Sunday, December 3, 2017

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)

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)

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



Portrait of a Young Woman, Netherlandish Painter (ca. 1535), Oil on wood
 (Portrait found at the Met Museum)

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 of Mary Tudor
(Portrait provided by Indiana University)

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