The Tudor Revolution

Blackwork Embroidery The Honorable Lady Isabelle de Calais V&A Museum T.112-1972 Ca. 1540 England, Silk embroidery on linen shirt About the Embroidery... For the purpose of this class we are going to focus on counted blackwork embroidery, also known as Holbein stitch, Spanish stitch, and other various names. These patterns are worked in a counted pattern, outlining a shape or design and using to contract between your ground fabric and thread color for visual impact. While black was the most popular color for this embroidery style, there are period examples of Red, blue, green, and yellow. Detail from a portrait of Bess of Hardwick by Master John, in Hardwick Hall. Ca 1560 This form of embroidery reached its peak during the 16th century in Europe, but there are earlier and later examples to be found in museum archives. One of the driving forces for these patterns to become so wide spread was the in introduction of the printing press. Full of these desig...

Museum Number  T.12-1948 , Victoria and Albert Museum A few years ago I posted some research on monochrome English embroidery. This was the kick off of a hand project I have been carrying around and working on periodically. In February of this year I finished my coif. This coif is made of the finest linen I could find and embroidered with silk died using period techniques which I purchased at Pennsic War. The extant examples were made from linen ground fabric and silk embroidery thread. Most of my embroidery was done using stem stitch  or satin stitch. The edge was treated with a long and short button hole stitch similar to that seen in some smocks and shirts of the time rather than with lace.  My design was inspired by a Schole-House for the Needle , and two extent coifs. the design was transferred from paper to the coif using a period method of pattern transfer called prick and pounce. the little dots were then inked using a fabric safe pen. I assembled the ...

While at Pennsic I had took a class from Mistress Amy Webb of the East Kingdom. She used a term I had not heard before - English monochrome embroidery. Mistress Amy went on to explain that this embroidery has a few characteristics: Stitches are worked in a single color of silk thread. Sometimes gold threads are used to create interest. Stitches used are varied including stem stitch, satin stitch, and double running stitch  Images were taken from English country gardens Stitches are not consistently reversible or counted We have several extant examples of women's coifs embellished with English monochrome embroidery in museums around the world, but very few are seen in the portraiture of the time. If you think about it critically, coifs are more personal (intimate) articles of clothing. Unless the sitter was being painted in a birthing bed, or another intimate setting, there probably wont be a painting of them wearing an elaborately embellished coif. Portraits were usually d...