Embroidering Now and Then
Tonight I have more pictures from the February 29th embroidery session.
Here is Ellen working a ceylon stitch worm in Gilt Sylke Twist. I love the worms.
And here are Ellen and Wendy looking at two antique samplers Ellen brought for show &
tell. The samplers belong to Ellen’s family, and within a few minutes Wendy had found genealogical info about one of the embroiderers on the internet.
We have room for a few more embroiderers and one lacer in the April 11 - 14 session. We’ll also be embroidering and making lace May 16 - 19. If you’d like to join us, please let me know.
Thanks, Cate, for the information on using wood basket staves as a baleen substitute. I think I will look into that a bit more.
We received two pair of gloves from Linda F recently, and a pair of blue stockings from Martha D.
Tags: ceylon stitch, Ellen, gloves, Lace, motifs, samplers, stockings, Wendy, worm
March 21st, 2008 at 8:04 pm
I love the close up picture of the worm stitching (hmmm, poorly worded!) It is close enough to see the stitches on the other parts really well, and a good look at the Gilt Sylke Twist.
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:44 am
I’ve never been able to do such fine embroidery. I get beyond the 30’s stitches to the inch canvases and I start to get headaches, even with a magnifying glass that I can buy at a cross stitch or needlework shop. But, it just now occurred to me…are you using something stronger? What power magnifying glass do you use for those of us who need it?
I really WOULD like to participate on the project, but I know I can’t do such fine work unaided.
Thanks,
Cate
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I was able to see the linen clearly using 3.25 magnification reading glasses from the drugstore. If you are able to spend more and want to do fine work on a regular basis, you can ask your optometrist to make up a prescription that provides whatever magnification you want (in addition to any correction you need) and has a 9-10 inch focal length. The issue with standard prescriptions is that they are designed for an 18-inch focal length for reading (eyes to book in lap) and embroidery is generally done with the work much closer to the face than 18 inches.
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Dear Jill,
Will you please describe the general schedule for a 4 day session, especially for lacemakers like myself who are just getting started and haven’t been reading the blog all along? How early do you start the first day, end on the last day (to help with travel and hotel planning), when is the training “window” for the session, what are the typical work hours, etc?
Thanks and looking forward to attending a session,
Carolyn
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:30 am
I know Jill is busy with opening day, so I thought I’d add a few things here. Feel free to put them in the blog or contractdict me Jill.
First, as far as maginification goes, I think this is the lamp that we’ve been using for embroidery: http://art-craft-us.daylightcompany.com/store/table-lamps/table-top-daylight-lamp-2 Plimoth has four of them.
The lighting in Accomack was quite variable depending on location and outside light; the light in the wardrobe department where the rest of the session will be is really good and that helps a lot with seeing the work. I didn’t bother getting a lamp out a couple of weeks ago; I just used my small clip on magnifier. I think I had my closeup glasses on, they’re prescription and I took them to the optometrist, something I recommend to anyone. I had magnification put in the prescription. I can’t wear over the counter lenses due to my astigmatism. If you want prescription lenses, make sure the doctor knows the distance at which you work.
Remember that this work is not counted, so seeing the holes in the linen isn’t as important. What’s important is getting the lengths of your stitches correct. The guideline is about 3-4 threads on the linen for the reverse chain, but once you start to judge your stitch length counting really isn’t as important.
I’ll just add that the work on the jacket varies a reasonable bit. Some people have such tiny stitches I can’t believe them, others are more open, and the rest of us fall somewhere in the middle. But when you step back from the piece and look at it as it will be viewed, the differences aren’t so noticable. As long as you’re not seeing a lot of fabric through the buttonhole stitches and they’re even, it looks pretty good.
Okay, on to the session.
For someone coming to embroider, the first session tends to start around 9:30. People (even those who have been before) are given some practice thread and fabric just to work some stitches and get their fingers warmed up before starting in on the piece. Meanwhile someone (Tricia or Wendy) is looking at the pieces, figuring out what has patterns in the book and items needing stitching and maybe what matches the strengths of your practice piece. People settle at frames and get going. At this point you might finish up a piece started by someone else, start in on a little piece with regular silk, or leap into something new. A lot depends on the stitcher, whether they’ve been before, and what is ready to stitch on each piece. You might work on different pieces during the 4 days to either even out the work or because it makes sense timewise.
After the first day things generally start at 9am, but some people come earlier if the building will be open; a lot depends on your driving time. Most days end at 5pm. Sometimes people stay later; a lot depends on someone being able to stay with those dedicated souls who want to work longer. Now that the plantation is open there’s time to go and visit the village and definitely time to go and shop! Lunch usually is around 12pm each day. The first sessions had fixed breaks but it’s easier to just take a break when you need one since it’s a pain to stop in the middle of what you’re doing.
In the early session there were some fixed programs for people. We had dinner a couple of times; a visit to crafts people, to the archives to see the samplers that Plimoth has, a lecture on Thanksgiving food, etc. Wendy and Tricia have designed a small needlework kit as a gift to people to remember their session. I don’t know what Jill may plan for future sessions — it probably depends on the number of people available. On the last day people drift out as they need, especially those who need to make a flight.
I’ve been 2 3 full session and part of another, and at all 3 I had something that meant I couldn’t be there for part of a session. They’re as flexible about time as they can. The important part for new embroiderers is to be able to get a sense of how things work, get warmed up, etc. Sometimes at the end of the day they figure out what the next day’s plan is and just get going.
For lacemaking, things will be a bit different. There are only two pillows, and every repeat of the lace is the same. Some details will be worked out next weekend, but most of the time you’re just going to do the same repeats. With the needlework you need an expert there the whole time because there’s often a question about how to handle some partial piece, what you should work on next, how do you handle these colors meeting, etc. With the lace that isn’t as much of an issue. In fact, once you get going on the piece you might be on your own as the “experts” really won’t be needed as much and have time conflicts that mean they might only be there on the first day. Also, with only two people maximum making lace, the training window isn’t as urgent. I expect someone to be there for the full first day, but if people need to start on the second day and not the first, that might be possible to work out. Jill is going to handle the scheduling carefully so that it works for the lacemakers and for the people ‘training’. Due to schedules the first session needs people to start on Friday the 11th, but we probably have more flexibility after that.
I’m sorry this is so long, but I hope it helps until Jill can answer things. Please ask if there’s anything else I can answer or add insight if you’ve been here before.
Robbin
March 24th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Robbin,
Thanks for the descriptive account of the sessions, it is really helpful!
-Carolyn