Tag: Thistle Threads
Beginning the Tudor and Stuart Goldwork Masterclass
Starting the Spot Sampler
So now I am beginning to do the silk embroidery for the next Thistle Threads Online University Course, the Tudor and Stuart Goldwork Masterclass.
More gorgeous Au Ver A Soie silk thread to play with!
Furthermore, some new stitches! I’m not keen on counted work, so when I saw a chart in the instructions, my heart sank. Then I read the instructions and realised it was going to be a bit more fun than I had thought…
So, most of the silk stitching is to be in Queen Stitch, which I think I have done in canvaswork before, but never at this scale, and never changing its orientation or doing half queen stitches. The square motifs are bordered in Roman Stitch with Rice Stitch in the middle. Apparently in the historical pieces, Queen Stitches are often treated almost as pulled work, creating a lacy pattern of holes between the stitches. It’s quite difficult to pull tight enough, but as you can see from the navy blue petal, I’m beginning to get the hang of it.
The great attraction of this course for me is that we will have animations to show us the complex gold thread stitches that are the main focus of the course. At the end of the course, we’ll get a CD of these animations, so if I forget how to do one, I will be able to learn it again. Furthermore, some of Tricia’s recent posts on The Embroiderer’s Story mention that she has discovered some new stitches during her research trip and she is hoping to add them as a bonus!
Floral Glove Needlecase Embroidery Finished!
Floral Glove Needlecase - the embroidery finished (I think!)
At least I think it must be. I think the next two months involve the finishing process – adding trims and making the needlecase itself.
I’ve finally got the idea of how the purl should work. It needs to be cut fractionally longer than the distance it is to cover, so as to produce a very slight – a very slight! – curve. This results in a slightly less scrappy look, because the ends of the “beads” of purl aren’t so obvious. It’s not easy to cut accurately – at least, I didn’t find it so, but where I got it right, the sections look much better.
Adding the spangles makes a surprising difference to the final effect – they are so tiny and delicate you don’t expect them to make much difference, but the fragile sparkle really enhances the final effect.
I’m not going to go back and redo the bits that aren’t quite perfect. It will be useful to have the reminder of what I should be aiming for beside the reminder of what I should try to avoid! I’m pleased with what I’ve produced and – although it may not be obvious from the photo – I can see that I have improved over the course.
Floral Glove Needlecase – More Progress
Floral Glove Needlecase - progress
It became clear as I was working on the medallions that I was having more trouble with this than I had with the silk work or couching the Elizabethan Twist, so I thought I would give a sort of “interim report”.
The medallions are outlined with three couched rows of slightly stretched purl purl or lizardine, one of which is wrapped with silk. That in itself was fairly hair-raising (it sounds so simple, but believe me, it isn’t!), and yes, I know that the outlines aren’t perfect and you can see the joins, but they did get neater. The man who said “The more I practice the better I get” was onto something!
The tendrils are slightly stretched lizardine again – stretched by a different amount, just to make sure we paid attention! Then the silk of the motifs is covered with couched lengths of purl, like the calyxes of the carnations. It is surprisingly difficult to cut this stuff accurately – the instructions say to use an old pair of embroidery scissors, which I did, but I find myself wondering whether a sharp craft knife would do the job better. Certainly there would be less chance of crushing the thread. Purl is very fine wire, wound spirally around a former, and when the scissors crush it, the ends are bent out of shape and catch on the thread as you try to thread it through. Since purl is attached by threading it like a bead, this isn’t ideal; even waxing the thread only helps some of the time.
It’s astonishing to see the difference made to the medallion on the left when I added the seed pearl in the centre. I thought it looked neat and finished as it was, but adding the pearl brought the whole thing to life. Now there’s a lesson worth remembering – a small change can make a huge difference to the impression given by a piece. At least embroiderers can undo some of their additions. If you add something to a watercolour that turns out to be a mistake, there’s nothing you can do about it!
Still, I do think I am beginning to get the hang of it. Now it will be interesting to see whether I’ve slid all the way back to the start, or whether, when I continue on the next medallion, I retain some of the improvement I made yesterday.
Floral Glove Needlecase – Month Three Finished!
Month Three Finished
So, making progress here. All the silkwork is outlined in Elizabethan Twist, carefully following the suggested paths so as to have the smallest possible number of ends to sink.
Then the calyxs of the two carnations are covered with Olive smooth purl, cut to size and treated like a bead. This was fairly tricky because it was easy for the end of the purl (which is a very fine wire, coiled up) to catch on the silk thread being used to sew it down. In fact for the second calyx, I waxed the thread, which made the whole experience less fraught! I notice I didn’t quite get all the lengths or maybe spacings right for the first calyx, but for now I shall leave it as it stands.
Then I couched the striped thread curlicues. Again it was tricky to place the black couching thread where it would disappear into the thread being couched, but I think a few tweaks with a needle will fix that!
Through A Glass Clearly
Finally, I thought I would show what a difference a magnifier makes. As I think I have said before, it is the change in size that terrifies. I began by stitching without a magnifier and was reasonably happy doing so. I just felt that it would be a useful additional tool, especially given some of the other projects I have in mind.
My eyes become accustomed to regarding the magnified view as normal, then when I stop for a cup of tea, I push the magnifier to one side to have a “proper” view. At which point there’s a small squawk and my husband asks what’s wrong. “It’s gone all tiny”, I say, “Don’t tell me I stitched that!”. After the said cup of tea, ordinary views reassert themselves and it doesn’t seem quite so astonishing.
Which is really just as well. We don’t embroider to scare ourselves, after all!
Starting Another Course
Tudor And Stuart Goldwork Kit
I decided to follow another Thistle Threads Online University course. This time it is the Tudor and Stuart Gold Master Class, and my first materials kit arrived today. There is more of that lovely Au Ver A Soie, and a lot of gold thread for practising with, as well as for working on the spot sampler.
The real attraction of this course to me is that Tricia has worked out how some of the ornate and now mysterious stitches of the period would have been worked. The stitches shown on the video look fascinating, and as well as providing instructions, she is providing animations to help her students learn how to work them. First, however, there is the silkwork to do, largely in Queen Stitch, Rice Stitch (a cross stitch variation), and Roman Stitch.
As with the Floral Glove Needlecase, there was a larger number of students enrolling than Tricia expected, and between us we appear to have wiped out the worldwide stocks of some colours in the silk thread. As with all specialist enterprises, the manufacturers tend to expect small orders, and it may take years for a dye lot to be used up. However, we can hope that more people will be introduced to these threads and will begin to use them more. Potentially this will lead to more shops stocking the more unusual materials, and make it easier for us to buy them.
As Shakespeare would have said, “A consummation devoutly to be wished!”
Floral Glove Needlecase Course – Starting the Goldwork
The Rose Outlined
The embroidery on the Floral Glove Needlecase is based around the tabbed cuffs of gloves which were often presented as gifts during the Elizabethan era. We’re only doing one side of one cuff, of course, but the additional historical material we get each month, with high-resolution pictures of some of the original gloves which remain in existence, give us a very fair idea of what Thistle Threads were aiming for!
There are several useful diagrams in the instructions showing where to start and end the gold thread, which is couched down with silk. Furthermore – brave lady indeed! – Tricia has even provided us with a view of the back of the embroidery. Miss Hunter would have looked at the back to check that it met her high standards – as students we are studying that photograph to try to garner more clues to how the work fits together. It gives a better idea of stitch lengths, for instance, because the eye isn’t dazzled by the goldwork and can study the couching.
It is very detailed, rather tiring work, so even with a good light (by the way – bright sunlight is not, in this context, a good light – it bounces off the gold thread and the magnifier and tires the eyes even more quickly) and a magnifier, I can’t do much at once. What you see here is two or three sessions’ work.
I’m pleased, though. There are several new techniques and materials still to try in this month’s session, and I think I am learning a great deal – not least, working at this scale turns out to be less hair-raising than I feared!
Floral Glove Needlecase Kit – Silk Work Finished!
Floral Glove Needlecase Kit - Silk Work Done
I’ve finished the silk work on the Needlecase Kit!
The new stand has been working well – it is very adjustable, so I can make it suit wherever I am sitting, and the magnifying glass has been very helpful too. The only slight hitch with the magnifier is that stitching away at magnification becomes normal and then when finishing off threads at normal vision, I get slightly spooked to realise how small the stitching is!
As I have said, I am not really a fan of satin stitch and long and short stitch, perhaps because I am self-taught. Both of these stitches look simple, but are difficult to execute well, and so are very dispiriting for someone learning from books, with no-one to give hints and tips for excellence. How I long to have had a Miss Hunter to help me!
Actually, the instructions that Tricia Wilson prepared for the course are very nearly as good as having her beside you. They are copiously illustrated with very high resolution photos, so that it becomes a matter of seeking to make the view through the magnifier match the printout.
I’m even coming to think I may enjoy satin and long and short stitch, in small doses!
The kit included whole spools of the silk thread, so I have plenty left to play with. I’m not expecting to go so quickly with the goldwork, but the instructions come nicely spaced out so there will be time to take stock and work on other projects as well.
Squeaks with Excitement!
Floral Glove Course Kit
There was a gentle thud of a parcel through the letter box yesterday.
And Oh Frabjous Day, the Floral Glove Needlecase Course Kit has arrived!
What with hair-raising weather (in the UK and the US) and a much more popular course than the organisers anticipated (a great problem to have!) it has taken a little longer than anticipated for my kit to arrive. We’ve been kept very well informed, but of course once a parcel is in the system there is nothing anyone can do to speed it up…
It was worth the wait! There’s an intriguing variety of speciality metal threads, and some rather gorgeous looking silk. I’m planning to read all the instructions at least twice before even looking for a hoop – I’d like to do a good job on this, and I rarely use silks or metal threads at present.
Online University with Thistle Threads – Floral Glove Needlecase Course
I’ve been spellbound by Tricia’s blog following the progress of the Plimoth Jacket Project, and the idea of learning to use some of the threads that were recreated for the project was absolutely riveting, so when I found out about the Thistle Threads Online University courses, I was thrilled. So I’ve signed up, and I shall be writing up my progress as I follow the course. It goes for six months, so there should be plenty for me to say!
This afternoon I have been printing out the first month’s course materials, which consist of two fairly long documents, one of them the first month’s instructions for the Floral Glove Needlecase, the other a historical background for the design and the materials chosen. Both are copiously illustrated with very high-quality photographs, which she has licensed from various museums for the purpose.
In one of my other lives (don’t we all seem to be living at least three these days?) I’ve also been involved in negotiations with museums so I know how much effort Tricia has gone to, so that we can have some truly interesting and inspiring materials to study.
So, while I do that, there are two videos of the Plimoth Jacket at the end of this post on the blog. Enjoy!