New Blackwork Thread Palette Set

Hand Painted 17th c Blackwork

 Recently a customer ordered a set of slate frames and when I asked how she wanted them painted, she said "Paint whatever makes you happy". Is that awesome or what??  I have always loved blackwork embroidery~ the early 17th c style~ not the cross stitch that folks think of today that is labeled as such. Early blackwork is basically done in outline stitch, with any shading done in speckling or fil turk. If you have followed my blog for some years...you may remember I did an inked jacket based on this coif quiet a while ago. Along with this coif, the V&A has several fragments of what is believed to be a jacket, in same pattern. I drafted my own version of the pattern using all the pieces and some others found held privately. I have wanted to make a painted version for f-o-r-e-v-e-r...and so, I took the opportunity to paint up a blackwork slate frame.

 The design is first drawn on by hand with india ink using a dip pen...(did you that steel tip pens were in use in the early 1720s?.....most think of them as replacing quills in the late 19thc)

 After I have the outlines on, then I go back and add black shading~ I really love how it came out...I think an entire box would look stunning! The slat on the bottom is without shading, the top slat is finished.

 I left all the pictures large on this post today, so you can click on them to see details easier~ This is a large frame, and looks quite nice just hanging out when not in use. I am totally jealous of my customer having a blackwork frame and I think I may need to paint me one....in the mean time, I made up a thread palette set~

  using a fragment of same pattern~ I think a must have for anyone who loves blackwork embroidery!  If you are interested in it, or would just like to see more pictures~ it is available on eBay this week here .

A MUST see!!!!

If you are anywhere in the vicinity of Oxfordshire, UK...you simply must make the trek to Witney Antiques to see their current exhibit, "Wrought with the Needle" ~ an exhibit of outstanding English embroideries from 1590~1750 (and get this, many are for sale if you have a few hundred grand in the bottom of your purse) You can see and read more about it here on their website~ www.witneyantiques.com . I ordered a catalogue thru the mail and it got across the pond to me here in the US in a woppin 3 days! Ohhhhh my goodness, it is an absolute treat for the eyes to behold, with wonderful closeup views of embroidered jackets and coifs, mirror surrounds, bead work....if you have at all the slightest interest in early Jacobean, Elizabethan, or Stuart embroidery, you simply must must must have this book

Ink Tests & Final Fabrics for Bodies....

I will be inking my design for Marguarite's jacket by hand, with a metal nib. I'm not going to use an actual quill, cause honestly, I cant cut them at a consistent angle to get the same width of a line. They work well on a smooth paper, and in an up to down motion, but nothing else! HA! I have drawn on fabrics for years, so it doesn't bother me or make me nervous about messing up...but my normal India ink I always use, has recently been """"improved""", and is total crap as a result of said improvements. No more shellac used, and they have gone to a .....(gag) plastic base. blek I ordered a couple of bottles to try, actually the only two India inks that I could find that were being sold as WATERPROOF & PERMANENT. Well, as is normal these days, things are not what they are advertised as.....

I did both samples at the same time, on the same day, with the same pen, on the same fabric, a cotton muslin. Used the same nib. Everything was the same, except what I drew on the doodle, and the ink of coarse. After I finished and let both dry for 5 minutes, I ironed the heck out of them with a dry iron on highest setting to 'set' the ink. Let them cool and sit for half hour, then dunked them in the water. While they were below the surface, I massaged the piece in between my thumb and fingers, to see if any ink would run......well, as you can see~ it did! The one above is "Calli Jet Black India 010" by Daler Rowney. It is supposed to be both permanent and waterproof. This stuff smeared instantly , NO rubbing needed. As soon as it hit the water the ink lifted~ absolutely unacceptable. Cost for this 1 oz bottle, 5.00

Next was an ink from just up the way from me here in Golden Colorado~ Dr. Ph Martin's Black Star Waterproof India HICARB. Now when I dunked this one in the water, nothing happened....so I scrubbed the heck out of the sample, and still, nothing lifted, as you can see. So this is the ink I will be using, and its got a higher carbon content than most India inks, so is a bit blacker, much to my liking. 17th c inks had a very high carbon content as well. Cost of this 1 oz bottle, 9.00 ....and worth every penny

I have also made my final decisions on the fabrics I am going to use for Marguarite's bodies...and I am SO excited about them! Ya I'm a bit nerdy about it, I even made a little 3 min video for you to see. This is them below~ a goldenrod yellow silk shot with lavender for the outside, late 19th c 100% cotton sheeting for the backing of the silk on the front, and a FABULOUS mid-late 19th c handwoven fustian for the inner lining~ this stuff is so thick and heavy, its really awesome. I am going to stitch in the blue 100% cotton thread, and am pondering using the antique whalebone stays I have amassed over the years as a stiffener....I may use bents or reeds, haven't decided on those yet. Ill will be stitching up a sample soon.

Progress on my embroidery draft, and 17th c Bodies (corset)

Normally, I wait until I am done making something before I post it here, but when I do that, I leave out alot of details, and forget a lot too, so easiest for me is to just post a little, all the time :) I finished drafting my embroidery pattern for Marguarites inked jacket this past week....well, the reproduction of the coif pattern anyways. It was more difficult in parts, where the embroidery distorted the pattern I was working from. I ended up using the V& A Coif for the overall pattern, but filled in the details on many parts from the photo Wendy sent me, and actually, the Cowton & Tout has half a floral repeat that is beyond the edge on the coif, so I will fill that in as needed when I ink the design onto the jacket. I am keeping good track of actual time I spend 'doing' things (research NOT included), and I have 8 hr 15 min actual drawing time in drafting the coif pattern for my jacket. woo hoo!

I am waiting on more linen to come in the mail, and until that gets here, have been working on Marguarites Bodies. There are only a whopping two known extant 16-17th c bodies, Queen Elizabeth's Effigy at Westminster Abby wears a pair, dated by Janet Arnold to 1603, and then the pair worn by the Pfalzgrafin Dorthea Sabina Von Neuburg when she was buried in 1598 and is held at the National Museum in Munich. They are pictured below, and drafted in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion.

I really like the look of the Effigy bodies, but they are front closing, and for Marguarite, I want her to wear a back lacing style, so have gone with a hybrid of sorts~ I used Drea Leed's 'Custom Corset Pattern Generator'~ you can find it online at http://www.elizabethancostume.net/ . It really is a handy tool~

(Ha~ dont comment on my recycled Dora wrapping paper~ I NEVER throw anything out!!! ) This is my altered draft using her pattern generator~ you plug in measurements, and it spits you out directions to draft your pattern~ REALLY slick. Of coarse dolly isn't totally 'proportionate like a human, so I altered it to fit her better. I wanted Marguarite's to have shoulder straps, so I added some using the Pfalzgrafin's as a guide

I also want unboned tabs, and so altered the curve up over the hip to a straighter line to accommodate them

I cut a larger trapezoid for the two on either side of the back opening, and then a smaller one for the middle, and a rectangular one that will be front most on each side~ I'm not bothering to bone them, as I don't think Marguarite will mind them digging into her hips a little...

Margaret Layton & my inked c1630 jacket

I have of late been absolutely engrossed with research for my 17th c wardrobe I am making for Marguarite. I intend to make her an embroidered jacket, like the one above, worn by Margaret Layton c1620. This is a painting of her currently on display at the v&A, along with the extant jacket. You can see it here ... http://www.vam.ac.uk/ and then search by its accession number T.228-1994 . I am taking the Tudor & Stuart Gold Master Class to perfect my stitches, and help me decide which one I want to do for the scrolls...but while I am gathering my threads, and making up Marguerite's smock and bodies, I also decided that I would make her a mock up jacket, to be sure to get her fit perfect before spending a year on the embroidery....

I started out with something simple, but then thought if I am going to make up something, I am going to totally make it up right, period correct, well, as close as I can come to period correct. In my research, I came across a c1630 coif, also at the V& A, and the second I saw it, that was what I wanted my jacket to look like. What makes it so absolutely fabulous, is that it is printed...yes~ printed!!! Just the outlines have been embroidered in a gold wrapped silk. I have been totally transfixed by this little bit of cloth...I can barely think of nothing else. Here is a closeup

I had planed on taking what pattern was on the coif (a small cap that covers the back of the head), and then tiling the pattern and repeating it to fill in my jacket pieces....I didn't like the idea at all...cause I want to know what lies beyond the cut edges. I want to see the entire pattern! Being from the 17th century, and knowing that so terrifically little extant textiles from this era still exist, I figured I would never know the entire pattern (If there is anyone out there who knows of ANOTHER example of it, let me know!!)

Early last week, I was talking to Wendy Lewis, and ended up sending her the picture above, and come to find out, she knew that fabric too, but from a different piece! She sent me the photo below she took of it~ This one is also at the V&A, and is labeled as a cushion cover....but if you look close, that is a neckline center top, I KNOW it~ this is a cutting from what should have been a jacket made from this awesome bit of H*e*a*v*e*n on Earth. It is clearly the exact....exact same fabric~ WOO HOO! (click on pic to enlarge)

Now is this providence or what???? I was born to make this jacket, and there isn't a person around that could ever tell me otherwise. But the plot thickens... Wendy also told me she had a modern copy of this, called 'Animal Toile' printed by Cowton & Tout about 10 years ago or so. So she sent it to me to look at. I couldn't wait for it to get here...I thought, perfect, I can just trace it off and be on my way.....but of coarse, nothing is ever that easy.

This is the Cowton & Tout~ marvelous isn't it? At first glance, it looks to be pretty darn close...besides the scale greatly enlarged. I sat and began to try and count the repeat...but the more I looked at it, the more wicked confused I got. The design is 4 blocks of florals, each with an animal in them, and these are stacked on top of each other, and shifted over two. The first thing I looked for were the bunch of grapes, and the monkey...but hey, where are they? Nope~ no grapes, no monkey....and as I kept looking, no leopard...no death and destruction that is in the original coif. Of the 4 floral designs, only 2 of them are in the coif as printed, the other two are a smathering of this and that, of things taken from different areas of the design, and just stuck there. Interesting. What I want to know, is where did Cowton & Tout copy their fabric from??? Is there another piece of this somewhere??? There must be, as the elements are nearly exact in copy, but just all messed up in design. and NO grapes!!! grrrrrr

Here is some of what I m talking about~ in this close view of the coif, see the hawk there has killed that bird, and is chomping on its lifeless neck and holding it up with one of its talons.....but in the reproduction...

as I was tracing it off, there is no lifeless bird here. It has been extracted from the view, and replaced with a pathetic little bug. As I kept looking, all sorts of neat details like this, that makes this design so 'going~on', have been removed, and replaced with a bunch of grass, or a bug.

All of that aside, it is still an interesting design, and I traced it off anyways, just to keep for reference. It totally reminds me of the game we used to play in Girl Scouts, where you whisper into ones ear, then she whispers into another's, and when the message gets back around, its no where near the same? I think that is what happened with this fabric.