A few days back, Westminster Abbey created this post (below) which I dutifully shared on Facebook. Responses (correctly!) ranged from “Gosh that is pretty!” to “Googly eyes!”.
I don’t mind sharing that I find embroidery relaxing and (surprisingly!) enjoyable, but I am fairly intimidated by it. Unlike almost anything in the SCA, there seems to be no class to get you started and should you find a knowable guide, it could be days (weeks!) of work before you get feedback to tell you that you have really strayed off the garden path. This makes embroidery one of the more challenging areas of interest.
Anyway, back to the Abbey’s post. Mistress Rowan pointed out that it was not an example of the Opus Anglicanum, and that a replication had been done by Contarina in the Worshipful Company of Broderers using “both intarsia and regular applique, both in felted wool cloth, plus couched cord and some split-stitch details”.
intarsia = 1 : a mosaic usually of wood fitted into a support also : the art or process of making such a mosaic. 2 : a colored design knitted on both sides of a fabric.
applique = Appliqué is ornamental needlework in which pieces or patches of fabric in different shapes and patterns are sewn or stuck onto a larger piece to form a picture or pattern.
New insight: embroidery seems to be an endlessly wide range of activities, but what Contarina has done was not exactly the same as I had in mind…
The project
With May Coronation and a new Kingdom level Arts and Science contest rapidly approaching (two weeks away!) I decide that the topic The British Isles was a good enough excuse to give it a whirl. And by it, I mean decorate cloth by sewing patterns on it with thread.
As I wanted the pouch to have a life beyond the contest, the choice of a focal image was more important than just preproducing the extant version. I started out with a sketch of the leaf outline for sizing and started to hunt for an appropriate focal point that would fit the original border design.
While looking for suitable wee beasties, I stumbled across this Medieval Bestiary Ibis by Jacob van Maerlant, a Flemish poet of the 13th century (below). This worked for me on several levels – same period as the extant version, Ibis focus (my good husband Lord Clifford chose Ibis for his heraldry), adaptable for the extant border design and it was Flemish (our main area of current reenactment focus).
This project uses DMC cotton tread colours black (310), white (B5200), blue grey (01), green grey (613) and red (321). The stem uses Mouline floss colour 2410. As I could not tell if the original piece was linen or silk, I made mine out of 100% linen. I used carbon paper to try to transfer the pattern onto the linen, but after a few rounds of nope, I just used a chalk pencil to freehand my design on.
First step was to outline the Ibis in black using split stitch. Main rationale for this was to test if I was actually really interested in this project, or if my brain was malfunctioning after five days of bed rest with the flu. To my surprise, the former was the victor and two days later, I had a pouch.
The majority of the project uses split stitch, stem stitch (on the vine!), and some satin stitch when all else failed (on the leaves). I did find it very difficult to do split stitch around the circular shapes of the leaves, which ended up being more straight edges than not.
The pouch has a white linen lining, slip stitched to the shell. The tassels using Rosalie’s tutorial for inspiration and a basic 5 strand fingerloop braid were applied to the outer edge of the pouch.
To finish the project, more more day will be needed. I will have to make two more draw strings using the fingerbraiding technique described above and some reinforced eyelet holes in upper part as described in this tutorial by amazing Daisy Viktoria. Then, after three full days, it will be done!
The bonus material
Never buy just X cms of fabric from the store. I KNEW that it was not straight, and pointed this out to the clerk. Instead of fixing and remeasuring, she just left it. With this in mind, I was careful to center my work around the warp and weft lines, rather than the edge of the fabric.
At the end of the embroidery, I purposefully pulled a edge weft. This gave me a very clean line to cut along (see photo below), and gave me a square true edge for finishing off the pouch. I repeated this for the warp (which is not as strong and will break easier).
Stop press:
I came second in the beginners category of the New Years Coronation A&S competition and won a silver bell!
The Dumping Grounds 
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