Hello Everyone! The embroidery on Jacobean Bunny is finished. I haven't taken a photo yet but will soon. I am thinking about doing a tutorial and drafting out the pattern for anyone interested IF it comes out ok. My first stuffed animal so not sure what the results will be. I am quite happy with the embroidery part though.
In the meantime I have started on my blackwork. I just couldn't wait. Since the studio is a mess with packing I had an excuse. I cant even get to my sewing machine right now! I haven't done black work in years so I decided to start with a practice piece, but one that could be useful anyway. I picked out a set of cuffs and collar from Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion View 12 the 1580-1600 Men's Shirt. I realize that the entire piece is embroidered but to start out I thought I would stick with something small and simple. I chose a few geometric fill patterns and combined them to make a band pattern. I think they go well together and I am already zipping along with it.
I laid out the two cuffs on one piece of linen with plenty of seam allowance around them. The linen I am using is not perfectly even count. I prefer this and my reasoning is this. I highly doubt that weaving methods in the 16th century were exact enough to produce perfect even weave linen. this linen is barely off but just enough that I feel good about it, if that makes sense. I can't remember the exact thread count but I believe it is 52x54 per inch. I did my stitches over four threads. this seemed to be a nice choice making the motifs small but not TOO delicate. I already have ideas bouncing around for designing a coif based on the blackwork in this painting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_I_Jesus_College_Oxford_1590.jpg I just love the free flowing flowery vines and the blackwork fill is just exquisite!
I laid out the two cuffs on one piece of linen with plenty of seam allowance around them. The linen I am using is not perfectly even count. I prefer this and my reasoning is this. I highly doubt that weaving methods in the 16th century were exact enough to produce perfect even weave linen. this linen is barely off but just enough that I feel good about it, if that makes sense. I can't remember the exact thread count but I believe it is 52x54 per inch. I did my stitches over four threads. this seemed to be a nice choice making the motifs small but not TOO delicate. I already have ideas bouncing around for designing a coif based on the blackwork in this painting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_I_Jesus_College_Oxford_1590.jpg I just love the free flowing flowery vines and the blackwork fill is just exquisite!
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