Sample Kits
Samples arrived from Abigail W, Margi O, Lucinda T, and Heather R.
I went looking through the blog for the entry where I explained all about the sample kits, and I didn’t find one. I’ve written about the kits several times but never here. This bit is old news for some, but better to hear it twice than miss it completely so…
From the beginning of this project we have been planning ways to involve the whole community of needleworkers. This blog is one; we’re also placing articles in as many magazines and journals as possible and making presentations to groups. Also, and most importantly, we’re inviting embroiderers to travel to Plymouth, MA to work on it, not on samples but on the real jacket itself. We’ve already had one embroidery session and the second is coming right up August 8-10. It’s not too late to jump in, however.
We have a simple system to coordinate those who would like to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity and to ensure that the finished piece most closely resembles an original 17th century jacket. Each prospective stitcher must complete a sample piece (available as a kit from Plimoth Plantation, see below) and send it to Plimoth Plantation. These samples will be used to assemble teams of stitchers whose individual thread tension and stitch length match each other. This way we will be able to create a jacket that represents a team of professional workers (as the originals were produced), and we will be able to accommodate as many embroiderers as possible.
To order a sample stitching kit, please contact Kathy Roncarati at (508) 746-1622 ext. 8114, or kroncarati@plimoth.org.
Each kit includes the same materials which will be used for the jacket, 50 ct cream Kingston linen and Au Ver a Soie Perlee silk, in sufficient quantities to work both the sample (to be returned to Plimoth Plantation) and one complete motif (to be kept by the embroiderer).
The sample does not require a great deal of time to complete. A small area of detached buttonhole stitch and its outline, trellis stitch and its outline, detached buttonhole with free edge and its outline, spiral trellis and its outline, knot stitch, and ladder stitch in silk will enable us to create teams. The kit includes comprehensive directions for each stitch, a color copy of a worked piece for reference, and a label to identify your sample.
In addition, the kit includes instructions and materials for a souvenir butterfly adapted from the inspiration pieces for you to keep. The butterfly is stitched in red, pink, gold and black Au Ver a Soie Perlee silk on 50 ct. cream Kingston linen. It is surrounded by gold spangles and is appropriate for finishing into a scissors fob or ornament (finishing materials not included). A CD Rom of the embroidery in process will be included as well as complete directions.
Samples, and the enclosed questionnaire, should be returned to Plimoth Plantation as soon as possible. Samples will be retained by Plimoth for use in matching individuals for stitching and also as examples to show the public what the embroidery is like close up. The completed jacket will be mounted and displayed in a Plexiglas case. It, along with a Native Wampanoag turkey feather mantle, will form the centerpiece of a new exhibit on the history of personal adornment, planned to open in the summer of 2008.
The sample stitching kit is available for $40 plus $5 shipping and handling (international shipping costs may vary), and includes a $20 tax-deductible donation to the project which will be used to offset the materials costs.
July 22nd, 2007 at 4:25 pm
I just wanted to add that the ‘ladder’ stitch that Jill mentions is known is Ceylon Stitch in the instructions. I got to be very familiar with it during the June stitching session.
Additionally, if you want to see what the kits look like or to view the instructions, the ‘Participate’ links should take you to Tricia’s wonderful instructions. The CD is great and has step by step enlarged pictures of everyting including the butterfly that you get to keep.
You will also at some point receive a letter from Plymoth thanking you for the $20 donation, so keep that around for your tax return (if you itemize).
Stitching on the jacket was great experience. Definitely get the kit if you think you’d like to go — you can’t go with out it, and you don’t really want to sign up to work on it if you haven’t tried out these stitches before. And no, the Ceylon stitch isn\’t only used to make worms.