Update - various 31/07/20

I think it’s really interesting to note when Opus Anglicanum was copied in other countries and later times, they could never quite manage it.  For instance in later examples French ‘purses‘ with secular subject matter, you can clearly see very dark gaps between lines of stitches and in the stitches too. The only later examples of split stitch faces that seem to reinvent the style with stunning results is Dutch pieces, but they have had the benefit of the renaissance and its advances in our understanding of modelling.

To turn my earlier phrase around ‘what you can draw, you can sew’, as far as the Dutch work goes, and I think German examples too, they are such fine pieces ‘you can draw what has been sewn’, kind of thing.

So ok, what about my own investigations.
So far I’ve come up with three try outs that I’m happy with, two strips and one circle.  I’ve done about 50 so far.  I’ve got patience for this kind of thing because basically we’re trying to unravel really big ecclesiastical secrets, remember, at all times, they worked never to be copied, call them trade secrets...(for big trade).

Now in one of them, I noticed something ‘happened’, some kind of geometric quirk emerged, but I was under pressure and the phone kept ringing, so I’ll have to do them all again and hopefully the ‘thing’ will happen again.

Because, you certainly cannot write down what you haven’t understood and you certainly couldn’t explain it to another...

 

So, this example, I took a much longer back stitch and then went into it, from the front, as a base stitch three times.  So what you ‘see’ are evenly spaced small stitches but underneath, is quite a thick substrate of longer stitches.  I found this way of working produced a flatter surface.  For the return row, it took me back to something I worked out a couple of years back, when I noticed the difference outline and stem stitch made to the twist of the thread. Still working on the return row conundrum...

I don’t think they under stitched the work as I first suspected.
But I’m certain they stitched over two layers of fabric, linen then silk.

The silk fabric is directly under the stitches and it’s grain runs vertically, behind the surface of the work (and reminded me of Soumak weaving).  I’m still working out whether they pierced the linen for the very fine split stitch work, because especially on the faces, the stitches are incredibly fine, if not incredibly small.

The stitches on the faces are worked with very fine thread, in tight rows, going back and forth or up and down. The return row is not as regular as the first row, sometimes a lot finer. I have wondered if the return row is sometimes stem stitch?  I’m still working on that idea.  (Let’s not forget, a row of outline, followed by a row of stem, creates the illusion of an incredibly fine chain?)

The other thing about stem stitch is, it can be used to tidy up a curve...I’ll try both ways, photograph it and place it side by side with the historical image.  That’s all I do, is aim for a replica.

Some split stitches on the outer areas are quite chunky.  What you do notice the more you stare at these things, is that the silk for the faces was incredibly fine.

My personal view at this stage is, to create ‘body‘ with split stitch, you really need to work it as a back stitch.  This means that it follows there is more thread at the back of the work, but it also means the stitch itself is stronger, thereby more durable? Especially for items that were in constant use??

Let’s keep in mind that the strongest stitch you can make with hand stitching is a back stitch.  In fact machine sewing uses the back stitch as it’s basis of mechanical design.

Here’s an interesting figure, notice the pre-renaissance modelling of his forehead.  If you were wanting to stitch his forehead, you might make circles for forehead lumps....know what a I mean?

So here are the two main figures from the piece I’m looking at:

Ok, so I’ve made quick ‘road maps‘ of where I can see lines of stitching.
There is clearly a bullet proof formula going on here for the treatment of (male) faces.  The mouths, ears and hair are so unique.

Each of the figures is also not clean shaven, there is stubble, if you look really hard.
I cannot wait to make the mouths! If you think about it, lips are so incredibly difficult to sew. But their tried and tested formula gave consistent results every time. Their gaze is mostly averted, I’ve only seen a Seraphim look directly at the viewer.

The other thing to share at this point is, these faces are larger than I first thought and so there is hope for mere mortals to replicate them.  Ah that would be a fine thing...

I’ve come to realise that what held me back before in completing things was where they would end up. I was never a canvas artist, but a paper one. Don’t give me a blank wall, but give me a book any day....! So I’ve decided to make things ‘I want’ and put them in a needlework book. This page will be for 1300s.

Gotta go ppl, the day job awaits me...

Got some goodies..

Update 30/07/2020

I came across some great links recently.  This quick sketch is of a goldwork dog in one the links.  I’m very interested in animals that are sewn using raised Stem Stitch.

You see this piece pinned many times, so I followed it back to the original poster.

I think the sketch could work as the template for recreating the dog that appears at the bottom of the image, his right hind leg needs to extend further to the left though.

His muzzle is particularly effective, it looks so lifelike!

I think ‘Benji’ here could be worked using a combination of card, wadding bound in careful netting stitches and felt.  Already have the wadding!

I reckon a motif like this is 60% preparation.

On his own, I think  Benji looks better with a bushy tail, but I think he has a small tail as part of the design within this ferocious group tearing into some kind of serpent thing there.  Must say the serpent looks very chilled considering he’s lunch.

The motif is part of a  French ceremonial sword baldric.  You can see that amazing item on the next page if you press the forward or back arrow on there, not sure which.

My eyes are a bit sore from Split Stitch analysis, so thought I would include some links of great information.


medieval embroidery


Goldwork fighting dogs


Opus Anglicanum YouTube


How to sew a medieval kirtle


Celtic Art Lecture

Celtic Gold Cape


Celtic Art


Medieval Art Good round up

Split Stitch Faces 29th July 2020

Thank you most graciously for comments on here.  It’s what I needed a couple of days ago when etc etc.

Ok, so real life impinged on needlework for a couple of days, but I won’t bore you that.

Here is the link to the images I’m working from:

Opus Anglicanum split stitch facesMedieval Textiles

I’m glad I’ve found theses, as they are very clear.

I really think that as these items are rotting and fading away, we have a duty to photograph them as clearly as possible, for others as well as our ourselves.

I’m just going to bullet point my observations, as my eyes are tired and I need to save time.

I noticed something ages ago, that I think are confirmed in this example and that is that the faces are possibly under stitched.....?

They young angel (I think it’s an angel) has a very interesting forehead, temple and chin.

His hair started to get me thinking. It’s not perfectly flat.

The circular stitching of his cheek is indented and forms a shadow.  This happens on the monk’s face too.

I can see the circular stitching on those cheeks are not circles, but begin with a triangular formation and work outwards as ovals, with no reserve return row in preliminary shaping.  More later...

The shadows between stitches and lines of stitches on the faces, are not dark enough to indicate a single layer of stitching, in my view.  The forehead, temple and chin of the angel confirm this for me, but I need to do more comparative replicas.

The angel’s forehead clearly shows areas of under stitching perpendicular to the surface work.  In my view this is to direct smoothness and ultimately reflection of light.

Above the monk, there are fascinating circular formations that are rotted around the edge.  These examples of circles prove to me the cheeks, chin and foreheads were not made with circles, but less regular shapes, probably triangles, as the are triangular formations on the opposite cheeks, in three-quarter profile.

The circular formations above the monk show you exactly where they took their next stitch and what their modus operandi was.

The Virgin Mary (or lady saint) is quite rotted, but her wimple at the lower edges was not.  This area of her image is similar in its surface to the faces of the monk and the angel. This lends tremendous support, in my view, to the possibility that those areas were under stitched.

Why under stitch?  In my opinion is was done to make faces even more opaque (so they might glow) and as a base for further stitches to create modelling of faces, especially when viewed in candlelight or sunlight.  Also to ensure the face would last longer. The fastest rotting occurs where silk is thin.
The longer an image can last, especially of a face, the longer the piece will retain its usefulness and....value.

The hair of the angel and monk are, in my view ‘raised’ as the curling sections are stitched over earlier stitches,  not around them.  This style of working is very creative and indicates they were in complete control of where the light will fall and what will appear in relief.

The mouths are made up of three layers of stitching, if not more.  The dark lips are set back in shadow, while upper and lower edges of lips are areas of raised ‘skin’.  There are four kinds of stitches used.

Comments most welcome.

Historical Split Sttich

I spent another really intense two hours on this conundrum.  You could say why should someone like me think they could ever suss out how they made those tiny faces?  Well, for starters I’ve got 20:20 vision in one eye, added to which I’m fixated on puzzles, and thirdly I really do believe ‘to copy is to understand’.

So I’ve made a breakthrough after a long time of almost giving up.

I mean the thing is this, when you try to reproduce very small stitches, with very small stitches and the thing STILL does not look the same as the blown up photo you’re studying, it’s so easy to just stop and give up and accept the received wisdom of others.

But a long time ago I realised I don’t give up. I just keep going until I think I’ve cracked it.

You might not think I’ve cracked it. But it’s what my eye tells me that counts, and this one eye reckons I’ve made a breakthrough.

I will add, I don’t think I could have done it without, exhaustion, serendipity and having actually seen Opus Anglicanum vestments in the duomo in Florence.

I’m too tired to post anymore. 

I don’t care that no one comments on here or even that I’ve been ex-communicated from certain places.  I will keep trying to improve my needlework and expand my vocabulary of stitches by wrestling with the past and this 20 20 eye of mine.

Let’s not forget, I’m the only person on the internet aka the world that has produced a video on Mrs Christie’s version of Plaited Braid Stitch.  Granted, she was wrong and I followed a hypothesis.  But hey, what happened after that? The world woke up to having to thrash it out with Plaited Braid Stitch.

And are we better off now, thanks to Leon Conrad and Jacqui Carey, I should think we jolly well are.

So, there you have it....we will all keep trying and in so doing perhaps attain Grace

Split Stitch closer analysis 


When we visited Florence and I saw historical vestments, especially on the top floor of a particular duomo where they are on permanent display, I could see why the little faces on Opus Anglicanum were stitched in circular formation for convex areas such as cheeks.  If you behold them from the side they glow.  I think I mentioned at the time.

So, obviously finding a way to make very small faces appear resplendent to the congregation was massively important, especially when most people could not read and so needed to be awestruck by graphical representation. All the spiritual impact that could, had to be stitched into those tiny faces and hands, because to see them, you would be humbled and soon after it follows, you would hopefully experience a feeling of renewed faith, especially with representations of saints and angels and later, Pie Jesu himself.

Ok, so how on earth did they do it?
First off, forget cotton, you need silk.  Only silk will reflect the light off the little cheeks, heads and minuscule chins.  Also the silk you use has to be flat.  If it’s twisted, untwist it and use only one strand.

Then the next problem is Split Stitch itself
If you’ve ever tried modern split stitch, you’ll know it must have taken them forever if that’s how they used to work.

We already know that ‘forever’ in a religious order is a relatively short time, one could say.  Because while you’re waiting for the ‘second coming’ you have all the patience in the world.

But, what about when your more immediate ‘employer’ is waiting for a shipment, can stitches really take ‘forever’ in that set up? I suspect the answer to that is no.

Then you factor in the time value of money, big money...

My view is this. Old nuns with poor eyesight were employed to stitch, as well as young ones with 20:20 vision.  So if the stitch ‘took forever’ the older nuns would be redundant - methinks not.
Anyone that has spent their life sewing, was never going to be retired.

Ok, so your Order lives in a convent on a hill and you can make 20 little faces in 6 months. Your main customer is an Italian Bishop and you tell him the vestments he wants will take 7 years.
How do you eat as a cloistered congregation till then?

Yes, they grew vegetables etc but my view is, they worked to output, they worked and worked and achieved wealth for their dioceses.

This leads me to conclude: I think they produced split stitch in a much faster way: as a variety of Back Stitch, much like Stem Stitch can also be described in this way.  And in so doing, they were able to sew many more little faces.

So
In revisiting Split Stitch, I pulled out my research notes from last time and picked up where I left off. It doesn’t matter to me that I didn’t spend months and months on the problem, all I needed was to zone in and when so doing I will only trust one thing, well two really but the other is private.  The one thing I trust for you to know, is my own eyeballs.

My own eyes tell me that in this piece:

There are at least four different ways to work split stitch.  Furthermore, split stitch really is only trying to be the finest possible Chain Stitch.

But then I further discovered, after about 4 hours of thrashing it out, that you cannot possibly make tiny spirals out of  Modern Split Stitch and have the stitches crammed in as we so often see, because there isn’t enough room to manoeuvre the needle.  But YOU CAN work super tight spirals if you complete the work as a Back Split Stitch where you pierce the previous stitch in a downward action.  This means you can see exactly where to go and it saves a whole heap of hit or miss.

Comments most welcome.

I think I need to do another YouTube video....

Underside couching of silk thread

I don’t have the drapery of clothes to deal with in my mermaid image, but I will when I come to do the Waterloo artilleryman.  I’m thinking the discovery that you can create the illusion of folds in fabric with underside couching has given me a lot of food for thought.

When looking at medieval images and their language of stitchery, what strikes me most is the mini stage-set of their designs, that convey spiritual sensibilities alongside human endeavour.

St Cuthbert is a figure that has interested me for a long time, especially as iconography connected to him and his life is essentially Celtic.  Here’s an interesting image, not a million miles from my WIP.

It’s fascinating how succinctly they deal with the treatment of the sea.  As a sinuous, essentially triangular shape, it conveys the heaving, perilous, all- about-you -waiting-to-swallow you up feeling as a description of the dangerous and precarious journey these travellers took.  Faith amidst uncertainty is the underlying message.

Pre and post Reformation, St Cuthbert’s tomb still attracts countless pilgrims to visit the Holy island of Lindisfarne.  In fact the name alone ‘Lindisfarne’ holds deep significance in English culture along with the other very famous spiritual island called Iona.

English people feel a connection and reverence for those places, that crosses all borders and generations.  Essentially they represent the early, pure form of Christianity, fresh out of Israel, before being overtaken by the power of Rome.

The manuscripts, relics, jewellery and carvings made by monks and nuns from those times in England are deeply cherished in English culture and the wider Anglo Saxon community.

Cuthbert, although an Anglo Saxon himself, maintained a profound affinity with the graphic preoccupation of Celtic spirals and mind-boggling interlacing and the sense of continuity that reinforced whilst transitioning the people to the new religion.

I like this image a lot....

String padded goldwork

Taking a step back and wondering how I’m going to deal with the sky in this piece?

It occurred to me that ‘a sky’ won’t be enough.  It has to be a sky that is framed within something else somehow.  Because design-wise, the gold and silver will look too overbearing without something to balance them at the top of the image.

Luckily I can play with design problems such as this in my own mind and don’t have to be rummaging in my stash to find objects of inspiration.  Pinterest helps a lot, when I’m checking styles generally.  I also decided to cut out paper templates at the weekend and play around with a composition then.  Clearly this piece is turning out to be much more serious than I first planned and a real journey of discovery that has cheered me up so much during this weird time for the entire human race.

I decided I need to create a surface texture that pulls you in and also can look effective from a distance. So I decided to dig out my close-ups of a piece in the Ashmolean Museum.  I’m especially pleased now at the amount of detail I was able to capture at that resolution.  Reminds me to take that camera again.

For instance, you can see that when they did underside couching that little bits of the couching thread could still be seen.  Also look at the dark outlines, just like in later manuscripts.  They make it look like ‘anything you can draw: you can sew‘, which is incredibly inspiring...

Quick bit of underside couching

After digging out a few books on motifs and underside couching I did a quick diagram of where I wanted what.  Figured one strand of this very fine gold thread wasn’t going to solve my problem, so I opted for three.  You lay them across, thread your couching needle and off you go.  There’s a good video on YouTube by Sarah Humphrey about how to do it.  Not having attempted it before, I took a big risk just diving in there and filling the tail fin.
Verdict on underside couching: very very addictive!

Darling foil is holding out.  Couple of gaps have appeared but nothing has gone AWOL.
I’ll fill any gaps with fresh foil, finish the couching, sort out the fish heads and get all sea sick again...

Seriously, I feel it’s going Ok.  By that I mean, what I see in my head is finally coming through the piece.  I know what I’m after, put it like that.

The nice surprise is, it’s much more intricate than I first thought it would end up. Why does this always happen to me? But hey, I think it’s great that it does. I mean what you see, what you’re exposed to, what you think about...it all comes out in the work.  That’s how it should be, to make progress.

Update 22 July 2020

The sea area under the shark worked well, so I’ll replicate that for the mermaid.
Now I can see I have to do something special with her tail fins. Might try underside couching as I want the fin to catch the light in a certain way.

Bodice time
Ok,  so here is a diagram of one of the honeysuckles on the Devereux Bodice.
I’ve counted the stitches for the DBH sections. I’ve worked out the whole thing will take 4 hours to complete.  Most of that time is consumed with threading needles with metal and silk thread and keeping the two working in tandem.  My suspicion is there were ‘needle loaders’ just doing that part in groups and workshops. I need to dig out some decent linen to make a small repro.  I have to make it before doing anymore colour drawings, otherwise I won’t sew it.

It’s one thing to learn about others and how to handle them, it’s also part of the deal to learn how to handle yourself.  Funny, a lot of people don’t seem to bother with that part of the human condition...

Devereux Bodice - Honeysuckle experiment 3

Experiment 3

Okay, so here it is.
This is the third version where I realised I needed to keep the Viking Knit on the wooden former if the gold stem stitches were going to remain uniform.

As the tassels on Swete Bags were made on wooden formers, I think it was pretty obvious I should adopt that method.

I must say the whole thing was very stable and logical way of working.

The shape I’m after is more like this, experiment 2, where you can see the gold thread went all over the place and proved very unsatisfactory.

Turks Head Knot

Looking at the tassel formers again, I went back to my Turks Head file, pulled out my notes and can I say, it’s really quite frustrating that there are so many instructions for Celtic knots that don’t state the obvious in line one: “you must start with a ‘P & Q’”.
In fact in my view, the saying ‘mind your Ps and Qs’ probably must originate from the days when everyone was busily making these knots to secure bits and bobs together.
Remember people, you can make a whole pile of stuff with Turks Head knot, like all of these...

Yes, Plaited Braid Stitch too, starts with a humble Turks Head Knot.  If you ask me, that’s why the stitch baffled us for so long, we are simply out of touch with our knot heritage.  Since before the Bronze Age we’ve been making elaborate knots in our hair, baskets, fishing nets, clothes etc.
Remember people, humans have been wearing clothes’ for 170,000 years!  See BBC

Devereux Bodice - honeysuckle experiment 1

Devereux Bodice - honeysuckle experiment 1

This was made using my finger as the former.
The tip was finished logically and worked well.  Also, the gold  thread was the right thickness in proportion to the thickness of silk thread, as compared to the photos I’m working from.

However, it’s not ‘it’ yet, and obviously, this solution is not the answer....yet...

Forget-me-not

Slight digression today as I have to make my needlework catch up with my brain.
I should mention I’ve cracked it: the honeysuckle in the bodice.
The puzzle, quite honestly, took over my brain and early yesterday morning I did three experiments, and Thankfully, and the last one proved my hunch.

So....
Earlier this Summer (of house arrest), I made a forget-me-not out of Long & Short stitch / Satin Stitch and ended up cutting it out to make a tiny textile brooch.  I then burnt the tiny frayed edge with a flame at the end, which singed the colour somewhat, but it wasn’t really noticed by the recipient and she is wearing it proudly in Fulham...

Can I say, I’ve always had a bit of a problem making things for myself, as opposed to others. That’s different now,  as a result of some brushes with mortality.  I basically had a wake up moment and realised: you know what, the hardest taskmaster of all is actually, me!

So that means, whenever I make something now, it’s for me.  Even if it’s not, it has to be ‘for me’ first, in terms of standard.  It actually took a brush with the grim reaper for me to feel ‘entitled’.  Can you believe that?

The way women are just....made, is that we always put others before ourselves, well guess what, the hands of Father Time turn for me too...I came to realise....finally.

Also, let’s not forget, sewing used to be a way to train girls into a patient state of mind, so that they would be more ‘marriageable’ and have compliant, patient and altruistic personalities.

I suppose that they would be calm and....be content to remain at home!

Indeed, the confinement of our feet and our waists and other regions, have ensured through centuries of fashion and culture (read: male domination) that we remain confined to the house.

In the film The Duchess, Georgiana tells her groom on the wedding night “clothes and needlework are all we have, as our worlds are confined, unlike men”, loosely paraphrased...

You know what I say to all of this societal control:
“Bind me in a nutshell and I’ll consider myself king of infinite space”....(Shakespeare).

Finished size = 2.00cms

Update 18th July 2020

I’ve filled in quite a bit more of the sea.  As I mentioned before, it’s only when you add the lighter colours does the idea come to life. I had problems with boredom on this area, I have to admit, but managed to break up the sections into six patches.  This helped a lot. I’m also using a quilters thimble now too, that also helps. There’s a rhythm to completing boring sections and I find there’s a predictable timing between your eyes, arm and the thread that becomes quite hypnotic in the end. I remember my Aunt Gwen demonstrating this phenomenon with her knitting.  Yes, there is sound in there too that helps you to work automatically while your mind switches off thinking about anything extraneous, and only your line of vision occupies your brain.

So I’m growing apples in my pocket handkerchief garden and here they are

I don’t intend to let the tree get too big, especially as I saw a couple of apple trees used to cover an arch in the gardens at Chatsworth.  What a house, what a wonderful day out.  Long drive, but soooo worth it.  Basically all growth should be stunted, to encourage more fruit.

I picked some berries and made a coulis yesterday morning.  Can I say my garden is totally organic, I also water it very little,  as I designed it that way.  I use volcanic ash twice a year and I also make Bokashi Compost, which is a Japanese method of organic gardening that is super- effective and very easy: you just chuck it on the compost heap.  I also make Compost Tea - speedy version, with oxygenated water and sieved compost.

Ok so, The Devereux Bodice.  What can I say?  I was looking at it again the other evening and realised I was in the grip of that thing....oh dear me, here we go again...!

There is a honey suckle on there that is the best I’ve ever seen and it uses Viking Knit or Ceylon Stitch in a way I’ve not seen it used elsewhere.  Well of course it bugs me I can’t yet work it out...
So that’s what I have to do next I decided, work out how on earth they made that section?

There are supposed to be birds on that bodice too, but I can’t yet see any.  I adore the tiny Forget me Nots and very cute snails.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way....wish me luck ppl!

To wind back a bit...

I made the foil weaving like this, and for glue I used egg white, undiluted. The egg white took 24 hours to ‘cure’. The foil was stuck to thin card, then the excess foil was cut and fold to fit the shape of the card.  At the end I felt it was not going to be durable enough, but when it had fully cured, it had created almost a skin holding the foil down.  So I might not need to sew anymore fixing stitches, because if I pull my finger along the surface it does not affect the construction. I used egg white because they used eggs for illuminated manuscripts.

Swete Bag Analysis: Grapes

16th July 2020

Ok so this plump little thing is not stuffed and it’s not made in a frame, but in the hand.

My first attempt was using one strand of silk and one strand of gold thread by DMC. It proved very unsatisfactory as the threads locked together and although it looked more like chain mail than anything else, it was unworkable and rigid.

From this experiment I’ve been able to deduce that the silk always has to be a fair bit thicker than the gold strand and not very twisted. In fact, as it twists while you work, you have to untwist it, or else it becomes very knotted.

I don’t think I’m living in the real world anymore, I’m in the grip, once again, of the bag and it’s secrets...

I’m using Google ‘Goggles’ to find bits and bobs more often now, as it’s really very good.
I’m trying to identify all the flowers on the bag. Well, in my search ‘Goggles’ threw up The Devereux Bodice and I was totally carried away!

The bodice is mentioned in various historical accounts and I knew about its provenance.
I’m going to actually go as far as to say that I think this bag and that bodice were made around the same time.

It’s fascinating to see how much more money was spent on producing the bodice though!
I’ve decided when I’m done with the bag, I’m going to work out some of the secrets of the bodice...

Devereux Bodice

Now what to do with all this acquired knowledge and insight?...methinks I shall produce either a kit or a pattern or something.

Anyone that knows me, knows I love puzzles and brain teasers, and working out how they made very complicate motifs is fascinating for me.

There is a cornflower on the bodice that retains it black thread.  Sensational!
Also note on the back of the bodice the linen that was used then.

One thing is for sure, determination, patience and a sense of adventure is all you need to travel, far far back in time.

The bag is my teacher and my talisman!

Swete Bag Analysis 15th July 2020

I sat for quite a long time measuring and comparing shape, stitch size and construction methods for spherical shapes on the bag.

I was stuck, but I was also pretty sure the answer was in front of me, and decided I needed to look harder.  As my eyes grew tired and as they began to wander....I found it!

In the bottom section of the bag, there is a gathered edge on a tiny leaf made of DBH.  The angle that the edge of the leaf takes reveals how the grapes were made.

Once I realised how the  grapes were constructed, I set about working out how the peas were made.

The peas, in contrast have surprisingly large stitches but form the same essential mesh as the grapes.
The peas also have no metallic thread and so would be naturally more pliable.

The next question I asked myself was: why are the stitches so big?

It should also be noted, the peas are not perfect spheres, but actually quite square-shaped?

After careful reproduction using two different methods, I managed to work it out.

In my humble submission, I cracked it!

Now I shall move onto making grapes. (Edited 15/07/20)

But first I have to work on the fish scales of the mermaid’s tail.
I think I’ll also give her a peplum...

Swete Bag Analysis

I have  managed to decipher how they made peas with DBH

Update 13th July 2020

I managed the harlequin foil section for the tail and worked on the second fish. I filled the head gear with laid stitches.  She is not wearing a chemise, but in fact has a necklace and bracelet!

The gold effect is what I wanted but it’s too bright and looks too ‘new’. I’m after something more ‘aged’, so will experiment bringing in some browns to tone it down.

I’m now working out spherical shapes in Elizabethan embroidery.  I’ve gone back to The Swete Bag (see side link on here) to reveal more of it’s secrets.  The motifs I haven’t tackled yet are pea pods and bunch of grapes.

My work so far has revealed that both ends of the thread are utilised in spherical forms. More later..

Update 12th July 2020

Fish Scales
When I tried this a few years ago, it didn’t work, but this time it did.  Main difference between mindsets was: former had been pursued as per surface ‘embroidery’, e.g. decorative, flimsy, unstable.
Latter approached as mini ‘weaving’, hence stable, firm and consistent results.

So that’s the mermaids’s scales sorted.
In researching how to approach the fish scales, I found this reproduction of a ‘boiled leather cuirass’ from 9th century soldiers, worn over chain mail.
Later this design pops up in falconry gloves.

Medieval Collectibles

Now onto the Mermaid’s German headgear, which I managed to confirm this morning

Respect due to the model here, her hair AND headgear is exactly what I can see in this woodcut.
Which is great for historical accuracy but not so great for overall design....you’ll see what I mean later.  Then again, I think if her head gear is white it could tie in with the sails?

Then there’s the mermaid’s tail background layer.
I’m going with this idea, I’m about to do a couple of try outs.

This is two shades of woven kid, soft leather.  Now I don’t have soft leather, so I’ll use something else.  This method will save a lot of work, because the sea is taking such a long time....

I created a firm base for her tail with reversed chain stitch. That stitch takes such a long time.
I also have to switch to stem stitch stab method for much of the sea, again that takes forever, instead of the sew method, which is so fast and fun.
At long last I was able to photograph the piece in natural light. The second fish is not a shark.

Update 11 July 2020

I did say “less text“...well that didn’t last...oh dear, grab a coffee ppl!

After doing the hair, I figured the woodcut is most probably German. Now that the shark has so much detail, I think the mermaid’s will need more work.

I think the sea only really comes to life when the palest blue is added. I’m using a single thread, as doubling it means the colours don’t blend as well.  I did a section with doubled thread, but had to juxtapose with a single again as the “quality of the line” was completely lost.

Il Futuro
Ok, so here’s the handsome chappie that’s going to be stitched. As an image I think it’s really great. I like his pose, especially that he’s not looking directly at us.  Love he’s reading a letter...who could it be from?

He’s a Royal Artillery soldier about to go off to the Battle of Waterloo.  I think because it’s a watercolour representation, it’s already been simplified for sewing.  I’m going to use a mixed bag of stitches, mainly satin, stem, long & short and gold threads etc. It’s a nice size, not too small around the face.  Very small faces can be particularly tricky. I love his hat, so that might get ‘special’ treatment. I don’t think the colour of his trousers is accurate, must be a faded reproduction because they’re more blue than grey in the image and I think they were actually light grey.  He has some gold, but not too much.  It might help to copy the image using coloured pencils first, but the danger is that I’ll have exhausted my enthusiasm and then won’t proceed.  But saying that, deep shadows need to be understood e.g. elbow creases.

 Have a good weekend !

Update 10 July 2020

Ok so I’ve given the mermaid some hair but I don’t think it’s accurate, so will be working on that.

Her tail and the two fish are the elements that I think about most, I don’t really want this piece to be about her hair but a funny thing happened...

(Since drafting this post I completed one of the fish, that turns out to be a shark but I gave him scales.  Not sure if other fish will be the same? I like the idea of male shark and female shark being different. If the next shark turns out better, this shark will have to have a new look.)

As I gave the mermaid’s features form, I could see the original drawing for the woodcut suggested somewhere in there.  That was a complete surprise and actually magical, because now I’m really back in the past.

I think this is quite a pious image along themes of hope for safe journeys, sort of thing, because if you look more closely you can see her hands look as if she’s praying, she’s wearing a modest chemise and her hair is covered.

I also think she was younger in the original design drawing than in the woodcut, but that’s what happens when you start gouging at delicate faces with wood carving tools...it’s all about the “quality of the line”, as they say.

I think the fact that her bosoms are not on show and she is altogether a demure mermaid, make her to me, seem more like the guardian angel of the ship, than pure fantasy borne of physical longing...?

Her tail is going to be hard, as are the fish.  Why? because if it ain’t hard, it ain’t worth doing.
Hard is when you learn, when you find things out and when you develop as an artist.

Hard can also produce dreaded banishment to the attic for several years but, hey, better late than never, right?

I’m already working on my next project, which is going to be very different indeed and in fact I’ll tell you now because I’m super-excited...it’s going to be of a soldier about to go off to the Battle of Waterloo.

Look what I found in the attic...

More projects with a maritime theme.

Ok, so this was meant to be for someone...you know how it is.
There’s a seagull, two shells, a boat(two sails), the sun, a lifesaver, some seawater and one cloud.

I should mention each mini motif is only a prototype.  The colours are not final choices and I would like to work with finer thread.

To give you an idea of scale, the sea shells are 2mm!

As Pat Trott says in her book Three Dimensional Embroidery “ illumination is better than magnification”.  So get your hands on a daylight lamp ppl!

Saying that, it is actually relatively easy to stitch DBH fast in this way, as you can see two threads intersecting to guide you to the next place to take a stitch. It’s not knitting, it’s more forgiving than that.

Anyway, on finding said item I could immediately identify what needed to be done to sort it out.

So all the items are made Punto in Aria, aka, DBH around your finger or between your fingers.
At first it’s fiddly, then you quickly realise it’s a very good way to make miniature cute things that make you smile...

So here’s how you do it...

Photo 1 is how you start.
Photo 2 is how you end the first row.

Eventually you end up with this...

Now a funny thing happened as I rummaged in my bag of bits.  I found this...!

Now ‘this’ may not look like much to the uninitiated but for anyone that’s about to make a mermaid’s
tail, this is potentially a fish scale...

Must dash, have to water the plants and feed ‘he who cannot cook’...