Guess what I've been doing this weekend? Yes, the title gives it away - making more embroidery stitch videos. When I began (yesterday morning), I was organized, enthusiastic, and patient. After working all day yesterday and a good five hours straight this afternoon, I'm feeling a bit impatient and cranky - so I thought it would be a good time for a break! I also decided to take some photos of my embroidery recording set-up and tell you how I go about making the embroidery video tutorials.

The first thing I do is make a list of what embroidery stitches I want to get done during the recording session. I'm always Really Optimistic when I make this list! I end up with a list of 25 or 30 embroidery stitches that I'm just Sure I'll be able to record. Um... well, suffice it to say, optimism is always a good thing at the beginning of a project, but it's even better in the middle!

Next, I gather up supplies and frame up a piece of fabric suitable for the stitches I want to do. In this weekend's recording session, I used all perle cotton, and so far, I haven't changed my fabric yet (which indicates rather clearly how few stitches I've accomplished!)

Then, I make space to set things up. But it's Christmas still, and I have a tree to contend with.



In the miniscule living room, I set up a straight chair, my embroidery stand (more about that later! It's new, and it's a gem!), a light, a small portable table to hold things, and my tripod set-up for the camera.



I make sure the light and the camera are as well situated as they can be. Usually, I have the light from the window as well, to balance things out, but there's a Christmas tree in the way this time.



As you can see, the couch and the tripod tend to vie for space.



Once the furniture part of the endeavor is situated, I move the camera aside while I put lines and squares and such on my fabric, planning out the first video - what stitch, where on the fabric, and so forth. This weekend, I decided to mark very clear lines on the fabric, to help ease the stress of lining things up properly while stitching with a camera in front of my nose.



This is my view as I stitch. The item that I'm recording is located right smack under the camera there. Now you know why some of the stitching seems rather slow and awkward! It's a matter of getting my hands in and out and around that camera, without knocking the whole set-up over!

After I've recorded the stitches on my camera - starting over, clipping, stopping, starting, deleting, trying one more time, shifting positions, deleting again, and starting and stopping a few more times for good measure - I take the camera to my computer and unload everything, and recharge the battery if necessary.

Opening Nero Vision Express, I make a movie - only not the whole movie. In Nero, I blend together any clips and make any cuts in the clips. Then I export the whole movie as an .avi file, and take it into Windows Movie Maker, where I add the title clip and closing clip, and the transitions between those and the video. I mute the sound on the video (be thankful!), and then I save the whole thing as a "test" of the movie.

Then, I watch the test several times, thinking my way back through the stitching, and recalling what I was saying in my head as I went (sometimes, not a good thing... riffemrackemfrickemfrackem comes to mind quite often!). Now's the time to open up Audacity, and, while I'm watching the test video, I record the voice instructions. I hate that part. I don't like hearing my own voice!

Next, I take the audio clip into Windows Movie Maker and insert it into the video, and run through it once to make sure it's in the right position, and the audio and video are synchronized.

Once the sound and the video are situated, I save the whole thing in "best quality" on my computer. I watch it again to make sure it's not too horrid... and then I upload it to Google video, where all my hard work gets compressed and somewhat muddled, but is still clear enough to make a lot of people happy with the videos!

Finally, when time allows, I unleash the thing on the public by writing a post here about the stitch.

And that, my friends, is how I make the embroidery stitch videos!

So far this weekend, I filmed the following stitches:

Bokhara couching
Roumanian couching
Buttonhole filling - detached and ... un-detached? attached!
Rope stitch
Raised chain
Raised stem
Coral stitch
Scroll stitch
Ladder stitch
Pistol stitch (elongated French knots)

(Ooooooh - so much for my list of 30!)

Well, tomorrow is another day!

Labels: pictures, video tutorials

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, December 30, 2007
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Sometimes, it's hard to make a decision about what embroidery or needlework book to buy, so in my needlework book reviews, I try to give you enough information to make an informed decision so that you're not disappointed. There's nothing worse than getting all excited about a new embroidery book, then getting it and finding it lacking! If you're looking for an embroidery stitch dictionary - one of those handy reference books on how to do this stitch or that - here's a review for The Embroidery Stitch Bible.

You can be assured, when I review an embroidery book, that it's a book I own. I try to give the pros and cons of the book, and specify what's different about it that makes it especially useful to the embroiderer.

The Embroidery Stitch Bible has a couple great features, the primary one being a section at the front of the book called the "Stitch Selector." This is a pictorial guide to each stitch in the book. If you don't know the name of a stitch, you can browse through the Stitch Selector to identify it.



In the Stitch Selector section, you get little photos of each stitch as it really looks - it is worked, not just sketched. The stitches are arranged by types - satin stitches, couching stitches, laid filling stitches, etc.



Set in each little picture is the reference number for the embroidery stitch so that you can flip right to the instructions.



Each category of stitching is pretty thoroughly covered, as you can see by this page of the Stitch Selector showing drawn thread stitches.

This pictorial "table of contents" at the front of the book is perhaps my favorite feature of the book!



When you want to learn a stitch, there are three aspects to each instructional page or spread of pages in the Embroidery Stitch Bible: 1. a photo of the stitch worked in several variations; 2. a chart of how to work the stitch (this is a drawn diagram); and 3. text that takes you through the stitch and some variations step-by-step.



Techniques besides strictly "embroidery" are covered, such as sewing sequins and other embellishments on.



You can see here on the bullion knot page the three elements of instruction - at the top, the photo of the real stitching, then the diagrams (there are two two-part diagrams), and then the text. You can also see the variation on the stitch, which, in this case, is a bullion rose.

The one element that some may consider a "disadvantage" to this book is that the stitches are demonstrated in drawn diagrams, often in two diagrams, but sometimes only in one diagram. Compared to other books such as the A-Z series on Embroidery published by Country Bumpkin, or their Embroiderer's Handbook, this can be seen as a bit chintzy in a way. Country Bumpkin generally gives you a step-by-step series of photographs of each stitch as it is being worked. But in a book that covers over 200 stitches (as the Embroidery Stitch Bible does), it would be quite a feat to fit that many stitches into one book with step-by-step photos!

So you have to weigh what you want: a lot of stitches, with a visual representation of the actual stitch worked and a diagram to show you how, OR fewer stitches, with step-by-step photos of the stitch in progress.

A word on diagrams: in this book, I think they're pretty clear. In some older pamphlets for embroidery, or in older books, the diagrams are not as well done, so don't judge "diagrams" in general by older publications. The diagrams here are clear, and if you are even just a little bit familiar with embroidery, you shouldn't have too much of a problem working them out.



Another nice feature: most embroidery books begin with a section on basic materials and setting up a piece of embroidery. This book does, too. But most books don't include finishing tips. You will find a short section on basic finishing tips in the back of the Embroidery Stitch Bible. They are illustrated, not photographed, but still very clear.



This, to me, is one of the finest features of any how-to book, whether it's needlework or any other craft: A SPIRAL BINDING! I wish publishers would take this aspect into consideration more often! When you're teaching yourself from a book, it's great to have a book that lays flat on its own! So the spiral binding on the Stitch Bible is a huge plus!



I like the cover, but don't let the background photo or the majority of stitches on the front throw you off - it looks like it focuses primarily on canvas or counted work. It's not the case, really. Yes, canvas work is covered. But so is everything else!

I like this book, and I think it's good for beginners and beyond.

The Embroidery Stitch Bible can be had through book retailers around the globe. Country Bumpkin sells it for $36.95 Austrian, or US$31.41. (US residents beware: shipping is high!) Barnes and Noble has it for $29.95, or $26.95 for members. The cheapest you can find it on ABE Books (used) is $18.30. Right now, you can get The Embroidery Stitch Bible new through Amazon for less than $20.

Labels: beginner embroidery, book review, embroidery books

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, December 28, 2007
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A Lady's Book on Art Embroidery in Silk with Engraved Patterns was published by M. Heminway & Sons Silk Company some time last century or the century before! (How's that for accuracy?!) It's a neat little booklet with a lot of information in it.

First, as promised, it has some embroidery patterns in it. Second, it has some embroidery technique in it. And third, since it's published by a silk manufacturing company, it has a lot of nice information about silk in it.

If you haven't come across it on the Antique Pattern Library yet, do give A Lady's Book on Art Embroidery in Silk with Engraved Patterns a look. It's a PDF, and it was added to the library in November, 2007.



Also, if you haven't stopped by the Antique Pattern Library lately, you might want to take a look at it - there have been a few new additions, which you will find highlighted in red in the left-hand column. You may end up browsing a while! Enjoy!

Labels: online needlework books

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, December 27, 2007
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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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I don't know about you, but when I finish a piece of embroidery, usually the last thing I want to do is the real "finish work" - that is, the framing or sewing or whatever it takes to bring the project to full completion. But once in a while, I do have to force myself to buckle down and actually DO something with the pieces I embroider. And once I've accomplished the finish work, I'm always glad I did!

With Christmas looming, I've been cramming in some simple frame jobs for gifts. So I thought I'd take you through the steps of a simple frame job for a piece of embroidery. It's a long one with lots of photos, so grab your coffee...

First of all, you need to find frames. When you frame embroidery, if you decide to put the piece behind glass, you should plan on double matting or putting spacers in to keep the glass off the front of your work. Or, you can do like I did, and find frames that have a "shadow box" effect, where a space of half an inch or more is intentionally left between the glass and the object to be framed.

You can always choose to make the frame yourself, by the way, but this is a "simple" frame job, done in a relatively short amount of time!

After you've assembled all your supplies, the first thing to do is prepare the piece for framing. If you need to wash it, now's the time to do that! How do you know if you need to wash your embroidery? If there are any obvious marks on it, if there has been an opportunity for dust build-up, if you weren't particularly careful with clean hands while you worked (even if you can't see specific marks, hand oil can show up over time!)... probably you should wash it. Certain types of thread are not conducive to washing in water - overdyed silks, etc., shouldn't be just dunked into a bucket of water. But I used DMC on these projects, and it's pretty color-fast, so I wasn't worries about color running.

You can avoid having to wash a project by being super-careful with it, and by covering it with tissue or other cloth while you work, and only exposing the part you're working on. But that's a different story...

Prepare a bowl of lukewarm water and a little ivory liquid soap. I use a stainless steel bowl. I placed the embroidery piece in the water and moved it around, but I don't squeeze it or rub it all over or anything like that. I just gently swish it in the bowl. If there's a specific spot on fabric, I'll treat it first, and I might rub that one spot on the fabric, but you're not doing heavy-duty laundry here - just rinsing the piece.



After the gentle washing (I let it soak for 5 or 10 minutes), I rinse the piece thoroughly under running water. Don't wring it - just let the water rinse over the work, until it runs clear and there's no evidence of suds, and then a little longer for good measure. Turn it over, too - rinse front and back.

Then lay the piece face down on a clean towel, and gently press another towel on top of it to remove excess water.



Once all three pieces were washed, I took them to my ironing board, where I already had a clean white pillow case ready. For ironing embroidery, I use a clean white pillow case folded in half, with a flannel pad inside the fold. The flannel pad is made of four layers of soft, thin flannel.

After hand blocking (that is, arranging the pieces by gently pulling them and squaring them up), I left the pieces on the ironing board to dry a little bit on their own.



When I'm ready to iron, I iron the piece upside-down, with the right side on the pillow case with the flannel underneath it. This helps cushion the embroidery and keeps the stitches from getting flattened.

I iron the piece when it's still damp. Iron it gently, not pushing on the iron to try to dry the thing and get every wrinkle out. Just gently iron, blocking the piece into a square as you go, and being very aware of the temperature of the iron and the fabric. I always lift the iron after moving in one direction - I don't just go back-and-forth and back-and-forth with it. I move in one direction, lift, put it back down, move, lift, put it back down.



After ironing the piece from the back, I turn it over and look at the front. If there is any area on the front of the ground fabric that I want to iron, I do so carefully, without touching the stitches.

In the photo above, you can see two circled areas where there are wrinkles on the piece. This comes from faulty tension when I worked the piece. It could also come from the drying process of the fabric and the thread, but both were dry when I took the photo, and I suspected there would be some tension problems in these areas once the thing was off the embroidery frame and blocked.

Never fear - those slight wrinkles will be significantly (if not completely) reduced by the time the whole framing process is finished.



Now that the pieces are ironed and ready to frame, it's time to give some attention to the frames. This is the back of the frame - notice the octagon-shaped back cover. The board on which the embroidery is mounted is the same shape. I used an acid-free white mat board and cut it to fit the inside of the frame; it's a rectangle shape with the corners snipped off.



You can see here the space between the glass and the place where the embroidery will rest. It's about half an inch. I admit, the frames are a bit cheap - that's a plastic edge - but for 50% off 11.99, they were in my budget!



And here you can see clearly the shape of the mat board and how it fits in the opening.



Position the embroidery over the mounting board, centering it carefully, then turn the embroidery over, placing it face down on your work surface. I use a pencil and lightly draw the position of the mounting board on the back of the embroidered piece. That way, if anything gets knocked or the work slides about, it's no big deal.



After folding the embroidery over the board (it's inside there), I realized it needs to be trimmed. Since I marked the position of the mounting board, it's easy enough just to trim off a couple inches.



There. Remember that the front of the embroidery (the right side) is face down on my work surface. The mat board is positioned over the piece, and then the sides are wrapped around the mat board. There needs to be some space between the two sides of the fabric, as you can see here, because you're going to lace them, and the lacing will supply tension.



I used a #12 DMC cotton string (it comes in a ball, and is usually used for tatting or crochet) and a #7 crewel needle to do the lacing.

Make sure you cut a Long Length of string when you're ready to start lacing. It's no fun to stop, tie off, and start again. I used about a yard.

I folded the edges of the fabric and finger pressed them, then started lacing. This is done by catching the edge of the fabric (about an 1/8 of an inch or so in) and crossing back and forth between both sides.



Because the mat board isn't square, but rather the corners are cut off, I had to do some extra trimming, and I just sort of played that by ear. I didn't want a lot of bulk on the back of the mat board.



I folded the corners neatly, finger pressed, and tacked them down with a new length of #12 thread.



Then I folded the opposite ends down - not quite as neat as it could be - and laced them, pulling the lacing fairly tight as I worked. I was skimpy with the thread!! Learn from my mistake and make sure you start with a long enough length.

In any case, it still worked out fine.



Then, I put the mounted embroidery into the frame, and you'll notice that there's a bit of "wiggle room" here. I cut the mat smaller, since the fabric would take up some space, but it was a bit too small. This poses the problem that the piece might shift in the frame.



To remedy that, I cut a piece of foam to fit inside the back of the frame, to help hold everything in place.

The back of the frame was very well fitted, though, so everything was good and snug.



And here you see two framed up and ready to go.



And here's the iris - there's only the slightest bit of puckering between the petal and leaf on the left. Most of the puckering that was there was really reduced by the tension provided in the mouting process. No one else seems to be able to see the puckers except me! But if you look close enough...

So that's a simple framing job...

Hope it was helpful!

Labels: finish work, needlework pictures, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, December 22, 2007
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The practice of embroidering or decorating book bindings has been around for quite a while, having been very popular in the Elizabethan era, but certainly dating to much earlier than merely 450 years ago. Until the age of mass-market books, we can safely say that books have always been precious commodities, so special books deserved to be adorned! A while ago, I mentioned a link to the British Library, where you can peruse heaps of gorgeous embroidered book bindings. Well, a reader has undertaken embroidering her own book cover, so I thought I'd send you for a peek!

Elmsley Rose has been working on a very nice embroidered book binding, and she's been blogging her progress. Every time I check out the new additions, I get the stitching itch - I want to delve into the same type of project! But I'll have to satisfy myself right now by just watching her work develop.



This is the cover so far. At first, when she started, I wondered if the background fabric might take away from the design, but as the embroidery progressed, I found I liked the background more and more. The embroidery pattern seems to move with the pattern in the fabric. Megan was inspired in the designing of her cover by a variety of historical sources, which she tells you about on her blog.

Take a look at all her posts on the embroidered bookbing - she takes you from the conception of the design up to her current point of accomplishment, unfolding her reasons for changes, and the whole thought, experimentation, and stitching process along the way.

Thanks to Megan's enthusiasm for these bookbindings and historic embroidery, I found myself looking more and more into them, and getting more and more enthusiastic about embroidered book bindings, their history, and the variety of designs, techniques, and materials used to adorn books throughout the ages.

Besides the great collection at the British Library, you can find quite a few interesting resources about the subject on-line.

For example, on Project Gutenberg, you'll find the book English Embroidered Bookbindings, which is full of excellent historical information, as well as plenty of plates in both black and white and color. This, for example, is plate 16 on page 54 - but don't be deterred by the black and white photo! Think of the possibilities of the design!



If you like plate 16 on pg 54 of English Embroidered Bookbindings, you'll be happy to know that you can find the pattern for this bookbinding online, or at least, something very similar to it - the central panel (with the circle around the initials) is different, for example. Oh, the embroidery possibilities! For example, I'm a fan of velvet with goldwork on it - and I think this pattern would look great in that combination!

If you want to read up on embroidered bookbindings, a good place to start is the British Library's Guide to English Embroidered Bookbindings in the British Library, a brief article that covers history, materials, and a good list of resources.

You can find a smattering of other articles on the subject here and there around the internet. For example, Prose, Poems, Points & Purls: Embroidered Book Covers is an SCA article the focuses on embroidered bookbindings in brief, with several nice pictures, and the pattern mentioned above.

If you know of any other resources on the topic, feel free to share them with us! Also, if you're working on anything similar, I'd love to see it. Feel free to post a link to your project photos, or e-mail and send a photo!

Labels: historical needlework, Jacobean embroidery, needlework pictures, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, December 20, 2007
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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, December 18, 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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The other day, I mentioned an interest in Italian cutwork, needle lace, and reticella, and thought that others interested in the same topic might like this book.

This particular needle lace book is hosted, in PDF format, by the Online Digital Archive of Weaving and Related Topics. The book is in Italian, but if you don't read Italian, it doesn't matter, because there's only a brief introduction and the rest of the book is made up of patterns:



This is the thing, though - even if you aren't interested specifically in needle lace, the patterns are striking, and in looking at them, you might glean some inspiration for whatever type of embroidery or craft you do. I could see these patterns somehow adapted to other types of needlework: blackwork, couching designs, assisi embroidery, whitework even.



When I start looking at patterns like this, I can't help thinking of "all the ways" the same pattern could be adapted to other things!



Unfortunately, I share the common woe of many stitchers: so many ideas, so little time!



And I'm not sure why calligraphy and illumination come to mind when I see this one, but... they do!

Anyway, if you want to browse through a neat book, you'll find Giardinetto novo di punti tagliati et gropposi per exercito e ornamento delle donne, by Matthio Pagano (1550) at University of Arizona's Digital Archives.

Labels: needlelace, online needlework books

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, December 17, 2007
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You may remember that a while back (November) I embroidered a set of pillowcases. Well, imitation being the best form of flattery (excuse the cliché!), I was really thrilled to see Meeta's completed pillowcases. She sent along pictures, and so I thought I'd share them.

Meeta's embroidered pillowcases look almost just like mine, with a couple exceptions: 1. She says there aren't as many faces; 2. Hers are worlds NEATER and more carefully stitched than mine are! They're so cleanly and crisply done. Mine are sloppy fuzzy messes in comparison! Meeta was smart - she used a hoop, and you can really tell the difference on the tension of the fabric. Also, she was obviously very careful about her thread length and avoided the fuzzy fraying that comes from over-use of the same thread. I, on the other hand, was rather lazy in that regard, and it does show in the work!! And her stitches are nice and precise!

Meeta also made her black pillow case herself. On the white one, she took apart the "cuff" at the edge and put an extra lining of white inside so that no background thread (which is predominantly black) shows through.

I think you'll agree she did a great job!

Here are the photos:



Both pillow cases...



Close-up on the white...



And the other half of the white...



And the left half of the black pillow case...



And the right half! Yep, the drooly guy is still my favorite!

Nice job, Meeta! I'm glad you had fun with it, and can't wait to see what you work up next!

Labels: needlework pictures, pictures, readers embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, December 16, 2007
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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, December 15, 2007
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The other day, I mentioned needle lace, cutwork, and embroidery. A day later, we ended up with an embellished landscape! Nature provides great inspiration for embroiderers, but I'm not sure how this week's landscaps could be interpreted in thread and even come close to the original source of inspiration!

Regardless, I thought I'd share some quick photos of the ice storm that hit the Plains this past week. I received several e-mails from readers, hoping that all was well with me and my family. Thank you! Indeed, we were relatively lucky! Although I live in a rural town, it is still a town, and our loss of power only lasted about 12 hours. Neighbors out in the country are still living without power, with an estimated two-week wait! On top of it, the forecast says there will be more snow tonight.



Back yard photo - the woods are congested with trees - from red buds to elm and oak. In the winter, it looks bare and cold and stark. In the spring, a green and purple haze begins to form, the harbinger of new life. In summer, it's thick and relatively lush, and in autumn, it's actually just a dullish yellow. There are few things prettier in nature than ice coating trees. I love the lacy look.



From the front porch, looking up the hill. The trees are bowing quite a bit under the ice.



Bush in front of the porch. I love the red through the ice!



A little bit of a problem with a downed power line right in front of the house...



...and no wonder. This side-yard tree surprisingly didn't cause any damage, though it looks as if it's hanging for support on every power line available!



A little bit of a lacy fringe on a power line...



When the sun came out, things really began to look up! The finest silks, embellished with lace and diamonds, would look dull in comparison to this!



Thanks for your inquiries and good wishes. As you see, all is well on my end!

Labels: personal

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, December 14, 2007
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...but not by me! If you are interested in embroidery (historical or otherwise), costuming, or textiles in general, you might enjoy looking into this fascinating project underway at Plimoth Plantation.

In November of 2006, the Colonial Wardrobe & Textiles Department at Plimoth Plantation conceived the plan to re-create a piece of 17th century clothing to display in an upcoming exhibit highlighting the "personal adornment" of folks way back in the 1600's.

The plan developed into creating, entirely by hand, a faithful reproduction of a 17th century embroidered jacket. After much research and fine-tuning, the folks at Plimoth Plantation put the plan in action, inviting embroiderers from all over to participate in the work. And what a work!

They have been faithfully blogging the process since May, 2007, and their blog, The Embroiderers' Story, is full of fascinating reading and delightful images, inspiring to anyone interested in historical needlework. It is a story, really, of seeking and discovery, driven by the motivated members of the textile department at Plimoth Plantation. To follow the progress from its beginning to now, visit the May archives of the Embroiderers' Story and scroll to the bottom of the page here. The post titled "In the Beginning" sets the stage for the rest of the story.



The pattern for the body of the embroidered jacket is the Laton Jacket, on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which they have "cross referenced" with another jacket at the museum, item 1359-1900 (at the V&A).



The second jacket is the one from which they adapted the embroidery design. It's very pretty!



The textile department made up sample embroidery kits which were made available to embroiderers from all over, the costs of which helped finance the project. Taking the samples that were worked and sent back to them, the textile department matched up embroiderers of similar skills to work together on the jacket. The embroiderers meet at the Plimoth Plantation and work on the jacket.

Some excellent pictures of the nature and progress of the work can be found on flickr, where one of the embroiderers has posted heaps of pictures from her visit to Plimoth Plantation to work on the jacket. You can see some gorgeous close-ups of the embroidery, as well as some great shots of the whole work set-up at the Plantation.

The predominant stitch used on the jacket seems to be buttonhole filling, worked inside a foundation of reversed chain. In addition, there's a swirling motif of what looks like braid stitch worked in gold thread. A little trim of metal bobbin lace tipped with spangles adorns the jacket, and spangles speckle the whole jacket - some 2,000 of them! You can see excellent instructions in PDF files for the reversed chain and the buttonhole filling, as well as the trellis stitch, if you go through the July Archives of the blog. This is also where you'll find the bulk of the story about drawing and transferring the embroidery design to the pattern pieces - WOW. What a work!

Finding needlework supplies that are available today and similar to the ones used in the 1600's cannot be easy! The search is chronicled in The Embroiderers' Story.

The Embroiderers' Story is an exciting story, I think! It leaves the reader in awe of the coordination and work that must be going into this magnificent project! I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye on the progress of the piece, and hopefully, someday, see it in person!

Labels: historical needlework, Jacobean embroidery, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, December 13, 2007
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If you take embroidery (or any hobby) seriously - if you are as passionate about it as I am - chances are, you've noticed that embroidery can be an expensive undertaking.

Whether you're buying linen or threads, frames, needles, hoops, or scissors, you know that the costs can add up! Even if you are a casual embroiderer who takes up a project now and then, chances are, you've spent money on your hobby.

This is a somewhat "personal" rant (I don't normally get too personal on here!), but since the question has come up numerous times from readers, I thought I'd address it. I hope you don't mind!

I receive a lot of e-mail from people who are looking for less expensive linen, cheaper silk, the place to get goldwork supplies "cheap," and what it all boils down to is that we look for ways to save money on supplies because living is expensive. I'm all for saving a buck (many bucks, if possible!), but I realize that some things just do cost money. I just received an e-mail from a reader who told me, "I can't afford to get into embroidery like you do, but I'd like to. Do you get a discount on your supplies from the shops you promote? If not, how do you afford doing everything you do? It has to cost money!"

No, I don't get anything from the needlework shops I promote. I promote them because they've provided me with a good service. She's right, it does cost money!

Here's a very real example: For the last several months, I've been looking for an ideal embroidery stand. I started hunting around, even driving two hours one way just to try an embroidery stand. I finally found the embroidery stand I want, but the price tag was out of my reach - almost $300 for the two components that would make it usable for me!

And yet, the stand will arrive this week! I'm very excited about that. How did I manage it? Did I just "charge it" and plan to "pay for it later," so I could have it now? If I had done so, I would have had it months ago! But, given human nature and the credit card mentality, it probably still wouldn't be paid off, and I'd be paying interest on it, to boot. And that would make an already too-expensive product ridiculously pricey.

So what's the key to being able to afford your hobby so that you can enjoy it with a free and easy mind, knowing that the supplies, books, needlework stands, lights, little splurges on your needlework stash - whatever niceties you purchase - haven't become just one more debt to pay off, sometime in the future, when you realize that your credit card has ballooned to extraordinary proportions? I know I can't enjoy things wholly when I have a cloud of debt hanging over my head.

The key is budgeting. If you spend money on your hobby, but it sets you back and puts you in debt, then you're doing something wrong, and it will eventually catch up with you! I know, because I've been there! Now, I have a budget, and in that budget is figured my "fun" money - the money I spend on my hobby. When I want to make a major purchase, such as a $300 needlework stand, I don't buy it right now because I want it now. I plan it into my budget and I save towards it, until I can buy it. If something comes up that's an absolute need, I adjust my budget accordingly.

Budgeting isn't hard - it's not rigid or restricting if done the right way! On the contrary, on a budget, you're much freer to do things, because you know exactly where you money is and what you're doing with it.

If you don't know how to budget correctly so that it is easy, you should take a look at Personal Budget Training, where you can find out how to set yourself up to enjoy your hobby and be able to spend money on it, without feeling remorse or having the Dark Cloud of Debt hanging over your head! Jim's my brother. He's a Dave Ramsey certified financial counselor. Of course, being my brother, he nagged me until I "saw the light" when it came to budgeting and spending on my hobby, and, thanks to him, in relatively no time, I paid off my college loan which was still lingering around, and I set myself up to be able to afford and enjoy my hobby. (Thanks, Jim!)

So, to answer the inquiries I've received on affording needlework supplies, now you know how I do it - I'm not wealthy, but I don't subscribe to credit card spending, either. I just... budget!

Budget your money and budget your time - and you'll enjoy your embroidery a whole heck of a lot more!

Labels: miscellaneous embroidery musings

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, December 12, 2007
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Needle lace is a general term for - yes - lace made with a needle. There are many different types of needle lace. It seems that each region of Europe, for example, that has a needlework tradition, seems to have their own style of needle lace.

I love needle lace! I especially like the types that adorn linens. Italian cutwork is perhaps my favorite! I thought I'd just share a couple photos of a practice piece of needle lace that I pulled out of my sample binder today when I was cleaning up.

Italian cutwork is a technique that embodies whitework, cutwork, and needle lace techniques. It's worked on linen, and the design that is to become the inset needle lace is created by laying a foundation of threads in the pattern of the design, then cutting carefully away the linen and folding it back, stitching over the folded edge. Then, over the foundation threads that mark out the lace pattern, stitches are worked - usually buttonhole stitch, worked close together. Triangles, arches, and so forth can all be worked in geometric designs within cut out squares or other shapes.

The linen is further embellished with white embroidery. Some pieces of Italian cutwork are extrememly intricate, and really, really beautiful! Reticella, another Italian needle lace, had its origins in cutwork, but the technique for reticella lace eventually migrated to working the lace over threads, completely free of the ground fabric. Italian cutwork makes use of the ground fabric (linen) to anchor the foundation threads of the design (although, technically, you can make the same type of needle lace designs on paper, so that you have a separate piece of lace...)

Ok, enough! If you want to read further about Italian cutwork, I suggest the Priscialla Italian Cutwork book - you can buy it "new" and revamped from Iva Rose Reproductions. If you follow that link, you'll see a preview of the book, with some good photos of Italian cutwork.

Here's a little piece of needle lace I worked up as a sample a couple years ago. I was fiddling with Italian cutwork, and this was one of the little needle lace designs in the book.



The piece is a little short of two inches square. You can see that my picots are not so well done! It took a little practice to get those right! Also, the edge is not complete.



You can see the back here, with the linen cut and folded back. After the edges are stitched over (either with buttonhole or with an overcast stitch), you cut away the excess of the triangles.

So that's a little needle lace sample!

If you want to look further into needle lace online, here are a couple links:

Needle Lace - this has a nice introduction to needle lace, some patterns, pictures and descriptions of stitches.
Needle lace identification - here, you'll find some photos of different types of needle lace. Follow the links to see different types.
Beeton's Book of Needlework - hosted by Project Gutenburg, an excellent book of all kinds of needlework, with pages dedicated to needle lace.
The UK Lace Guild - good general information on needle lace - check the side menu for links to a few different types.
Antique Needlelace - some beautiful samples from the collection of Marla Mallett. You can click on the links for close up images, and the descriptions are good. This is not necessarily "cut work" lace - most samples are needle lace worked on net grounds.
Victoria & Albert - Here, you can type "needle lace" into the search feature, and view their online photos of different types of needle lace. There are some beautiful examples of cutwork & needle lace available - one handkerchief in particular is just stunning!

If you have any other resources on needle lace, feel free to share by leaving a comment! Thanks!

Labels: needlelace, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, December 11, 2007
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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, December 10, 2007
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Have you ever looked at an embroidery kit, and liked the idea of it, but didn't like the finished product shown on the front of the kit? Have you ever seen a kit and thought, "If I were going to embroidery something like that, I'd do it differently"? You aren't alone!

A reader recently sent me two photos of embroidery - one is a photo of the cover of a kit, and the other is a photo of her rendition of the embroidery after she completed the kit.

Gaze in wonder at the difference between these two photos:



This is the photo on the front of the kit. It's what the finished piece is supposed to look like, after you've worked the kit. It's "cute," but it's really blocky and paint-by-number looking. The overall idea of the kit is great, though - I like pansies, and I like embroidered flowers. An embroidered pansy kit would probably be something I'd consider purchasing. But the recommended outcome isn't exactly my style, so I would pass this up!



When Margaret stitched the kit, she put into practice her knowledge of shading techniques and improved the finished look 100-fold! If I saw a kit with this picture on the front of it, I'd be inclined to get it. The flower is simply more beautiful. It looks like a flower. She did such a pretty and perfect job!

So the moral of the story is, when you see a kit you "kind of" like, look beyond the recommended finished product! You're the one who is going to work it - who says you have to slavishly follow the absolute directions? If you think you can produce a better finished product, go for it! It will make what was a "mass-market" product more uniquely your own.

Speaking of kits, what do you think about them? Do you use kits? Do you prefer kits? Or do you avoid kits? Do you think using a kit indicates something about the embroiderer? Do you react differently towards a piece of needlework when you find out it was worked from a kit? I'd love to hear what readers think about embroidery kits - if you use them and why, if you don't and why not, and if you alter them, etc...

Labels: needlework pictures, pictures, readers embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, December 09, 2007
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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, December 08, 2007
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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, December 08, 2007
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What a find! Here's a terrific resource for designs for hand embroidery. This is a site with all kinds of good design ideas on it! I don't usually get over excited about resources for embroidery patterns, but this one is really good!

Keep in mind, this site is not specifically an "embroidery" website - rather, it's a clip art and image site, but it is chock full of perfect images that can be adapted for embroidery. The site is hosted by the University of South Florida, and it's called Clipart ETC. At Clipart ETC you will find a searchable database of all kinds of images, which are presented in three sizes - small, medium, and large. You can also download a printable tif file for each image.



When you go to Clipart ETC, click on the "search database" link. Here, you can perform a keyword search, or you can search by category. The first search I performed was on the word "butterfly." There are 161 records, most of which have clear images of nice butterflies which would translate easily into embroidery designs.



Some of the butterflies are more complex than others. They are all black and white, which might pose a problem for choosing correct colors for embroidering.



But even if you were to pick a not-so-real color scheme, you could end up with a great embroidered butterfly, thanks to the clarity of the images.



I'm a fan of this particular butterfly, which is the Papilio Machaon - a swallowtail. If I were going to embroider it, though, I'd want to be pretty precise with the color scheme, and there's really nothing easier than coming up with the colors of the butterfly - simply do a Google image search. I came up with a pretty good image, which I then modified in PhotoShop.



If I wanted to translate this into a pattern for embroidery, I'd take my line drawing in black and white, trace it on good tracing paper, then go at it with colored pencils. I'd then thread match, and I'd be set to reproduce the swallowtail in thread.



Christmas is coming up. I seached the Clipart ETC database for holly, and here is a beautiful specimen that could be embroidered a number of ways - by outlining, or by filling with long and short stitch shading. Whatever way you want to reproduce it in thread, it's a lovely pattern!



I'm a fan of historical needlework, so I searched "Bayeux Tapestry" on a whim, and... here's a great image of one of the boats!! Perfect for reproducing a little bit of Bayeux.



On a whim, I searched the word "border." I came up with some beauties!



And, I'm a huge fan of daffodils, so I tried that term, too. Voila!

Clipart ETC hosted by the University of South Florida is an absolute gem of a source for embroidery design inspiration! Bookmark it!!

Labels: embroidery design, embroidery resources, free embroidery patterns

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, December 07, 2007
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Here's my attempt at a snowflake pattern for embroidering. It's a bit messy, admittedly! But I figured I'd share it anyway, and if you use it, you can clean it up a bit when you transfer the design. I want to embroider a snowflake something-or-other this weekend - perhaps to use on a card or maybe to make onto an ornament of sorts. I haven't decided yet!

On this particular embroidered snowflake, I want to work beads, so the dots all over the place represent different sized beads. Also, the hairy tips of the beaded branches are just there to give an idea of extra icy embellishment that could be added to the design.

I'm thinking of working a pale blue silk satin stitch on the double-lined branches, and all the rest in a small strand of silver metallic. If I can't get the silver metallic to work satisfactorily, I may switch to white for the double branches and a pale blue for the beaded branches. In any case, I want to work it on a darker fabric, if I have one in my scraps. The beads will probably be clear. Again, another "we'll see."

Well, anyway, it's not the best or cleanest pattern in the world, but I thought I'd share it with you nonetheless. Here 'tis:



You can click on it for a larger version. Once you save it to your computer, you can scale it down to a reasonable size.

Have fun with it!

Labels: free embroidery patterns

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, December 06, 2007
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