Elizabethan Embroidery
I'm a big fan of The Walking Dead. Over the July 4th week-end, this year, there was a marathon in which both Season One and Two were shown and I made sure that all I did was watch the TV and work on the bag to the left.
It's been years since I've done any Elizabethan style embroidery but it came back to me fairly quickly. There are only four or five stitches used in this bag actually... the ubiquitous detached button-hole stitch (used on the flowers and the leaves), chain stitch, stem stitch, blanket stitch, and a simplified braid stitch.
After all that, the addition of spangles seems like over indulgence but it really finished the bag face off so I'm glad I took the time to add them.
This particular bag is made of a light weight wool and embroidered with size 5 and size 8 perl cotton. The cord is an eight-loop finger loop braid, also made from perl cotton. At some point, I'll put in eyelet holes at the top for the cord draw string and then add some embroidery at the seam (probably laced chain stitch) and some tassels.
I'm not sure what I'll use it for; it may become a project carry-all bag. It's roomy enough at 8" x 10". It's lined in a while silk as well, so keeping track of things inside should be fairly simple.
I really enjoyed this project; it's a much different direction than what I've been doing for the last five years and I will probably continue in this vein for the rest of 2012 and into 2013.
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A close-up of the embroidery, showing the detached button hole and braid stitches at their best. |