Um. Or rather, U M.
It seems like a long, long time (and it is, I suppose) since we last visited this maniturgium that I am embroidering. I really hoped to finish it before Christmas, but alas. Now there’s a little more urgency to get it finished.
If you’re new to this project, don’t worry – I’ll provide links at the end of the article to all the previous information about it, including what it is, what it’s for, the design development, and so forth.
As far as the lettering on the project goes, I have to finish the U and the M at the end of the phrase “Duc in Altum.” Right now, I’ve got the M outlined with split stitch, and I’m ready to start the shaded filling, from top to bottom, in light blue silk to a very dark, dark blue.
Previously, I was using a wider hoop on the lettering, but I switched to a very small round hoop so that I could work just the U and the M, without interfering too much with the previously embroidered letters. You can see “Alt” falling off the work area on the left, and I’ve caught just the tip of the T (it is a T – the letter form is similar to an “uncial” of 4th – 8th century manuscript lettering) in the smaller hoop.
If I had tried to use the wider hoop that I started with, I’d have to catch the A and the L in the hoop…
…but you see I got ahead of myself and added a bit of silver around those letters. I don’t want to catch that in a hoop.
This is what I get for not thinking ahead.
This is the thing: on this type of project, especially if you had any inkling at all whatsoever that you might add something like a touch of silver thread to it, it would make more sense to use a slate frame or similar, where you can roll the embroidery along, without the interference that comes with something like a hoop.
But I really envisioned this as a much quicker project, and I didn’t want to set up a slate frame, and I prefer stitching in a hoop on something this small, and blah blah blah with my gazillion excuses.
But don’t worry! I’ve figured out something (I think) for the rest of the work, if a little hoop won’t fill the bill.
I’ll tell you about it later when I get to that point and my theory fails.
This is the part of the T that’s caught in the edge of the little hoop. It’ll be ok!
It’s not my favorite part of the lettering, to be sure. I’m not thrilled with the shading.
But it’ll be ok!
It’s fun to look at up close though.
With the naked eye, you’d never see this much detail in the thread or the stitching. I think that’s why I like to look at close-ups. The fibers looks so sumptuous when you zoom in on the image this much!
Enough of that, though!
Once I finish the U and the M at the end of the phrase, I need to go back to “Duc” at the beginning, and add the sort of ombre “glints” that run down each letter vertically. You can see this particular development of drippiness on the letters, here. I like them better with this added little touch.
Then, I’ll embroider the cross in the middle and the fish on the ends.
Half of me wants to embroidery a very subtle netting background on the whole piece – that is, a fishnet sort of background, maybe in the finest of off-white or ecru silk. I would like the net to billow and contract, adding a sense of movement to it.
This is just something I have in my head, though, and I don’t know if it will actually come about. Besides the fact that I’m working against a deadline for this piece, there’s also the fact that I could mess the whole thing up by adding more to it. Heh heh. But still… I just might do it. We shall see!
Further Reading on this Project
If you want to read the backstory, learn what a maniturgium is, see what the text is all about, and follow the development of design and stitching on this project, here’s a list of links to all the previous articles in chronological order from the beginning:
Book, Fish, and News (in which I first start playing around with design ideas and thoughts – but there’s other unrelated website news in this article, too.)
Doodling & Designing: Maniturgium Project
Embroidered Maniturgium: Battling the Indecision of Decision Making
Blues: Experimenting and Shading on Embroidered Lettering
The net in the background sounds lovely, but… I’d recommend finishing the “must be done” embroidery and then seeing how much time is left. I have experience with some vestment making, and somehow it always comes down to after-midnight finishing the day of the event. At least that’s how it always works for me!