Black work Jacket and Skirt

 A life time ago and in a galaxy far away one of my ambitions was to do graduate work in costuming and work in that profession. While I still love historical costuming, I decided that it was not for me - the long hours and the fierce competition would  not work well with family responsibilities. So I dabble in dressing a historical doll or two.

I have always loved 17th century embroidered jackets; most of them are polychrome but a few are black work. There are a number of portraits that feature the jackets. Perhaps the most famous of the jackets is one that was owned by Margaret Layton. The jacket and her portrait are exhibited together so you can actually see how accurately the clothing was depicted.

Several years ago I found a black work rectangle on Pintrest that I liked. I was able to trace the pin back to the original source. It was a 17th century jacket featured in Gift of Stitches Magazine. I found the site to purchase the magazine with both the design and the finishing. Any  miniature clothing needs to have fabric that is not too stiff or out of scale so now the hunt was on for just the right fabric for the jacket and all the other parts of the set.

 I started with 55 count linen for the stitching. A bit small but I wanted the jacket to be as small as I could make it. I used size 100 black silk thread for the stitching. The directions called for putting lace around the edges but leaving the jacket raw on the inside. I knew that once the jacket was finished, the inside would never be seen but just could not leave it unlined. 

A while ago, I was in China and bought some very fine pale pink silk and decided to line the jacket with that. I had forgotten just how hard it is to work on that scale but love how it turned out.

Of course a jacket needs to be displayed with a skirt - a 17th century embroidered skirt. Now the hunt was on for the perfect fabric. It had to be just the right color and have the correct drape. The design is adapted from historical sources and stitched with gold silk  thread with metal thread accents.

 Then it needed a dress form to put it on and the  proper underthings so that it would look right. You know how that goes - right down the rabbit hole.

The dress form...

The linen petticoat - front and back...

The bum roll - this is rather strange piece of clothing but it was used in that period and made the skirt hang correctly...

The salmon colored skirt...

The finally the jacket......

The front assembled with the gussets. 

The lined jacket.

Simply Irresistible and some blackwork

Seems like I have been on a binge lately working on designs from Cynthia Jackson.  It is true, but her designs not only look great but have so many fun and unique techniques that how can I resist?
The last finish is called Simply Irresistible and features sweet peas and leaves. She has used some very old but spectacular techniques from the late middle ages. The layering allows the metal threads to just peak out of the color and adds such sparkle to the motif. The stitching is not perfect but that is how we learn. We try and then we get better.

I have been stitching some other things during this time of pandemic that I can't share with you yet. It is for a class that is hopefully far enough away that it can be held. For now I will share one of the bits of blackwork with gold added. I love the way that the gold adds such a nice highlight to the pear.

It is fun to see a design grow from an idea to a stitched and finished work of art. I have been doing some reading about historical embroidery and how it was considered a high art and much more valuable than painting. I have done both and one is not necessarily harder than the other but just different. The play of light on silk and metal threads is wonderful to see and the feel of the threads in your hands is such a tactile delight. Japan has not lost the high regard for the textile arts that we have in the western world.

Blackwork Hearts and Students

Sometime ago I designed and wrote the instructions for a couple of small blackwork projects that I donated to the Embroiderers' Guild of American to use as Petite Projects. These projects are small but work really well to introduce stitchers to a new technique or just to work a fun piece of embroidery.
It is fun to  hear from groups that are stitching one of them as a guild project.
The ladies of the Northern Arizona Stitches were kind enough to send some photos of their pieces. They meet in Sedona Arizona - which is one of my favorite places to visit. Kathy and Margaret are holding their work. Congratulations to everyone in the guild.

Teaching classes that I offer to groups of students

This past year or two has brought changes to all us but one of the changes that I have made is that I am not traveling and teaching as much. I am not proposing for seminars and the only teaching that I am doing is when a group contacts me and I will go teach for them. It really is much more relaxed and I am having fun working on some past projects and designing new ones. I have been able to design some custom pieces for groups that I visit.
Because of all of the above and the expense, I decided to close down my web site. I have never been really good at keeping it up anyway. I kept the original domain names so that I could use them if I wanted to but for now I will be putting things on the blog. I do want to start some cyber classes but that is still in my imagination and the future. Contact me at carolynswebb@yahoo.com if you are interested and I will send you the details and prices.
Also design samplers and needle work boxes and smalls. If you want a piece just for your group we can talk about it. Perhaps the best way to see some of the thing that I have done is just to google my name and look on images.
I mostly teach blackwork and pulled thread but there are a number of other pieces that I have taught also. Most of the things that I teach are scheduled for two day classes. For blackwork, I use silk on linen with touches of gold thread. Usually they are black on white but a couple do have color.
The pulled thread is usually cotton thread on linen.
Blackwork


This first one called Basket of Gold is a four day class but it could be done in three days.

Cherry Blossom

Ebony

Floral Explosion

Ojimi

Ancestry

Dyeing for Blackwork
In this one you dye your own silk threads and fabric in class so it can be almost any color.

Pulled Thread

Belle Fleur

Ivory

Lady Jane's Lace Sampler

Lucy's Pocket

Moon Flower Bag

If you have questions let me know. I love to design and teach so please contact me so I can come and visit you.

Classes this fall - Ivory and Feather Your Nest

As most of you readers know, I design and teach needlework. I love to see just how the designs come alive with needle and thread.
In August of 2016 - this year, (I know how the years speed ahead ever faster all of the time,) I will be teaching two fun classes.  I have slowed down my schedule so the classes that I teach are very special. Here is the link to the Retreat website.
http://www.needleworkguildmn.org/images/2016RetreatInvitation.pdf

One of the classes is Ivory, which is a pulled thread piece that uses shades of white and tan to stitch a Japanese flower ball. The companion piece is called Ebony and is done in blackwork. They use the same design but the contrast between the black and white is so interesting. When both of them have been exhibited together, it usually takes a while before people realize that the designs are identical.

Ivory

Ebony



The other class is Feather Your Nest Box and Smalls. This one was created specifically for the retreat and full of fun Minnesota touches. The box has an owl on the top and stitched pockets on the inside. The smalls include a cute owl emery, a blackwork mouse pincushion, a flame stitch scissors sheath and lots of others. I hope that it is as fun for the students to stitch as it was for me to design. Although it is not a traditional sampler it functions the same way with lots of samples of different stitches and techniques.

Blackwork

This has been quite the summer of travel. Some of it for pleasure but most of it for teaching. In the space of 6 weeks I was in San Diego, Orlando, River Valley - Conn and Santa Fe.  I met some wonderful people and had a great time, but now I am home for the winter.


I have been able to stitch some new pieces. I have always wanted to stitch an adaptation of one of James Christensen's paintings and did so for a lecture on Designing for One Color. It is one of the angels of Faith, Hope and Charity. I choose to do Faith in blackwork. It enjoyed doing it and will stitch a multi-color one that is inspired by his work but for now I have this one. She ended up being framed in a wonderful, big gold frame so she looks like an old master.

 

I just finished stitching a challenge piece that the Swan Sampler Guild started. The flower patterns are free and from the Workbasket. I did both of them in lavender-blue on 40 count linen, added a book spine, and then made a sewing book. The closure is one of my antique  bone stilettos. I added old ivory pieces as a measure and thread winder.

Here are two views of the inside and the closure.