Glittering Nightcap – Month Three Done

Pansy From Month Three

This month, because I’m working the main body of the cap first and then intend to turn over and work the rim, has been a little thin of activity. I’ve really no excuse for it taking so long except that I’ve become very taken up with the Dreams of Amarna. The work on the main part of the cap this month has been only two pansies, worked in detached buttonhole stitch using the Gilt Sylke Twist, with straw-coloured calyxes worked in Soie Perlee.

The other half of Month Three – two pomegranates on the rim – will have to wait until I turn the fabric over. Next month’s activity involves two Tudor Roses and a positive plethora of different leaves in various combinations of Soie Perlee.

Month Three Done

This picture shows one of the two pairs of sections that will make up the finished Nightcap. As you can see, there are still large gaps in the pattern, but it is gradually filling in, and Month Four actually completes the embroidery. Months Five and Six concern the finishing of the embroidery to create the nightcap and the silk-brocaded stand for it.

The Glittering Nightcap – Month Two Complete

Month Two Done

So, here we are, more progress on the Glittering Nightcap. It still looks spotty, but rather less so, I’m happy to say!

Month Two Detail

Here is a close up to show you what has been added in Month Two in more detail, and you can click on the picture to enlarge it further. The flower is apparently a honeysuckle (botanical realism wasn’t one of the artistic preoccupations of the period!), and is stitched in two shades of Gilt Sylke Twist, in detached buttonhole stitch. All of the pink and red buds are worked in detached trellis stitch in the soie perlee. In both these cases there is nothing complicated about changing colours – it is simply a matter of starting the new colour with a new row of stitches. It does mean that there seem to be ever more threads to finish off at the end of a stitching session, which is when I prefer to do it, because that means that when I sit down to start again everything is clear and tidy, and there is nothing to tangle my next set of stitches.

Stitch Direction

Working the trellis stitch involved some rather uncomfortable contortions in order to work the stitches in the directions described in the instructions. The annotated sketch on the right shows the stitch directions spiralling around the centre of the flower. The whole thing is mounted in a rectangular frame about twenty inches across – sometimes there is a lot of fabric and frame between me and the tiny petal I’m stitching.

That’s the other thing to remember – everything is very small. In a way this is not a problem, because even though the stitches are tiny the shapes do fill fairly quickly. If I have a good light, and a tranquil mind, I can make quite a bit of progress in a single afternoon.

Glittering Gentleman’s Nightcap – Month One Stitching

Glittering Gentleman's Nightcap - Month One

You may recall that I commented in my last post about the Nightcap that it looked very “bitty” because each flower, leaf and bud was going to be done before the stems. This view of the whole piece, with all of Month 1 finished, shows precisely what I mean. If you click on the photo to the left you will be able to see a larger version of it, with the blurred copyright notice unblurred (something strange happened there!).

Glittering Gentleman's Nightcap - Month One - Detail

There are two of these flowers worked in two shades of blue, using detached buttonhole stitch in Gilt Silke Twist. Some of it is tricky because I want to change the orientation of the fabric relative to me, which is impossible because it’s framed up as an entire rectangle. Since I really don’t want to crush work already done, I can’t put each element in a hoop, so I’m occasionally having to sit in a rather contorted fashion to to tackle some of the sections.

The leaves and strawberry calyxes are in Soie Perlee, which is a joy to use, supple, smooth and strong. That said, there’s something distinctly odd about the right hand leaf in this detail photograph. It seems almost as though the stitching has pleated or bunched up on itself. One of the possibilities is that I was working this leaf before I bought my Necessaire stand, and somehow I tied myself in knots because I was balancing the frame on the windowsill as well; it might be something to do with the angle of the stitch relative to the stitcher; or I might simply have lost concentration.

Oh, and when I say “All of Month One”, that’s a slight exaggeration. Because of the structure of the Nightcap, there is a band of stitching on the back, which will form a brim or browband. I’m going to do that last, so that I don’t spend too much time changing the orientation of the fabric in the frame. So what I really mean is “All of Month One on the front”…

Progress on the Glittering Gentleman’s Nightcap

Progress So Far

As you might have guessed, once I got started, I wanted to keep going!

However, detached buttonhole stitch is a very time consuming stitch, and I’ve been warned by comments in emails that the Gilt Sylke Twist, undeniably gorgeous though it is, can be a bit trying to stitch with. So I have been working quite hard to remind myself it is not a race, and that doing as much as I feel up to at any one time is perfectly acceptable!

I found myself struggling with the Millenium frame on my existing frame stand, which was too flimsy for the breadth and weight of the frame, so after some weeks I decide to invest in the Necessaire Floor Stand that goes with it. After only two stitching sessions, I love it. Sturdy and well made, it doesn’t sag under the weight of the frame, there is a place for my magnifier to attach, and there’s even a hook for a pair of scissors.

Detail of Month One stitching

I haven’t yet finished Month One of the instructions, so what you are seeing is an intermediate stage. At the moment, as you will see from the “Progress So Far” it’s looking very spotty, because there are such acres of linen between the stitched motifs. It can be a little disheartening to slave for hours and find that the odd couple of leaves has made very little difference to the overall impression. This is a problem I had with the Piano Shawl, but in that case I was able to solve the problem very simply by stitching in the stems. I don’t want to do that here, because the silk thread would catch on the gold thread of the stems and be spoiled. So I will simply have to be patient and find some other way of highlighting my progress.

You will notice that there is some peculiarity about the right-hand leaf in the detail picture. I’m not quite sure what happened there – I think it was in the period of struggle before I bought my Necessaire – but I’m not going to take it out until Month One is complete. I want to have a clear sense of progress before I start snipping things out!

Beginning the Glittering Gentleman’s Nightcap

Transferring The Design

I’ve been looking at the kit of materials for the Glittering Gentleman’s Nightcap Course for quite some time, but since I received the finishing kit I’ve finally decided to get going.

There was quite a bit of preparation to do. There are lines of basting to help with finishing the piece when the stitching is done, and I’ve added fabric at the top and bottom, and bound the sides, to make framing up a bit easier. I invested in a Millenium frame for this project, and I wanted to be sure that I would have enough fabric at the top and bottom to work with the attachment system.

I don’t have anything that resembles a light-table, so I had to improvise. The tracing and the fabric have both been taped to a pane of the only unleaded window in the house, and I spent a careful hour or so using the Pigma pen included in the kit to trace over the pattern onto the fabric. Bear in mind, if you find yourselves applying this method – it’s a most unnatural position to be drawing in, and you will find your arm aching and your hand cramping, if you aren’t careful.

First Bud

Second Bud

I also did some stitching. These are my first two attempts at Detached Buttonhole Stitch using the Gilt Sylke Twist.

Which is just as hair-raising as anything you might have read will have lead you to expect. It’s very lively and springy, and the gold spiral does sometimes break or scrunch up along the silk.

All that said, perhaps because I was prepared for it, I did not find it as troublesome as I feared, and the second bud is a marked improvement on the first, so I think I can be very pleased!