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Stitcher's comments:
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I have been studying early
needlework techniques for the past several years, and whenever I visit a
museum, I always look for 16th century portraits in which the artist has recreated the look of
reversible blackwork on the clothing of his subjects. This 2002 ANG Workshop
By Mail allowed me to practice reversible stitching while creating a sample
of historical patterns.
To achieve a delicate "antique" look, I stitched the blackwork patterns on
32-count platinum evenweave with one strand of Waterlilies silk. The dark
fabric and overdyed thread gave the sampler the appearance of having aged
over time, with irregular fading of the thread and some missing or broken
stitches. To provide some relief from the color changes in the overdye, all of the vertical and horizontal dividing rows were stitched with
one strand of brown cotton floss. I used a slightly lighter value to add the
chain border. I replaced Chottie's verse with a quote from "The Miller's
Tale" in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales that describes the blackwork
decoration on the smock of the carpenter's wife. The sampler was hemstitched
so that it could be pinned to a large piece of flannel for display, or
removed and rolled for transportation.
Chottie Alderson has designed an exquisite sampler. Its beauty is due to the
relative positioning of the various bands, providing contrast between
adjacent patterns, whether wide or narrow, simple or complex, continuous or
individual motifs. Her choice as to placement of these bands masterfully
displays each to its best advantage. |
