Sample arrived today from Marilyn S.

I’d like to hold two small embroidery sessions, one in November, and one in December. By small I mean 5-6 stitchers, the number we can accommodate in the Wardrobe Department rather than in one of the function/meeting rooms. In November all the meeting rooms will be booked. Things get a little busy around Plymouth in November, for some reason … and December I’m thinking not many people will be available to come, what with the holidays.

So the new dates are:

Wednesday, November 14 to Saturday, November 17 and

Tuesday, December 11 to Friday, December 14

I used the feedback from the participants in the first embroidery bee when choosing these dates. Most felt that weekdays were better than weekends, and most felt that four days would be better than three, particularly because it takes a little while to hit stride with these stitches and if we stop too soon we don’t get the full benefit. My feeling is, Yikes! 2007 is almost over! This exhibit is opening in about 15 minutes! And then I get a grip and remember it’s only July….

If you’d like to come in November and/or December, please send me a note. The September and October sessions are nearly full, so if you’re thinking you’d like to come let me know soon. You can reach me at jhall@plimoth.org.

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 17^th 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.

Samples from Sharon H and Lauren S arrived today.

Tricia’s writing tonight:

You may have seen some of our earlier hand-wringing over the linen and if it would get here in time for the first session. Well, we managed to get a piece that was 1.9 yards long while we were waiting for our original order of 7 yards. We had been really worried that in the transfer of such a large and complicated pattern, we would make many mistakes. This process of cutting the fabric for tracing became an enormous word problem. It went something like this:If you have 1.9 yards of fabric of one dye lot that matches no other fabric, how big can you cut the pieces to fit the only 11 slate frames located on earth (insert 22 sets of frame piece sizes here)? Note that there are 16 pattern pieces to fit in the frames and each has some random grain direction you must follow. But be sure to end up with some leftover pieces big enough to use if you screw up the inking. Now what time did the train reach the station? Please state the answer in millimeters.

Well, the answer wasn’t obvious. Finally, I cut up pieces of freezer paper to the estimated sizes needed to fit the pattern pieces in the frames. Laid out on the fabric, I was able to nest them to optimize the fabric cut. Phew. I could mess up the transfer on three large pieces and still have fabric of the right dye lot to make a new transfer.

The cutting of the linen proceeded and the freezer paper had an unintended use. I realized that when I ink quilt fabric for autographs, I always iron freezer paper to the back to keep the fabric nice and stiff for inking. So that should work with the linen too! It was the best idea ever for the pattern transfer! If you have ever tried to transfer a pattern to linen before, you will know that the pencil, wax, or ink nib always makes the linen shift. By applying it to freezer paper, the pattern could still be seen through but it was almost like writing on paper.

Since I don’t have a light table that is as big as the pattern pieces, I improvised one. I had a piece of clear Plexiglas cut to 24″ x 36″ and laid it over my existing light box. This allowed me to tape the pattern onto it and then the linen-freezer paper on top of that. The entire piece of linen was taped down around the edges. When I needed light near the ends, I shifted the Plexiglas over the light.

Tracing proceeded using an archival Pigma Pen in black with a 0.01 nib. It took forever. About 16 hours total. But amazingly – no mistake – but lots of hand cramps.

Tricia

Samples! Two yesterday – Katherine B and Lyn J. Two today – Joanne D and Sharon G.

Session One participants will soon be receiving a survey, which Laura kindly drafted. (What would we do without her?) I just want some feedback about the various elements of the session that will help me draw up the schedule for Session Two, which I will be doing sooner than you’d think.

Speaking of feedback, check out what two of our participants had to say about their time in Plimoth – here and here.

In the comments mj asked if it was OK to post some of the blog photos on her (his?) site. I had to check with Rich, whom I refer to (with not a little awe) as The Web Guy. I am a true novice with this blog stuff, and would be nowhere without his constant support. Anyway, yes, please put photos on your sites, but please credit them appropriately and provide a link-back. Rich mentioned that when he has a minute he wants to construct a place where I can put links, so keep an eye out for that.

I spoke with Tricia briefly today; it was odd in a way that we hadn’t phoned each other in almost a week. For the past several weeks we’ve been in frequent contact. She sounded a little tired, and I expect I sounded the same; last week was awfully busy. But the session was a resounding success. Not only was an enormous amount accomplished, but the volunteer embroiderers enjoyed their time, and the filming went smoothly. Next session will be easier as we implement some of what we learned. By the time we’re done with this jacket we’ll have a well-oiled machine. In my spare, less tired moments I’m already thinking of what we’ll put that machine to work on next.

Looks like we already have 6 people signed up to embroider in August. Tricia and I are thinking that maybe if it remains a small group we’ll embroider in the Wardrobe office, like we did last Friday (is it only a week ago?). It’s a cozy space, and interesting for guests to see what goes on behind the scenes. Plus trying to help out at the bee and keep up with my day job when they’re in the same place is a little easier than when they are at opposite ends of the museum. I’ll let you know.

It looks like there would be a significant amount of interest in the manual if we are able to get permission to publish it. Keep you posted there too.

Several people mentioned they were working on embroidered jackets, or planning to. If you have pictures you’re willing to share, send them to me at jhall@plimoth.org and I’ll post, or send me a link. One of our goals with this project is to bring various groups of embroidery enthusiasts together and share information and experience.

Last night I was able to draft that knitting article. I sent it off to three friends/colleagues for comments today so I’m on track to deliver it on Monday (technically after the end of the month, but still OK). Off to edit.

Tricia made these amazing instruction manuals for each stitching station. They contain the stitch instructions that were posted on the blog; step-by-step photos of the stitches being worked; a ‘master repeat’ of the embroidery pattern with each motif element numbered; full-color pictures of the original jacket (1359-1900) for color placement reference; and blank log pages. The photos of the original jacket are beautiful; they were taken by Curator Susan North especially for our use in this project. These manuals are really amazing, and if there’s enough interest, we’ll look into obtaining permission from the V&A to publish a limited number for sale.

The log pages are brilliant in themselves. Each embroiderer fills out a page as he/she works. There are spaces for motif number, stitch, thread color & length, and time. At the end of the project we’ll have a permanent record of who stitched what, how much of what color thread was used and how long it took to do each bit. We’ll be able to compare thread use from one stitch to another, from one color to another, and compare time of working for the various stitches. I’m sure completing the log pages was one more thing to remember for the embroiderers, but their diligence in completing them is crucial to the information gathering.

One sample arrived today, from Martha D.

I’m going to skip tomorrow in order to (hopefully) write the knitting thing. Be back Thursday.

The embroidery is well and truly underway. The first session went very well, even better than we expected. A good deal of embroidery was done; the volunteer embroiderers had an enjoyable time, some even reported that their skills improved over the course of the week. My Day Job is even going all right; everyone who needs clothes has them and I don’t see the new guy till tomorrow. I do have to produce a 1200-word article on early 17^th-century knitting and Plimoth Plantation’s knitting program by the end of the month (Yes, completely insane. Nope, don’t know what I was thinking.). But I’m not losing sleep over that.

So what IS keeping me up nights?

This:

That’s a pile of embroidery frames, each with a piece of acid-free tissue pinned to the right side, carefully stacked so no frame’s corner pins are poking the linen of its neighbors. Outside the picture to the right the largest frames are leaning up against the worktable.

Friday we had a lengthy conversation about where best to store them. Tricia took the back home to keep working on it. We may have a local embroiderer or two come in over the next weeks but mostly the frames are waiting for Session Two, scheduled for August 8-10. Where should they be kept? The attic was rejected; I want to be able to see them often so I know they’re undisturbed. The laundry room has storage space but also boxes of danger, like dyestuffs and laundry detergent, so that’s out, too. We finally decided to make a canvas bag for each frame (I bought the canvas today) and store them out of the way but in a frequently used room. It’ll entail some rearranging, but they’ll be fine. I’m sure I’ll still think about them in the dead of night now and then.

Speaking of August, if you’d like to come for that session, please let me know as soon as possible. So far we only have three people who are interested, no one is confirmed. I think we’d need a minimum of 8 to hold a session. Email me at jhall@plimoth.org if you’re planning to come.

Kathy is on vacation for the next couple of weeks, so feel free to contact me with any concerns or questions. She’ll be in occasionally and Miss Laura is on sample kit patrol, so nothing will come to a screeching halt, but I’ll be glad to help if I can.

Last week Aimee and Carrie hand delivered samples. One more came in the mail on Friday – from Susan R. And another batch of kits went out Friday, so if you were waiting, watch your mail towards the end of this week.

Jennifer posted some pictures of last week here; thanks, Jennifer, for the link. You got some excellent pictures. I’m so glad you had a good time.

This is a picture of five nested floor frames, waiting for embroiderers to come back and wake them up. Seven weeks and counting.

First, the new arrivals: samples came today from Irene A, Ann B, and Patricia E.

Today Tricia and Kris brought down everything else we needed for tomorrow. Wendy, Kris and Ann showed up (or were drafted) a day early to help. Most of the day we worked in the Colonial Wardrobe Department’s big workroom.

Lots happened today: pieces of linen with patterns drawn in ink were stitched to the canvas strips of slate frames (here’s Laura working on that);

The frames were assembled and the linen pieces laced onto the side bars of the frames to maintain correct working tension (Kris in the foreground lacing, Wendy on the other end of the couch stitching linen to a frame);

Tricia traced a section of the master pattern onto a triangle-shaped piece of paper so we can make that forehead cloth I told you about last week. A little later, she transferred the pattern from the paper to a piece of linen, which was then sewn & laced into a frame.

Late in the afternoon, we moved to Accomack, which is where we’ll be working most of this week.

Here’s Kris & Laura putting together some floor stands. These will hold the framed pieces of linen. The stands are adjustable for height and angle of working to suit the embroiderer. Those boxes on the table on the right hold four daylight lamps with magnifiers; we unpacked them a few minutes later.

Ann sorted the spools of silk into boxes. The boxes will go on the tables so supplies are in easy reach. Don’t they look like bags of candy?

I didn’t get any pictures of it, but Kathy and Laura moved all the supplies we’ll need for coffee & tea breaks and meals to Accomack, and set everything up. It looks beautiful.

We left Accomack by 6:00 pm, well ahead of schedule. Tricia referred to doing things at the last minute a couple of times today. I’ve seen The Last Minute (remember those ambitious exhibits I told you about?) and this wasn’t it. I even got home in time to post tonight. We’ll all be back by 9:30 tomorrow morning to meet the rest of this session’s embroiderers.

Samples received! Maybe there was a holdup at the post office, or something, because we got FOUR samples late yesterday.

Samples from Norma B, Rosemary C, Margaret H, and Carol S have safely arrived and been logged in by Laura.

Today, Kathy and I discovered a miscommunication, which will mean we’ll be in a different room on Friday. Later, I also discovered this was my mistake. Sorry, Kathy. We have Accomack reserved for Tuesday – Thursday, but on Thursday night we’ll have to move. We have our choice of alternate rooms, though, and I’m not worried. Actually, I’m relieved. I’m thinking (but shh, don’t say it too loudly) that this is the Big Glitch and now that we’ve found it and made a contingency plan we won’t have any more surprises. We’ll see.

The last of the five new role-players started work in the 1627 English Village today. His wardrobe is ‘thin’, which is shorthand for ‘yikes! He needs more clothes right away!’ but the heat’s off for the moment. And he’s so good-natured and easy to please he made me feel like I’d given him robes of cloth of gold, not a baggy brown linen cassock.

Other than that, it was a pretty quiet day. I took a few hours off to attend an event at my son’s first-grade class. Tricia’s kids are out of school and her family is taking some R&R for a couple of days, but I have a feeling she’s brought her work with her, even though we didn’t talk on the phone today.

It’s time for some more gratitude. Tricia wrote this section but the heartfelt ‘thank you’ comes from both of us:

The Wisnefski Foundation made a generous donation which made it possible for us to have the Needle Arts Studio episode shot at Plimoth Plantation. The show had no budget for a location shoot, which this project really required. Without the Wisnefski Foundation’s support, we would not have been able to take advantage of this opportunity.

Buffalo Sampler Guild – Visiting here just after the project was proposed to me, the guild was very helpful in brainstorming how the greater community could be involved. Many of the suggestions made were implemented (including this blog from their youngest teenage member!). They also did a great job of keeping the project ’secret’ for us.Jeannine’s Sampler Seminar – Jeannine Koons allowed me to tack on a extra talk at the last minute to pre-announce the project to her attendees so that we could gauge interest and start collecting names of interested stitchers. She also directed two businesses, Thistle Threads and Books-and-More to donate their traditional 10% of gross sales at the boutique to the project. These funds were used to help support the hiring of the crew for the PBS filming which will happen next week.

Celebration of Needlework – Pam found a spot for a special lecture on the project to solicit stitchers. They also made a donation to the project for materials.

Happy Flag Day.