Tudor and Stuart Goldwork Masterclass Stitches – Month Eight

Ladder Stitch

This month Tricia’s History and Analysis section includes a description from the animator of how he approaches animating the stitches. It’s very painstaking work, and as the first thing he does is to follow the instructions just as we are, he is going to end the course with the same repertoire of exotic stitches as we have!

The first of this month’s stitches is Ladder stitch. Like last month’s Ceylon Stitch, this is a stitch I have worked before; in fact it’s very like Ceylon Stitch in structure as well. I can change the width of the stitch, but not the vertical scale, so my two versions here look very similar. With the rather stiff gold thread, the stitch becomes rather a trial when worked with long “rungs”, so I enjoyed it more when I worked it in a narrower space.

ZigZag Embellished LadderStitch

The second stitch is an embellishment of Ladder Stitch, using a ZigZag whipping. I had trouble with this stitch because I simply couldn’t bring myself to pull the whipping tight, so it tangled and tied itself up, and nearly tied me up with it.  As the shorter version shows, once I sorted myself out, the stitch sorted itself out too.

My problem is that I’m very aware of the way the thread is made, and concerned that the wrapping of metallic foil will be broken if I pull too tight.  It isn’t really a problem, as the overall effect of the thread usually masks any slight breaks, but try telling yourself that when you’re tangled up in an expensive thread you don’t want to waste!

Rachel, 31/12/2010. Tudor and Stuart Gold Master Class Goldwork, Learning Stitches, online university, Thistle Threads, Tudor and Stuart Goldwork Masterclass

About Rachel

View all posts by Rachel