Embroidery

I never thought of myself as an embroidery person until I started to try small projects, usually commercial kits which supplied everything in a needlework-for-dummies format. I've progressed a bit since then, and will cheerfully tackle most things, though French knots have always eluded me! I think blackwork suits me best, in terms of my persona and the nature of the result.

Here is a selection of the various things I've tried over the years. One of these days I really will do a set of sleeves based on the Mary Cornwallis painting.

Baronial Bayeux Tapestry Project: Swift Flight and Friends

The Seamsters Guild in Southron Gaard undertook to record important events or aspects of life in our Barony as part of the Baronial Bayeux Tapestry project. As co-founder of the Swift Flight Light Infantry Company, I chose to record the Company for posterity.

We used linen and Medici wool in commercially available colours identified as reasonable approximations of the original colours, based on comments made by Mistress Siban, a Laurel in Early Period Embroidery.

The stitching primarily is the stem/outline and laid work of the original. I have used backstitch for some of the finer detailing (this was my first attempt at this type of embroidery, and it seemed to be the only way I could get the mail and facial details to work). According to Jan Messent (The Bayeux Tapestry Embroiderers' Story; Madeira, 1999), at least one of the original embroiderers used a non-standard stitch (chain stitch), so there is precedent for being slightly different.

The main elements of the central panel are taken directly from the Bayeux Tapestry and adapted to provide a representation of members of Swift Flight and Friends (ie over a dozen of those who were involved in the Company and those who played with it at the start of mixed combat in this region are identifiable).

"Nox championici" is bastardized Latin for "Night of Champions", referring to the entertainment event organized by Swift Flight for a number of years following Canterbury Faire. The three beads on the tower at top right are anachronistic, as no beading was used on the original, but are there to represent my three children.

The lower panel also uses images taken directly from the Bayeux, although the archer to the right has had his string fingers chopped off as a direct reference to the threat against the archers of Agincourt.

Back to top

Table Runner

My table runner is based on a banner said to have been borne for Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The motif of the white rose impaled on a sun in splendour reflects two badges identified with the House of York. A lot of my garb and gear has Yorkist motifs because of my persona's family's ties with the House of York (katherine kerr's grandfather was Francis Lovell, Richard III's Chamberlain and lifelong friend). Synchronicity strikes, as the sun in splendour is also the clan badge of the Kerrs.

This was put together in a hour or so flat in response to a table decoration competition announced for the Rose Feast at Canterbury Faire, from some spare cloth and ribbon. As Wars of the Roses, the theme was red and white, and those are my lord's colours, so that tied in nicely. The sewing is not as high quality as it could be, but it looks pretty good nonetheless.

I made the runner long enough to stretch across the usual space our family takes up, or to span the width of a table, as required.

The small metallic sun in splendour in the centre is actually part of a string of Christmas decorations, which proved to be an excellent, inexpensive way of getting a lot of suns. I've used ceramic white roses, from a set of bridal notions, and gold aglets as corner weights to help hold it flat. These have also come in handy for my belt.

Back to top

Favour

When my lord Batholomew Baskin took up heavy fighting, I figured he had better have a favour. This one is based on a design from Elizabethan Needlework Accessories by Sheila Marshall (Georgeson Publishing, 1998).The heart-shaped containment seemed particularly appropriate for the main element of a favour.

The lion dormant gules is a charge which Bartholomew has used for a long time, the tower argent is mine. The thistles in the base of the tower's heart area represent the Scots connection, as katherine is a 16th-century Borderer.

It's primarily a mix of satin stitch, chain stitch and backstitch. I like using whipped chain stitch in metallic threads to get a nice raised effect. There are also some silver rosebud beads, as a York reference. The sun in splendour at its base helps hold it down, and is a Kerr clan symbol as well as a Yorkist one. I got that particular one at a small notions shop somewhere in a back alley in Budapest.

It looks a little weather-beaten at the moment as my lord has had it tied to his leather coat of jacks and it gets a reasonable pounding or grass stains each time he fights!

I'm in the process of producing a large version which we'll use as a banner in lieu of my device being passed. That has twisted gold cord for the outer heart-shaped frame and the internal figures are generally of appliqued felt with gold thread. The upper leaves have been changed to oak leaves, in reference to Bartholomew being English.

Back to top

Cushions

The blue lion cushion, made for Bartholomew, was my first attempt at tent stitch. It came as a kit, designed by Julia Hickman, and I only modified it very slightly, mostly to add the BB initials. The lion is taken from the 14th-century Wilton Diptych.

The red falcon cushion uses a design from Debby Robinson's Medieval Needlepoint (Collins and Brown, 1992). It was done for my son Peregrin, hence the subject and the gold P worked into the background.

The blackwork cushion, which is one I use, was a kit, with some modifications from me. It represents my first foray into blackwork, which proved suitably inspiring that I've done other projects in blackwork (it's unusual for me to do anything twice)..

Back to top

Book Covers

The blackwork book cover was based on a sampler design produced by DMC. I've modified it to include some patterns I wanted to try out, as well as my name and tower symbol. It's been mounted on archival board with a black leather book cover to hold a clear file with any current entertainment material or other printed matter I need.

Click to see larger image covering full area.

A section of the music cover cross-stitch.

The cross-stitch comes from a Teresa Wentzler castle sampler kit. It was my first cross-stitch effort and nearly drove me mad with the many varying combinations of single strands of coloured thread. Took me around a year to complete. As with most kits, I modified it a tad, choosing not to add the alphabet edging and putting my name across the bottom. It's been mounted on archival board with green leather to serve as the holder for my music books. This makes it a bit unwieldy to put on a music stand, but it means I know where everything is. I am toying with pulling it apart and turning it into a box cover instead, as that might prove more useful.

Back to top