Here's a finished piece of embroidery to be turned into a very small reliquary purse. The pattern, simple as it is, is in fact documentable (although perhaps not the colors) to the late 14th century German (Lower Saxony?) wallhanging that's on display at the Cloisters. Silk over cotton (I know, the cotton's not really appropriate, but in the end no one will see it). UPDATE: Here's a decent image of the whole piece, but not very detailed.Beneath that is something a little more recognizable, based on (not stitch for stich, but the general pattern and approx. dimensions) one of the V&A Museum's purses, no. 8313-1863. This one I've done silk and linen on linen. I will include the gold thread eventually. For the pattern I have T. J. Mitchell's A Stitch out of Time to thank. Except for the portions underneath where the gold thread will go. That part I had to make up, so I'll take responsibility for that probably not being "right".
Unfortunately, I won't get a chance to work on these for a while – but that's only because I'm moving to the Czech Republic and it doesn't fit in my luggage. But it'll get sent out there at some point, and once I'm established and have a bit of time, I'll get back to it!
4 comments:
Looks like you won't be posting much if you are moving, too bad because I like your stuff! Have you ever tried linen congress cloth? I don't know how period the weave of it is but it is linen. It is also stiff like cotton canvas; you can work it without using any type of frame. At 24 count is is coarse enough to see in poor light (I have embroidered it with only my computer screen for light) but fine enough to look attractive when stitched. I like to have a project always in progress using it because it will roll up nicely to fit into even my small handbag. It travels well. I buy mine through Needle in a Haystack (www.needlestack.com). It would fit in your luggage!
Lovely works you have here.
Can't wait to see more of your work when you get back into it. Prague is a great city, was there last year for a week. I also am very interested in Medieval purses although i have only done a couple of embroidery purse projects earlier on.
HAve fun
Constance
Thank you all for your comments. I was happily surprised to find out that people actually read this, not just myself and a few close friends.
I'm currently in training for a TEFL certificate, so aside from not having my projects with me, I won't have the time until after I complete the course and get settled into the working environment. But at that point, I will have a box full of essentials - and my current projects of course - mailed out to meet me here in Prague. Stay tuned!
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