The Evolution of Design: Stitch Selection

I'm furiously working to finish this project to meet the April 1st judging deadline. Because of that, and spending all my time stitching, I had a period of time where I was not taking photos as I went along. This past weekend, though, I kept my camera on the table next to me and paused now and then to take some photos, and they show how I was progressing (or not!) through some design execution decisions. It seems that the closer I get to finishing, the more I end up ripping out and wasting time!

Let's look at the big leaves at the bottom of the piece as an example. They serve as the base of the piece, and where I would normally have some weight down there to anchor things (dense stitches, darker colors) this piece is much airier than the typical Jacobean designs I tend to enjoy. Making these leaves dense would be out of character. So I needed to find something that would work.

I decided to start by simply outlining the leaves in -- of course -- outline stitch! (Also known as stem stitch, depending on the direction you hold the thread.) Then I thought I would start with French knots along the "vein" of the leaf:

My next thought was to use Seed Stitch to form some shading, as I did in the Tudor Rose. This is typical of Elizabethan crewel, where the long and short soft shading had not come into favor yet. Seed or Speckling Stitch was used in various densities to accomplish shading (lots of stitches closer together for dark shading, fewer stitches farther apart for lighter areas.) This image (I believe it's from the Victoria and Albert Museum) of a blackwork piece illustrates what I'm talking about:

So I continued my French Knots a bit further into the leaf and then transitioned to seed stitch in a slightly lighter color to try for the effect I was looking for. I was not impressed with the results:

I'm not sure if it was the different color, or the seed stitch execution (I have some trouble keeping them consistent in size. As simple as the silly little stitch is, it can go wrong very easily!) Out came the scissors and the tweezers -- can't live without my Uncle Bill's Tweezers! -- and out came the seeds. This is NOT an easy stitch to remove, by the way. You have to be very careful not to snip the fabric!

Next attempt was just using French Knots:

Better, but there was still something wrong. Can you see? The knots I put in origianlly were bigger than the ones I added, and there is a perfectly good reason for that. I wrapped my thread twice on the first ones, and only once on the later ones. I have read instructions that say "never wrap twice" and other instructions that say "always wrap twice". I tend to change based on what effect I'm going for. At the very least, though, in something like this, I needed to be consistent! Out came the scissors and tweezers AGAIN (at least these were super easy to rip out!) and I tried again.

Finally! I was happy with the results. The next challenge is to get the mirror image leaf to look the same :-)

I was told a long time ago (by my Mother, of course!) never to be afraid of ripping things out. If you don't, you'll always look at it, even years later after it's been hanging on the wall framed, and wish you had. My Mother even took a piece down, took it out of the frame, and ripped out a flower that had been bothering her for years. It can be frustrating and feel like it's wasting time, but it's really just perfecting your work and your vision.

Little Leaves

I have been so busy trying to spend every minute I have stitching that I have fallen behind in my blog posting, and I am sorry about that. I promise to be better! Today's update will be petty short, but I hope interesting. It's about little leaves.

There are two sets of small leaves at the top of my Elizabethan design. I decided to stitch them in Satin Stitch, and have been experimenting a bit with that. I read a lot about people who use split stitch to outline their shape and then do Satin stitch over top. The split stitch helps to keep the edge straight and sharp. I have never done that, but have straight and sharp edges anyway. I decided to try it this time, and I did like the results! I don't have a photo of the split stitch, but here are the little leaves in Satin waiting for their vein.

I will say that the split stitch helped me not have concentrate quite so hard on the edge.

To give the leaves a bit more dimension, I added a vein of outline stitch. The colors are more washed out in this photo, but you get the idea. What do you think??

I'll take more photos and post soon! Does anyone have anything they want to see? Any questions that will help me frame my posts? Thanks!!

On To Stitching

Not a lot to say today, other than I have begun actually stitching on the new project! It always takes so long to do the prep work, especially when you have to create your own design rather than transfer someone else's design. I've been at it now for months, and was really anxious to get started, especially since the next judging deadline is April 1st. I am skeptical that I'll be finished by then, but I'm going to try.

Here are the first two "work in progress" shots. This is the Tudor Rose, with the outer edge stitched in satin stitch, using the darker rose color:

And just for fun, here is the back! We are actually judged on the neatness of the back, making sure there are no long cross-overs where thread goes from one motif to another (and could be seen through the fabric) and no straggling pieces of thread. No knots allowed, either. So far so good!

The inner petal will be the same stitch but a slightly lighter rose color, and then I think I'm going to put some shading in each petal using seed stitch. I'm not sure what to do for the center yet. It will either be French knots, or possibly a whipped spider web. Any suggestions??

I'm going to sit down now and stitch for the rest of the afternoon -- what luxury! More photos later this weekend! (I'm also working on a better way to take photos, but that's going to take some time, and input from hubby!)

Evolution of Design

Until recently, all of my projects have used designs someone else created. Part of the Master Craftsman Certification, however, is to create your own designs (3 of the 6 steps!) so this has been a new experience. I'm amazed at how long it can take to create something to incorporates all of the requirements (e.g., historical period accuracy, certain shapes, overall size) and presents a pleasing, balanced "whole".

This current project is a design from the Elizabethan period of English Crewel. I started by reading several texts to learn about the period of time, and the stitching that was being done then, both in professional workshops and in the home. These included Crewel Embroidery in England by Joan Edwards, The Royal School of Needlework Book of Needlework and Embroidery and Antique Needlework by Lanto Synge, and English Crewel Designs by Mary Eirwen Jones. I downloaded a 16th century "Herbal"(The Herball and Generall Historie of Plantes by John Gerard, 1597) -- a book containing woodcuts of plants and flowers common at the time, which provided inspiration to stitchers -- to see what was available at the time.

And then I used my favorite design tool -- Vellum! I traced the woodcuts of several flowers,

plants, and vines common in the period, cut them out, and started playing around with placement

until I had something I liked. No, this technique was probably not available to the embroiderer in the 16th century, but that wasn't part of the requirements of the project!

From this stage, I had to get a clean copy, so I got a clean piece of

Vellum and traced the entire design. It looks a bit more finished here, but still a long way from being ready to stitch!

The components of the design include honeysuckle flowers and vines (top), a Tudor Rose, tulip flowers, Foxglove flowers along the lower vine, and two opposing carnations at the bottom. My challenge will be to get the flower definition (all the little lines that bring shape and dimension to each flower) with the stitches that were commonly used at the time.

From this stage, I needed to get the design transferred to my linen. There are many ways to do this. The one I've used many times is simply to get a piece of graphite paper, place this on the linen, place the design sheet over that, and with a blunt pen (a ballpoint pen that has run out of ink is a good tool!) trace the design. I have never been really satisfied with this method, though, probably because I lack something. I always ended up with graphite smudges on the cloth, or lines slightly offset if the design shifted. This can be very frustrating and I tried many ways to keep it from happening, none of which worked all of the time.

I could use the historically accurate method of "prick and pounce" where a sharp object is used to prick holes in the design, and then loose chalk or "pounce" is dusted over the design on linen. The pounce goes through the holes and creates the design. The dots can then be connected using pencil or some other method (some people even paint the lines!) This method sounds far too complicated to me, and I would probably smudge things ever more!

I have opted recently to use my own version of a light box. I find a sunny window in my house, and tape the design to the window:

Then I tape the linen over the design (use fabric tape, or I am using painter's tape here -- sticky enough to hold, but not so sticky that it can't be removed.)

Then I simply trace the design using a hard pencil. For the record, this photo shows the second time I worked through this process with this design. The first time, I had not left the required fabric outside the design! So I have another whole version of this design. I hate when I make mistakes like this, especially using linen twill that costs upwards of $80 per yard! Will I stitch it twice? Probably!!

The finished product -- time to start stitching!

A Fiber Fiend's New Discovery

As a second generation crewel stitcher, I have always taken my mother's lead in all that I do. She was after all my instructor and mentor. So, I have always used Appleton Crewel for my thread. Always. I have boxes and boxes of almost every color, in small skeins and large hanks.

While doing my research into Elizabethan Crewel for my next piece, however, I found a new wool thread that I am very excited about (new to me, I'm sure others are well aware of it and would say "well, duh, you didn't know about THAT?") It is Renaissance Dyeing in France, specializing in 100% merino lambs-wool hand dyed using historically accurate recipes. They have a line called "Elizabethan Range: 16th Century Recipes" The instructions for my project state that color selection should be "historically appropriate to the period" (or something like that) so of course I had to order it!

My package arrived the other day. Here they are!

Now, I realize that a package containing 25 or so skeins of wool of various colors is probably not very exciting to most people, but I am thrilled. The colors are so warm and soft and perfectly complimenting each other. The fiber is soft and delicate. I have a feeling it will take me some time to get used to it as it's much more refined than Appleton, but I'm looking forward to that challenge. I feel like I'm striking off on a journey of independence.

Is anyone else fascinated with fiber? I love going to yarn shops just to see and feel all the different fibers available. Am I weird, or are there others out there who share my fascination with the ancient art of spinning something useful out of the natural coats of animals?

I sure hope I'm not just weird!

Peacock Passed -- Sort Of

It occurs to me that I never posted about the results of my Step #4 piece and whether it passed! Bad me... I'm still getting used to making this Blog a regular part of my life, and keeping it current. I will try to do better! It might be better incentive if I have some followers, but I'm working on that part, too.

I received a package in the mail in mid-November, and the results were a "Provisional Pass" on my peacock. I was actually pretty disappointed, as I felt my soft-shading technique is quite good, and that I had demonstrated that well. The judges indicated that they felt the upper half was "exquisite" (that made me feel pretty good!) but that they didn't like the stitch direction of the tail feathers.

To remind you what they looked like, here is the close-up photo with lines super-imposed to show what they wanted. The light blue lines accentuate the stitch direction I had. the yellow lines show what they wanted, what
they thought would be more "pleasing":

Note there are no lines on the left-most feather. they liked that one. Now, to me, this is a matter or personal taste and design, and not so much of technique, but it's

a very subtle thing. And the bottom line is if I wanted to pass, I needed to change it! In the grand scheme of things, too, this was an easy change, so I got out my sharp scissors and my tweezers and started ripping.

The results of the re-work are below. I must admit I do like it a bit better. What do you think??

Now, it must sit and wait until the next judging window at the beginning of April! I feel confident that I will have a complete "Pass" at that time.

Meanwhile, with the Provisional Pass, the judges do send along the instructions for the next step so I can get started. I can -- if I finish the next step in time -- submit it along with the re-submission of Step #4. If Step#4 passes, they will then judge Step #5. If for some reason Step #4 does not pass, then they send the whole thing back.

I have been spending a lot of time in the last 6 weeks or so studying for this next step, and coming up with a design. I'll write all about that -- and how I transfer my designs to linen -- in my next post.

Some up-coming subject I have planned are:

Washing and blocking your piece

Coming up with my original design

Transferring my design to linen

Discovering new wool (from a die-hard Appleton lover!)

Looking back at Master Craftsman Steps #1 through #3

Anything you want to see??

A Place in History?

Today, I am sitting with my foot elevated to relieve swelling and lessen the negative impacts of having a 1200 lb horse stomp on my foot. Given my confinement, I have pushed forward with reading historical accounts of embroiderers and the evolution of crewel design, in preparation for Step #5 of the Master Craftsman program (more about Step #4 later!) I have been studying Crewel Embroidery in England by Joan Edwards, (copyright 1975, William Morrow & Co. Inc. New York) and came to the Epilogue. The author's words closing her book were personally meaningful, as we look at my Mother's needlework and determine its dispersal to various family members, even while I continue to create more pieces myself. I wanted to quote the work here:

"From time to time there come to every embroiderer moments of the purest possible pleasure. The particular piece of work on which she has been engaged is finished. She removes it from the frame and spreads it out between her hands, examining every detail with minute attention. It is as though she is seeing it for the first time. Out of her own skill, initiative, and invention she has created something that pleases her. Briefly she allows herself to savour her sense of satisfaction and fulfilment.

Maybe, she concedes, it is not of quite such surpassing excellence as she had hoped to achieve when she made the design, chose the threads, and decided exactly where to place the first stitch, but on balance as good as or even a little better than her previous work.

Will anybody else, she wonders, realise how much thought and care has gone into it? Will it by some happy chance be miraculously preserved, forgotten but not destroyed, eventually to become a treasured family heirloom, and even perhaps to find its way into a great museum, where scholars will document it and embroiderers study it as an interesting example of 'historical' needlework? Surely, she reflects, it is not asking very much to be remembered as a woman who was clever with her needle.

Even as she plays fondly with her pipe dreams, she knows in her heart that its chances of survival are minimal; that although it is here today, pretty, fresh, and colourful, by tomorrow it will be faded and grubby, the threads worn and the colours faded; and that because the present sets very little store by its immediate past, the next generation is as likely to destroy as to cherish it. Perhaps she will comfort herself with the thought that, like a garden, much of embroidery's charm lies in the fact that it is completely ephemeral.

But to finish one piece of work is only an excuse to begin another, the idea for which she has been turning over in her mind for a long while. She cannot wait to get on with it for she is irresistably fascinated by the art of working intricate stitches and by the variety of decorative effects she can obtain with them; by watching a design develop along the lines and in the colours she has chosen for it; and by the knotty little problems she is constantly being called upon to resolve. Absorbed in bringing into focus all her technical expertise, taste, and ingenuity, and balancing them on the point of her needle, she has neither regret nor hesitation. The past and the future may take care of themselves. Time becomes meaningless. Only the embroidery she is engaged upon at the present moment is important."