the right side of the bag, with the Palestrina stitch.



And now you know which button I picked - the mother of pearl one. I just couldn't see using plastic on this! (Though I liked the stitching on the other button better!)



The finished piece is 10" wide and 8" high.

So that was a fun project, in a way, but a little tense, as I wanted it to be "perfect." It isn't, though. There are definite flaws, which is always good because: 1. it keeps me realistic, as it's a bit humbling, and 2. it marks it as handmade by me! I've never made anything that's "flawless"!!!!

But I'm glad it's finished. Not only am I looking forward to working with color again, but I'm also looking forward to working on something that's not got a pressured deadline on it. After I rumage around a bit, I'll let you know what I came up with!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, linen, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, August 13, 2008
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I finished the embroidery on this white-on-white linen pouch I'm making - actually, I finished the embroidery a while ago! This weekend, I have to finish the thing. White on white is always kind of difficult to photograph - if anyone has any hints, I'd be thrilled to hear some photo tips on taking pictures of whitework. But - for what they're worth - here's a couple shots, anyway.

As mentioned earlier, the cross is outlined in Palestrina stitch. I decided to fill it with seed stitching. Thanks for all the suggestions, by the way! A couple of them were really appealing, but I had already moved into the seed stitching, and there's NOTHING worse to pick out, in my opinion! So I stuck with the seeding.



In this photo above, you can barely see the blue of the outline of a crown that I was going to embroidery there, but I decided against it for a number of reasons. I've washed the linen already, but there's still a faint blue line at the base of that, which is making me rather nervous. I'm going to have to work on getting it out somehow...!



This photo came out pretty well. My favorite part of the design is the satin stitched sword handles. My least favorite part is the hand guard above the handle, with the seed stitching in it. I wish I had worked that differently - perhaps in a stem stitch filling, following the curves. Too late now!!



Yep. I like the tiny handles.

The handles are worked in #25 coton a broder. The outline of the cross and the shaft of the swords are worked in #16. The seeding etc., is done in #20.

I need still to arrange a way of closing the pouch. I want to do a tassle and button kind of thing, where the tassle strings are wrapped around "something" to hold it loosely closed. But I can't figure out the "something." I made a few Dorset buttons the other night, to try that concept, and I may have to go with that.

I still have to braid the cording for the tassles, make the tassles, and sew up the pouch. I suppose that's what Friday nights and Saturdays are for!!! Whatever it takes, I'll be finished with this before Monday!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, August 08, 2008
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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, August 01, 2008
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This is a dumb joke, but here it is, nonetheless: "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" "Earwig." "Earwig, who?" "Earwigo again..." (Sorry.) This is the re-beginning of an embroidery project that I began when I set up my slate frame. I subsequently messed it up, and had to start over - remember the photo from my embroidery mistakes and needlework frustrations? It's underway once more - so, here we go again...

I'm making a linens pouch. This is an ecclesiastical piece of embroidery - the pouch itself will hold small altar linens. I wouldn't normally make a linens pouch out of linen, but that's what was requested, so I wanted to conform the project to the tastes of the receiver of the gift! I posted photos of a similar embroidered pouch for linens before - you can take a look at that to get an idea of what the finished piece will look like, construction-wise.

On this one, I have a cross, swords, and crown design on the front. When I initially drew the design on the initial fabric (set up on the slate frame), I used a pencil and was not pleased with the fact that the thread seemed to picking up some grey from the pencil. Rather than stitch the whole thing and risk the grey not coming out, I started over!

So this is the front so far:



Notice that the design (you can barely see it) is in blue now. I used dressmaker's carbon to transfer it. Here and there, I did have to barely touch up a line with the lightest touch of a pencil. I haven't gotten very far on it, have I?



This is the cross a little closer. Oh, golly. While I would prefer doing this piece in colored silks and real gold threads, I felt obliged, again, to try to match the recipient's tastes. So I'm working in coton a broder. Since the linen is a good, solid medium-weight linen (Alba Maxima by Legacy), I'm using a heavier sized thread. This is #16 coton a broder.

But despite the fact that I'd might like to be working with other materials, I will admit that I do LOVE working with the coton a broder on the Alba Maxima linen. And - I LOVE Palestrina Stitch. This is a great stitch, and I think it looks really pretty in this thread on white. The stitch is fun to work - once you have the steps down, it moves at a nice rhythm. I really do love it. (Did I mention I like Palestrina Stitch?)

I want to fill the middle of the cross, I think. Since it's the central focus of the design, I'd like to have it a little heavier than the rest of the piece. I could achieve focus on it two ways - by making all other elements filled, and leaving this "voided," which would make it stand out. But instead, I'd rather fill the cross, so the "heavier" looking part is also the central focus.

The problem is, I don't know what stitch to fill it with. Normallly, I suppose you'd do the filling first (if it's something beyond seed stitch, anyway), but I wanted to get it outlined to see if I'd like it filled or empty.

Any brilliant ideas for a filling? Of course, satin stitch would be beautiful - it is a gorgeous stitch, when worked right - but the wider parts of the cross are just bordering on "too" wide for the satin stitch. I don't want loose threads. I also don't want to pad it, as I don't want a padded look to the piece.

Nope. Still no clue as to what to fill it with. I keep thinking something brilliant will pop into my mind, but ... nothing yet!



That's a bit closer on the Palestrina stitch there - and you can see where I did some touching up with pencil. Rrgh.



And a little closer on the Palestrina stitch there. Gosh, I love that linen. Gosh, I love that stitch! Yet...

... despite loving the linen and loving the stitch, I will admit that overall, I'm not that pleased with the project itself. I spent 2 hours yesterday stitching on it (beyond what you see here), and almost as long removing all the stitches I had just put in. The piece simply isn't coming together as I want it to.



Here's a little teaching moment for you - this is the back. See the long strings carrying over to the sides? I started with "away waste knots." That is, I started with a knot in the end of my thread, and took my needle and thread down into the fabric far away from where I was going to start stitching. Then, when I had finished the length of the thread, I snipped the knot off, re-threaded the needle, and ran the long tail underneath the stitches to secure the beginning of the thread. This is an easy way to start a line of stitching when there aren't any other stitches close by to secure your thread under.



Oh, yeah. I do love the Palestrina stitch!

Any ideas on filling it?

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, July 27, 2008
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I thought I'd share with you some photos of a piece of ecclesiastical embroidery that was given to me because it is in such a poor state of repair that it can no longer be used. Despite its lack of functionality, it serves as an interesting piece for study and for ideas.

This piece is a processional canopy, once used for outdoor processions. A combination of age, use, storage, and probably some kind of weather damage have all made the canopy unusable for liturgical purposes. The embroidery and the designs on it are nice, though, and it's a good source of ideas on design and technique.



To give you an idea of what the canopy looks like overall, it's set up here over a large office table. All four of the side panels are embroidered with a round center medallion, which is surrounded by angels and lilies.



You can see here the overall design of the side panels - the center medallion, an angel kneeling on each side of it, and a branch of lilies entwining itself behind the angels and up towards the center medallion.



The piece is worked on gold colored silk, and the top edge of each panel is red silk, embroidered with wheat ears.



Around each center medallion is a grape motif embroidered in shades of gold. The Agnus Dei in this center piece is rather simple - notice that there's not a whole lot of shading. It's more or less an "outline" piece, filled in with appropriate colors to make the overall picture.



You can see some shading on the hooves and on the bottom of the belly on the lamb, and that's it. The wool is worked in Chinese knots.



This is the green side angel. The colors are very soft.



The wings are the boldest part of the angels.



Here you can see two signs of deterioration: the obvious deterioration of the fabric, and the lack of stitching in the hands, which are fading away somewhat!



The faces of the angels (and the hands) were painted apparently, and then lightly stitched over at the chin line and hair line. The hair is worked in split stitch.



On the left side of this panel, the pink angel (with surrounding fabric) is in much better shape.



The halo (or "nimbus") is worked in very long straight stitches, somewhat far apart. The whole halo is lined with two layers of cording, the inside one in a coral color and the outside one much darker in brown. This contrast on the outside of the piece makes the whole image more visible from a distance.



One of the lilies on the vine - with a good indication of the poor state of the ground fabric.



As far as images worked on the piece, this one is in the worst state. The thread is wasted away, and the whole image looks as if it is washing away. The overall shading of the image is very nice, though, with the lighter inside area, rather than seeing it embroidered solidly in red.



The lettering around the outside is embroidered in satin stitch.



The lilies are not stiff and formal, but rather loosely conceived. They remind me more of the tiger lily than a regular lily, except in their color.



The lilies are outlined in a pinkish-coral color, with a very little bit of soft shading in green, and the rest of the inside is worked in white.



Each panel is topped with an edge of red silk, on which are embroidered single (large) wheat ears.



The wheat is very simply embroidered in satin stitch for the kernels, and long straight stitches for the "hairy" tips. The shaft is couched twisted cord.



Each medallion has a "frame" of grapes embroidered in shades of gold. The stitching is worked in satin stitch and a long and short stitch on the leaves that is reminiscent of crewel work. The thread used on the grapes around the medallions, on the wheat at the tops of the panels, and on the lettering around the medallions is all of a heavier stuff than the threads used on the angels and other images.



In the close-up on the lily, you can see that the embroidery doesn't actually fill the shape. Instead, long lines of long split stitches are worked in twisted silk, with spacing enough between the lines to see the ground fabric. The spacing is not there due to disrepair. It's the way it was embroidered!



The stamens on the lilies are satin stitched at the tips of the couched gold cord (which is the same gold cord used on the wheat shafts).



This is another one of the four images inside the medallions on each side of the canopy. Note the green leaf at the base of the medallion, on the left.



Here's another one of the same green leaves.

At some point in the canopy's history - before it was absolutely not usable - someone obviously tried to cover up the deteriorating fabric by adding these little embroidered leaves to the ground fabric, trying to work them into the design as best as they could. They don't really fit the design, though, as they are too bright. The leaves were probably themselves salvaged from another larger piece of ecclesiastical embroidery!

You can also see, in the lower left of the photo, that a piece of fabric was attached somehow over the original ground silk. I'm familiar with ecclesiastical fabrics available on the market today, and that particular pattern is about the least-expensive, most widely available synthetic church fabric. I don't know what the person was thinking! But I suppose it was just a desperate attempt to try to keep something that was beautiful in use for as long as possible, before it was time to shelf it completely! *Sigh*



And another shot of those leaves....

So, there's the canopy. I'm glad to have it - it's given me some good ideas for embroidery, and being able to examine it very closely has given me a little insight into the needlework and assembly techniques used on these types of pieces.

If you have any questions about anything in the pictures, don't hesitate to ask!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, historical needlework, needlework pictures, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, July 20, 2008
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After I dressed my slate frame last weekend, I transferred the design onto the fabric in a kind of ---- well, for lack of a better word, roundabout way.

with the piece of linen that's stretched on my frame, I'm making a kind of bag - it's more of a pouch, I suppose - kind of like a large, lined fabric envelope (only the back of the "envelope" is the front of the pouch). On the front cover, I'm embroidering a design, and on the inside of the front of the pouch (after you lift up the flap), I'm embroidering a sentence.

The first thing I did was draw out the whole pattern for the pouch itself onto graph paper, so I could test its size and how well it would fold up. Then I drew the design for the front flap and the letters for the sentence on the inside.

Have you ever used Swedish tracing paper? It's a sewable, sturdy fabric / paper that feels a bit like interfacing, but softer. It's drapable and sewable, so you can make master patterns out of it, or trial pieces (which you can then sew up and adjust). I drew out my pouch pattern on the Swedish tracing paper first.



That's what a roll of it looks like.

There are a couple reasons I wanted to use this stuff in particular on this project, the foremost being that it is nice to baste on and use as a fabric protector while you're stitching, cutting away the areas that require stitching as you get to them. I've used regular tissue paper for this before, but I don't really like tissue paper.

Anyway, I basted the Swedish tracing paper on, basting around the actual seam line (I'll cut further out when I'm finished with the stitching), and basting a half an inch in, where I intend to stitch a decorative line.



That's the pattern for the pouch, traced onto the tracing paper and laid on top of the linen on the slate frame.



I basted the tracing paper on, and also basted down the middle of the front flap of the pouch, so I could center my design with ease. Then I cut out the tracing paper on three sides of the pouch and on each side of the middle basting line, so I could lift up two flaps on the front.

I can lift the flaps up and down and lay them on the fabric when I want it covered, so I can work on the linen without getting it dirty when I rest hands or arms on it.



You can see both sides of the flaps lifted back.



Then, propping the frame on a couple stacks of books in the back (level with my light table), I traced my design onto the middle of the front flap, using a hard pencil and a relatively light touch.

The design, you can see, is towards the front edge of the frame. The sentence that'll be embroidered on the inside front of the pouch is traced on the back edge of the frame. All of this works out well, because I don't have to stretch to reach the inside of the frame, as there's no embroidery there.

And then I set the frame up on my handy-dandy slate frame stand - an amazing apparatus that does the job quite well!



Yep, it's chair on top of a table. The frame hangs perfectly on the edge of the chair. I can rest the front edge of the frame on a small stack of books to lift it up, or I can just rest it on my arm - either work just fine!

A couple points: you can transfer your design on your fabric before you mount it on the frame, but I like the taut fabric for drawing on. You can also transfer the design a bunch of different ways, without having to use a light table - you can use dressmaker's carbon, prick and pounce, etc. I did it this way because it seemed to be the easiest approach at the time!

And now I need to get the stitching done. It was supposed to be finished by July 20th. Think I can manage? It's mostly simple whitework, though a lot of it is satin stitch, which seems to take longer!

I better get to it!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, embroidery tips and tricks, pictures, slate frames, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 10, 2008
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Ecclesiastical embroidery is one of my favorite categories of hand embroidery - I love the combinations of goldwork and silk and shading seen in old samples of hand embroidery worked for the beautification of churches. I was cleaning out some picture files to make space on my computer, when I came across these photos and thought they would be appropriate to post today as good examples of figure embroidery, goldwork, and silk. I hope you like them!

These are two examples of different representations of the Sacred Heart, worked in gold metal threads and silk. The embroidery is perhaps not the finest ecclesiastical embroidery I've seen, but there are some notable points to both pieces.



A front view of this image does not show it off well, in my opinion, but there are elements of it that I think are really exquisite. For example, the effect of "light" around the Sacred Heart is very nice. Also, I like the gold on the robes. But the image looks better, I think, when seen from the side, which is curious.



This is the same image from the side. I think the face is more appealling from this angle.



I think the eyes are beautifully worked. Close up, they are even more impressive.



The image is set on cloth of gold, which is enhanced by a pattern worked in gold purl.



This is a different image of the Sacred Heart, and it is, in my opinion, not quite as nice as the one above. But the techniques are completely different. In the image above, the robes - in fact, the entire figure - is embroidered. In this image, the figure is made of appliqued fabric, which has been stitched over where shading is desired, to give the "look" of embroidery without the labor-intensiveness of hand embroidering the entire image.



The face on this image is solid flesh colored fabric. The shading is achieved by stitching darker flesh tones only where shading is desired. Sometimes, such pieces would actually be painted. The details of the face, for example, would be painted onto silk. The shading was then achieved primarily by the paint, and lines of stitches would be added to enhance the shading. But on this particular piece, the background of the face is flesh-colored silk which is not painted.

Anyway, I like looking at pieces like these to determine techniques and to get ideas. I hope you enjoyed seeing the photos!

Have a great weekend!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, historical needlework, needlework pictures, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, May 30, 2008
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Last week, I did indeed manage to cram in this embroidery project and complete it with fairly good success! Mind you, it took all blinking day Saturday to get it finished, but, come 9:00 pm, it was actually delivered! I take back the comment I made about wishing I had done something more complicated. Uh. No. My new motto: the simpler, the better.

Today, I'm going to show you how I embroidered the crown - I left my camera behind at the festivities yesterday, so I can't unload the finished photos yet. (It was one of Those Weekends. I'm lucky I didn't leave my head behind...)

When I started thinking about how to do the crown, my first thought was to fill it in like I did the cross, with long and short stitch in various shades of gold. But that didn't seem very interesting, so I did this instead:



First, I fetched a ball of yarn from my goldwork supplies. I use this yarn to couch gold purl over when doing goldwork. I ran a piece of the yarn through a cake of beeswax a few times, then I ran the yarn through my fingers to smooth it out and distribute the beexwax.

One string of yarn, by the way, was a perfect fit between the two lines on the crown. I was glad and rather pleased with myself for coming up with the idea! But don't worry - I still managed to make a mistake! Mistakes keep one humble, and they're the best of learning tools!



I took a Very Large Needle with a Very Large Eye, and threaded an end of the waxed yarn into it, then sunk the yarn ends at each edge of the crown.



And then, oh joy! oh bliss! I took out the GST (in the yellow - which is a beautiful soft gold, really) and started satin stitching over the yarn, which created a very nice raised band across the crown.



But as you can see, it isn't so smooth. Rats! In stitching down the sunk piece of waxy yarn end on the back, I didn't realize how badly it would tug things on the front. I did what I could to prod the stitching back into smoothness, but it never did look quite the same again.



After overcasting the yarn with the Gilt Sylke Twist, I outlined the crown in a dark gold (the same dark gold I used on the cross) using heavy chain stitch. I used the light gold that runs down the middle of the cross on the inside of the crown, stitching tiny seed stitches in there to add a dusting of color and a slight hint of texture.

A couple very good lessons I learned on this little crown: 1. Be conscious of what's going on on both sides of your fabric when tacking down loose ends; and 2. do the raised work last, after finishing the other stitching around it. I really had to manipulate my needle to get the stitches in around the GST without jabbing it. I jabbed it quite a bit!

I'll share the rest of that project later!

Coming up, I've got some super interesting information from Trish Burr! She's the author of Redoute's Finest Flowers in Embroidery and Long and Short Stitch Embroidery, and she has a new book coming out this summer in the US (already out in the UK and Australia, apparently!). She's also featured in this month's Inspirations Magazine. She sent me some notes on the path to publishing her books, along with some personal insights on her books, some gorgeous (and I mean STUNNING) photos of her work, and some information about her upcoming title. So I'll be putting that together into a worthy article this week! Look for it!

Have a wonderful Monday!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, Gilt Sylke Twist, goldwork, needlework pictures, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, May 05, 2008
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Here's the embroidery pattern for the book cover I'm embroidering this week, in case you want to add it to your collection, too! I received a couple e-mails asking for it, so here 'tis.

I'm embroidering this design primarily in long and short stitch - the cross and the flowers are done, and I think, with the crown, I'll be using the same stitch, although I'll touch it up with something (I'm not sure what, yet!) for texture. I don't want it to look cheezy at all, so I want to be pretty careful with the crown! All the vines are worked in stem stitch, and the lettering will be done either in stem stitch or in a tiny whipped backstitch.

But you could use anything, really, with this design, as far as stitches go. You could outline instead of fill, using any variety of chain stitches. Or you could fill in with split stitch (in an Opus Anglicanum kind of way) or chain stitch or stem stitch.

If you go with a filled-in design, the design will stand out boldly - if you go with an outline design, it will look more delicate.

So, here's the design. I'll be adding it to my list of other hand embroidery patterns, too, so you'll be able to find it there.

Click on the design for an even larger version, then resize as you wish.

I took the bottom line off the crown, by the way, in my project...

Enjoy!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, free embroidery patterns

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, May 01, 2008
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You remember cramming for tests, right? Well, I'm cramming an embroidery project! I started this project this past Saturday, around noon. I have one week to have it finished - doable? You bet!

The project is an embroidered book cover for my niece's prayer book. She makes her First Communion this Sunday. (I'll show you her hand-embroidered dress once it's pressed and ready...) I thought I'd whip up a little book cover for her prayer book before this coming Saturday evening - after all, it's just a little book, with a little cover.

The only possible obstacle that I may have overlooked was ... the work week!?!

I started by finding a design. I could draw one - takes time - or I could flip through the designs I have. I flipped. I quickly realized I would need something long and narrow as opposed to short and wide, so I limited my looking to the overall shape of the design, and then eliminated choices from there. I needed something relatively simple that I could stitch relatively quickly, and that would appeal to my niece.



The fabric of choice - should it be white Italian silk (thick silk - satin), or linen? I settled on linen for washability. I'm using a piece of Alabaster Angel by Legacy - NICE stuff!

Then I pre-shrunk the fabric. While it was going through the stages of pre-shrinking linen, I took out graph paper and the prayer book and drew up the pattern for the cover.

I sought a piece of white cotton for a lining behind the linen, as the prayer book has a black cover, and I didn't want that to show through. I pre-shrunk the cotton as well.

Then while the fabric was drying, I transferred my embroidery design to tracing paper. I drew the design with a fine micron pen, then turned it over and traced the back of it with a pencil.

When my fabrics were almost dry, I ironed them to crisp (as in, stiff and wrinkle-free, not burnt!!). I added a couple layers of starch on the linen to make removing any pencil marks easier.

I removed a thread on each side of the linen to mark the size of the pattern (makes cutting easier and square when finished) and basted in the width of the cover of the prayer book.



I took the embroidery design (on the tracing paper), centered it up, and used a ball-point pen on the right side of the design, pressing hard enough to transfer the pencil lines on the back of the design onto the fabric. It worked perfectly. Then I took an extra-fine (.005) micron art pen, and drew in the lines on the linen with the pen.

I framed up both the lining and the linen - but I didn't frame it super-tight. Just enough to give a little tension without pulling on the linen.



I picked out my colors - the cross and crown will be gold, the vines green, the flower will be a range of purple, and the bud will be a light and medium shade of salmon-pink.



And then I started stitching. I had a good chunk of time on Saturday evening to stitch (it took me a couple hours to get the project set up), a little bit of time on Sunday afternoon, and a few hours late Sunday night. I managed a little stitching on Monday evening, and a couple hours on Tuesday. The picture below shows progress through Sunday afternoon (a few hours of stitching).



Will I finish before Saturday? I do believe I will! Now I wish I had chosen a more complicated pattern! It's going pretty fast, actually.

I was glad to find a use for the gilt sylke twist on the project - but then I remembered I chose linen for washability. Ut oh. The GST will most likely get wet. I outlined the cross in the gold GST, which helped even up some of the lines (cheating, I know!) and I'm contemplating using it on the crown as well.

I'll keep you posted with finished pictures. I'm going to make a matching corded trim, so I'll show you how I do that. It'll either be kumihimo, or I'll just make a twisted cord by hand. And I'll try to take sensible and instructive photos on assembling the piece over the book!

Have you ever crammed a project? Do you perform better or worse when you're embroidering under pressure?

Wish me luck!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, needlepainting, needlework pictures, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, April 30, 2008
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Tonight, I'm going to embroider. I know that sounds strange, because I embroider often. But tonight, I'm embroidering with a purpose!

I'm making a gift for my sister, and I've been so slow about it. I can't seem to concentrate on the piece, because I'm in the middle of doing heaps of bullion knots. I know when I get the bullions done, I'll be more enthused about it!

The current project I'm working on is called "Breath of Spring" - it's a large striped linen bag with an outside pocket that's embroidered, and it was featured in Inspirations Magazine #56. If you follow the link there, you can "flip" through the magazine and find the striped linen bag. Strangely enough, in the photo, it looks like there are blue flowers on the piece, but there aren't!

This is the first Inspirations project I've ever done as a whole. I like to take ideas or patterns from Inspirations and use them on little things, but I've never actually worked a whole project. So this is a first, and I have a month to finish it.

That's what I'm up to, project-wise. Here are some photos of the parts I've finished, which, as you can see, isn't a whole lot. I've taken liberties on some parts...



Some embroidered butterflies...



Some embroidered bugs...



And some shamefully MESSY bullion knots...

Aside from "embroidering with purpose" tonight, I'm also reveling in the fact that I got the rest of the Gilt Sylke Twist colors: dark blue, purple, and yellow.

Hedgehog Handworks carries all colors (but they don't have the green in stock right now), and they're charging $19.80 / spool, which is the least-expensive price I've seen so far. Admittedly, they get you a bit on shipping (almost $15 for 6 spools of thread?), so it all evens out.

The yellow is actually a VERY nice, mellow gold, and with the gold wrapped around it, it really gleams. It will be perfect for ecclesiastical embroidery. I'm generating ideas and will probably be turning them over in my head the whole time I'm stitching. I'm thinking wheat. And that brings to mind the bullion knots I must finish tonight. Aaack.

I wonder how GST will do, stitching bullions?

Labels: Breath of Spring, ecclesiastical embroidery, Embroidery Projects, Gilt Sylke Twist, Inspirations Magazine, needlework pictures, personal, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, April 18, 2008
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And yet another example of ecclesiastical embroidery - this time, a superfrontal, which hangs on the top front edge of the altar, but does not extend to the ground. It usually kind of "caps" the frontal, which would be a cloth that covers the entire front of the altar. In older churches with very ornate altars, frontals aren't necessarily used, but sometimes a superfrontal still is, for decorative purposes. If it's custom made for a particular altar, it would not cover any of the carvings or paintings on the front of the altar, but would hang just above them.

This particular piece is quite long. It has the Pelican embroidered in the center, motifs with text evenly spaced on each side, as well as medallions depicting the four evangelists. Because it was in a display case, I was only able to photograph the visible parts.



This is the whole piece, folded in the display case. I love the red and gold on white.



Here's the central image. If I recall correctly, the pelican and nest were embroidered, then appliqued onto the red background, and then the whole piece is appliqued to the white fabric.



One of the embroidered medallions of the Evangelists - St. Matthew, I believe.



Another symbol for one of the Evangelists - St. John, I think. Well, if that's an eagle, anyway! It's not an ox or a lion...



Getting a little closer on the pelicans, you can see the long lines of split stitch.



And yet a little closer...



And closer, still...



A close up on the couched gold in the halo - it looks like imitation Japanese gold again.



This is from some of the lettering on the rectangular motifs you can see in the first picture. The text is from the hymn "Tantum Ergo."



A close up on some of the cording used as edging around the appliqued areas.



This is a close up on the rectangular motifs, over which the text banners kind of float. Beautiful padded satin stitch.



And here is the corner of one of those rectangles, from a little farther away so you can see how the design works.



And a close up on what I think must be gilded leather in the center of those little designs around the rectangles.

And I think that about does it for ecclesiastical embroidery for a bit! I don't know if you enjoy looking at these photos, but I sure do find the work amazing. The techniques are certainly transferrable to secular embroidery as well, so maybe you'll be able to glean some ideas or find some inspiration in the photos!

I hope you enjoyed them!

I wish you all a very happy Easter, and I'll be back on Monday with a needle comparison and a great find in (really nice) embroidery needles.

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, historical needlework, needlework pictures, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, March 22, 2008
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Continuing through my collection of liturgical and church-related embroidery photos, here's a glorious embroidered piece - the hood of a cope, with figure embroidery. Like the Last Supper chasuble I posted yesterday and the Crucifixion chasuble I posted photos of last year, this is relatively "modern" work - first half of the 1900's sometime.

The embroidered image on the cope hood is God the Father, holding Christ in His arms, with the Holy Ghost over the right shoulder. Around the figures are the choirs of angels. The cope hood would be approximately two feet long, and a little less wide.



The majority of the work is done in long and short stitch or split stitch shading techniques.



The individual angels representing the choirs of angels are probably about 3 or 4 inches high. I regret that I didn't take accurate measurements when I photographed these! The detail and the color are quite nice.



There are nine choirs of angels depicted, each one represented by the wings or by what is held in their hands. I don't know the precise symbolism.



The dove that represents the Holy Ghost caught my eye on this piece, as the outlines are embroidered in red, rather than the typical black or dark grey.



Because the piece was in a glass-covered drawer, I couldn't get a direct shot of the crown or face details here. You can see gemstones (probably glass) and pearls worked on the crown.



The shading on the face of Christ is really very nicely done. It looks better from far away than it does close up, in my opinion (as does the whole piece). This is often the case in ecclesiastical work - the pieces are embroidered and shaded according to how they will look from a distance, since one of the reasons they are made is for the edification of the faithful, who would be viewing them from the distance in the congregation, rather than close up in the sanctuary of a larger church.

The clasp on the cloak of God the Father is set with gemstones and pearls as well. You can see drill marks in the glass stones when the image is enlarged.



The goldwork on the embroidered part is done in imitation Japanese gold. You can see the wide wraps around the core thread. The gold on the fringe, though, is undoubtedly real gold which has tarnished over the years. The fringe was more than likely purchased complete rather than prepared by those who worked the embroidery.

Again, another quick meditation on the type of work that must have gone into such pieces! Ecclesiastical embroidery for vestments was usually done either by convents with many hands involved in the embroidery, or by guilds, who also had several ladies who would take part in creating a piece. A work like this would be a major long-term project for one individual!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, historical needlework, needlework pictures, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, March 21, 2008
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I was scrolling through my files of photos I've taken of different pieces of ecclesiastical embroidery and came across these photos of a chasuble embroidered with the Last Supper and other images. So I thought I'd share them with you.

The chasuble itself is not embroidered - the motifs (as is often the case) were originally embroidered on separate pieces then appliqued together and fitted onto a chasuble. This whole piece looks to me like a bit of a salvage job: I think the embroidered cross and bands were probably on a different vestment originally. The vestment itself was probably too worn for church use, so the embroidery was salvaged and put onto a different chasuble.

The embroidered part is probably not old, though. I would say it's no older than the early - mid 1900's. The gold is certainly worked in imitation Japanese gold.

Apology in advance: these are not my clearest photos! I didn't have my new camera when I took them.



The image of the Last Supper is on the back of the chasuble, centered in the cross section of the cross.



Below the Last Supper is an embroidered image of Melchisedech, the high priest in the Old Testement. The allusion is to Christ, the High Priest, "after the order of Melchisedech."



Here you can see both images positioned on the chasuble. I guess I couldn't get in the whole cross. There is a motif below Melchisedech as well:



The Pelican is used as well as an image of Christ, as it was thought that the pelican would feed its young from its own flesh.

And some close ups (as best as I could get them) from a few of the scenes on the back of the chasuble:



The shading on these is nice. They're about 2" square.



A close-up of one of the apostles - note the detail in the eye. Even though the photo's a bit blurry, the eye really is amazingly detailed.



Two other apostles. I always find it funny, when you look at these pieces up close, how strange the eyebrows look!



On the front of the chasuble is the sacrifice of Isaac, another image from the Old Testament.



Above the sacrifice of Isaac is this little embroidered angel. I like it. I like the way the lifted wing fits in the arch!



And below the sacrifice of Isaac is the image of a ram, also an allusion to sacrifice.



And here's a close up of another one of the decorative medallions. Nice satin stitch!



And here's a relative close up of one of the acanthus-type designs that set off the arches around the figures. Really, the padded satin stitching is exquisite.

Imagine - just imagine! - the work that went into these pieces. I'd love to re-create something similar to this... maybe not the same theme, but on the same scale! How many years do you suppose it would take one person to manange that? !!!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, needlework pictures, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, March 20, 2008
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Just a quick note to wish you all a Happy Christmas and a New Year full of many blessings. Here's a gorgeous piece of Christmas embroidery to serve as my Christmas greeting to you! It's taken from Lucy Mackrille's Church Embroidery and Church Vestments. The description reads:

It is a marvel how much beauty can be put in outline stitch, also called stem stitch as seen in this lovely pall. The features of Joseph and the Virgin Mother are perfect, even exhibiting humility in every line. The figures are done in the finest split gray filo. The circle and lovely entwining scrolls are done in the finest gold metal thread - I think they call it cordonnet. It has been washed three times; and though the gold has lost some of its brilliance, it is yet gold. The star with its rays is gold, and also the rays around the blessed Child. The flowers in the corner are done in white filo in satin stitch and seeded.

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, December 25, 2007
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Or Nué is undoubtedly the most advanced type of goldwork, and it's an embroidery technique that fascinates me! Here are some resources...

First, I should clarify: I'm not talking about the half-way hazy "Or Nué" kits, where you get to work cotton threads over DMC metallics, and produce a vague image of something, but you're not quite sure what.

While these projects do introduce the concept of Or Nué, they aren't what fascinates me! It's the historical stuff that I can't get enough of!

So I wanted to share with you a couple resources on this technique, so that you can see what it is, maybe dabble in it yourself, or just delight in the historical pieces that reflect an unbelievable level of craftsmanship with needle and thread.

First of all, there's this article that Megan sent me a link to, although (grin) I did already have it! But she reminded me of it, and that's what counts! The article is titled "Classnotes on Or Nue Embroidery," and it's a 3-page PDF file with two nice, clear black and white photos. The article contains some useful information about the technique, and a good desicription of what it's all about. The article comes from an SCA site that actually has a whole index of articles on metal thread.

Then there's this post about Or Nue on Needle 'n Thread from not-too-long-ago, within which you will find some good resources and a picture of the Mantle of the Virgin.

Speaking of that incredible piece of embroidery, if you like this kind of stuff, consider spending a few moments looking at this page featuring close-ups of the Mantle of the Virgin from several different angles - and yes, they are clickable and zoomable! So you can get pretty close to examine the details. Here's a screen shot of one little area zoomed, so you can see what I mean:



The sparkle of the gold through the silk is lovely. And the shading on this piece is INcredible! And of course, I love the pearls! You can pan the image while it's zoomed, which is a nice feature.

One of these days, I want to work up some tutorials that cover goldwork! Here's hoping it will happen over Christmas break.

In the meantime, do enjoy the links above!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, historical needlework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, December 18, 2007
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In the 15th century, a goldwork technique known as Or Nué reflected the great skill of the medieval embroiderer. I recently received an e-mail from a friend with a photo of an exquisite example of this technique.

This is from the "Mantle of the Virgin," a cope embroidered apparently in the Netherlands in the 15th century. It belongs to a group of vestments embroidered for the Order of the Golden Fleece, a chivalric order founded in 1430.



This is "needle painting" at it's most glorious - it is worked over gold threads, the shading managed by the spacing between the couching stitches over the gold. The cope is, from what I understand (although I'm certainly open to correction!), linen, completely covered in metal thread and silk embroidery in a variety of techniques. The design was actually first painted by an artist onto the fabric, and then turned over to an embroiderer or a guild for the needleworking.

You can read about Or Nué on the Historical Needlework Resources website, where they also display a fantastic example of the technique.

If you want to try the technique yourself, you can check out this information on how to work Or Nué. It's merely a written explanation, but there are a few rough diagrams to give you the idea.

And, if you want to try the technique without the investment of "real" gold threads, you can practice with the numerous "gold" threads available at hobby stores, notably those produced by Kreinik. They're fairly inexpensive, and it would at least give you a sense of how Or Nué is accomplished. Heck, I've even played around with the technique using regular cotton perle as my laid thread - it works! The perle obviously has more give than metal threads, so the tension on the couching thread has to be pretty light. It's a really inexpensive and fun way to see if you like the technique.

To see how couching works, check out my couching video in the Video Library of Hand Embroidery Stitches.

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, historical needlework, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, September 22, 2007
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The Embroiderers' Guild in the UK publishes a magazine called Stitch. They have a good website with a lot of information on it, among which are some "sample articles" from Stitch Magazine in PDF format. The one article that caught my eye and set me exploring was the article on the Litany of Loreto Embroideries.

According to the article on the Stitch website about the Litany of Loreto Embroideries (PDF), their history is rather vague. One thing is certain, just by looking at them - they are definitely influenced by the romanticism of the pre-Raphaelites.



The embroidered panels are worked in long-and-short stitch in muted shades, with metal threads used for accents.

While the style of art reminds me of the pre-Raphaelites, overall, I can't help comparing the embroideries with the art of William Bouguereau in particular. Take a look:



Perhaps it's just the throne that makes me think of that particular artist - but I think it's also the motif on the gown in the embroidery and the motif on the throne. The lines in the embroidery are not as "soft" as those in Bouguereau's painting, but it reminds me of him, nevertheless. It also reminds me of the Beuronese style of art, which I mentioned when speaking of the samples of ecclesiastical embroidery at the Convent in Clyde, MO. The trees in the background and the clean lines are all rather Beuronese-ish.



This is another one of the embroideries. In all, there are 12 of the panels. It would have been something to see every title from the Litany of Loreto worked in embroidery - there are around 50. What a project! The Royal School of Needlework sells a pamphlet on the embroideries, if you're interested in seeing them all.

I have a pretty keen interest in ecclesiastical embroidery, so the article on the Stitch Magazine website was the first to catch my eye. There are other articles on there for the enthusiast - another historical one concentrates on the Bayeux Stitch. The article, Bayeux Stitch Ancient and Modern (PDF), shows the reader how to work the stitch and how it can be interpreted. It's pretty neat - check it out!

You can find these articles and more at Stitch Magazine online. While you're there, you might want to check out their projects page, where you'll find all sorts of inspiring photos of projects, and their stitch page, where you will find illustrations of a heap of embroidery stitches. On their In Focus page, you'll find a terrific index of the pieces housed at their museum.

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, historical needlework, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, September 22, 2007
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I'm a huge fan of historical needlework. One of my greatest interests is historical ecclesiastical or church embroidery, which is worked on vestments or vesture for the church. I'm always on the look-out for old books and any instructional materials, patterns, and whatnot for ecclesiastical embroidery.

What captivates me is the intricacy of the designs, the beautiful materials used, the symbolism, and the variety of techniques employed to create what are absolutely amazing works of art. Most textile museums of worth will feature ecclesiastical embroidery as a noteable - and even vital - part of the history of textiles.



The above is a photo I took of a gorgeous miter in the museum of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde, Missouri. It was apparently made in the early 1950's, the last piece worked by hand by the nuns in Clyde.

New ecclesiastical embroidery like this is hard to find these days. Even books detailing techniques and patterns are hard to come by. I'm an avid collector of such books, and have many from the turn of last century (early 1900's) in my collection. They can be pricey - I paid arolund $100 for one book, which is in perfect condition except for the slight discoloration from age. I grimaced at the price, but it was a rare find, and I haven't seen it (in good shape) available for less since then. I have found photocopies of it, but a photocopy is never as good as the original, especially when it comes to detailed pictures. So I saw it as an investment, bit the bullet, and paid the price.

But guess what? It's now available online! This particular book is by Lucy Vaughn Hayden Mackrille, and it's called Church Embroidery and Church Vestments. It's available on the Digital Archives of Weaving and Related Topics, a project of the University of Arizona. It comes in five parts, in PDF. You can find them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.

I'm still glad I bought the book. I've poured over it for ideas and for inspiration many times. I've replicated some of her patterns, like the one I used for this embroidered pall, worked in white on linen - though in the book it was worked in color, red on white, and in satin stitch and stem stitch:



Lucy Mackrille also has an image of it worked in white on linen, though the stitches used are slightly different. But this is where I took the overall concept for the pall I made.



I was really happy to find the book online, in case others are interested in browsing through it! I'm going to add it to my list of Needlework Books Online - I think it's a gem of a book for people interested in historical textiles or church embroidery.

Labels: book review, ecclesiastical embroidery, embroidery books, online needlework books, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, August 19, 2007
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Earlier, I touched upon Cloth of Gold, exploring what it is and how it's made. This exquisite textile made of gold-wrapped thread is expensive, somewhat hard to come by, and, in antique textiles, highly desired when in good shape. Here, I'm examining a piece made of cloth of gold, but which has unfortunately been damaged. The question is whether or not it is completely beyond repair.

The piece is a liturgical stole made from cloth of gold. It matches an exquisite set of vestments made from the same fabric.



This is a shot of one side of the stole, where the cloth of gold is in excellent shape, especially considering the age and the use of the piece.



And here is the other side, where you can see that the piece really is exquisite. The nature of this particular cloth is damask-like, with a pattern woven into the overall cloth. It is not embroidered in any way - the pattern you see is simply part of the pattern of the cloth.



There's a beautiful goldwork cloth on each side of the front of the stole. Again, it's in really good shape - there are a few spots where the gold thread is broken, but overall this does not mar the beauty of the piece. Age and wear are not highly evident.

But then, the tragedy:



Here you can see the torn fibers that need repair. Note how the cloth of gold is made in layers - underneath the gold thread, there are at least three layers: the first is the "base" of the fabric - it looks like a coursely woven material. The second and third layers directly under the gold are soft gold-colored thread in layers like padding. Then comes the gold.



It reminds me somewhat of shredded wheat cereal. What a mess! The question is, how can cloth of gold like this be repaired in a way that shows the least amount of damage? I'm musing over this question - and if you have any ideas, I'm all ears!



Here's the spot on the opposite side of the stole - not as bad, but still noticeably damaged!



The fringe at the bottom of the stole also needs some attention. The strands are crossed and held together by red thread, in an attractive pattern, but the red thread needs work!



In fact, the red thread is completely missing on half of the fringed edge.

The fringe won't be difficult to fix up. It's not really damaged - it just needs to be re-worked with red thread.

The cloth of gold itself, though, definitely needs repair before this piece can be used again. So here's my question: any good ideas on how to go about this? Of course, there are always those professionals that restore textiles, but I'm going to (very carefully!) give it a go myself before resorting to a professional. This may be a mistake, but the cost of such a repair would probably be tremendous, if it can be done at all.

If you have any thoughts, suggestions, ideas, or inspirations, feel free to share 'em!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, historical needlework, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, June 14, 2007
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Here's another example of ecclesiastical embroidery - a chasuble of the Crucifixion, worked entirely by hand, with embroidery and goldwork. It is really stunning - the "needlepainting" techniques that achieve the shadows and shading are so expertly done that, from a distance, it's difficult to realize that the piece is embroidered. I've included here several close up photos so you can see the range of colors used in this exquisite piece of historical church needlework.

This piece is housed at the Benedictine Convent in Clyde, Missouri, which I explained about previously when displaying photos of an embroidered cope. The vestments on display at this convent are all behind glass - some in drawers, with a couple exhibits in large, walk-around display cases. This particular piece was lying in a drawer behind glass, so only the back was available for viewing and photographing.



This is as full a shot of the chasuble as I could take. To give you the basic layout, underneath the crucifix is Our Lady of Sorrows (Mary, the mother of Jesus), and underneath her is St. Mary Magdalene. The vessel in Mary Magdalene's hands is indicative of the oil she annointed Christ's feet with when she washed them with her tears and dried them with her hair. At the right arm of Christ crucified (so, on the left side of the photo) is St. John, the "beloved" apostle, present at the crucifixion along with Mary, the mother of Christ, and Mary Magdalene. On the left arm (so, on the right in the photo) is .... ? I don't know - perhaps St. Peter. It could also be, perhaps, St. Benedict, as it's a Benedictine convent. At the top of the Crucifix is God the Father and the dove symbolizing the Holy Ghost.

Design-wise, this chasuble is lovely. The color schemes are pleasing, the symbolism is thought-provoking (as it should be), and the embellishment of the embroidery (with the goldwork) enhances, not detracts, from the needleworked scene. It's quite stunning work!



This is amazing - it's the coloring and shading that capture the eye. The gold and blue work together so well! The realistic folds and shadows are stunning!



Here is a close-up on the face, where you can really get a good idea of the gold and blue shading. Note also the eyes, the smooth stitching on the face, the two tones in the mouth (so the lower lip is shaded).



The smaller insert of Mary Magdalene is not as exquisite as the one above, but some details - especially the expression on the face - are not to be missed. A lovely smaller piece.



Here is a close-up on the face of Mary Magdalene. Note the stitch direction in the face, the eyes, the eyebrows, and all the details that contribute to the "painting."



If you look at the crucifix from a distance (above), and then look at the photo below - the close up on the face of Christ - you will see that "impressionist" appearance in the needlepainting. If you've ever looked at an impressionist painting up close, you see the strokes and rather a jumble of color, but when you step back, the effect is much smoother.



Look at how many colors are used to produce the face! These people really knew the art of needlepainting! Check out the rose, the red, the yellows, the greenish-browns - all work together to create a very "smooth" face from a distance - perfectly placed shadows, and very realistic.



This is the image of St. John. I'm not sure why the snake in the cup - undoubtedly an image of temptation of sorts, but I don't know the details of the story behind it. The flash really reflected on the glass here, so the photo isn't as nice as I could wish!



The dove symbolizing the Holy Ghost is incredibly detailed for something so small - approximately 2.5 - 3 inches across, tops. Note how the goldwork is couched on the halo - it's not "bricked," but rather creates a "sweeping" circular movement.



Again, the color selection for the face is amazing. Also, the detail in the hair and beard is exquisite. Note the stitch direction in the cheeks - the horizontal stitches create the shadow.



And finally, here's a close-up on the goldwork that embellishes the whole piece.
I hope readers enjoy seeing this stitching close-up! It really is amazing work! Imagine the understanding of colors and the artistic sense that each needleworker who contributed to this had to possess. What an art!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, historical needlework, needlepainting, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, April 06, 2007
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Here it is, at long last, after approximately 380 hours from start to finish - an embroidery project worked entirely by hand, in silk threads and gold. My goal was to finish by this past Sunday, April 1st, to deliver on Monday morning. I missed the deadline by one day, and delivered it Tuesday morning.



Continue on to see the close-ups!

This is an example of ecclesiastical embroidery. I've been giving regular updates on the progress of this project, and you can find them all in order here:

• Agnus Dei project underway
• Project Update #2
• Project Update #3
• Project Update #4
• Project Update #5
• Project Update #6

This past weekend, I finished the gold around the edges, the blood, and the finish work on the hill, adding grass and flowers.



Here's a shot of a few bunches of flowers around the foot. The flowers are worked in flat silk - some in Au Ver a Soie Soie Ovale and some in True Embroideries Sleave Silk from Helen Stevens. I was rather random in the creation of the flowers - I wanted the effect of wild flowers - not anything stylized.



Here are the yellow flowers at the base of the staff. For colors, I wanted to mimic the brighter colors of spring rather than pastels. I thought the effect would be better, considering the brighter colors of the whole work.



Here's the whole hill. I didn't want "too many" flowers - sometimes less is more! The tufts of grass are just straight stitches in two strands of Soie d'Alger. I combined two colors in some blades of grass, and in others, used just one.



The blood is part of the symbolism of the whole image - the sacrificial Lamb of God (Agnus Dei). It is worked in three colors of red, all in stem stitch.



This is a close-up of the outlining on the lamb, above the back legs. I wanted a little definition in the body of the lamb, so I outlined it in stem stitch, using one strand of YLI silk in a grey-ish brown. I didn't want a "bold" outline. YLI silk is fine and well-suited for delicate lines.



You can see here a close up on the gold couching, and, above it, part of the outlining of the inside of the gold. Using the same YLI silk - one strand - that's used around the lamb, I outlined around the whole inside of the gold trim. I wanted a "hint" of a shadow and a finished edge. Underneath the corner of the book here, I worked two rows, since there was a small gap of white between the corner of the book and the gold. If I had thought about it in advance, I would have couched the gold in a definite ornamental pattern, rather than just a "brick" pattern, alternating the placement of the stitches over each row.



The finished product! You can see the original outline of the design still - I did not work the gold all the way to the line, as I thought it would be overkill. Besides, when I mounted it on the vestment today, I still had space for a red outline outside the gold. I'll post a completed picture of the whole vestment once it is assembled.



And finally, a long shot from the side, so you can see the gleam of the gold.

Now that it's finished, I can move on to other projects. Whew! That was a challenge, but it was a lot of fun and a good learning experience. I hope you enjoyed the updates on this particular project. Next up - some quilt squares....! Which will be very relaxing! Thanks for reading and for your kind compliments and enthusiasm over the last couple months as I worked this project!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, April 04, 2007
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Just a quick update on my corrent embroidery project, for those of you interested in taking a look. This is a hand-embroidered medallion for the back of a vestment. It's supposed to be finished by the time I go to bed tonight! The lamb is finished, and now it's just a matter of a few details and the outside edge, which will be couched in gold.

This embroidery project has been underway for about eight and a half weeks now. I calculate I've spent about 350 hours on it! Needless to say, outside of work, I haven't been doing much else besides plying the needle!

Without further ado, here's the update:



I have a tiny bit more outlining to do on the lamb, and a little area to fix on the neck next to the left side of the halo.



The eye looks a bit exaggerated, with the dark lines around it, but it will be viewed from far away, so it needs to show up! I wasn't exactly satisfied with the inside of the eye, but it's too late to go over it, and the overall effect is ok.



This is a close-up on the "wool." The lamb is stitched with a stem-stitch filling, worked in two strands of Soie d'Alger, over which I worked flat silk by whipping little bits of the stem stitching. I also worked in, here and there, small rounded straight stitches.



Here's a side angle, so you can see the effect of the gold which is couched over the sky.

Next step: finish outlining the lamb, then I'll do the blood and the little flower details on the hill (tufts of grass and little flowers), and then couch the gold around the edge. It's going to be a long day....!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, needlepainting, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, April 01, 2007
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I have a penchant for historical embroidery, especially when it comes to two categoriest: garments and ecclesiastical work. I journeyed to Clyde, Missouri a while back to see the collection of hand-embroidered vestments on display in the museum at a Benedictine convent. These vestments were embroidered some time between the end of the 1800's - 1953-ish. I thought I'd share some of the photos they allowed me to take. I think anyone interested in the art of embroidery would find the work somewhat fascinating!

To set the stage, I'll tell you a bit about the monastery itself before getting into the embroidery.



The convent was built in the 1800's in answer to a request from the Benedictines for some Sisters from Europe to help support the work of the Benedictines in Missouri. Eventually, the nuns established what is called a Convent of Perpetual Adoration, where they kept regular prayer times before the Blessed Sacrament in their chapel.



The chapel is stunning. It's decorated in the Beuronese style of art, which originated in the Abbey of Beuron in Germany. Beuronese art has an interesting history, if you like art history. There's a pretty comprehensive page on the history of the Beuronese Murals at Conception Abbey, which also contains some information on the history of this style. Conception Abbey is located just a few miles from the monastery in Clyde. Here's a photo below of the interior of the chapel - many of the hand embroidered vestments in their museum imitate to an extent the style of art. The decoration seen in this part of the chapel over the main altar is all worked in mosaics.



Now, for some hand embroidered vestments. As you look at these, imagine the time, energy, and skill that went into them! For now, we'll look at the hood of a cope. A cope is a large, cape-like vestment once worn for different functions, including Benediction and also by different clerics during a Pontifical Mass, where a Bishop was presiding. It was also used in the Sung Mass at the beginning during a prayer called the "Asperges Me." I don't believe the cope is used often today in any common liturgical function. Even if it is, you probably won't find too many like this.



The scene is the Annunciation, recounted in Luke, Chapter 1 of the Bible, where the Angel Gabriel greets Mary with the news that she is to be the mother of God.



Here's a closer-up of the Blessed Virgin. I think the detail in the hair and at the top of her garments is amazing.



Here's a detail of the background: couched gold, embroidered on top, with black pearls.



Here's a side view, so you can get a glimpse of the color in the wings of the angel. The two capes are quite striking - note the "painted" look of the folded and draped fabric. It's really pretty!



Here's a close-up on the edge of the wing and on the background, where you can see that the design was embroidered over the gold, in a dark red geometrical pattern.



Here's a close-up of the angel's face. The stitches get a little blurred, but the face is entirely embroidered in a kind of long-and-short stitch. The halo is couched gold. I'm pretty certain it's gold jap.



Anyone see a problem with this when you look at it up close? From far away, the bulge on the neck is not as obvious. There is a little discrepancy here in the desire to produce the right shadow, and the actual outcome of the shadow. Again, from far away, it isn't as obvious. When you look at it up close, though, it looks a little odd. It certainly does not take away from the beauty of the entire piece, and it's less noticeable depending on the angle of viewing.

So there you have it - a very nice piece of historical needlework. I figure this was worked during the first half of the 1900's - probably between the 20's - 40's. I'm not sure of the date, though, and they didn't have information available on each specific piece. The last hand-embroidered item in the museum at Clyde is a miter, which was apparently worked in the 1950's.

Visit the website of the Benedictine Sisters in Clyde, Missouri if you want to read more about them.

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, historical needlework, needlepainting

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, March 28, 2007
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Time is ticking - my current embroidery project must be finished this coming Monday, April 2nd. I thought I'd post an update on it. Right now, I have just a few more steps to go.

I began this embroidery project about seven and a half weeks ago, working on it mostly at night outside of work hours, and on weekends. I've made a few mistakes along the way, especially in ordering supplies (which is a big mistake, considering just about everything had to be mail-ordered).

If you want to see the progress of the project, you can check out these phases:

• Beginning of the project: the project is mounted and the design transferred, with a little bit of the grass in.
• Second Update: the book is finished and the sky is going in. I took the sky out and opted for a different approach.
• Third Update: The flat silk is laid in for the sky. I had to correct some parts of it. The halo is also begun.
• Fourth Update: half the sky is couched with #4 gold passing (2% gold).

When you seen how far I still have to go, you might think I'll never make it. I'm pretty determined to make it, so we shall see! I still have to complete the whole lamb, then add the tufts of grass and some little flowers on the "hill," and then couch the gold around the edge.



So here you can see the whole effect of the work so far. I have a little "tweaking" to do on the halo, but overall, I like the effect. Had I known originally that I would do gold between the red parts of the halo, I would have stitched them in a different order. I originally planned on doing white in there, but when I started, it didn't look so good - so I tore it out and went with gold.



You can see the halo a little better here. I'm disappointed, personally, in my red couching stitches, especially on the lower left portion of the halo. Live and learn. On that section, too, I made the mistake of plunging the ends as I worked - tsk tsk. It makes a difference in the finished look. The other sections, where I plunged the ends after couching, look flatter.



And here's a better shot - you can see the sky and the halo pretty well. I surrounded the outer rim of the halo with the same dark red silk found on the edge inside the halo.



This little area in here was perhaps the most difficult to work. This is the only place on the whole thing so far where I'm glad I did the sky first. I'm sure the sky should have been done first, but there are a few areas where I would have made little corrections in the design if the sky were not already in.



Here's a close up on the top of the banner, near the staff. The banner is worked in a combination of colors: overall, it is white with a red cross. To shade the white around the turns, I used cream and 'brute' - a kind of champagne color.



And here's one of the tips of the banner, shaded in the same colors as the top part of it. I outlined the banner in a brown, to supply a contrast. I want the banner, halo, and lamb to stand out from the sky.

And so there you have it so far! I have six days left to finish it, the majority of which are spent at work teaching and such, so wish me luck!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, needlepainting, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, March 27, 2007
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When I reviewed Floresita's vintage embroidery pattern site, I made the mistake of attributing the Vogart library to Floresita, who pointed out that it actually belongs to Jane Stockton. My apologies to Jane Stockton! I found out from Floresita that Jane also has an embroidery site - come to find out it's one I'm pretty familiar with, as I check it fairly regularly.

The Needles Excellency is a site devoted to historical needlework, and right now, Jane Stockton has updated her latest project, which is a hanging worked in klosterstitch. Check out her progress! It's really fantastic. I'd love to know more about the hanging - the design, for example, and the symbols on it, the choice of threads, and whatnot. It's really quite beautiful so far!



Klosterstitch is a "couch as you go" kind of stitch. It's also called Romanian couching, or Bokhara. "Kloster" meaning "cloister," it has roots in convent embroidery - that is, embroidery done for the Church. While I don't have the opportunity right now to add Romanian couching to my Video Library of Stitches, I do have it on my list of stitches I want to add. In the meantime, you might want to read about Romanian couching and see how it's worked.

Thanks, Jane, for a magnificent and fun website! Good luck on your Klosterstitch hanging! And my apologies for the misdirection on your Vogart Library!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, embroidery links, Hand embroidery stitches, historical needlework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, March 22, 2007
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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, March 14, 2007
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The gold couching is going in slowly on this current project. The sky background is worked in long satin stitch, with flat silk, in a gradiant of blues. Over this, I'm couching gold passing.

While I like goldwork, and I do like the effect of the gold couched over the silk, this evening I'm just not too enthused over my efforts. Perhaps this is because it is so much couching!



I still need to straighten out a few of the lines. I'll do this with a laying tool or melore, just nudging them into place a bit. The most tedious part of this type of work is securing the gold after it has been plunged to the back. Different instructors advise on doing this whole plunging thing differently. In Tanja Berlin's instructions, she says to plunge after the gold has been couched. In Ruth Chamberline's Beginner's Guide to Goldwork, she says to plunge as you go. For the majority of this, I plunged my threads to the back as I went, catching them in the couching stitches to secure them. In the smaller spaces, though, I found it easier to couch the gold, leaving the ends lying on the front of the work, and then plunging them after the gold was couched. But then comes the most tedious part of all! Securing the gold after plunging it!! The left side of the design should go faster, though, as there aren't as many small broken-up spaces.



Here's a side view, so that you can see the "gleam" of the gold, which you don't get from a straight-on shot. If the light is right, it does gleam straight on, a little bit. But from the side, it really shows up.

The gold really tones down the sky - almost too much - but I don't think I will be able to judge the overall effect until the entire piece is finished.

The technique, by the way, is called Italian Stitch, which I first learned about in Lucy Mackrille's book, Church Embroidery and Church Vestments. This book is a rare old gem, fetching prices up to $125 on Amazon and ABE Books. It's hard to come by, but if you are interested in church embroidery, it really is a wonderful resource. I haven't seen this technique by this name in any other book, although I'm certain it must have been rather frequently used in different church embroidery projects. In Lucy's book, she used this technique on an Agnus Dei design as well, which gave me the idea in the first place. She does the entire background, though, including the grassy hill, in flat silks couched over with gold. The only things not couched in gold are the banner and the lamb. Her design also lacks the book at the base of the quatrefoil. And her design is smaller - probably about 8" square, tops.

So, there's my update for now. Hopefully, I'll get the gold done this week so I can move on to more colorful aspects of the design.

If you want to see the progress of this project, you can check out the following phases:

• Embroidery Project Underway - the very beginning, from nothing to some grass
• Embroidery Project Update 2 - the grass and book finished
• Embroidery Project Update 3 - the silk in the sky finished

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, pictures, silk, wip

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, March 13, 2007
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This embroidery project has me fully occupied! I have been working around the clock, trying to meet an impending deadline, and finally, after this week, I've got the sky in (more or less). Here some photo updates of this project, which includes lots of teachniques: needlepainting, Italian stitch, goldwork, couching, etc.


Worked in semi-flat silk in very long satin stitches that will eventually be couched over with gold passing thread, the sky in this project consists of four colors of blue in a gradiant going upwards. You can see it in the photo below:



Overall, I like the effect, but there are some adjustments that I will be making this week. For example, considering the gradiant from light blue to medium (the first color change going upwards), the change is too sudden, and the right side of the design does not match the left as well as I would like it to. So I will blend some of the medium colors into the light and some of the light into the medium, hopefully correcting the problem.

You can also see a few buckles here and there in the silk. That is the difficulty of working in such long spaces of satin stitch. Normally, you wouldn't cover this much of a distance in a continual strand of thread. But since I will be couching over with the gold, this will secure the silk. In the meantime, the silk is in a precarious situation, and the slightest thing can catch it: hands, fingernails, loose threads lying on the work - the whole endeavor is rather strenuous when it comes to taking care of that silk!



My favorite part of the sky is the very top. I like the way this gradiant worked - it looks natural, and the blend is very gradual. I also like the color of blue here. I'm not super-keen on the very light blue at the base of the design, but as it works upwards, I like it better.



I began working on the nimbus, or halo, while I was waiting for the rest of my silk to arrive. The red portions of the halo are worked in long and short stitch, in three shades of red. the outer, darker shade will provide a slight "shadow" when the goldwork is done around the outside of the halo.



A close up on the long-and-short stitching. This technique is not as difficult as it seems, although beginners seem to shy away from it. Once you get the basic technique of long and short stitch down, you will find it's really a very "forgiving" stitch. You can sneak stitches in here and there to even things up or fill in tiny spaces, etc. I love this stitch!



And here's another close up on the beginning of the long and short stitch on the halo. The longer stitches worked in the middle are my directional stitches - you can mark these on with a pencil, but I occasionally stitch them in with one of the shades of thread I'm using. I can cover them up completely or work them into the color scheme, depending on the design.



And, finally, the beginning of the couching over the silk. To keep the spacing even, I originally marked off quarter-inch sections around the top and bottom of the quatrefoil. However, approaching it this way, I'd have to stretch my gold passing down the length of the design and match up the marks. I didn't like that idea because it seems to me that it may lead to waste. So instead, I'm counting off the threads in the linen (it's an even-weave) in the middle of the design and at the top of the design, and lining the passing up this way.

Before couching, I run my couching thread (Au Ver a Soie 100/3 in gold) through beeswax to give it extra strength and to protect it from the gold.

So there it is so far. I'm certainly open to any suggestions or constructive criticism!! Thanks!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, needlepainting, pictures, silk, wip

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, March 05, 2007
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Previously, I mentioned that I'm working on an embroidery project against a short deadline. I'm down to less than five weeks to go, and have managed not quite a quarter of the project. But I'll give you an update, anyway, and hopefully, the next time I mention it, I'll have made some better progress!

This is an embroidery project for church, so the design is a religious one, the Agnus Dei or Lamb of God symbol. When I mentioned this embroidery project previously, I had managed to get only some of the grass in. Although I've finished a bit more, I have to admit I'm not super satisfied with it! I'm hoping that as it develops, it grows on me.



This is a photo of the whole project so far. The colors in the sky - especially the darker blue - are not quite that bright of a blue. They have more of a periwinkle hue to them.



Here you can see the book up close with the Alpha and Omega symbols. The pages are stitched in long and short stitch, in a tan, cream, and white Soie d'Alger. The edges of the pages are worked in split stitch in two tones of red. I stitched down the middle of the spine and around the pages of the book in a darker stem stitch. The Alpha and Omega are worked in padded satin stitch.



Here's a relative close up on the sky. The sky is much shinier than the rest, because it's worked in a flat silk. I'm using Eterna Silk for this, though I'd rather be using Soie Ovale, which lacks the color range, as explained in this comparison of flat silks. The stitches here are satin stitches that encroach on each other, kind of like an exaggerated long and short stitch. I'm using a laying tool to get the silks to lie flat. Last night, I decided to take out the darker blue of the sky here, and try a different approach. I'm going to sketch in a barely curved gradation in the sky, from the very light blue only up to about a medium blue, so I'll be keeping the color under the belly of the Lamb and extending it over to the edges. The sky just isn't measuring up so far, so I have to do SOMETHING. I looks more like a river to me!



To see how the Italian Stitch would work out, I started couching a little bit of the gold under the belly of the Lamb. I'm using a size 4 2% gold passing, and couching it with gold-colored silk thread run through a cake of beeswax.



Here's a closer close-up on the book, so you can catch the shading.



And finally, a close-up on the spine down the middle of the book.

So that's my update so far! If you have any critiques or suggestions, I'm all ears!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, needlepainting, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, February 27, 2007
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Historical ecclesiastical embroidery is a pet fascination of mine. Have you ever seen magnificent pieces of embroidery or goldwork in museums and wanted to get up close to them to check them out? I have! But we don't often get the opportunity to handle them and to get up close with a camera, and even if we did, it's not always likely that we'd be allowed to photograph the piece.

This is a chasuble from a sacristy at a Catholic church, and the goldwork is stunning! It's still in use, actually, so it isn't in a museum, but rather serving its intended purpose.

I was able to photograph it a few weeks ago for a presentation I put together on pieces of historical church embroidery. I thought I'd share some of the photos with you so that you can appreciate the beauty of this work of art, and to inspire you to think about the type of work which must necessarily have gone into such a glorious piece, created for a glorious purpose: worship of God. They just don't make 'em like they used to!



Above is a view of the majority of the back of the vestment. The design includes the central motif, which is the IHS surmounted by a cross, and then the rest of the vestment is worked in scrolls of grapes, wheat, and roses.




Here is a a relatively close-up shot of a bunch of grapes. Notice the sheen in the leaves at the top of the photo. Also note the damaged area on the scross at the bottom of the photo, where you can see the brick-colored padding under the gold. It would be difficult for anyone but the most skilled professional to repair a piece like this, especially considering the coloring of the gold.



Another close-up on a bunch of grapes - the vine is worked in gold purl, and the inside of the wheat kernels is worked in folded gold plate.




The goldwork here is fantastic! This central motif is mostly worked with gold passing, couched over padding in such a way to create this texture. I cannot imagine the skill it takes to create something so precisely stitched as this part of the design. The gold looks liquid and catches the light beautifully.




This goldwork rose is lovely, as is all the surrounding embellishment. You can see the wear on the goldwork fairly clearly in this photo - note the area on the top, back petal of the rose.




And finally, a very close-up shot of one of the bunches of grapes. Note the precision in the purl work on the vine, and the purls that surround the individual grapes. Also note the spangles - how smooth and flat they lay, and that the purl used in attaching them looks fluid. Absolutely incredible!

I think this is a stunning piece, and I could spend quite a bit of time pouring over different elements to study the goldwork on it. In the relatively short amount of time I spent studying it, I could not find a flaw in the stitching. It is absolutely precise. The ground on which the goldwork is worked is cloth of gold.

So, what do you think? Amazing, isn't it?

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, historical needlework, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, February 21, 2007
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Here's the latest major embroidery project I've got underway. I thought I'd share it with you while I work against a six-week deadline. All other embroidery endeavors will most likely cease in the next six weeks, as this one is rather time consuming!

This project is for the back of a vestment, so it would fall under the category of "church embroidery" or ecclesiastical embroidery. The image is the Agnus Dei, or Lamb of God. Traditionally, the Lamb, as a symbol of Christ, is portrayed with a white banner with a red cross on it, standing on a hill or grass, generally with some flowers at the feet. The background is the sky at morning, although the motif is sometimes worked on a gold background, or simply on blue fabric. There is often a "fountain" of blood, symbolizing the slain Lamb shedding his blood for the salvation of the world.

So my first step in this project was to work up the design. I did this first in a sketch book, then on graph paper, finally transferring it to tracing paper several times until I got it where I wanted it. Then I layed in some color to get a color scheme. The design is placed within a quatrefoil shape.

Once I had my design where I wanted it, I pricked along all the lines with a handy piercing tool (you can find these at Nordic Needle). An alternative is a needle stuck in a cork (which makes it easier to hold). Then I prepared my fabric and mounted it on stretcher bars:



This is the "next best" option for setting up a project (the best being a slate frame, which is virtually impossible to be found in the US right now). The concept is that you stretch your fabric and pin it with tacks. This is easily done with the right tools, like the EZ Tack It kit from Lacis. Once the fabric was mounted, I pounced the design on with a pouncing tool and pounce powder. I should have taken pictures of the process, but I forgot - next time!

After pouncing, "connected the dots" of the pounce with watercolors, using a very fine paint brush.



So here it is, on the frame which is mounted on a stand. The design is 11" x 11" at the farthest points of the quatrefoil.



Here's a close up. I have a few adjustments to make in the design as I go - for example, the banner's not quite right on the top line. It needs to curve in more. I'll adjust that when I do the sky.



This is the grass going in. I'm using stem stitch, not long and short stitch. Since I'm working horizontally in many patches of different greens, it makes more sense to use stem stitch.



You can see the variations in color here. For thread, I'm using silk - Au Ver a Soie, Soie d'Alger, one strand. I ordered it from Twining Thread, where they carry the whole range of colors and the service is great, and the prices either the same or about 5 cents less per skein than other places.



You can see the patches of color being worked.



Once the background grass is finished, I'll work in tufts of grass in different greens, as well as clusters of flowers. (That'll be the fun part!)

The next step after the grass is the sky, which will be worked in long strands of flat silk in different blues, and then couched over with gold, in the old "Italian Stitch" style. You can see what that looks like here.

For fabric on this project, I'm using Legacy Linen - Alba Maxima, which is a relatively high count, evenweave linen, with about 40 threads per inch. It's great stuff! I purchased it through Twining Thread as well.

So, this is what's keeping me occupied for the next six weeks! I'll keep you posted with pictures, etc., as I progress.

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, needlepainting, needlework products, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, February 17, 2007
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I wanted to share with you some textile and embroidery photos from Rome. My sister and her husband just got back from a two-week holiday in celebration of my brother-in-law's retirement and their 20th anniversary. Knowing my fascination with textiles and embroidery, my sister managed to take a few shots of things she thought would interest me. I think the fabric shoes take the cake!!

First, here's a shot of some religious embroidery (there's a lot of this in Rome, of course!). It looks to me like it is a combination of embroidery and applique. At first, I thought the colors might not be "true," but she says they are - just faded with time. It's a wallhanging, banner, or altar frontal - she can't remember which. (You do tend to get saturated from the visual gluttony!)



The next is a close up on some goldwork and silk embroidery. Pretty!



Here are the shoes. They were in a shop window. I love the fabric, but I doubt they'd hold up to Midwest USA winters!



Below is another example of goldwork and silk. You can see the goldwork on the leaf on the left side of the photo, and on the far right. This type of silk embroidery is done over board or very stiff and dense felt-like wool to get the squared-off edges.



The rather long photo below is goldwork and silk again. I think the blue flower above must be taken from the same piece. The styles are exactly the same, and the fabric looks the same. Again, typical goldwork and silk combination. I think it's a photo of a mitre in a shop window. I love the simple design and the combination of colors.



This below is a velvet tapestry, or altar frontal, or something.... it's embroidered. It apparently hangs in a very long hallway going to the bathrooms in some museum or church. The piece is actually very large, and this is only the very end section of the photo. I like the design and the contrast on the red.



Below is another of the same, in the same hallway. This was apparently completely covered in embroidery. It's apparently rather old and not in the best of shape, but still really beautiful. The colors are really stunning. It's apparently a mixture of applique and embroidery, as you can see in the close up image further down.



And yet another of the same - a close up of a section of the photo above - taken from right below the piece.



Ahhhh - I love goldwork. Here's a sample of some goldwork, in a typical ecclesiastical design.



And, lastly, another piece of goldwork, probably on the same piece as the photo above - magnificent!



Much better than a postcard! Thanks, deary!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, needlepainting, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, January 27, 2007
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Here are a few more photos of embroidered eyes, this time on a few different animals. Some of these are "stylized" - that is, they are just representative of the particular animal's eye, without being a perfectly natural reproduction of it.

Still, you'll notice the care and detail that goes into a realistic-looking eye, even if it is a bit stylized. There isn't much difference in the techniques between these animals' eyes and the embroidered faces and eyes that I showed you earlier (here and here).



This is a pelican as typically used in religious motifs. The shot is taken at a bit of a distance. The way the threads pick up the light in this shot make the eye look rather glassy, which it isn't. It almost has a gold shine to it. Here's a close-up of the very same eye - note how important the glint is to achieving a realistic effect:



The next eye is from the same motif, only on a baby pelican:



Besides noticing the eye, it's interesting to note the amount of stitching in this bird's body. The bottom layer may be padding created with yarn - it's difficult to tell. In any case, it is padding (whether in bunches of yarn or a layer of stitching), as the bird stands out in relief from the background fabric. Over the padding, vertical long stitches are worked in a fine thread, which is then stitched over in long lines of split stitch, which are worked in the appropriate colors to provide shading.



This is the eye of an eagle, stylized, but the eye itself is rather impressive, considering the head of the eagle is only approximately an 1.5 inches high (from neck to crown). The variation in the color used in the iris - the light brown and dark brown, with two tiny stitches of white on the left side side - is delicate and detailed for something so small.



This last one is the eye of a lamb, whose head is in profile. It looks rather flat - there's no variation in color and no glint.

I have a feeling I'm the only one who finds these eyes so very interesting, but I hope that they come in handy for anyone doing any kind of figure embroidery, or even jacobean or crewel work, where animals are often part of the scene. One thing that I've learned from looking up close at this kind of work is to remember the glint!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, historical needlework, needlepainting, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, January 09, 2007
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The eye is the window to the soul, some poet said at some point, and embroidered eyes, I think, are a window to the soul of the artist - we see the artist's skill and creative genious in the creation of just the right expression, in thread, on the face of a person or animal. Here are a few more examples of embroidered eyes for you to examine.

These eyes are an element of needlepainting - that style of embroidery that achieves a painted look with the medium of thread.



In this particular set of eyes, you get a good view of how a gleam is created. The pupils, irises, and the whites are created with straight stitches, with the whites and pupils worked in the same vertical direction as the rest of the face. Note, however, that the iris is stitched around its curve, and the gleam is added with a lighter blue, stitched on top of the darker blue, following the curve of the iris as well. Notice that the shading under the eyes is achieved with alternating darker flesh tones (more like brown), and that the edge of the top lid and the top of the lid itself are set off with stem stitch. Notices where the shadows fall underneath the eyebrow - in towards the nose. This stitching is perhaps not as fine as some of the eyes in the previous article on embroidered eyes, but it is effective enough that from far away, the result is a smooth, painted effect.



The camera picked up the gleam on the top edges of the stitches, but here is another fine set of eyes. Notice the lighter blue in the iris, and the glints (in a couple tiny white stitches) on the left sides of both pupils, extending into the irises.



These eyes are mostly closed - looking down. You can get just a peek at the eyes underneath the lids. Unlike most of the other eyes here, these are bedecked with fine lashes created with long straight stitches. In context, on a face that's no more than 2 inches long, the eyelashes are a nice effect. The dark tips of the stitches are again a result of the photographing of the work. They are the points where the stitches split. There is very little shading done in this face - only a bit around the nose. Notice that the eyes are created solely with lines of stem stitch, with the slightest shading on the very edge of the lids.



The stitching here is much heavier than in some of the other figures, but again, in context and from a little distance, the stitches fade into each other and create just the right effect. In this sense, these last two images remind me of impressionist paintings. They look rather splotchy up close, but from a distance, the picture is smooth and clear.



And finally, these eyes are in the same style as the previous photo, yet they are open. The heavier looking stitches make the work seem as if it would look thick and bulky, but, on the contrary, from far away, the result is a perfect expression. Note the glint in the left eye, and the variety of colors used to provide the shading. These two last sets of eyes belong to faces that are approximately 2 inches long.

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, historical needlework, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, January 04, 2007
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Especially in historical works of embroidery, figures of people and animals were worked in needlepainting techniques, using either long and short stitch, split stitch, or a combination of stitching methods. To me, one of the most amazing aspects of figure embroidery is the eyes. Here, I've included some close-ups on eyes in works of embroidery. By studying them closely, you can get a good idea of how to achieve realistic eyes in your embroidery work - whether on embroidered people or animals.

The realism achieved by needle artists in figure embroidery is absolutely amazing! Skin tones, facial features and expressions, draped fabrics, backgrounds, greenery, etc., all unfold before the viewer in the same way that a great piece of painted art would. When we look closely at the stitching, we can appreciate the time, effort, and artistry in works of figure embroidery.

I always notice people's eyes, and it's no different when I look at an embroidered work. The artist uses the eyes primarily to get across facial expression - the eye itself, the glint, pupils, and shadows, and then the eye brow. In addition to the eyes in figure embroidery, the mouth also conveys the facial expression, but for now, we'll look at eyes.

I've got quite a collection of eyes to share with you, mostly of people, but some of animals. These are all taken from historical vestments which I have had the pleasure of being able to see, study, touch (in some cases), and photograph. So I'll be sharing them with you for your appreciation, and also as a learning tool. Sometimes, if we could just see up close "how they did that" we can learn to achieve similar results. If nothing else, we can at least be inspired and gain a greater appreciation for the art of embroidery.



Note the direction of the stitches: for the majority of the face, split long and short stitch is used, going vertically straight down the face. Around the eyes, though, we can notice some different stitches in different directions. Directly above the eye lid, for example, split stitch is worked surrounding the top and sides of the lid, in a slightly darker flesh tone, and above this line of split stitch, you can make out a series of straight stitches in the same color as the outline worked over the flesh tones, horizontal and pointing into the outline. The lid itself is shaded, light in the middle (above the pupil) and dark in the corners. At the edge of the lid, above the pupil, is a very fine, dark line of stem stitch. At the base of the eye, on the edge of the lower lid, a line of stem stitch is worked in a lighter brown, to imitate the ledge of the lower lid. The "bags" under the eye (for lack of a nicer term!) are split stitch in flesh tones, but notice their direction - while they are all vertical (like the rest of the face), in the corner of the right eye, a few straight stitches are worked out from the corner by the nose towards the top of the cheek. On the left eye, the same thing happens, but from the outside corner of the eye, in towards the top of the cheek. The eyes themselves, half closed, are satin stitched in white, grey, blue, and black. The pupils are black, the iris is blue, shot with a tiny stitch or two of white in the left eye (for a glint - to give it that realistic, shiny look), and the whites are worked in a couple stitches of white, shadowed by grey in the corners. The eyebrows are worked in longer stem stitch, in a darker brown. This entire serene face, in context, is no more than 3 inches high.



This is a little odd-looking, due to the camera picking up the gleam on the split stitches. Each of those spots of light is the point where one stitch splits the other. This eye is looking up - happy and brilliant. Note the direction of the stitches in the face - vertical - and the overstitching in stem stitch, to set in the details of the eye. Notice the white glint.



The anguish in this face - that of Christ crucified - is imparted by the shape of the brows. The death-like coloring (very dark around the eyes, pale elsewhere) is achieved through shading in split long and short stitch. Again, note the vertical direction in the stitching on the face, then the overstitching that establishes the shape of the eyes. The pupils are barely visible - dark straight stitches amidst lighter, in a horizontal direction under the lids of the eyes. Notice the bottom eyelids. They are achieved by a very delicate lighter line horizontally stitched under the eye.



This is a solemn, serious, and majestic eye. The directions of stitches in the face are vertical. The details of the eye are set in horizonally. The eyebrow is stitched, horizontally, in white in stem stitch. The most amazing feature of this eye is the shading. The eye is looking down, and the lid, half closed, shades the eye. The shading is achieved with colors of grey in the whites of the eye, and dark blue in the iris.



This face is approximately 2 - 2.5 inches high. Unlike the previous faces, this one is stitched in two layers: a layer of long stitches in flesh tones which provide most of the shading, stitched over with vertical lines made out of very long split stitches, which also provide shading of the flesh tones. The vertical lines are less than an eighth of an inch, spaced evenly across the face and neck. The irises are stitched in light blue and white, the pupils in black, and the edge of the lid in black stem stitch. The bottom of the eye is also edged in stem stitch, in a lighter flesh tone. The eyebrows match the hair and are stitched in stem stitch. Note that the sides and bottom of the face are set off by a line of stem stitch, in a ruddy color.

Amazing, aren't they?

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, historical needlework, needlepainting, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, January 04, 2007
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Here's another ecclesiastical embroidery pattern. The 8-pointed star with the thistles, surrounding the IHS, would be great for any place where a medallion would be required. It could make a good central focus on a vestment, as well as an ornamental covering for a chalice veil, pall, or burse.

This design would look exceptionally nice in goldwork, with couched gold passing covering the star image.



Click on the image for a larger version. Right-click on the larger version to save it to your computer.

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 05, 2006
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Ecclesiastical embroidery or embroidery for the church or religious use, is one of my interests. I'm including here some free patterns for hand embroidery. They can be enlarged or reduced, and used for a variety of church embroidery projects, including banners, vestments, altar cloths, linens, etc. If you click on the images you will get a full-size image. Right click on the full-sized image and save it to your desktop. You can then edit it in any graphic program.

The patterns below come from an old, out-of-print ecclesiastical pattern catalog. There is no copyright on it. To my knowledge, it has not been reprinted or digitally enhanced by anyone.

I'll be adding the patterns regulary, so check back often!

This is a nice medallion that would look great in goldwork or in silks, especially in couched designs. The whole motif could be worked in colored silks, and then outlined in a very fine gold twist (Elizabethan twist is nice and tiny). The central ring could be worked out of gold passing thread. Or the whole thing could be done in a mixture of goldwork threads - passing thread for the cross and ring, purls for the wheat, pearl purl for the stalks and lines, and rococo for the squiggles at the end of the arms of the cross. The lilies could be embroidered in a fine gold-colored silk. Click on the image for a larger version.

Here's another medallion for use on vestments or linens. It would look excellent on a linen pall, worked in white silk in a variety of stitches to give it some texture. Work the IHS in a slightly padded satin stitch, with the lines on the "S" worked in a whipped running stitch or whipped back stitch. Use one thread to keep the work delicate. The crowns could be lined with a whipped back stitch, with the insides filled with evenly spaced seed stitch filling, all worked in one direction, in an alternating brick pattern. Work the remaining lines in stem stitch, and the leaves in satin stitch. In this manner, the design would be worked very quickly, but with simple and elegant results.

Other ecclesiastical embroidery patterns found on this site:

• Thistle & Star Image with IHS


• Crown & Wheat IHS emblem


• Crosses - twelve patterns for different crosses to embroider


• Cross, Crown, and Flowers - a nice design for a book cover or a banner

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, June 26, 2006
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