Technique to Quickly Mount Embroidery on a Slate Frame

"Certainly it was a lovely autumn morning; the leaves were fluttering red to the ground."

Virginia Woolf - A Room of One's Own

Yesterday morning was a beautiful autumn morning here in Pennsylvania.  After a morning walk to the tree farm to tag our Christmas tree, and second breakfast (hobbit-style),  I spent a few hours catching up on some missed stitching time.  Progress is slow on my shawl because I'm learning a new technique.  New to me anyway - long and short stitch.  I've stitched the same petal 3 times, but it's still not photo-worthy.  I will persevere and share it with you when I'm satisfied with the results.

At the Winterthur needlework conference last weekend, I studied crewel embroidery under Nicola Jarvis, from the Royal  School of Needlework.  I had no intention of adding crewel embroidery to my embroidery stitches palette when I signed up for the class.  I've simply learned, from attending needlework seminars,  that when you take a class from an RSN teacher (or the EG / EGA equivalent), you will learn techniques that carry over into your particular field of embroidery.  How timely it was, then, that Nicola's piece included long & short stitch, a stitch I'd just recently decided to use on my shawl.

A very useful tip I learned from Nicola was a quick mount method for the slate frame.  I had a problem getting good tension on the slate frame with this shawl.  Typically, to mount embroidery on a slate frame I fold over 1/2" of material on 2 sides of my fabric, and sew it to create a "hem",  then I run a cord through the channel created by the hem.  The remaining 2 sides of  fabric are sewn to the webbing on the "roller bars".  Last, the frame is assembled and the 2 sides with cord running through them are laced to the slat bars, as shown at left, and the cord helps to strengthen the fabric holding the lacing.

The problem arises when you have too much fabric to roll up on the roller bars, as is the case with a shawl. The hemmed edges quickly get bulkier than the rest of the fabric, which doesn't allow for good tension in the center of the fabric where you need it most.  The solution, other than investing in 2-1/2 foot long slat bars, is shown at right.  Here, you don't "hem" your fabric on the 2 long ends.  You simply place pins evenly along the exposed length of fabric, then lace through the pins as shown.  Notice that the lacing is a little different - the laces run over the slat bar for one pin, then under the slat bar for the next pin.  The ends of the lacing are wrapped around the corners as usual to tie off.  When ready to embroider the unexposed area of fabric, remove the pins, roll the fabric to the new area, place the pins evenly across the area and lace it.


So, I learned 2 techniques in Nicola's crewel class that I could come home and use immediately on my current silk embroidery project.  Over break time in our class, Nicola also shared her experience embroidering Kate Middleton's wedding dress.  We told her she lived a charmed life!

Transferring Patterns On To Dark Fabric : Enchanted Castle of Marvels Shawl

Success!  The design has been transferred on to dark chocolate colored linen!  It always surprises me how much more delicate designs look once they're drawn on to the linen.  Some of the delicacy will be lost due to the 'weight' the embroidery will add to it.  A small price to pay considering the beauty it will add as well.

I designed this shawl last Autumn, but was hesitant to attempt transferring an embroidery pattern on to dark linen.  The October Eves Scarf I made was done not only to test the threads on a linen / rayon combination fabric, but also to test design transfer.  I used a black micron pen to transfer the scarf design, much to my regret!  It seemed like a good idea.   I used an extra thick pen and the design was easy to see, until I mounted it on the slate frame and shone my halogen stitching light on it.  Since it was a fairly small design I was able to work with it, but knew it wouldn't work for a large piece like the shawl. 

 I tested several white pens and pencils until I found one that worked - the White Marking Pen by Clover (fine tip).  The instructions say that it washes or irons out.  I found that it washed out, but when I ironed it, the line turned black and became permanent.  It may work differently on pure linen.   For my purpose a permanent pen isn't a problem since my stitches entirely cover the drawn lines.  Another thing to keep in mind when searching for a transfer pen is that the drawn line doesn't appear until the ink has dried with this pen.  I didn't find it to be a problem, but I imagine some people might.

I had a little difficulty transferring the pattern only because I chose to skip the step where I transfer my paper drawing to transfer paper.  At the time I didn't realize that transfer paper is available in rolls!   I used a light box and transferring was difficult only because the art paper didn't allow as much light to come through, so I added many of the motifs free-hand, which worked out fine.  It was the main vines that were really important for placement and I could see those.

To transfer the pattern on to the linen, I affixed the paper pattern to the linen using, surprisingly, masking tape!  I simply centered the design on the back of the fabric, used straight pins to keep it in place while I applied the masking tape to all four sides.  Because my light box is small (about 11" x 11") I constantly had to slide the fabric and pattern across the board.  Everything stayed in place perfectly.

Enchanted Castle of Marvels Shawl

Back to the drawing board (or kitchen table, in this instance).  Moving on to my next project, I pulled the shawl drawing out again.  I already have a clear idea of what colors I want for the shawl, as I mentioned before.

Here, I'm deciding what threads to use to get the colors I want.  This depends on what stitch I'll use for each motif.  At this stage, I think there will be a mix of textured Elizabethan stitches (trellis, detached button-hole, etc) and the smooth long and short stitch.  I like textured stitches worked in tightly twisted threads as it gives them extra dimension.  L&S stitch would look best in a lightly twisted thread, or a flat thread.  I don't want to use flat silks for this shawl because I believe they'll have a great tendency to fray and catch on things.  I'll use Soie de Paris for the L&S stitch and a mix of Au Ver a Soie's Gobelin, Perlee, and 100/3, along with Mulberry Silks in varying thicknesses for the textured stitches.


The fabric is a very dark chocolate - you can see it peeping from under the drawing.

The carnations will be done in shades of cornflower blue.  The petals stitched in long&short stitch.  The calyx will be worked in detached button-hole in olive toned greens and will probably be padded a bit.

Honeysuckle flowers will be worked in shades of gold to creme.   I haven't decided if they'll be worked in L/S or trellis.  If worked in trellis,  they may be padded a bit as well.

The main vines will be worked in Heavy Broad stitch in pale, pistachio green.  I plan to try padding it for a raised effect.  The tendrils will be done in stem stitch in a slightly lighter shade.

The pod shown here will be worked in shades of rust, gold, and pale, pistachio green which looks especially good on the deep brown linen.

This rose will be worked in shades of red, gold and green.  The calyx will be padded detached buttonhole.  The petals will probably be L/S stitch. The stamen will be a textured stitch, but I'm not sure which yet.

This rose motif, and the pod shown above are more typical of Deerfield Society embroidery motifs.  I'm adding them to my shawl because of the William Morris influence this shawl had when I first imagined it.  

The two American women who founded the Deerfield society in 1896 were no doubt influenced by William Morris.  They started a cottage industry to revive the Early American embroidery techniques they found on pieces in local museums and homes. Their motifs were copied or adapted from extant 18th century pieces in the New England area.  Anyone interested in Elizabethan embroidery motifs will immediately recognize that many of the colonial American motifs were transplanted from 16th / 17th century England.  Early American embroiderers chose to fill the motifs with new embroidery stitches that used less threads, making them less costly, and faster, to create.  If you're interested in the history of the Deerfield Society, the book titled Deerfield Embroidery by M.B. Howe is a good place to start.

Well, I'm off to Frazer, Pa today for a follow-up vet appt for Byron to have his staples removed.  Fireside Stitchery shop just down the road.  I plan to pick up the Au Ver a Soie threads I don't have while I'm there.

On First Looking Into Hatton's Herbal Handbook

No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace

As I have seen in one autumnal face...

John Donne (poet 1572-1631)

Recently a friend recommended I look into a book by Richard Hatton, titled "Handbook of Plant and Floral Ornament from Early Herbals, published by Dover.  For those of you who aren't aware of this book, it's a compilation of woodcut and engraved illustrations from early herbals.  The preface best states the author's intent... 'The object of this publication is to render available to designers and plant-lovers the best of the engraved drawings of plants which have made the Herbals of the sixteenth century famous.'




Many of the early herbals are costly to purchase.  I would recommend this book as a very economical way to add the best of the early herbal illustrations to your personal library.  My edition, printed in 1960, is an unabridged and unaltered republication of the first edition, published in 1909, under the title of The Craftsman's Plant-Book.    I paid around $10 on Amazon for my used copy. Check out used copies on Amazon here

Included are over 1200 illustrations culled from sixteen different herbals printed from 1530 to 1614.  Hatton includes a list of the chief herbals used and references the original work under each illustration.


It's a wondrous design resource.  Many of the illustrations are works of art in themselves and could be used with little or no modifications to create a pillow cover, picture, etc.


The curving vine shown on this Ivy-Leafed Crowfoot is splendid.  A nice delicate design, I can see it worked in colored silks (creme and greens) and goldwork.

A wonderfully autumnal illustration showing nature's abundant bounty.  It could be used 'as is' for a William-Morris-y effect or pruned if something lighter was desired.

This lily of the valley slip is just delightful.  

What a perfect representation.  

It would be lovely worked in speckling technique.

If you've not already done so, I hope I've inspired you to look into early herbals and use the illustrations in your needlework designs.