Inspirations Issue #76 to feature Winter Mistletoe Scarf

The Australian embroidery magazine, Inspirations, will feature the design and instructions for my Winter Mistletoe Scarf in issue 76, to be released later this month.

This has been a very interesting year for me, full of new experiences & opportunities.   Not only did I start a new job in a new field, but for the very first time I had an embroidery design published.  I was barely done wrapping up the details on the first publication when I was contacted by Inspirations about the Mistletoe Scarf design. 

I'm really excited to see the upcoming issue of Inspirations magazine.  I believe all of you who follow Elizabethan embroidery will want to get their hands on a copy, if at all possible.  

I have been corresponding with the lovely ladies at Inspirations for months.  At the start of the process I mailed my scarf to them, along with any design notes, etc.  (Inspirations writes the instructions for their featured projects in order to keep formatting consistent throughout their magazine.)  Our discussions on my design began.  I was tickled to find out that they were unaware of one of the fibers I used on the scarf - Gilt Sylke Twist!  In researching the thread, they stumbled across the whole Plimoth Jacket project, of which they were also unaware.  Of course they were very excited to read about the reproduction jacket.  As a result of my having used GST threads on my scarf, this issue of Inspirations will include an article about the jacket project as well as my scarf design!  How's that for serendipity?  

Once again, I want to thank everyone who follows my embroidery and who has helped me along the way.  It has been an amazing journey.  The pleasant surprise for me is that my love of embroidery has been the agent by which I have met so many wonderful people who went out of their way to assist me with no expectations in return.  

Which leads me to wonder... if the next President of the United States was not only a woman, but an Embroiderer, maybe my world would be a better place.

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"