• We entered the dog days not long ago, and I can really feel it. The heat isn’t oppressive, but it is humid, the air quality is sub-par, and I’m suffering from embroidery craving. All I want to do is work on that right front piece, the one that’s less done than all the other pieces because it languished for months in an impossibly wide frame. It’s been re-framed and is marginally easier to work, and I want to stitch a columbine. And a pansy. And a few butterflies. Maybe some honeysuckle buds or a pink split by a gusset. But not the worms. I bear them a grudge for not being what I thought they were. Bah.
• Gilt Sylke Twist is noisy. It’s thinner than the soie perlee, but because of the gold wire wrapping it’s almost ribbed. The first time I pulled it through the linen I gasped at the noise. The more experienced stitchers in the room chuckled, oh, yes, it IS noisy. After you work with it a while you forget, mesmerized by its beauty.
• Thanks for the note about the symposium, Cate. We’ll be holding all the events at Plimoth, and the capacity is about 200. Which seems like not a lot unless you’re actually planning it and still aren’t sure if anyone will come. Then it seems like quite a lot indeed. Those dates are 24-27 September, 2009.
• Lacey’s experience with the hot dog buns rang a bell for lots of transplanted New Englanders who miss the familiar buns of their youth. Isn’t it funny what you miss? Years and years ago I spent a year in England and missed Oreos. Like crazy. When I can have them any time I almost never do. And yes, I’m sure while there I saw The Jacket at the V&A, but alas I had no idea how important it would become in my life and so wasted the chance to really SEE it.
• Who doesn’t want to come to Plymouth in August? Carolyn W has a free weekend and will be coming to make lace 22 – 24 August (Fri – Sun) so we decided to make a party of it and invite everyone. Have a few days? Want to come to the sea? Actually, by that time it usually isn’t so hot and humid anymore. And, at least we won’t have to worry about having to cancel for snow, like last winter. email me jhall@plimoth.org
• The credit for the plaited braid stitch illustrations in Plimoth’s embroidered coif kit belongs to Oliver Kline and Joanna Kline Cadorette. I heard from Joanna that she drew the initial sketches and her father cleaned them up on the computer and made them all nice and easy to understand. Thank you, Mr. Kline.

FIRST: You didn’t miss anything, tatting has nothing to do with early 17th century fiber arts – Kate is just interested in almost ALL the fiber arts, whatever their origin. She doesn’t tat on site here, either as an interpreter or in the Crafts Center.

The day in pictures:

Here is the workroom, which is a beehive of activity, photo courtesy of Robbin.

The Mayflower Sampler Guild came this morning, partly to see the jacket work but especially to see the EC sampler, which they gave $1000 to help conserve. They really enjoyed their visit, but because I didn’t think to ask their permission, I can’t post the photos Robbin took. Five of them bought embroidery kits, and there’s talk of organizing a stitching session for them to come as a group. We’ve had a couple of sets of friends come together to stitch, and they (and we) have really enjoyed that. Don’t be scared, just sign up. Bring your sampler if you want help, and we’ll help you figure it out. I never did a bit of this kind of embroidery until last winter, and now I’m stitching the detached pieces that will be sewn over the pea pods. A little practice and you won’t want to stop.

Lacey took on a very ambitious project a couple of days ago. Beth, one of the interpreters in the 1627 English Village, needed her stays altered. The front cups weren’t comfortable for her, so Lacey took out the stitching, extended it to the top edge, and reboned the fronts. It was also too big around, so Lacey cut the back down, redid the boning and put in new grommets. It was ambitious because it all had to be done on Beth’s weekend; she needs to wear it tomorrow morning. And here it is finished!

Because it is our anniversary session, Marcia made us a special dessert. When I mentioned that, several people said, aren’t all her desserts special? How much more special does it get? This much specialer. It’s as delicious as it looks – chocolate ricotta cake, or as Marcia’s son-in-law calls it, cannoli cake.

And speaking of old friends, look who came today! Laura, “our girl Friday”, last year’s intern, without whom I never would have made it through last summer. It was so good to see her. The four of us here, Robbin, me, Wendy and Laura, were also here for the very first stitching session last summer. There will be no cake with a “2″ on it, believe me.

Laura got very interested in the bobbin lace, and here is Robbin giving her a first lesson on the starter pillow Carolyn has left here for that very purpose.

It was a good day.

Here are some pictures from Friday. Carolyn, Devon, Jill, Margaret and Tricia spent some time consulting, discussing, debating, as usually happens at the sessions. Get a bunch of people, all of them experts in one or another aspect of historic dress, embroidery, lace, etc, and watch the information bounce around, speculation, comparison of items examined; it’s great. And of course the laptops make the whole process much easier.

Margaret, in the foreground, is finishing a blue sweater for Carolyn’s new grandson, who made his appearance in the world while Carolyn, Margaret and Devon were studying metal lace at the MET on May 9. Congratulations to the new parents and grandparents.

Laura brought a special show & tell treat this time. She made a frog needle holder, modeled on and inspired by a couple of original (16th-17th century?) needlework novelties, one in the V&A, the other, I believe, in the Museum of London.

Is he not adorable? The legs are a large rectangle of detached buttonhole stitch which is then seamed up the back and stuffed. There are wires in the legs so he can be posed. The feet are also needlelace. She braided the drawstring and worked out how to thread it through accordion-style folds so that he would have a plump body when it was closed. She said that was actually one of the trickiest parts of the project.

I realize now I should have put something in the photo for scale, but the whole frog will sit comfortably in the palm of your hand. You put your needle in his pink wool tongue. “Fatal levels of cuteness” indeed.

Sorry no post yesterday, friends. The evening completely got away from me.

This is some of what has been going on though.

Here is Devon, making lace. The lace will really be the crowning glory of this piece, and it is very exciting to me to see it really underway.

Here is Jill, also making lace. Devon is working on the second wing piece and Jill is working on the long piece. The first wing piece is done but not cut off the bobbins. We all decided Carolyn H gets to do that part. The second wing is more than half done. The long piece goes around the whole jacket – hem, up the front, around the neck and collar, down the other front to the hem.

Here is the right front as of today, May 17. This is the piece I worked on. Yes, I got to embroider today, and not just the plain silk, I used some Gilt Sylke Twist today. I did one whole leaf (the third of a smooth-leaved trefoil) one partial leaf, two leaf scridges (itsy bits right up against what will be the seam), and a partial pansy petal (in carnation and isabella GST). Not even partial pansy, partial petal. This pansy is divided by the gusset seam.

It was a good day here. I hope it was a good day for you wherever you are.

Look what we got from Susan D in Australia! This is our very first sample received from Australia. I was so excited to see the return address on the package. Thanks, Susan, for sending it back. We’ll use your beautiful work in the exhibit (along with the other samples), so visitors can see the stitches up close, can see the backs, and can appreciate the extent of support and enthusiasm for the jacket project from stitchers all over the world. The returned samples really do contribute to the success of the project. Don’t feel that coming here to embroider is the only way to participate.

Susan sent a lovely note along with her sample. (And the notecard’s cover is a photo of a piece in the Royal School of Needlework’s collection, so that was a treat too!) She said she checks the blog regularly and enjoys the progress photos and the “show & tell” pieces from the embroiderers. She sent two photos of her work to share. With Penny’s help I managed to scan and resize them so I could post; they don’t zoom, though, unfortunately. The worm is Susan’s first attempt at Elizabethan Raised Embroidery. The drawnwork sampler is a work-in-progress “the closest I am ever likely to come to making lace” Susan wrote. I don’t know what you think, but to me this IS lace, not so much close to making lace but actual lace.

This is another work in progress, “Sharon Cohen’s 17th century sampler (with modifications).” Your work is just beautiful.

Thank you so much for sharing these, Susan, and for supporting the jacket work in general. I feel so encouraged. Does anybody remember the children’s book Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel? Mike and his steam shovel, Marianne, work harder and faster when people are watching and encouraging them. I feel like that; this is a long project (!) and sometimes a little encouragement goes a long way. That, and knowing someone will notice if you slack off. . .

of yesterday’s stitchers and their work.

First, here’s Anne and her leaf, embroidered on the coif. Thanks to Robbin for this great picture.

Here are a couple of pictures of Tricia, Sarah and Susan. I love how Tricia curls up in a chair to work on these big frames. No matter how huge they are, she looks cozy and comfortable, not like she’s wrestling with a bulletin board (which is how I feel, and probably look.)

We had another Sarah in stitching yesterday. Sarah R is 11 years old and was in the office trying on period clothing – she’s going to portray a young colonist in the Village occasionally this summer. She was fascinated with the embroidery and Tricia explained just what was going on and why. Then Tricia got her a doodle cloth and some floss, and this is what she did! The bear face and the “S” are Sarah’s, and they were her first embroidery. The Project once again inspires a newbie to pick up a needle.

We’ve got a birthday and an anniversary coming up. May 15 is the blog’s birthday – one year since we started this online community. We’ve got an embroidery and lacing session May 16-19; I think we’ll be having some birthday celebrations!

The June 20 – 23 session is our anniversary – that weekend last year was the first time we gathered to work on the jacket. It seems so long ago, especially judging by the pieces. Back then, those first embroiderers really had to take their courage in hand to make the first stitches on the huge blank linen pieces. And then, after a whole day’s work, or a whole FOUR days’ work, there would be . . . two buds and a trefoil. Or a bud and two leaves. What a leap of faith on all our parts, believing that others would come after and keep filling in, that the Gilt Sylke Twist thread would get made, that the lacers would join us, that the spangles’ mysteries would be revealed. . . . I think there will be some festivities that weekend as well.

There’s still room in both sessions. Email me. jhall@plimoth.org

Yesterday, Carolyn and her friend Margaret came to Plymouth to work on winding bobbins. I have lots of pictures.

Quite a lot of time was spent calculating how much thread should go on each pair of bobbins. I think lacers come from the same school as carpenters, the “measure twice cut once” school, or in this case, figure twice and double-check the calculations. So this part took a long time and was crucially important though maybe it didn’t make the most exciting photos.

Then the interesting stuff started. Carolyn and Margaret measured quite long lengths of thread, found the center, and then wound each end onto a separate bobbin. This process involved long pieces of nearly invisible thread stretched across the room.

At one point I totally did not see the silver thread and nearly created a disaster by walking “through” it. No harm done, fortunately. Here are pictures of winding, and one of Margaret holding a wound bobbin with the tiny hair clip holding the metal thread securely.

For one set of bobbins they had to string spangles on the thread. Mark left us a tin of about 160 spangles and they used them all, plus 40 of the 50 we had left over from last time.

Here is a picture of Carolyn stringing the spangles, shaking them down the thread to where they need to be (she very patiently did this three times till I could get a decent picture) and one of the loaded bobbins. That’s 100 spangles per bobbin.

Thanks to Carolyn and Margaret for their hard work. They’ll be back to set up the second lace pillow later this week.

Last week we received a beautiful pair of yellow knitted gloves from Megan D and an equally lovely pair of brown ones from Jessica S. Thank you both.

A few weeks ago Carolyn left a note in the forum about her silver lace thread tarnishing. I sent Tricia a note about it, and then Carolyn and Tricia corresponded. Tricia sent me a copy, thinking the subject and her answer would be of interest. Has anyone else had such a serious tarnishing problem with this thread or another?

I believe that the wooden box Carolyn mentions storing her lace threads in is a divided carrier from Orleans Carpenters. If you have one or are getting one of the Embroiderers’ Story ones, think about not storing silver threads in it.

Dear Tricia,

The silver thread for the lace sample is what tarnished. When I finished the sample piece I left the thread on the bobbins, with the clips on and the loose ends hanging off. The bobbins were left in an open wooden box, so they were exposed to room light, etc. Last week I got them out to set up a new piece with the leftover thread and saw that all the thread that was exposed, loose or on the top layer of the wound area not under the clip, had tarnished to a dark gray with rainbow accents – looks somewhat like those iridescent
metallics. Because the core is white it really showed up like candy stripe – my thread has many sections that does not have very tight coverage by the silver so lots of white shows through. Those sections were also much more stiff/brittle than the untarnished
thread.

I was inquiring on the forum because I wasn’t sure if the tarnish was part of the design plan, to be more authentic looking. I’ve held off on starting my new piece because it was going to be edging for a sachet, and would be exposed, so I am debating if I want the
tarnished look or not. I may modify plans to make something that would go under glass for better protection – but then I lose the glittery effect of the gold thread and moving parts with the oes.

Do you have advice on the best way to prevent the oxidation? Is it mostly light, moisture, or oxygen that causes it?

Best,
Carolyn W
Carolyn -

Sulfur is the main agent that tarnishes silver and the concentration of sulfur accelerates the tarnishing. There are different % of sulfur in different media – from the air (light) to skin and skin oils (higher) to certain woods and wood by-products (paper) which can be
pretty high. Some plastics will have sulfur concentrations depending on the plastic. The goals is to reduce the exposure to high sulfur contact to prolong the tarnish process, which will happen.

We choose the highest silver content (90%) thread as it will last the longest under good conditions. I will say that I have a spool of this thread that I bought in 2002 and it is still bright except for a light, light tarnish on the little bit peeking out from under the acid-free tissue it is wrapped with. I have other silver threads under glass that are now tarnished but took about 10-15 years to get that way. They are now 25 yrs old but not fully black – more brown.

My first guess is that the wooden box is the culprit here. When you got the kit, we had it wrapped on acid-free board with acid-free tissue around it to put it in the best conditions possible for storage. I am sorry that I hadn’t written a blog or something in the directions about storage of the silver. We debated about silver or false silver for the project. The GST is done in gold wire and not silver strip like the original jacket partly for that reason.

Mark, as a metals person, pointed out to us that the culture at the time would have understood that the silver would go black over time and would have accepted it as part of the process because they didn’t have any other option. Their value system relating to the materials would have accepted that. The big question comes, how fast did it happen on those beautiful pieces! Therefore we decided to work with original materials. We have options today and so fret about it.

I have been trying to track down a certain journal article written about a simple set of lab tests that can be done on paper products to ascertain the relative sulfur content. It was written to give museum curators a scale of test results to use to test display and storage
materials for silver and silver plate pots, etc. Everytime they are polished, a layer of silver is removed. So some materials are ok for short term display but not for long term storage. I need to try a few more libraries to get it – maybe the MFA library next. I am not sure how difficult the tests are for the home embroiderer to test her storage, pricking paper, etc.

I hope this explains things. I am so sorry that a layer of the silver has tarnished. I would suggest that you take a tarnish felt and wipe the surface and see if that removes it. I was able to remove a layer easily off my jewelry the other day with one.

Tricia