Valentine's Day Curio

" Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
That valleys, groves, hills and fields,

Woods or steepy mountains yields...

And I will make thee beds of roses,

And a thousand fragrant posies,

A cap of flowers and a kirtle

Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle..."

from The Passionate Shephard to His Love by C. Marlowe

The embroidery for this cone is blackwork, probably my favorite reversible pattern.  The pattern was taken from Portrait of a Lady in White c. 1540 in the National Portrait Gallery, DC.

Here, it's stitched on 40 ct. linen, with one strand of DMC embroidery floss.  

The hem is the Rolled Hem shown in my Stitch Tutorials.  To make an area to weave the ribbon through, I withdrew threads and then hemmed the linen on either side with tiny hem stitches.

The linen must be seamed up one side to form a tubular top for the cone.  I used a plain hand-sewn seam.  In hindsight, I could have used this small area to try an Elizabethan seam such as the seam detail shown on a jacket at the V&A.  Another time.

The cone itself was made from a sheet of Anna Griffin paper from Michaels, and trimmed with cotton lace from JoAnn Fabrics.  Here's a link to a template you can use to make your own cone.  (When you trace/cut it out, do not include the 2 tabbed handle areas.)

Happy Valentine's Day!