Rushing here – thank you to my 600 subscribers on YouTube and new followers on here and anyone else that I’ve exchanged emails and talked about historical stitches with. You’re all very kind and encouraging people and I appreciate it!
Historical Tambour Chain Stitch
I have a long post lined up on Tambour Chain Stitch because in Sweet Bags and Elizabethan Stitches the author mentions one (or two) stitches that could only have been made, in her view, with a Crochet Hook type tool. This is very intriguing, and then I found a fascinating reference that said:
“Queen Elizabeth owned caps that were Tambour embroidered”.
More about that next time, but for now, here are the 3 videos.
Satin Stitch Video
I made the video while stitching this quite large (upside down) leaf. I usually work the stitch faster than I could show on film, but you have to allow for the camera and its shiny tripod being stuck, virtually under my armpits as I work…
Then I made a video of Tambour Chain technique, as I understand it, which I will discuss later and hope to produce another research pdf file for sale on etsy, in due course (70% completed so far).
Then I made a video of the Roumanian Stitch Leaf pictured down here on the right. The way I have worked this stitch on the video, is based on vintage diagrams of instructions, where you can see the needle is angled to produce a surface pattern that is more naturalistic for leaves and petals, say:
Incidentally, while making all these leaves, I decided to go back to what I understood about Wide Stem Stitch stalks and Stem Stitch filling generally. The great thing about Wide Stem Stitch is, in certain sections, it often looks like Satin Stitch but is so much faster:
I think my next video will probably bring that study together?
g2g ppl!
Beth,
ReplyDeleteThank-you for the lovely site. I'm very interested in tambour work. I was excited to see that you had made a tutorial. Although it was informative to see the needle going in and out from the surface of the fabric once again one's ability to see the visual of the real work that goes on underneath is elusive. I don't think I'm alone in hoping that one day a tutorial might appear on the internet with complete instructions. There was one on you tube by Bob Haven but it was removed. What's lucrative about a free tutorial. Thank-you for your lovely butterfly.
LuLu
Lulu,
ReplyDeleteGood to get feedback.
Bob Haven pulled his YouTube video?? This is bad news indeed! That video was instrumental in helping me to work out what goes where with tambour thread work. If you head on back to YouTube and see my reply to someone (?) a while back about informative books on this topic, you will see the name of a book with step-by-step instructions. This is the best source I have found to date. (I'm very behind with everything at the present time, all my materials are in storage.) I was using a vintage tambour hook for the video. You need to hold the thread in the path of the hook, underneath, and wrap it. It takes several attempts to get it right, but then you can finally build up some speed. Pulling the hook out of the work, with the loaded thread is the most tricky part. Basically you need to find a way of tilting it, that suits you, so that it doesn't snag the work. Determination and patience will pay off !
All the best