Ecclesiastical Flower Motif

In my Golden Compass post, I mentioned that I had taken part in an amazing online class with Cynthia Jackson. It was in fact much more than a class; it was a ten week, in-depth study of Tudor Embroidery with course notes, weekly zoom lectures, and supplies to create a sampler of the embroidery techniques studied. The sampler consists of five panels, each based on extant textiles and/or influences following the development of embroidery during the Tudor period.

In the first lecture we learnt about powdering and saw many, mainly ecclesiastical, examples. Powdering is a medieval term for the scattering of motifs across a cloth or other surface. For ecclesiastical robes and other textiles, the motif might first be stitched on linen then cut out as a slip and applied to the ground fabric. The inspiration for these motifs often came from a pattern book featuring stylized pictures of trees, plants, and animals including fantastical beasts.

The design for our first sample was based on this stylized flower taken from The Tudor Pattern Book in the Bodleian Library. We transferred the design onto the linen using the “prick and pounce” method.

© Cynthia Jackson/Carol-Anne Conway

We used Devere 6-fold for the satin stitch and split stitch areas. 6-fold (or suga) is a smooth and lustrous low twist filament silk. We used two strands which is equivalent to one strand of JEC flat silk or a single strand of DMC. Being low twist, it is less unruly than flat silk and is delightful to work with. I especially like using it for split stitch and stem/outline stitch. The satin stitch areas are really shiny, which is what you want from a silk satin stitch but I found the slight twist prevented the silk from spreading the way flat silk does and, therefore, does not give quite as smooth a finish. None-the-less, I think it is a very nice embroidery thread.

© Cynthia Jackson/Carol-Anne Conway

I made a couple minor changes; I swapped the suggested blue at the top of the flower for red and selected a different diaper pattern for the couched gold in the central panel. The final step on the linen was to outline everything by couching several strands of the silk around each area.

© Cynthia Jackson/Carol-Anne Conway

Before cutting out the completed embroidery, glue was applied to the back of the stitched area and allowed to dry thoroughly. The slip was then applied to the velvet ground with small stab stitches (I laugh at how easy that sounds, knowing how difficult it actually is). A further bundle of silk threads is then couched around the outline before stitch the gold details directly onto the velvet.

© Cynthia Jackson/Carol-Anne Conway

This was a fun piece to stitch and I am pleased it, especially the diaper pattern couched gold, but I don’t think it is a technique that I will do often.

Happy Stitching