Welcome to Haus Charlottenburg
Barony of Bright Hills, Kingdomof Atlantia, SCA
Garb Wars-''Siege of
24 Hour Embroidery Competition
A Cushion with the
Populace Badge of the Barony of Bright Hills,
Lady Martelle von Charlottenburg
©2009, Martha R. Fletcher
The author of this work retains full copyright for this material.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.
Garb Wars-''Siege of Orleans''
May 14-16, 2004
24 Hour Embroidery Competition
A Cushion with the
Populace Badge of the Barony of Bright Hills,
Kingdom of Atlantia
Lady Martelle von Charlottenburg,
co-winner with Lady Alina Silverthorn (now Mistress Alina, 1/10/09)
She made an Elizabethan blackwork partlet.
The author of this work retains full copyright for this material.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial private research or educational purposes provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.
Garb Wars-''Siege of Orleans''
May 14-16, 2004
24 Hour Embroidery Competition
A Cushion with the
Populace Badge of the Barony of Bright Hills,
Kingdom of Atlantia
Lady Martelle von Charlottenburg,
co-winner with Lady Alina Silverthorn (now Mistress Alina, 1/10/09)
She made an Elizabethan blackwork partlet.
Materials List-
Burgundy, Cotton Velvet – for top and back of cushion.
DMC Floss #5283 Metallic Silver, #5282 Metallic Gold,, #310 Black
Couching Thread – Coats & Clark All Purpose thread #ART.210 QN 256
4 Gold Tassels (Commercially made)
16” X 16” Pillow Form
My project is inspired by a design in a French manuscript of the early 15th century. The manuscript depicts the works of Christine de Pisan, an influential female writer of the time (1). In this picture Christine is presenting a book of her writings to Isabel of Bavaria (2). I chose my design from the decoration on the bed linens on the right hand side of the page.
The Baronial Arms in the center are worked in Laid and Couch work. The original design calls for a lozenge with the device of Isabel of Bavaria but I have changed this area to be a shield with the populace badge of the Barony of Bright Hills. The filigree area around the shield is couching. I was attracted by the lace design of the gold work.
Predominantly silk, real gold and real silver threads wrapped on a silk core were used for this type of embroidery. Though this project is not done in historically correct materials I believe the end product will still have the look and feel of the design in the period manuscript. I am using DMC metallic floss due to the prohibitive cost of real gold and silver threads. The couching thread is Coats and Clark All-Purpose thread as this is the material that matched the metal threads the best.
Laid and Couch Work is a very effective stitch to use when covering large areas of ground with a single color. Long threads are laid down to cover the area, then in the opposite direction threads are sewn across with couching stitches taken at intervals along these perpendicular lines. The most famous example of needlework using this technique is the Bayeux Tapestry.
Couching is used to secure a thread on top of the ground fabric in long runs. This is most commonly done with metallic threads because the metal on the threads cannot withstand the stress of being repeatedly drawn through the ground fabric. Couching also conserves gold thread because the gold thread is used only on top where it is seen and not drawn through to the back of the ground fabric. Then, as now, real gold was very expensive. Another advantage of couching is that is allows a needle worker to lay a smooth, flowing, line of thread in curves and circles.
My work is stretched on a Slate Frame. Stretching the ground fabric stabilizes it and allows for neater more precise needlework. This type of frame was used in the Middle Ages and has changed very little since then (3). The frame is used flat by resting it on sawhorses or on the edge of a table. The embroiderer can then work with a hand on top and a hand underneath the fabric. Slate frames will not leave a crushed pile mark on the ground fabric, as modern embroidery hoops will. On velvet, which has a nap, this would be disastrous. The tension of the fabric can be adjusted by moving the pegs or nails, in the side bar holes. Once the ground fabric is dressed on the frame it keeps its tension almost indefinitely. When embroidery hoops are used the fabric slips in the frame and must be continuously tightened as the work progresses.
Velvet can be a difficult ground to work with, but with proper preparation the results are lush and impressive. I especially love the deep rich color of this piece of fabric. Cotton velvet with needlework can also be hand washed which also makes it an attractive ground fabric to use.
Bibliography-
Dillmont, Th. De
Encyclopedia of Needlework
DMC Library, Printed by the Societe Anonyme,
Dollfus-Mieg & Cie, Mulhouse (France)
Pg. 163-184, 185-202
Nichols, Marion
Encyclopedia of Embroidery Stitches, including crewel.
Dover Publications, Inc. New York, 1974
Pg. 192, 193
Staniland, Kay
Medieval Craftsman-Embroiderers
University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Buffalo, 1991
Pg. 6, 32, 49
Burgundy, Cotton Velvet – for top and back of cushion.
DMC Floss #5283 Metallic Silver, #5282 Metallic Gold,, #310 Black
Couching Thread – Coats & Clark All Purpose thread #ART.210 QN 256
4 Gold Tassels (Commercially made)
16” X 16” Pillow Form
My project is inspired by a design in a French manuscript of the early 15th century. The manuscript depicts the works of Christine de Pisan, an influential female writer of the time (1). In this picture Christine is presenting a book of her writings to Isabel of Bavaria (2). I chose my design from the decoration on the bed linens on the right hand side of the page.
The Baronial Arms in the center are worked in Laid and Couch work. The original design calls for a lozenge with the device of Isabel of Bavaria but I have changed this area to be a shield with the populace badge of the Barony of Bright Hills. The filigree area around the shield is couching. I was attracted by the lace design of the gold work.
Predominantly silk, real gold and real silver threads wrapped on a silk core were used for this type of embroidery. Though this project is not done in historically correct materials I believe the end product will still have the look and feel of the design in the period manuscript. I am using DMC metallic floss due to the prohibitive cost of real gold and silver threads. The couching thread is Coats and Clark All-Purpose thread as this is the material that matched the metal threads the best.
Laid and Couch Work is a very effective stitch to use when covering large areas of ground with a single color. Long threads are laid down to cover the area, then in the opposite direction threads are sewn across with couching stitches taken at intervals along these perpendicular lines. The most famous example of needlework using this technique is the Bayeux Tapestry.
Couching is used to secure a thread on top of the ground fabric in long runs. This is most commonly done with metallic threads because the metal on the threads cannot withstand the stress of being repeatedly drawn through the ground fabric. Couching also conserves gold thread because the gold thread is used only on top where it is seen and not drawn through to the back of the ground fabric. Then, as now, real gold was very expensive. Another advantage of couching is that is allows a needle worker to lay a smooth, flowing, line of thread in curves and circles.
My work is stretched on a Slate Frame. Stretching the ground fabric stabilizes it and allows for neater more precise needlework. This type of frame was used in the Middle Ages and has changed very little since then (3). The frame is used flat by resting it on sawhorses or on the edge of a table. The embroiderer can then work with a hand on top and a hand underneath the fabric. Slate frames will not leave a crushed pile mark on the ground fabric, as modern embroidery hoops will. On velvet, which has a nap, this would be disastrous. The tension of the fabric can be adjusted by moving the pegs or nails, in the side bar holes. Once the ground fabric is dressed on the frame it keeps its tension almost indefinitely. When embroidery hoops are used the fabric slips in the frame and must be continuously tightened as the work progresses.
Velvet can be a difficult ground to work with, but with proper preparation the results are lush and impressive. I especially love the deep rich color of this piece of fabric. Cotton velvet with needlework can also be hand washed which also makes it an attractive ground fabric to use.
Bibliography-
Dillmont, Th. De
Encyclopedia of Needlework
DMC Library, Printed by the Societe Anonyme,
Dollfus-Mieg & Cie, Mulhouse (France)
Pg. 163-184, 185-202
Nichols, Marion
Encyclopedia of Embroidery Stitches, including crewel.
Dover Publications, Inc. New York, 1974
Pg. 192, 193
Staniland, Kay
Medieval Craftsman-Embroiderers
University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Buffalo, 1991
Pg. 6, 32, 49
