Embedded Files
Challenges Entered: Plan your Project, Documentable Wacky Hats or Headwear!, Down the Rabbit Hole
Project: Underdrawings for Embroidery, A Fourteenth Century Brick Stitch Embroidery, The 1410s Reticulated Headdress
Underdrawings for Embroidery
This research project is an exploration into the types of inks medieval embroiderers might have used to create underdrawings for their embroideries. In addition to primary source research, I performed an experiment using popular ink making methods of fourteenth century Europe to determine which of the inks might have been used by embroiderers.
I experimented with two pigments: vine charcoal and lamp black, and two mediums: gum Arabic and linseed oil. You can see the samples of my inks in these photos. I also made my own lamp black pigment by collecting soot from a candle onto a metal spoon. My experiments determined that all of these inks will work on linen for embroidery under drawings. Deciding which ink to use is up to the personal preference of the embroiderer. Personally, I found Vine charcoal and gum Arabic to be the easiest medium to work with, while the linseed oil was rather oily!
To learn more about this project, historical references and an in depth explanation of the experiment please read my research paper: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vZa8vW3_H66_MG-LeheSprP7R5OmOI18/view?usp=sharing
I also wrote a blog on the subject: https://theinevitablescadian.home.blog/2021/05/16/ink-and-embroidery/
A Fourteenth Century Brick Stitch Embroidery
This year I made a small brick stitch piece and fell in love with the process. I immediately decided to recreate a panel from the “Embroidered Hanging” in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Made in Germany during the fourteenth century, this piece is made up of frames of religious scenes from the old and new testament. I decided to embroider a panel showing a courtly love scene using many of the same elements including a man receiving a crown of flowers from a lady, a castle, a silly tree, and a Willy Wonka-esque red and white frame. I chose colors of silk embroidery thread similar to the ones in this piece, and charted patterns for the clothes based on ones in the wall hanging.
Before embroidering anything on my linen, I planned out my project by making samples of all of my patterns, color combinations, and unfamiliar stitches to practice and make sure the colors I chose would work well together. I learned about the way different patterns were stitched, and how they behave side by side. The attached document includes all my samples, example clips from the Embroidered hanging, charts of embroidery patterns and my rationale for making the choices I made for this project.
So far it has been a joy to create, and I look forward to working on it every day. To learn more about my sampling process and the specific thought process behind the decisions I made for this piece, please read my research paper attached.
View all my samples and documentation here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QaH-we_0SErIO0fv10Rarq-_oniL0W29/view?usp=sharing
I have written one blog on the historical research of this project: https://theinevitablescadian.home.blog/2021/04/23/german-brick-stitch-a-major-embroidery-project/
The 1410s Reticulated Headdress
I have always been obsessed with wacky headwear across the ages. The headdress worn by Princess Beatrice, Countess of Arundel, on her funerary sculpture has always fascinated me for its size, shape and wackiness! During my research, I found that while this hat often graces the covers of books about hats, it was actually a rather rare hat found only on a few funerary sculptures in England during the 1410s.
Why was it such a rare hat? Well, it's pretty hard to wear! I constructed the hat out of buckram, millinery wire, silk, ribbon and beads and used a silk veil that sat on a wire support structure. Beatrice’s hat is twenty-two inches wide, and as such has difficulties navigating doorways, whacking bystanders, and knocking objects off tables. Not to mention a fire hazard! That being said, it is the most glorious, fifteenth century looking headdress I could wear, and I love it dearly.
To read about the process of making this hat please read my blog at: https://theinevitablescadian.home.blog/2021/05/06/a-reticulated-headdress-a-real-one-in-one-week/
To read my research about this hat and see some fabulous line drawings of historical hats read my documentation here: https://theinevitablescadian.home.blog/2021/05/16/princess-beatrices-headdress/
And to read my documentation paper click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B_4QC7vXC4Ww4GvzXIZ0_T2hO_dXv8wC/view?usp=sharing
Where to find out more about me? My blog: The Inevitable Scadian https://theinevitablescadian.home.blog/
East Kingdom Wiki: https://wiki.eastkingdom.org/index.php?title=Scolastica_Capellaria
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