The Alluring Elegance of Finely Worked Insertion Seams

"Know first who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly."  

Epictetus (55-135ad)

I find myself drawn to a detail of Elizabethan linen shirts & smocks that most people would overlook, namely, openwork insertion seams.  There's a quiet elegance about them that speaks to me.  They are an art in themselves.

I'm sure that 5 centuries ago someone like myself, with an eye for detail, took the time to take these seams beyond utilitarian to utterly sublime.

My first exposure to these seams was years ago on an early 17th century blackwork jacket at the V&A museum.  I was viewing it online and at first was so entranced with the blackwork speckling that I didn't notice the seams.  Fortunately, the V&A included a closeup of these, which I consider the Mercedes of Openwork seams.  The seams run down the backs of the sleeves.  If you look at the closeup photo, in the open area of the seam is an intricate, weblike needlelace.

While I admired their beauty, it was more than I wanted to tackle learning at the time.  I was studying the jacket to learn how to do the blackwork speckling.  (Those of you familiar with my blackwork purse will recognize the pomegranate that resulted from studying this jacket.)

The next time I came across openwork seams was in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 4.  There are many good closeups of insertion seams - for those of you who own a copy of the book, reference pp. 6,17,18,19,20,22 to name a few.

In some cases, the open area of the seam has intricate needlelace.  Others have plain insertion stitching, but have matching silk embroidery adorning either side of the seam.  The linen on both sides of the seam have been hemmed first, and the insertion stitches, and possibly the matching embroidery, have been added afterwards.

Some of the pieces in Janet's book are also available online:

Boy's shirt at the V&A Museum: T112-1972 - Unfortunately, there's only a glimpse of the seam in the shoulder on the overall photo (upper left).

A man's linen shirt at the Fashion Museum, Bath has been extensively photographed and shared on Flickr.   ( Make sure you thoroughly investigate the page.  There are really nice, clear photos of a blackwork jacket, and a polychrome jacket as well, in addition to other pieces from other eras. )  

Once again, upon coming across these seams in Janet's book I made a mental note to come back to them one day and give them a try.

In early March Spring came to Pennsylvania and I decided I needed a lightweight pink linen scarf.  This time, I wanted to try a longer scarf that would allow for more wraps around the neck.  The dilemma - my pink cambric weight linen was only 2 yards long.  The solution?  An openwork insertion seam, or two.  Necessity is the Mother of Invention and apparently of Art as well.  I decided to start with a simple seam. 

Looking through Janet's book, I found a linen shirt (p. 20) with a simple, yet elegant seam in the neckband.  This was a regular seam, not an insertion seam.  The embroidery consisted of French knots and 4-sided stitch.  Simple stitches, that when combined, create a beautiful pattern.    I decided to use a modified version of the embroidery for either side of my seam.  My scarf consists of 3 pieces of linen, 1 piece 2 yards long, and 2 pieces 7-1/2" long.  All 3 pieces are the same width - about 10" wide.  The photo above shows 2 hemmed edges ready to be attached.  I used the Antique Hem technique to hem each piece.  

Now I'm ready to add the insertion seam.  I've decided to use a Spring green for the insertion stitching.  I will also add fringes to the bottom of the scarf in the same color.  

Check back to see how this project progresses over the next few weeks.

MAY 9TH UPDATE:

I've completed the insertion seams.  The Spring green color I worked them in helps to make the seams pop.

I haven't found much information on how to work these seams.  In fact, the only sources I found are a few diagrams and photographs in  Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 4, and some instructions in T. de Dillmont's Encyclopedia of Needlework.  If anyone knows of another source, please contact me.

I chose a seam which was both diagramed in Arnold's book, and included in de Dillmont's...

from Patterns of Fashion 4 by J. Arnold

from Complete Encyclopedia of Needlework by T. deDillmont

It consists of groups of 3 Buttonhole stitches, with the center stitch about twice the length of the 2 outer stitches.  Therese deDillmont's instructions state that both pieces of linen should be lying flat while the seam is stitched.  I found this uncomfortable and in the end I folded the 2 pieces of linen at the area of the seam and stitched them like that.  After ironing the seam it lays flat and doesn't appear to look any different for having been stitched at a different angle.  It was quite fun to work.  If you like hemming by hand, you'll enjoy doing this.

Here you can see the seam in process.  The 2 pieces of linen to be seamed have been placed together with wrong sides facing each other.  Pick a side to start with and begin the buttonhole stitches.

The needle pierces one piece of linen at a time.  So, in this step the needle pierces the top piece of linen only.

The first buttonhole stitch is complete.

The second buttonhole is about twice
 the length of the first.

The third buttonhole is the same
length as the first.

Next, complete the same sequence of buttonholes on the second piece of linen.

 I turned the piece in my hands so that the side I was working on was facing me each time.  The thread is run back and forth between the 2 pieces of linen to work groups of buttonholes first on one piece, then on the other.  It's the thread connecting the groups of 3 that actually holds the 2 pieces together.

The fringes on the scarf need to be completed yet.  I ran out of floss and am awaiting my package in the mail.  As soon as the fringes are complete, I will post a pic of the finished scarf.

MAY 28TH UPDATE:

Here are the photos of the completed scarf that I promised.  As I mentioned before, I wanted a scarf that was longer than 72" (the length of my pink linen material) so I added more fabric to each end using a decorative seam technique used in Elizabethan times (and probably long before that).

The green floss I had ordered finally arrived in the mail, allowing me to complete the fringes.  

I used a simple technique for the fringes.  These were made with 6 stranded DMC floss in color 471 to match the embroidery in the seam.  

I simply wound the skeins of floss around a credit card and cut along one edge of the card to get my lengths of floss, all the same length.

Next, I took each piece of floss, folded it in half, without separating out the strands.  Using a fine crochet hook, I pulled the loop of floss through a hole in the bottom hem of the scarf, then passed the floss ends through the loop creating a fringe.  I repeated this for every other hole in the hem.

Materials used:

Cambric weight linen, pink.

DMC 6 stranded cotton floss, color 471 green (fringe)

For the embroidery on the seam:

DMC Coton a broder No. 25, color 471 green

DMC Coton a broder No. 25, color 761 pink

Van Dyke Stitch with Reverse Chain Start

Van Dyke stitch is best worked in metal threads or tightly twisted cotton or silks.

For this tutorial, #371 gold wire was used to create a leaf motif.

It could also be used to create veins on a leaf worked in silk, as shown below.

Start out with a few Reverse Chain stitches (reference Reverse Chain tutorial if you aren't already familiar with this stitch).

For Reverse Chain, the working thread is brought to fabric surface, looped around the previous chain stitch, and then plunged to the back of the fabric through the same hole.  To create the legs in Van Dyke, the working thread is brought to fabric surface slightly to the left of the chain stitched row (working towards your body), looped around the previous chain stitch, and then returned to the back of the fabric, slightly to the right of the chain stitches.  See photo, left.




As you create each loop or chain, increase the distance between the legs as shown here.

Keep a firm, but not tight, tension.  Pull only enough to keep the "legs" straight.

If creating a shape such as this one, you will begin to reduce the length of the legs as you come to the final point and the last stitch will be a Reverse Chain.

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!

Detached Up & Down Buttonhole Stitch

Detached Up & Down Buttonhole Stitch (DUDB) is used to fill solid areas.  Like Buttonhole Stitch, it can also be worked as a 'chorded' stitch (where a bar, or chord, is run across the fabric surface, and the stitches are worked over the chord).  It creates a lovely textural effect that works well for leaves and flowers, etc.   Shown here is a leaf worked in chorded DUBH.  (I will add a tutorial for the chorded version in the near future).

DUBH can be worked in silk, cotton, and the more pliable metal wires.  Tightly twisted silk threads are nice for adding more texture to the stitch.  For this tutorial a silk perlee that is slightly heavier than Au Ver a Soie's perlee was used, on 50 ct. linen.

Secure working thread with an away waste knot.  Stitch a row of back stitches from right to left.  Bring needle to fabric surface about 1/8" below backstitched line.  Slide needle down under the first backstitch as shown, being sure that the working thread is under the tip of your needle.  Pull the needle through.  This will create one buttonhole stitch.

Next, run the needle back up under the same back stitch, with the working thread held above the backstitched line, and under the needle, as shown at left.


Pull the needle through and tighten the stitch, lightly, by tugging downwards on the needle.  One DUDB has been completed.

 Repeat the above two steps for each backstitch, thereby completing one DUDB for each backstitch.

After completing a row, take the working thread to back of fabric and bring it back to the surface about 1/8" below the last row, to begin your next row.  


Subsequent rows are worked in the loops between each DUDB as shown at left.

Mistletoe Scarf That Could Have Been Worn to King Henry VIII's Coronation

"Their own apparel and that of their horses was of black velvet, covered all over with branches of honeysuckle " of fine flat gold of damask, of lose worke, every lefe of the braunche mouing, the embroudery was very conning and sumpteous."

...from Hall's Chronicle containing the History of England of Henry the 4th to the end of the reign of Henry the 8th  ( 1548 and 1550 editions)

My inspiration for this scarf came from the preceding passage - a description of King Henry VIII's coronation procession.  When I read this excerpt I could see the horse trappings and banners with embroidered honeysuckle leaves, moving in the wind, as the horses and men progressed.  

At the time I read this passage,  I also happened to be  looking for an idea for a Winter / Holiday scarf....

Wouldn't mistletoe leaves look lovely and lend themselves to "moving in the wind" on a scarf?  

...The leaves would be formed from detached buttonhole stitch, which would be stitched on a couched outline on linen, and then cut away and fastened to the velvet.   (A much simpler process than it sounds.)

And there must be gold, real gold, as King Henry VIII's  procession would have had.  Branches worked in chain stitch in gold wire and gold spangles would answer to that.

To make it even more life-like, the mistletoe berries could be worked in spiral trellis so they stand away from the fabric,  seeming to be real berries.

 I recalled the gorgeous aubergine velvet I'd bought at a local shop -  not knowing what I'd do with it at the time - but unable to resist its luxurious look and feel.  It's a cotton velvet - unusual nowadays - with an exceptionally dense pile.  

The embroidery, and most of the assembly, was done last winter.  I wanted the perfect fringe to finish it, and couldn't find it locally.  It had to be a fine and rich looking gold.

  At last, a few weeks ago, my neighbor took me to NYC to enjoy the Christmas festivities.  During our visit I stopped in at Tinsel Trading Company.  I'd wanted to visit them for a couple years, and I had pinned my hopes on finding a fringe for my scarf there.  I wasn't disappointed.  The richness of it is perfect for the gold embroidery. 

 If you get the chance to visit Tinsel Trading do so!  I was like a child in a candy shop  - I wanted one of everything!  They have vintage, new and reproduction notions, displayed in old-world style, custom cabinetry.

I lined the scarf with a gold and silk gauzy fabric, found locally.

Voila - a scarf was born.  Can you see it in King Henry VIII's procession, moving in the wind, as I progress on horseback?

Mistletoe appears in the great herbal book of Leonhart Fuchs, De Historia Stirpium, published in 1542, which is known to have been available in England.

In England, the first written mention of mistletoe, in context with Christmas, appears in 1622, seemingly not a new custom by that time, although possibly regional.  (Reference Life in Elizabethan England)

Threads and stitches used on the Mistletoe Scarf :  

Spiral Trellis for the berries using Au Ver a Soie Perlee thread in color 211 - off white

Needlelace for the leaves using Gilt Sylke Twist (GST) thread in Gawdie Green -
   They were attached to the scarf with 3 or 4 back stitches that represent a center leaf vein

Reverse Chain for the branches in #4 Smooth Passing gold wire by Golden Threads

#4 gold spangles from Access Commodities
Glass Seed Beads from Mill Hill, color 00123

Finished scarf dimensions :  5" wide x 72" long, not including fringe.  Fringe width = 1-1/4"
  

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.

Threaded Adornment: Four Centuries of English Embroidery

I visited the above referenced embroidery exhibit at the Philly Art museum last week.  Here's the link to the exhibit:        http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/417.html

 I was particularly interested in this 16th c. coif.  You can view it on the link, and zoom.  As is often the case in museum exhibits, I had to photograph from a couple feet away with a glass wall between, so please excuse the quality.   I've also included a description given in the exhibit.

As always when I view Elizabethan embroidery, I was struck with the delicacy of the stitches and motifs, which you don't get a feel for when viewing them online or in books.  Notice that the the butterfly is stitched in metallic threads, and the carnation (gillyflower) petals are spaced quite far apart.


















Additionally, there was a casket, pictured below....

The following information is from the Phil Art Museum website, which Deborah kindly gave me the link to.  When the casket wasn't shown in their special exhibit info I didn't think to look in their collections.  Thanks Deborah!

Casket info:

Made in England 1686 Elizabeth Nickholls, English Wood; silk satin with silk embroidery in satin, laid, and couched stitches; silver gilt trim 10 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 10 inches (26.7 x 19.1 x 25.4 cm) 1984-124-1

Label In the seventeenth century, a girl’s needlework education culminated in the production of an embroidered box called a “casket” or “cabinett,” typically worked in tent, raised, laid, and couched stitches. Images on the casket often depicted biblical tales. The panels on this example portray the religious story of Esther, a Jewish heroine who saved her people from a Persian assault. Her admirable behavior likely served as a model for the casket’s young maker. Caskets frequently held prized possessions, such as jewelry and writing equipment; as they were personally valuable, they were sometimes preserved in a professionally made oak box.

Early 17th Century Block printing on Linen for Embroidery

I looked around a bit more on the Victoria & Albert museum site and found some other linen pieces that the V&A states were block printed.   I've listed the Accession no's below for your reference.

The very early pieces (14th century) were from Germany and Italy, although in the notes it states that by the last quarter of the 15th century this process was also being used in England.  I don't believe these early pieces were intended for embroidery.  They appear to be just decorative fabrics and remind me a little of today's Toil de Jouy fabric.  This is a small sampling, and in my mind, doesn't rule out the possibility that embroidery patterns were also being block printed ( V&A's term) onto linen for embroidery.  I'd need to research it further to make a conclusion.

The early 17th century pieces in my list are for embroidery, and they are from England.  The V&A is terming it "block printing" on piece T.174B-1931, although if you read the descriptive plate photographed with the coif, there it states that it was printed from engraved plates.  Curiouser and curiouser...

Here's the list of pieces at the V& A:

Acc No.         Title                    Origin           Date

1745-1888     Printed Linen     Germany     1350-1400
7027-1860     Printed Linen     Italy            1350-1400
T.21-1946      Coif                   Britain        1600-1629
T.174B-1931 Linen              England         Early 17th c.