historic textiles Archive

Originally posted 2009-04-11 06:27:49. Republished by Blog Post PromoterI found a lovely site devoted to the art of stitching in silk during the Middle Ages. The name of the site is Medieval Silkwork and I wanted to share with you some of the treasures I’ve found. Silkwork Pattern – You are going to have to translate this lovely wide border to counted work, but it is stunning and available as a PDF. It’s all Straight Stitches, so consider the shortest stitches to go over two threads. The longest go over six threads. An in-depth explanation of the different types of silk threads. This post has close-up pictures and explanations. A lovely purse and a pouch which could be the basis for a charming bit of needlepoint. Remember that back in those days there wasn’t the distinction we have now between needlepoint canvas, evenly woven fabrics, and non-evenly woven fabrics. Many

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Originally posted 2009-05-10 06:21:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Jan F is getting ready to do her third adaptation of a Moroccan rug and wrote about it in this post. The inspiration post is also pictured above. I’m intrigued by this rug because I think it shows some universal graphic ideas. The colors in both rugs she shows remind me of the colors in her other Moroccan adaptations, so I’m considering them to be typical. But then I look at the patches themselves and I can see Navajo and Persian Rug motifs. Many of the motifs look like Navajo and Persian rugs I’ve seen. The diamond motif on the orange background is one of these. And that star against a dark background practically screams Amish quilt to me. What’s interesting is that none of these would be done in these colors. The rugs might be done in a typical Navajo

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Today we’ll finish up this project with the bottom half of our sampler and some general tips about making running stitch patterns on needlepoint canvas. Step-by-step Instructions You’ll finish up the project by stitching the bands in the bottom half as charted above. Put the canvas into the frame by trimming the margins to fit (this should be a few threads beyond the outside of the stitching) Place it next to the glass. Because the canvas is exposed, you will want some paper behind it. Scrapbook paper in a color to match the canvas color will make it look as if the stitches are floating. Trim the paper to fit and put it behind the stitching. Close up the back of the frame. Tips for a Great Look In this technique the back of the canvas is as important as the front, so do not end or begin threads in

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Yesterday we talked about Kogin embroidery and some Internet resources for it. Today and tomorrow I’ll have a sampler project, made of 1″ bands, for you that uses a single color of Watercolours, or other overdyed #5 pearl, and colored canvas to show off this technique. For a more traditional look you could stitch it in mthree strands of High Cotton Kogin is a form of counted embroidery which developed from Sashiko, a kind of Japanese quilting. An accompanying article gives more information about the history and characteristics of this traditional craft. The sampler is designed as a long narrow band sampler, which will fit into one of the ready-made picture frames for panoramic photos. You can find these frames in the stores with openings which are 4 x 12. It will hang vertically when finished. Material List 8 x 16 piece 18 count mono canvas 2 skeins Watercolours in

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Kogin embroidery is a Japanese form of pattern darning. It’s related to Sashiko, a form of quilting. In traditional Kogin embroidey the stitches are done in a thick white cotton on indigo fabric. Because the patterns are formed from running stitch, Kogin can be adapted to needlepoint easily. You still count threads, but when doing Kogin on needlepoint canvas, the threads need to be thick enough to fill the holes in the canvas,otherwise it looks too skimpy. #5 pearl cotton, Watercolours, Silk & Ivory, or Vineyard Silk are great choices. Flat threads such as narrow ribbons or four strands of floss also work well. Historic Kogin designs, such as the robe pictured here, can be quite complex and often richly decorate the fabric. But it doesn’t have to be complex. Carolyn Foley of Caro-Rose-Creations has been exploring the technique on her blog with several patterns charted. You can find them

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When I saw this post on Mr XStitch on Thursday I was blown away. You will be too. Yaroslav Galant has done cross stitch on furniture of all kinds. The designs are simple geometric patterns based on traditional Ukranian motifs. It’s lovely. At first I thought these were embroidered panels on fabric upholstered onto the chairs. But they’re not. They are Corian (yes, like the countertop material) stitched with rope. It’s absolutely amazing. And durable enough to be used outdoors. He’s done many different pieces in this technique, but only a selection was chosen for the exhibit. On Galant’s own site there is more information about this amazing work. You can get to the information about the Corian collection (top story) and the Ukrainian embroidery (last story) here. The text, taken from the exhibition catalog I think, isn’t great, but read to the end and marvel at the pictures. It’s

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Originally posted 2009-11-27 07:21:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter I don’t do the whole shopping thing today, so I thought I would share with you a delightful type of Cross Stitch that can easily be adapted to needlepoint. It’s called Quaker Stitch and has whole stitches, delightful motifs, often from traditional folk art, and uses a single color per motif. The Quakers were well-known for their fine needlework wand their samplers had individual motifs, called “spot motifs.” This is different from what you might normally think of as samplers, with letters, sayings, borders, and an integrated picture. The old and modern Quaker Samplers I’ve seen tend to be dense with these motifs. They are often octagonal in shape. Webshots has nine pages of stitched Quaker Samplers (many in progress). An important historic source for Quaker samplers was the Ackworth School (link is to Google search for these samplers). Virtually all

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Originally posted 2009-06-14 06:03:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter You may be stuck at home, in front of the computer. It may be rainy or cold. Or you may have worked hard on the yard or house all day and are in need of a little vacation. Whatever the reason, I’m here to help with a little tour of a completely charming (and growing) idea in the American Midwest. Farmers have huge quilts painted on their barns, just like the one you see above. Painting on barns is not something new. In Pennsylvania, where I grew up, hex signs are often painted on barns. Another common item is barn advertising, like the Mail Pouch tobacco signs. What started as a tribute to a woman’s quilting mother, has now grown to include over 900 barns throughout the Midwest. The idea is to take a quilt or quilt block and paint it

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Remember the post recently about Erica Wilson and Bargello? Thanks to the same folks at Retro Renovation, we have another glorious post showing us lots of pictures of vintage Bargello patterns that have been newly stitched by Bobbie, an interior designer in Philadelphia. This delightful elephant seen here is one of hers. You’ll love seeing the pillows in the context of a real home and be delighted by her interview, with even more pictures. One more note, at the end she has a cautionary note about Jonathan Adler’s ready-made Bargello pillows. You can learn about how to adapt his patterns to your own stitching with this Bargello pattern

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Thanks to the blog, Retro Renovation, we have a long (almost 15 minutes) seqment on Bargello. She shows examples of the stitching (including these great boots), she talks about the history of Bargello, show us how to start stitching and then shows us a lovely Jack-in-the-Pulpit design that she is stitching. It’s great stuff and the blog post that accompanies it has information on finding Erica’s kits, both old and new. The clip is from 1971, so it was filmed not long after I had begun to do needlepoint. I was astonished by the things that had changed. She found the center of the canvas by folding it and drawing down the creases with a pencil. Don’t do this at home. Unless you use a very hard pencil (#4) lead will rub off and discolor our threads. Today we’d measure and baste or mark with a permanent marker made for

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Originally posted 2010-07-11 07:18:43. Republished by Blog Post PromoterYou may be under the impression that needlepoint bags look like the very expensive Fendi bag pictured top. Or that they are leather or canvas bags with a needlepoint insert such as my Haida Feather bag, center. Or even that they are made entirely from needlepoint, similar to this bag from Needlepoint, Inc., bottom. One thing they all have in common is that they are modern bags incorporating needlepoint. But needlepoint as a front for bags has been around a long time. Lovers of vintage fashion can often find needlepoint bags such as the one above because quite often they were kept for special occasions. If you want to learn more about needlepoint purses, or buy one of your own, start with About.com page about needlepoint purses, written by Cheryl Fall, Needlepoint Guide. Thanks to Jane from Chilly Hollow for pointing this

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I don’t like it when people criticize needlepoint saying it’s like “painting by numbers.” Being the daughter and granddaughter of very creative women, I have always seen, as have they, needlepoint as a very artistic and creative process. A blog post last week at The Textile Blog got me thinking about this again. All art is a conversation. In it there are always two people: the artist and the person seeing the art. The artist has an idea and expresses it in a particular way. It may not be an idea you like and it may be expressed in a way you find ugly. But he began the conversation with his idea and its expression. The second person in the conversation is the person viewing the art. By seeing the expression of the idea, you, even if it’s just mentally, react to it and comment back. I never thought much

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A couple of things that are just too good to pass up in the post today. Remember my post about “Destination Needlepoint?” Well needlepoint.com is having a virtual trunk show of some of the company’s travel ornaments on their site. There you will find pieces from In Good Company and Silver Needle, all at 20% off. Looking at them I keep wondering why I want to buy ornaments for places I’ve never been and probably wouldn’t enjoy if I went there. If you are a gardener the name Gertrude Jekyll is a legend. This Englishwoman is the person who pioneered those lovely wide borders of flowing pernenials we think of as typical of English gardens. She wrote many gardening books, but did you know she also was an accomplished embroiderer. The picture for this post is an iris design she did for a compilation called Handbook of Embroidery. There is

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Most people don’t think of clothing as being a good source of inspiration for needlepoint, but it’s one of my favorite places to find color and motif ideas. Especially high fashion (I once did a needlepoint inspired by a picture of a designer gown) and, even better, historic clothing. The Kyoto Costume Institute has an amazing set of digital archives that’s full of inspiration. And they aren’t just Japanese clothes, they span a range from the Eighteenth Century to today and incorporate tons of styles. Why not use the stunning evening cape by Elsa Schiaparelli to inspire a gold and black fantasy of needlepoint. Or the boisterous floral print of a Victorian evening gown to color a fresh floral piece. It will look bright and modern, even though the gown that inspired it is over 150 years old. Not only can you learn alot about fashion, you’ll get lots of

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Working from the seamless Japanese pattern I created a couple of weeks ago, I was inspired to create Blackwork patterns. Because the lines of the hemp leaf pattern are oblique, they can be hard to create in needlepoint. I think these lines look better when stitched as lines and that means Blackwork, either on its own or over Tent Stitch. Remember that the original pattern is based on the shape of the hemp leaf and is call asanoha. I have created two patterns based on this. In the first, below, you can see the leaves pretty clearly. The second pattern, below, is larger, so that the leaves will only be apparent in a larger area. Remember that these are charted as traditional Blackwork charts, not as needlepoint diagrams. Each square in the chart represents a stitch going over two needlepoint threads. Therefore, the short oblique lines go over 4 threads

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