Carol DuVall recently finished a gorgeous heirloom Christening set for a best friend's daughter's new baby! The dress, slip, bonnet, storage bag, and hanger testify not only to Carol's attention to detail, but more importantly, to the love that went into making making this fabulous treasure!

We'll begin with a full-length view of the gown. Made from Bear Threads Swill batiste, the dress is adorned with French and French Maline laces. The embroidery is mostly worked in Splendor silk, and is accented with pearls and Swarovski crystals.



Carol used a lace-to-lace technique to create the bodice, and she inserted lace into the body of the gown, marking off areas of pin tucking.



The bodice is beautifully smocked! The bullion roses are stunning, and the pearls and crystals add an elegant touch.



The slip bodice is made out of a sheer cotton organza. Notice the feather stitching and the bullion roses! Beautiful details!



Speaking of details, on the slip, Carol embroidered the name and birthdate of the baby, along with the names of the parents, in a heart-shaped wreath of flowers. The photo is somewhat difficult to see - it's never easy to photograph whitework - but you can see enough to understand the detail and care that went into this (and it's the slip!)



The bonnet is ... wow! Unbelievable! I love the smocked netting and the pearls and crystals, but it's that wreath of bullion roses at the back of the bonnet that I find most enchanting.



First of all, the bullions are fantastic - I love how the roses nestle up to each other. And the little pearls sprinkled here and there among the roses are a perfect touch.



To finish off the set, Carol made a matching padded hanger for it, with a pretty ribbon-wrapped hook, and a storage bag. On the outside of the storage bag, she fitted a pocket made of silk organza on which she printed a photo of little Kate and all the little details of her birth. Ingenious!

Do you agree with me that this is absolutely stunning? What a work of art, and what a work of love!

Thanks, Carol, for letting me share your masterpiece with readers here on Needle 'n Thread! It's exquisite! I hope everyone else finds it as inspiring as I do!

If you're interested in sharing your needlework with readers on Needle 'n Thread, feel free to drop me a line, and I'll send you an e-mail address. It's always nice to see what other stitching folk out there are up to - and a great way to get the creative juices flowing for the rest of us!

Labels: embroidery for children, heirloom sewing, needlework pictures, pictures, readers embroidery, smocking

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, December 05, 2009
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Last year, in December, Margaret Cobleigh sent me her rendition of a beautiful embroidery design for a bunch of carnations. Well, just recently, she finished embroidering the design herself, and has graciously allowed me to share photos of it with you. Reminiscent of the "Society Silk" embroidery that was popular at the turn of last century, it's a beautiful example of needlepainting in silk.

Margaret embroidered these carnations using Eterna silk, both the stranded (flat) silk and the mini twist. The flower petals are worked in the flat silk, and the stems and leaves are worked in the mini twist.



The piece is embroidered on an ivory shantung, with four shades of green, four shades of brown, and six shades of pink. The browns and greens are mini twist, while the pinks are flat.



When viewed from the side, you can see the difference between the flat silk on the petals and the mini twist on the stems and leaves.

I love the shading in this piece. The contrast with the browns and greens in the stems and leaves is gorgeous, isn't it? I think what I like best about the design is the "natural" look of the bunch of flowers - I prefer this look to many stylized flower designs that are more common today. This natural look to bunches of flowers is typical of many of the "Society Silk" patterns I've come across, and I really like the look a lot!

Thanks, Margaret, for letting me post the photos! And congratulations on another beautiful finished project!

What have you been working on lately with your needle 'n thread? Any photos you want to share? Feel free to drop me a line and I'll reply with an e-mail address you can send pictures of your work to! I love seeing what needlework other folks are up to - it helps keep the creative juices flowing!

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

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, November 27, 2009
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A couple weeks ago, I posted a hand embroidery pattern for a Quaker sampler design, converted for surface embroidery. I haven't had time to stitch it myself, but Jan Miller has. Using the bird in a tree design, Jan made a beautiful Christmas ornament - and she sent pictures. Thanks, Jan!

My first thought when I finished converting this design into a surface embroidery pattern was that it would make a pretty Christmas tree ornament. So I was delighted to see Jan's rendition.



Using simple stitches that suit the pattern very well, Jan stitched the ornament on white velvet, I think. She finished it with a matching hand-made tassel.



I love the dark green and the deep red - they suit the design. One reader suggested that simple color tones were best, rather than a variety of shades, since plain color choices would work best in keeping with the simplicity of the Quaker design.

I still want to stitch this pattern up, and hope to one of these days! Has anyone else tried this design? I'd love to see what other people do with it!

Thanks again, Janice, for sending along the pictures!

What are you working on? If you want to share photos of your recent needlework adventures, drop me a line!

Labels: Christmas, needlework pictures, pictures, Quaker designs, readers embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, October 27, 2009
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Patterns for hand embroidery are extremely versatile - they are useful for a variety of arts and crafts. So even if you don't always go in for surface embroidery, you might find the plethora of embroidery designs available online and in books capable of producing Muse-juice for all other kinds of crafts. Here's an example to illustrate what I'm talking about...

Gitte doesn't hand embroider, but she does indulge in paper crafts. Taking one of my scrolly medallion embroidery designs, she used it to make a beautiful card out of vellum and cardstock.

First, she embossed the design from the back, then, using special scissors, she cut each individual tiny scallop around the embossed lines, creating a gorgeous lacy effect. WOW! The card is beautiful - a real work of art.

The picture below is clickable, and if you click on it, you'll be taken to a larger version.



Beautiful, isn't it?!

If you're one of those Have-to-Craft people who move from craft to craft, making things, I'm sure you've already discovered that you can cross from one craft to another, taking designs and ideas with you. This card is a perfect example of doing that. There are really only two categories of crafts I get into - textiles (from needlework to Kumihimo, felting, and so forth) and paper crafts. I love how this card uses something I intended for needlework in a whole different application in paper craft. It maketh the Muse-juice flow, and all kinds of ideas are popping up in my head now!

Labels: embroider on paper, free embroidery patterns, pictures, readers embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 15, 2009
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Ashley's linen napkins embroidered with silk ribbon are gorgeous! Hemstitched linen napkins served as the ground fabric for her first forray into embroidery. This sumptuous spray of flowers is so beautifully executed that it's hard to believe the project comes from a beginner in silk ribbon, let alone a beginner in embroidery in general!

I'll let Ashley tell you all about her first experience with silk ribbon embroidery...



I have never embroidered before and picked up Country Bumpkin's A-Z of Ribbon Embroidery while in a needlepoint store and found it simply irresistible! Knowing nothing about embroidery and especially ribbon embroidery, I typed the supply list into a search engine, ordered the products, and waited on bated breath to begin my new project!

The design is called "Desprez a Fleur" by Lynda Maker. The roses are a gathered ribbon rose with two ribbons (a 7mm yellow ribbon and a 4mm pale yellow) stitched together to give it some depth. In the center of the roses are little French knots out of gold Madeira silk floss. The rosebuds were made by covering a pearl bead with ribbon stitches. The design called from glass beads; however, I decided that was a bit impractical for a napkin, but then so is silk ribbon embroidery! These are definitely going to be "looky lu" napkins only!



Of course, after purchasing all of the supplies, I went on to read about the horrors of silk ribbon embroidery...the fraying, tearing, etc. I was beginning to think I was getting in over my head. Luckily, I didn't have any problems and it all went very smoothly and quickly. After doing needlepoint for the last 6 years, I love the
freedom, creative expression, and delicate femininity involved in embroidery. Needlepoint canvas can be rather limiting, even with all of the stitches that are available today. As my Mom says, needlepoint is earthenware, while embroidery is delicate fine china.

I think my next undertaking will be goldwork on a Bible cover. I have been needlepointing a Bible cover and I am just about finished, so I thought maybe I would try an embroidered cover after seeing one of your posts on them. I begin an internship as a hospital chaplain in the fall, so I figure there's no such thing as too many Bible covers!

I know I am probably being a little over ambitious to move straight to goldwork! But I have a touch of youthful hubris-- if others can do it, why can't I too?!

Thanks, Ashley! Um... I think if you launched this easily into silk ribbon embroidery, you should have no problems at all trying your hand at goldwork! Best of luck!

Labels: readers embroidery, ribbon embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 02, 2009
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Ashley, of Oooooh, Silk!, though relatively new to embroidery, undertook to embroider, in Holbein stitch, a coif. She is going to tell you all about the adventure...

I was inspired by history to learn blackwork (Holbein stitch, double running stitch). I play in the SCA (a medieval/renaissance reenactment group) and have slowly come to dabble in the beautiful fashions that were present in the mid to late 1500s (about that time that Holbein was painting his lovely portraits featuring blackworked cuffs, collars, and clothing). I thought they were gorgeous pieces, but I didn’t really see myself doing it until I looked through Janet Arnold’s newest Patterns of Fashion book. Her meticulously researched book of patterns, illustrations, research, and pictures of 16th century costuming made me realize that if I ever wanted to take myself seriously as an Elizabethan enthusiast, I had to learn embroidery. The full color photos of blackwork, pulled work, and insertion lace beckoned to me, and I had to have some of my own.



The pattern was created by Laura Mellin, part of a series of headwear patterns from museum or other 16th century sources, usually dating between 1590 and 1620 (when Elizabethan and early Jacobean embroidery was most popular). While several of her patterns have beautiful and (to my eye) highly complicated botanical and animal designs, I was struck by the “Genevieve� pattern, a fairly simple grid work of lines and fleur-de-lis surrounding isolated flower motifs. Thinking that it would be a good starter piece, I purchased the pattern at a local SCA function.

For the fabric, I used a rather unusual source at our local thrift store. My husband and I are still going through our Poor Newlywed phase, so I really didn’t have the budget for the really expensive linens for the project’s ground, and I didn’t want to use the discount linen typically available through the internet, since it tends to be very low quality. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to spend so much time working on a project and end up with something substandard and incorrect to the time period I was going for. It was a magical day when $5 men’s shirt appeared in front of me at the local DI, and I was so impressed with the quality of the fabric (not perfect, but certainly better than I’d seen commercially) that I immediately knew it would be perfect for the coif.



After ripping out the seams, it was a simple matter to stabilize the fabric with wax paper (applied with a hot iron, another tip from Laura Mellin) and transfer the pattern using a micron pen. I congratulated myself for finding a garment that exactly fit the pattern, with just enough room for hoop space and seam allowances!

I am using two strands of RG Splendor silk floss for the embroidery, conditioned with beeswax. I find that the Splendor shreds a bit more than the DMC cotton floss I was used to so the wax goes a long way to keep it smooth and workable. The size of the coif meant I could not easily mount the project on a scroll frame, and while I would have loved to get a good slate frame and even tried to build a simple wood frame, in the end, a simple (and cheap) plastic hoop became the best and most economical option. I was worried at first that it would damage the blackwork or cause odd stretching, but so far it seems to be fine. It also makes it highly portable – I carry it in a gallon size zip lock bag with the thread, wax, scissors, and spare needles, so I can work on it any spare moment I have.



In working on it, I’ve come to love seeing the design appear as I work. The curlicues and loops of the flowers have become some of my favorite parts to work. The one thing I haven’t liked, I have to admit, is the grid work. I’ve found straight lines in double running stitch to be one of the hardest portions of this project, especially in places where my transfer might not have been the greatest (a ruler would not have been amiss in the transfer phase, I realize after the fact). It’s much easier to do the flowing naturalistic designs, and flaws in the stitching are far less noticeable. Sometimes I have to ‘reward’ myself with flowers after one or two passes at the grids. Couching might have been a better option, but by the time I realized that I was already committed to doing them in double running stitch (i.e. I didn’t want to pull out what I’d already done and start over).

Even with the difficulties, I’m really enjoying this style of embroidery. I love the idea of making a project better than the sum of its parts (in this case, about $15 in materials and a whole lot of time), and ending up with wearable, historical art. If I keep up my current progress, I hope to be able to finish it by the end of the year.

If anyone is interested in Laura Mellin’s embroidery patterns, they are available through Reconstructing History (reconstructinghistory.com).

Labels: historical needlework, needlework pictures, pictures, readers embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, June 30, 2009
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This post is from Jo in New Zealand, the writer of a popular blog, No Matter Where I Go, I Always Meet Myself There, focusing mostly on crazy quilting and other textile ventures.

Jo's had some really good success with her latest Etsy ventures. Selling the products of one's creative ventures is vastly popular today, as popular sites such as Etsy and Artfire attest. I thought it would be of particular interest to readers on Needle 'n Thread to hear about Jo's adventures, since it isn't unlikely that there are many of you who do, or plan to do, something similar with your arts and crafts.

I think you'll enjoy Jo's article, her sense of humor, and her creativity! Here she is:



No Matter Where I Go…I Always Meet Myself There. This is a saying I heard many years ago, and it stayed with me. I am not sure why, but at the time, I was at a low point in my life, and I thought “Well, that’s it, then. It’s all up to me isn’t it�. I was responsible for me, my own happiness, or conversely, my own unhappiness; there was no one else who could ‘fix’ it , except me.

Over the years I have moulded this it fit the needs of my life at the time. To me now, older and wiser, it means I have to be happy with the end result. I feel it revolves a lot around integrity and doing what I feel is right, and being happy to live with the outcome. Looking at my blog title almost daily reminds me of this.

How am I going to lead this nicely into an article about my craft…I don’t think I am, to be fair (lol), but I don’t think I have ever told the story of my blog title before, and when Mary honored me with a “guest spot� while she is enjoying her down time, I had to think what to write about.

I have been blogging for a number of years now. I never dreamed it would lead me to where I am now. Many friends and acquaintances all over the world, with wide and varied interests that I get to experience and enjoy. I have Round Robined, Swapped, Exchanged, ROAKed, Moderated and Donated. My recent ventures, though, have taken me into the world of ‘retail’….



For a good while, and after a few suggestions from various quarters, I had been considering a book. Just considering, no formal plan (or even informal plan for that matter). It is difficult to know what people would actually want to read. It turned out, however, that words would be surplus to requirements in my foray into publishing. One night – I am a night owl, never in bed before midnight – I received a discount coupon in my email box from an online photo service. It was for a small, spiral bound photobook. I thought it was a good idea.



As a part of my ‘offline ‘life, I spend many hours in conferences. Although usually work is highly embellished with beads and ribbons, sequins and silk ribbon embroidery, my “conference box� has pre-pieced fabric postcards, and a selection of threads. Back to basics, and no plan, except to stitch and experiment. It keeps my brain engaged, and therefore able to listen.



So, I got my coupon, loaded up my photos - deciding to focus on layered seam treatments for Crazy quilting - picked a template, ordered 6, thinking I can give them away if nothing else, and waited for them to arrive. During this time I blogged about my “book� and people expressed an interest. “Great, I might actually be able to sell a couple of these!� I thought. I needed a venue to do this. I have been a member of ETSY for a while as a buyer, so I set about creating my shop and I listed 4 copies. You cannot imagine the thrill to open up my email box the next morning and see that two copies had sold. The other two copies had sold by the end of the day. Within 3 weeks I had sold 30 copies!!



This little venture has been successful beyond my wildest hopes. The reason for its success? Well, it all comes back to blogging, links and connections with people, finding common denominators. Joining yahoo groups, ning groups, facebooks (I haven’t embraced twitter yet…) building a network of likeminded and interested and interesting people, that, 20 years ago would have been next to impossible without the internet. In fact, I believe, next to impossible without a blogging presence online. I could have put this book out, but without those people who take the time to read my words and admire and comment on my work, who would my client base be? I am incredibly lucky and blessed to be part of this online community, and lucky to have been supported so well by its members.



With the success of my wee book, I added some bags I had made to my shop. Both of those sold and I am now working on custom orders for 3 more. I have added a range of Victorian inspired pedestal pincushions, beautiful and functional handmade pieces. They are slower to sell, but then I create “just because�. It helps keep me sane in a life busy with 3 young children!! I am also adding some postcards as I finish them, and I would like to invite you all to enter my monthly giveaway for a hand embroidered fabric postcard. Finally, to link back to my blog title, I strive to create well made, long wearing items, that I know I can be proud of, because no matter where I go…I always meet myself there.



I feel a bit like an advertorial, but when Mary suggested advertising an online shop, I felt it was a great opportunity. I hope that I have offered you some other insight along the way, not being too blatant with asking you "stop by." However, of course, I would love for you to “stop by�! You can find me here at my Etsy Shop and on my blog, No Matter Where I Go, I Always Meet Myself There.

Labels: readers embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, June 29, 2009
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Yesterday, I posted Part I of Nita's explorations of applique, embroidery, and other textile techniques in her aquatic sampler, which she finished into a gloriously vibrant banner. Today, I want to show you the rest of the photos and the finished piece!

I really think there are few scenes in nature that provide such color and variety for the artist or embroiderer as the coral reef does. Though I can rarely look at such scenes anymore without automatically wondering where the heck Nemo is, I can't help being drawn to them! Perhaps it's because I live in Kansas, and the only water we ever see is a half-empty muddy river, or an occasional flooded, murky field. I grew up, though, on both coasts (West and East, chronologically), with my high school years being spent in Florida. We were never very far from the ocean wherever we lived, and this is the only thing I ever really miss living in Kansas. *Sigh* Water sure is likeable stuff.

Anyway, on with the aquatic sampler!



This big fishy fellow is worked in a foiling technique using Misty Fuse. He has that scaly irridescent look, doesn't he? What a perfect combination of techniques to achieve the fish look.



Here you've got some of Nita's gazillion French knots highlighting the green coral. Note the variety of colors of green and blue-ish green...



Stepping back a little so that you can get the effect of the stitching, notice the ripples in the water and the different types of bumpy coral.



Turkey work was used to create this bunch, which looks as if it's swaying in the water. The shading on this is perfect!



Woven picots are featured here in the front of this shot, and on the right, you can see the single feather stitch.



Here, felt beads are used to make clumps of coral. The felt has been sliced open to reveal the colorful insides.



Bullion knots add dimension to this piece of appliquéd coral.



And absolutely my favorite part of the sampler - the rippled water, created by a combination of cast on stitch (the ripples in the water) and beading (the edge of the water). Beautiful effect!



And finally, the masterpiece!

Thank you so much, Nita, for sharing all these gorgeous pictures with us and telling us about the techniques you used! It's a stunning piece!

Labels: needlework pictures, pictures, readers embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, June 26, 2009
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Nita's Aquatic Sampler is just about everything you would expect an aquatic sampler to be - and then some. A combination of applique and embroidery, this colorful banner is, to say the least, bedazzling! I have always been drawn to aquatic landscapes (I even went through a phase in my life - I think 11th grade? - when I thought I wanted to be a marine biologist!), and I love the vivid life of the coral reef. To see it come to life in stitching and embellishment is pretty exciting!

I'm going to let Nita tell the story behind this textile sampler. I've divided the project into two posts in order to include all the pictures...



I used this project to practice embroidery stitches I wanted to learn as well as other techniques, eg. trapunto, foiling with Misty Fuse and Bonash, Angelia fibers and applique.

I started with a scrap of a fabric panel from Michael Miller, called "Scuba Time" which had various fish fussy cut out of it. My Mom got this piece from a scrap bin somewhere. I also used a fat quarter of the water bubble material that I got from the Sarasota Quilt show and a little over a yard of a beautiful batik fabric for the back and for water stripes that I got from my favorite fabric store in my area, Fiberologie, in St. Petersburg, FL.



I cut the fabric panel and reattached to eliminate the big holes, I also used some fish and coral sections to applique on to panel.



I started by using "Designs for the Needle" 6 strand cotton floss and then bought some "DMC" 6 strand floss and perle cotton. I used a yellow eyelash fiber and a red fiber I picked up somewhere along the way.



I used felt beads that I bought at Fiberologie and cut some in half to show the beautiful colors inside at the suggestion of Karrie Klement, owner of Fiberologie.



I experimented with a number of stitches, a gazillion french knots on the coral, bullion knots, feather stitch (wasn't 3-D enough) then I played with cast on stitches, drizzle stitch, turkey work, woven picot.

I used your video library of stitches for at least the turkey work if not other stitches. I used the stitch dictionary at In a Minute Ago for the drizzle stitches and cast on. I know there are other on-line resources I used but can't remember which!



I used the Pat Trott book I show in the photo for woven picot, among others. I used a lot of books from the library including Reader's Digest "Very Easy Crazy Patch Work" and Reader's Digest "Complete Book of Embroidery" among many other that have since been returned.



As a beginner embroider I found the laminated pocket guide that I picked up at the Tampa Sewing and Quilt Expo invaluable when I am mobile with my embroidery.

I also took a class with Marlene Glickman, a very talented fiber artist and great teacher at Fiberologie, in which she taught a collage class using various fusing methods such as the Misty Fuse and Bonash with foil. It was by far the most interesting and fun class I have taken. (I also took her silk dye class the same day, great class also)

Aren't you dying to see the completed project?! Well - check back in tomorrow!

Thanks so much, Nita, for the gorgeous photos, the interesting write-up, and the refreshing splash of inspiration!

Labels: needlework pictures, pictures, readers embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, June 25, 2009
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Mabel recently embroidered a beautiful quilt for her granddaughter. It's really a pretty piece of work, with each different heart embroidered in flowers and featuring a little inspirational word - like happiness, hope, friendship.

The "fancy" flowered hearts are embroidered on every other square on the front of the quilt, and in between each of those squares is a simpler square, with four hearts embroidered that meet in the middle of the square.



Mabel used one thread of DMC throughout, and stitched each heart differently.



I think the colors are really beautiful! I love the addition of that little word in each square - a perfect little touch for a little girl's blanket.



Every other square is embroidered with this motif of four hearts, meeting in the middle. The running stitch outline is perfect here - a nice, simple approach to contrast with the surrounding fancier squares.



This is the whole quilt - you can see the layout of the various embroidered squares.



The center square is the L-O-V-E in a Box embroidery pattern available here on Needle 'n Thread. Originally, Mabel worked the letters in running stitch, but she wasn't satisfied with the way they looked, so she laced a darker pink thread into the stitching. I like the somewhat "wavy" effect on the letters that this technique of lacing creates.



On the back of the quilt are embroidered certain inspirational verses. This one reads, "Dance like nobody's watching, Love like you've never been hurt, Sing like nobody's hearing, Live like it's heaven on earth." Mabel asked is I thought she should re-embroider those in darker thread. What do you all think? I tend to think that, if the thread color she has used corresponds well to the threads in the front of the quilt, to go ahead and leave the verses as they are. From up close, they can certainly be read, and that's what matters, anyway, because that's how her granddaughter will see it. But... what do you all think?



On the back of the quilt, what better signature than "Super Grandma"??



And, of course, there's the lucky recipient of this hand embroidered treasure, Sienna-Lee, who will be one in August and is reported to be a very fast crawler! She's cute as a button, that's for sure!

Mabel also mentioned that she has just started quilting, so this is a beginner project for her. The bumps on the quilt, she said, bear witness to this. I'm not a professional quilter, myself, but I have made quilts and went through a phase of reading a lot about quilting techniques. So, for all you quilters out there, here's my question: I'm wondering if, in the long-run, Mabel might be a bit happier with the finished product if she were to quilt the quilt a bit more with a neutral-colored (white) quilting thread, in order to help eliminate some of what she calls the "bumpy" spots. I foresee the filling shifting with use.... It would not take away from the embroidery at all, to quilt a little bit around the hearts, for example, or maybe just another quilted line half an inch in from the ribbons around each square? Even if she quilted, say, another small heart within the hearts, using white thread, that would help secure the batting and anchor everything in place.

I know that sounds like a lot more work to add to the project, but after all this gorgeous embroidery has been done on the quilt, I would hate to see it lump up after a bit of use!

Perhaps some other quilters out there might offer some advice on this point for Mabel?

The embroidery on this project is really gorgeous, and of course, the whole quilt is made with such obvious love! What a perfect gift for a gorgeous granddaughter, and I'm sure she will treasure it all her life (and hand it down to her own kids, hopefully!). Congratulations, Mabel!

Labels: needlework pictures, readers embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, June 22, 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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