Gum Work~ The Art of 17th Century Gummed Silk

 Now Open for Registration!!

Registration is now open again for my gummed silk class! You can read all about the class by clicking the tab above for my Diamond K Folk Art Online Academy. Its right under the Blog header here on this page. The photo to the right is a link to the Academy for those in class to sign in. To learn about what classes are running, click on the page tab at the top of the page, under the Lady's Repository Museum title banner. 

Have you always wanted to make a 17th c inspired something....but for whatever reason don't stitch? Do you love to cut and paste? Make collages??? This class could be just what you're looking for! 

You will learn gummed silk history, and how to make it so you can make gummed silk compositions of your own~ on a box, or just as a flat panel to frame on your wall. This technique is perfect for tight spaces and interiors of caskets & boxes.  

If you click on the Silke Gum Worke tab to the right to sort the blog posts, you can see some historical pieces that have sleeven or gummed silk on them.

You will also learn some wet techniques, including how to make gummed silk curls like these shown here on the lion. 

THIS IS NOT A CASKET CLASS, it is a class to teach you how to make Gummed Silk. 

I will have an interior finishing class coming up later this fall.

My New Teaching Website!

 Diamond K Folk Art Online Academy

It gives me much pleasure to announce the opening of my new teaching website,

 Diamond K Folk Art Online Academy

All of my online classes will be hosted here from now on, so save the link! Some classes will be digital-only, some will be more traditional with associated physical kits. I have new classes in the works, and will be adding some from previous years as well. Classes are fully paid up front, and content is released at the first of each month for however long the course runs. I will announce classes here on my blog, and link to pages where they may be purchased.

 If you are in Colorado, please email me to enroll and I will invoice you directly to include applicable taxes, if not, I will have to send an additional invoice with added tax.

I am planing the second running of my 2020 Beneath Thy Poft Oak class later this year. This is an in-depth 12 month long course covering 17th c surface beadwork embroidery techniques. A project kit is included with the class. If you missed the first running and would be interested in the waitlist for this class, just shoot me an email. 

Gum Work~ The Art of 17th c Gummed Silk

Class Starts Feb 1, 2022!

My new Gum Work class is now open for enrollment and will be starting on the first of February. This class is three months long, and is a digital only class, meaning there is no associated class kit. A full list of required materials with link to where they can be purchased online is included in the first lesson. You may already have much of what is needed, or be able to find them locally.

If you are unfamiliar with 17th c gummed silk, I will invite you to click on the tab on the right sidebar 'Silke Gum Work' to learn a little more about it....and if you want to learn how to make beautiful gummed silk carnations like the ones shown above, I hope you will sign up for the class!

Traditionally, items decorated with gum work only contained gummed silk, such as the top of my dome top casket shown above. But in class, I will show you how to elevate this dainty craft to a new level by adding goldwork stitches and some bling to it!

You will learn both flat and curled techniques. Even the lion's mane shown above is gummed silk

You can learn more about my Gum Work class & Enroll here

Finished

 17th c Inspired Gum Work Casket

Here is a tour of my finished Gum Work casket. I hope you enjoyed following along on YouTube! If you haven't already got on the mailing list for my new 2022 classes, just drop me a line at rlkinnison@yahoo.com to be put on the list. 

The Last Step...

 To Casket Finishing: Trim!

Casket 1070-1873, shown above at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London is one of my favorite caskets because I just love its unique trim. You can see it here. It's not the only extant casket that has lace over ribbon for trim, but it's my favorite. The lace makes for such a feminine look. This is the casket that was inspiration for the trim on my little dome top casket. 

I hand stitched lace over ribbon to make my trim, and my last Finishing Tips video on YouTube below shows how I apply the trim~ which is the same for ANY type of trim I am wanting to apply. Hope ya'll have a wonderful Christmas and come back tomorrow for a little video tour of the finished casket

Floss Tube Finer Finishing Tips 15

 Things to Think about when Looking for Trims for a Box or Casket

Happy Friday! I hope you are having a great stitching week...or perhaps getting ready for a great stitching weekend. I will be at a craft show with Pip all day tomorrow, so my usual Saturday video is a day early this week. The only thing left to share of the making of my little Dome Top Casket is how I apply the trim, but before I get to that, I first wanted to have just a little chat about the trim itself, and what you should take into consideration when searching out the perfect trim for your own project. 

Check back next Friday to see how I apply the trim to the box, and then on Christmas Day I'll post a video of the finished casket. I cannot convey enough how much fun this little project was and that I hope it has inspired you to continue on your own project, or maybe even start up a new one!

I do believe this is the first peek you will get to see at the completed Gum Worke~ if you like it and want to learn how to do it for yourself, I will be having a class starting in January~ just drop me a line to rlkinnison@yahoo.com to get on the mailing list. 

Floss Tube Finer Finishing Tips #14

 Gluing A Finished Panel Onto The Box

So.....you have laboured for perhaps years on your embroidery and it's finally finished. All that is left is to glue it onto your box or casket. Easy right? You may be surprised to learn that the majority of folks I know when they get to this point, they panic. Some don't even get as far as opening the glue pot, just the thought of glue on their embroidery is overwhelming enough for them to stop and make the thing live unappreciated in a drawer for the rest of its life. 

I am here as a calming voice to assure you, it's really NO. BIG. DEAL. 

Take a deep breath, gather your tools, and watch this week's YouTube video on how to do it below!

Each panel is glued on in the same way, one at a time, no matter what you have worked onto the panel itself. It could be cross-stitch, crewelwork, stumpwork, or beadwork...no matter, they all go on the same way. Come on back next week for a fun video on choosing trim!

My Kind of Lost & Found....

 17th Century Silke Gum Worke

 There were many techniques used in the 17th century to cover girls' cabinets, workboxes, and caskets. One of my favorites is Silk Gum Worke. I have talked about it before, and am very pleased with the results I have been able to obtain.  Gum work caskets and items are much rarer than their stumpwork or beaded counterparts, as they are somewhat fragile. Occasionally things pop out of worldwide obscurity. For a brief moment, like the lid opening on a box of treasures, we get to peek in, and then the lid is shut and we are left longing for more. Such was the case with the above silk and silk gum work casket from the Caldwell collection. It was sold by Brunk Auctions in 2006, you can see the auction page here.  One just cannot appreciate the beauty of silk gum work via a photograph...its impossible. 

I have studied pieces in person and they are so old and tattered now. Four hundred years of dust and sun and wear has left them tired. I wanted to know what they looked like when new.... and I want you to too! 

 This is the topic of my video for today...it's not so much a tip, as it is a treat. The gummed silk is extremely luminous. In the process of making the sheets, the silk fibers are aligned parallel to each other. I refer to this alignment as the grain. To make a panel, I first start with the stems and leaves, as shown above. Notice how some of the leaves are lighter, and some are darker...but they are all cut from the same silk. The light catches the grain at different angles and is reflected off in vibrant bursts of light.

Next petals are placed. 

One by one, the flowers grow petal by petal

 Though the pieces are flat, the way they are built up gives the flowers added dimension. I used the same pink silk for all the flower petals. 

Here is the finished panel on the back of my little dome top casket. While it looks pretty here, one just cannot understand the movement you can get from this technique, so I offer you today a little video, below. It still does not do the real thing justice, but at least is a little better than a flat picture. 

If you are interested in learning more about this technique, drop me a line to rlkinnison@yahoo.com to be put on the mailing list for my upcoming Jan 2022 class, Gum Worke~ The Arte of 17th Century Gummed Silk. 

Dome Top Casket Progress

  & Upcoming 2022 Classes

 Today is just a short video to show you the progress of my Dome Top Casket and to reinforce my point that while you do need a good sound foundation for a casket, it need not be an overly fancy or expensive one. It's more about what you do to the box....than the box itself.  Of course, I have not been stretching this project out minutes at a time. Its been finished for a while and SUPER hard to not just share the whole thing. I think overall, from start to finish, it was less than 2 months time from buying the box on Amazon here , to its total outside completion.  BTW, I see that the price of the box has gone up, when I bought it it was 11.00 and now is up to 18.00.  Still an excellent value! You will see the link on Amazon there are three sizes~ I used the large size for my little casket. 

I am working on a new teaching website and am planning on launching 2 new classes at the first of the year. The first will be Puffed Silkes~ 17th c Inspired Padded Box Interiors. 

This class will teach you the skills to make a padded interior for any shape of box or casket, as elaborate or simple as you want. 

The second will be a very exciting class on how to make Gummed Silk~ Gum Worke ~ The Arte of 17th Century Gummed Silk, where I will teach you my technique for making gummed sleeven silk.

Either class offers skills no one who wishes to make their own casket should be without.  My little Dome Top Casket is a perfect example of combining the two. 

 Traditionally, a picture or casket covered in gummed silk was worked only in gummed silk. It was usually flat...like the closer view of the interior door above. But unlike the 17th c examples I have studied, I like to add silk stumpwork stitches and goldwork to really make the surface come to  life....and wait until you see the outside! While it is amazing as flat work...I will show you how much dimension you can achieve with Gum Worke. It really is a fun and fabulous technique!

 

Roll with It

 Dome Top Casket Progress...

Do you ever feel like you are on a roller coaster that won't stop? Lately, I have been desperately trying to get off the one I am on but it never slows down enough for me to leap out. Every time I turn around it seems like it's time to go to bed and my to-do list is not even half-finished for the day. Maybe the sun is on the same schedule? It goes to bed around here by 5pm.  IF anyone has any hints on how to s-l-o-w  t-h-i-n-g-s d-o-w-n a bit, I would very much appreciate it. 

The Dome Casket flew together and I am so happy with how it came out! In the line of progression for today's Floss Tube Finer Finishing Tips YouTube series, I am continuing to prep for the embroidery of the interior doors. What you don't see in the video is the finished padded interior, shown above. Isn't it the most gorgeous shade of green?

 I have a list in my head going of interior colour schemes I want to do, and this green was high up on the list. 

I have always admired the interior of this one at the Met Museum, shown above. Click that link to go to the Museum's page to really check it out! It was the inspiration for my padded interior, except with gold trim. I love my tiny little Penhaligons bottles nestled so snugly into their cubbies. Who am I kidding, I just love padded interiors....and if YOU love them, well I may just have the class you have been looking for coming up soon! It's not a project class in particular. It will teach you the skills to make a padded interior to fit any shape or size box you can dream of! If you think that's something you would be interested in, just shoot me an email (rlkinnison@yahoo.com)to get on the mailing list, I am hoping for a January 2022 start!

Just a quick tip today showing you how I roll the glued paper onto the surface of the silk to glue it on. I use this rolling method for gluing finished embroidery panels as well. Along with the Yes! Paste, one will get no bubbles!

Happy Saturday!

Floss Tube Finer Finishing Tips 11

The tip for today is how to support the fabric for design transfer after its been laced into the frame.  Just as a building is only as good as its foundation, so is our embroidery. In order to get the cleanest, smoothest pattern lines, the fabric on your slate frame must have proper support, which is the subject of todayś video tip

Happy Stitching!

Things You NEED to Think About....

  Before You Know You Need to Think About Them....

I was editing videos for my Dome Top Casket series on YouTube today and think that this next tip is just too important to wait until Saturday's usual post. Today's tip is about when to transfer your embroidery design onto your ground fabric. If you plan on mounting the embroidery onto a particular size of something...or the finished size of your embroidery needs to be exact for whatever reason...today's tip is for you! The easiest way for you to not have to cut into that glorious embroidery you just finished because its now magically too big for its intended spot is to watch today's video tip!!

What's Your Plan?

 Floss Tube Finer Finishing Tips #9

Happy first Saturday of November! Stop by the You Tube today to see the latest video for the Dome Top Casket. I am a firm believer that one should finish the inside of a box FIRST, before the outside. There are several reasons for doing so, but mainly, it is not so easy to manipulate the box in all different directions when a finished embroidery is mounted on the outside! 

That being said, if you are one of my readers who is dragging their feet on their casket....this video is for YOU! Who cares what you are going to put on the outside....DOESNT MATTER. Get up and FINISH THE INSIDE! Then, when you do get the outside embroidery finished, the inside will be done and ready!

Dome Top Casket

 Time to Paper the Outside!

Ahhh a pretty clean slate ready to cover with the embroidery or decoration of one's own desire. Are  you following this little casket's progress on You Tube? I hope so. I have come to realize that I think I love the finishing just as much...perhaps maybe a little bit more, than the embroidery itself. Well...maybe not, but they are a close tie. There are so many possibilities..if you have a lot of ideas and find it hard to pick one, well ask somebody else to choose for you and you can do the rest on other boxes! Above is a picture of the finished exterior papering, which is the focus of today's two videos. 

Yep, another two video day today. My camera angles are weird. Yes, I know. Sometimes Im out of the frame of view...Yes. I know. I am just me. It would be great if I had someone to hold the camera and follow me around and zoom in and out...but I don't. Just me.....and YOU, there in the camera coming along for the journey~ I do hope you enjoy and can take away a few little tips here and there to help in your own making ups.

I will be launching my own Thinkific Online Academy soon and will be offering some really great online classes that will include downloadable detailed finishing courses. So until then, I hope you enjoy today's two part video on exterior papering

Part 1~

Part2~

Finer Finishing Tips #7

 Wrangling That Paper!

Happy Saturday All! I hope you had a great week. If you are following along with the progress of my little dome top casket, this week's video is a birds-eye view of cutting the exterior paper before gluing. Everyone says matter of factly to glue paper on the outside of the box...but they don't really go over how to wrangle and cut that huge expensive sheet of paper. If you only have one or two sheets, it can be intimidating...especially if you are afraid of making a mistake and wasting it! 

Have no fear, Rachael is here to help guide you through it! As always, I do apologize for the angle of the camera in today's video. I changed it to an above view so you wouldn't see the back of my elbow like last week, but along the way, I think I knocked it out of alignment. If you ever had aspirations of being a bird and seeing what they see, well just imagine you are an inquisitive woodpecker hanging upside down on a tree branch while I'm wrangling this paper!

I wanted to share the photo above to show the finished fold-over of the paper on the lid. This is what can form the halo I talk about in the video. 

a TWO video day today!

 Gilt Stamped Edgings

It's time to finally start to paper my little dome-top casket.  I wanted to bring you all along with me so turned the camera on real-time as I applied my edgings. Before you write and ask me if I make and sell stamped paper edgings, the answer is no. Not at this time anyway. I have a list a mile long of things I need to get done~ I do link on one of the videos today to Talas where you can find a plethora of beautiful brass finishing tools, papers, and foils to make your own though. A pretty edge treatment doesn't have to be just a stamped paper though, it could be gilt with gold or silver leaf, or a pretty marbled or otherwise fancy paper!

 

Today is a two video day because the battery in my camera died partway through, and  I am still trying to figure out all this YouTube stuff. I have no idea how to put two videos together, and honestly, it is not in my brain capacity currently to try and figure it out. There is a hideous closeup of my elbow that I am both warning you about and apologizing for at the same time. I would have cut that out, which I know how to do, but I was talking at the time so all I can offer is, to just close your eyes for a few seconds!

I am planning on some very in detail interior finishing classes in the near future, so if you like what you see and want to dive into greater detail, just comment here or drop me a line at rlkinnison@yahoo.com and I will put you on the mailing list for future classes.

and Part 2....

Time for another Video!

 Finer Finishing Tips #5

 

This week flew by in a minute. I have been somewhat ´in the zone´ working on my dome top casket and can't believe it's time for another video already. In this week's episode, I will show you how to deal with the challenge of a deep set hinge, as shown above, when prepping for papering. I will also go over the reasoning behind why we cover a wooden box with paper before mounting embroidery to it. I think there's a little glue talk in this one too. 

The casket I mention in the video is one of my favorites and can be seen here. This is one of the caskets that I studied the door construction of and used to design my original configuration of the hidden compartments that are in my flat top casket lid so many years ago. One of the things I love about it, aside from the hidden pullouts that are in the slope, are the covers or doors on the top of many of the inner tray compartments. I think you will really love my interpretation of some of them on the dome top box...coming up in a later video, so check on back!

Finer Finishing Tips #3

  Dome Top Casket Progress...

So as you can tell, I have changed from referring to my little inexpensive Amazon dome top box as a 'box'... it is now a casket. I am really having a lot of fun just tricking this thing out! Above is a little peek at something going on the INSIDE~ do you know what it is? It is a 17th c technique called Gummed Silk. You may remember that I taught this quite a few years ago at the SouthWest Get Together. I have always loved this technique and have studied several different caskets that were either entirely covered in it or had bits and pieces. I have been refining and changing my technique over the past few years and finally am getting consistent results that I am happy with. I will be offering an online class teaching this technique soon~ if you are interested and would like to get on my email list for info, just drop me a line at rlkinnison@yahoo.com. 

The next little video for the Dome Top Casket project is up on my YouTube ~ or you can view it here. Hope you enjoy and come back to follow the growth of this super cute casket!

Happy Stitching!