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Mary Corbet

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I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

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Jacobean Jumble – A Stitch Fun Sampler Pattern

 

Amazon Books

Lately in the Stitch Fun series, I’ve been playing with lattice stitch variations and whipped and laced stitch variations. When playing with filling or line stitches (as opposed to individual elements, like the raised spider daisy), I like to have some kind of pattern or drawing to “play” in.

Think of the pattern as a sandbox. It’s nice to have something to contain all the sand – to keep it from spilling about and getting too messy – but you still have plenty of scope inside the sandbox for creative play. That’s pretty much how I approach patterns like the Jacobean Jumble.

Jacobean Jumble embroidery pattern

Jacobean Jumble, Past and Present

I drew up this pattern as far back as 2010. It’s a combination of a few different Jacobean motifs, all kind of morphed together. It was just a sketch of an idea, to have a sandbox to play in.

Jacobean Jumble

The Jumble appeared in the past on Needle ‘n Thread, too, when I was taking a different approach to its use. I began to use it to explore different types of stitches worked with different types of silk. This article on chain stitch worked with Soie d’Alger (spun stranded silk) was also part of my previous Jumble attempt.

That project never quite got off the ground, but I’ve been toying with it’s progeny ever since. I like the idea of combining all different types of silk threads into one sampler that is rather random and that employs many stitches, including fillings and line stitches and more obscure variations of well known stitches. Some day! But probably not with this pattern, which is just a bit too jumbled and unbalanced.

Jacobean Jumble with Lattice Stitch Fillings

In the meantime, though, I’ve been using the pattern as a sampler for a bunch of lattice stitch fillings and other Stitch Fun explorations. It’s been working ok for that, and since so many of you wrote to ask for a copy, I’m happy to pass it on to you!

Marking Lattice Fillings for Odd Shapes

Jacobean Jumble with Lattice Stitch Fillings

If you’re going to work the odd shapes in lattice stitches, you can take several approaches to marking out the lattice lines so that they are evenly placed on the fabric. You can mark the beginning and ends of the lines with pencil, so you can see where to start and end a lattice line, or you can even mark the full line using a pencil and a ruler, as I did in the section in the photo above.

If you decide to mark out the whole line with a ruler, make sure that the thread you are using will cover your pencil marks. The thread I’m using (coton a broder size 25) is about the thickness of two strands of regular DMC floss. It’s more like 2.5 strands – not quite as thick as three strands, not quite as fine as two. In any case, it works well for covering up these pencil lines.

Another point: start marking your lines in the center of the shape and then work out to each side, rather than starting by an edge and working across the whole shape. Starting in the center will assure that your lattice layout is a little more balanced.

Jacobean Jumble Pattern PDF

Here’s the PDF for the Jacobean Jumble pattern, in case you want to play with it, too:

Jacobean Jumble Pattern (PDF)

Feel free to enlarge or reduce the size to suit your needs. If you print without scaling, it’ll print at the size I’m using.

Enjoy!

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(27) Comments

  1. Thank you so much for the free pattern and it’s perfect timing. After 30 plus years, I’ve decided it’s high time to start back into needlework, especially crewel.

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  2. Merci pour votre partage.J’aime beaucoup les modèles jacobean,mais en France, nous avons très peu de modéles. Cordialement
    Chantal.

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  3. Hi Mary,

    Thank you for this beautiful pattern. I love it and can’t wait to start picking colors for it. It think I might go all silk. Never done it before, but have used some silk on other projects. Hope you have a great Weds.

    Sincerely,

    Melissa Bird

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  4. Thank you so much for this. Thanks for letting us play in your sandbox too! I’m so silly. Why didn’t I think of moving from the middle out (just like satin stitch or l&S stitch!) One of those “Duh” moments! Thanks a million.

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  5. Hi Mary, thanks so much for the pattern. This will be a good pattern to practice my lattice, which is not so good. My long and short is not so good also. 🙂 But, I will keep on practicing thanks to your encouragement.

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  6. G’day Mary,
    Thank you Mary, but not in the undertone of sarcasm of Elizabeth Bennett’s comment, “Thank you Mary”, to her younger, annoyingly moral, sister in ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Same words but very different meanings. What I mean is: Thank you Mary. What Elizabeth, of course, meant was Thank you Mary!! : )
    Cheers, Kath.

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  7. Dear Mary

    Thanks so much for this free pattern of the Lattice stitch fun series. I’ve duly saved it ready for use later. After your blog on the Lattice stitch I’ve decided to use this as part of my current project, like you I love Lattice stitch and there are so many possibilities to it so thanks for your inspiration. P.S. the pattern does remind me of a sandbox ha! ha!

    Regards Anita Simmance

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  8. Mary, what is the actual size of the design you’re working on, and what size mesh? This looks like a fascinating project.

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    1. Hi, Judith – the PDF in the article above prints at the size I’m using. I believe it’s about 5.5″ x 7.5″. I’m stitching on linen. It’s Alba Maxima linen by Legacy, which has approximately 40 threads to the inch, though it isn’t technically an even-weave linen. ~MC

  9. Hi Mary,

    Thanks for the pattern.I know that I should be able to draw up some kind of design to use as a practice sampler – somehow mine never look quite right. It will be fun to work on something that is so pleasing to the eye before I even begin to put thread on fabric,

    Rhonda

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  10. You never fail to amuse me Marry. Ever since i have started following your blog my embroidery projects keep getting better and better.

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  11. I stitched your Jacobean Jumble and loved doing it. It was something completely different for me. Thanks for sharing this, I’m encouraging my friends to have a go at it too.

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  12. Are you planning to (or have you already) printed a legend identifying the stitches you have used so far on all the spaces?

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  13. Hi Mary,
    When you drew this sketch, did you do it in Adobe Photoshop or Inkscape? Do you use both systems? Do you use them for different things, as I understand Photoshop is bit/pixel oriented and Inkscape is curve/spherical.

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    1. Hi, Shawne – I use either Inkscape or Adobe Illustrator. Both produce vector drawings. I like Inkscape because it’s pretty simple to use, and it’s free, but I occasionally use Illustrator for more advanced applications.

  14. Dear Mary, I haven’t been on your site for a while but today I visited The Dovecote
    Studios, in Edinburgh which had an exhibition of some of the work of
    MAY MORRIS, the daughter of William Morris of Arts and Crafts fame. We were
    so impressed by her embroidery that on return home I decided to look at all the
    different threads available particularly silk thread. May Morris seems to have used a thicker silk thread than I have or have ever used. Normally for my
    embroidery I have used Appletons Crewel Wool and DMC embroidery thread.
    I found your pieces about trying different threads ‘Jacobean Jumble’. Thank you so much for all the wonderful information you put on your site. What a TREASURE.
    Regards, Margaret Bellany

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  15. I miss you terribly on YouTube. I’m such a visual learner. I find your tutorial most informative. I am grateful for your website.
    Pat-South Padre Island, Texas

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