Another topic that generated a lot of questions around the goldwork altar cover project is how I attached the large semi-precious gemstone to the medallion, the central decorative piece on the altar cover.

There are different ways that stones can be attached to goldwork. When considering how to attach a stone, you have to think in terms of size and, especially, of usage. If your piece is going to be framed and rarely if ever handled, you have some wiggle room in how stringent you are with the attachment of the stone(s). But if you’re creating a piece that will be used, moved, folded, and so forth, it’s a good idea to figure out some way to make sure the stone is super duper secure.

Initially, we were looking at a faceted stone for this piece, but two problems presented themselves: 1. a faceted stone of any size is normally very deeply cut on the back – and that was the case with the stones that we had to choose from. Their depth made them problematic. 2. Because of their depth, setting them into any hardware (jeweler’s setting) would increase their weight and their height and make sewing them on and working them into the embroidery difficult and – I thought – rather ungainly. As much as I prefer a faceted stone for its brilliance, if the stone doesn’t have a flat back – or at least a very shallow back – it seems awkward on a textile.

One of the techniques we used on the goldwork altar cover we recently finished was coating the back of the embroidery with adhesive or paste.

When I mentioned this briefly in the finish article on the project, it generated a lot of discussion and questions via email. Several people asked if I would revisit the topic and explain how we did this step.

So, today, briefly – because it’s a very simple, uncomplicated process – I’ll show you what we did.