My Experience at the Craftsperson's Faire at Christmas Tourney

Yesterday, I displayed my blackwork embroidery projects at the Craftsperson's Faire at Christmas Tourney. The webpage link to the event is https://christmastourney.weebly.com/. I received many compliments on my display and my work. As each entrant was given 3 feet of space on a table, I had to get creative in making some of my pieces more vertical, so that I could show off more of my work. In the end, I still had to pick and choose which projects that I wanted to display the most.

There were many challenges for the entrants. I won the challenge for the Best Garb Accessory. I am very happy about winning this challenge and quite proud of my work.

The one thing that I wish I could have done differently was to have more time to sit with my display, in case there were any questions and/or anyone was interested in learning how to do blackwork embroidery. As it was, I chose not to spend more time with my project because I'm also a mother with two children who were quite interested in participating in youth combat fighting and archery (a parent or guardian must be present while they participate in these activities). However, I have enough confidence in my work that I believe my display demonstrated my capabilities without my presence being necessarily needed.

Portraits of Mary Tudor with Blackwork Embroidery Details

Here are some portraits of Mary Tudor with blackwork embroidery details.

(Portrait from the Gardner Museum)

https://www.gardnermuseum.org/experience/collection/11928

The blackwork embroidery is done in what appears to be gold silk thread on both inside of her partlet, as well as the collar of her shirt. This portrait is of Mary as queen.

(Portrait at the Ashmolean Museum)

https://www.artuk.org/discover/artworks/princess-mary-tudor-141535/search/keyword:mary-tudor/page/1/view_as/grid

Look at the cuffs on her sleeves. The portrait above is of Mary while she was a princess.

 (Portrait found at the Met Museum)

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437205

Look at the sleeves and collar of this shirt.

(Note: this portrait is technically listed as an unknown, but appears when searching the Met Museum website for Mary Tudor.)

(Portrait provided by Indiana University)

  https://www.iub.edu/~iuam/provenance/view.php?id=349

Blackwork embroidery can be found on the inside of her partlet, as well as the collar of her shirt.

 For more pictures, please visit http://www.tudorsdynasty.com/portraits-of-a-queen-mary-i/.

How to Dress a Slate Frame

Slate frames were historically period frames for embroidery.  Please see this for more information: https://tudorblackwork.blogspot.com/2015/02/embroidery-frames-in-history.html

Here is an instructional video on how to dress your slate frame:

https://youtu.be/WlmoJ3l1qCY

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.  Thanks!

Blackwork Embroidered Handkerchiefs for Christmas Gifts

Recently, a friend asked me to embroider some handkerchiefs to be given out as Christmas gifts at an upcoming event.

Here is my progress so far:

For the floral design, I was inspired by a pattern found on a 16th century Italian sampler located in the V&A Museum. The pattern can be found at http://www.dragonlore.net/free_patterns.php

Video on Blackwork Embroidery for Beginners

I recently made a short video to demonstrate how to begin doing blackwork embroidery. Please visit Introduction into Making Blackwork Embroidery to watch.

Video of Blackwork Embroidery Samples

I made a short video of examples of my blackwork embroidery over the years.

Examples of Blackwork Embroidery

More Museum Examples

Above is a picture of a woman's Italian shirt from the second half of the 16th century, from the Textile Museum in Prato. http://www.museodeltessuto.it/museo/collezioni/?lang=en


For an example of a man's linen shirt with blue silk embroidery from the Textile Museum in Prato, please visit https://www.pinterest.dk/pin/20969954487488406/






Pictured above is a smock; English, circa 1575-1585. In Queen Elizabeth I's New Year's Gifts of 1588-9, this entry is listed: 'one smock of fyne Holland cloth, fair wrought with black silk'. The embroidery on this pictured smock (V&A Museum) includes an eglantine rose and a Tudor rose; the Queen was given many similar blackwork garments. http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O78732/smock-unknown/












Pictured above from the Met Museum is a panel of blackwork embroidery circa 1580-1620. http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/223032



Other websites to visit for examples:

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/blackwork-fragment-65915

http://mfastpete.org/obj/albanus-wolfhart-of-lindau/

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/217866

https://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/84657.html

More Portraits with Blackwork Embroidery

 

  http://www.hans-holbein.org/Portrait-of-Catherine-Howard-1540-41-large.html

 

Hans Holbein the Elder (c. 1460 – 1524) Portrait of a Member of the Weiss Family of Augsburg 1522

https://bjws.blogspot.com/2015/10/women-by-hans-holbein-elder-c-1460-1524.html

Blackwork Embroidered Coif

For my latest project, I decided to make a blackwork embroidered coif.

In first doing research, I found that most historical coifs had a circular pattern, such as the one pictured below.

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O78811/coif-unknown/

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O251244/coif-and-forehead-unknown/



http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/228946 (pictured above)


A step by step guide on how to make a coif is available at https://thepragmaticcostumer.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/the-ultimate-one-pattern-piece-project-elizabethan-coif/.


I decided to make my coif with a diamond pattern on it, similar to the coif pictured below.


https://www.pinterest.com/jarnopp/blackwork-embroidery/ (pictured above)


For the floral design, I was inspired by this pattern (pictured below):



This pattern is found at http://www.dragonlore.net/free_patterns.php, which has patterns from a 16th century Italian sampler located in the Victoria & Albert Museum.


Here are pictures to show my progress from start to finish on the coif:

Fun fact: it takes me approximately 20 minutes to stitch one flower.

The strings at the bottom are a purple lucet cord that I made.