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Linen slips applied to a velvet ground were a popular Elizabethan embroidery technique. The slips were completed in cross-stitch or tent stitch. The repetitious nature of this type of canvas work made it easy to produce a detailed, quality piece of embroidery. After the slips were appliquéd, a cord or metal thread was often couched around the outside (Gostelow 72). The purpose of the couching was to cover the edges of the linen slip and to set off the embroidery in a striking manner. The Oxburgh Hangings and the Cavendish Hanging, embroidered by Mary Queen of Scots, are excellent examples of canvas worked slips applied to velvet.
As a result of constant use, domestic embroidery did not survive as well as ecclesiastical embroidery. Heraldry played a major role in domestic embroidery, as seen in the many surviving examples using heraldic motifs. Out of the surviving heraldic embroideries, many of them were completed to commemorate various marriages. Floral motifs were also very popular during the same time period. I examined many different heraldic examples and chose to use the long cushion cover embroidered with the arms of Warneford impaling Yates, circa 1540, as a starting model. The cushion is completed with silk and linen in tent stitch. I thought that the embroidery was quite pretty and characteristic of the time period, because it incorporated heraldic display with floral motifs (Levey 50).
I first drew the pattern on a piece of paper and then transferred it to the linen with an erasable medium, a common technique in period (Staniland 23-24). Instead of charcoal, I used a quilting pen to limit smudging. To transfer the design, I held the ground and the pattern up to the light and traced the image (Beck 29). Next, I outlined the pattern with a double running stitch. Either the cross-stitch or a black outlining stitch was used to set the pattern prior to embroidering (Kendrick 73 & 76 and Levey 60). My pattern is outlined with the double-running stitch because I thought it would provide better continuity of form. Once I completed the outlining, I began working in horizontal tent stitch.
I used silk thread and a linen canvas ground, both period materials. The ground is a single thread linen canvas. This type of ground is traditionally used in canvas embroidery, as seen in various Elizabethan slips. While Elizabethans used a canvas of 16 to 20 threads to the inch, finer material was used in earlier work (Cuthbertson 23). My canvas is 28 threads to the inch.
While tent stitch produces a very pleasing piece, it has the unfortunate tendency to pull and give the embroidered pieces a trapezoid shape. There are many different examples of tent stitch embroidery with a slant, including the Bradford Table Carpet. Upon careful examination of the Warneford-Yates model, a slight slant is also present. Repeated blocking and then application to velvet has minimized this unfortunate tendency.
While the source example for my work is a cushion, I completed my embroidery as a bed hanging for the head of my travel bed. Embroidered bed hangings were highly valued throughout history. From as early as 1348, there are wills designating the distribution of these valued possessions. They were especially valued in Elizabethan England. In the 16th century, bed-hangings consisted of four full-length curtains, a short flounce or bed skirt, valances around the top rail, and a coordinating headcloth. Appliqué work was a common technique used in the construction of bed-hangings (Kendrick 69).
As my research has indicated, the style and the technique are consistent with both cushion work and appliqué work. I have changed the arms to match those of my fiancé and myself. Because our arms are colored differently than those in the Warneford-Yates cushion, I changed the colors of the surrounding flowers. Elizabethan embroiderers used a variety of colors in their embroideries. They wanted to make brilliantly colored pieces that would lend color to their homes. I chose colors that I thought would produce a lively and decorative embroidery. In order to appliqué the slip to the velvet, I carefully trimmed off the excess cloth and then turned the edges under the slip itself. I discovered that leaving a little bit of the ground showing around the edge of the embroidery provides a nice firm surface for the initial round of couching.
Beck, Thomasina. The Embroiderer’s Flowers . Germany: David & Charles, 1997.
Beck, Thomasina. The Embroiderer’s Story: Needlework from the Renaissance to the Present Day . Italy:
David and Charles, 1995.
Cuthbertson, Yvonne. “Elizabethan Needlecraft.” Fiberarts: September/October 1999.
Gostelow, Mary. A World of Embroidery . New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1975.
Gostelow, Mary. Mary Gostelow’s Embroidery Book. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1978.
Kendrick, A.F. English Needlework. London: Adam & Charles Black, 1933.
King, Donald and Santina Levey. The Victoria & Albert Museum’s Textile Collection: Embroidery in
Britain from 1200 to 1750. New York: Canopy Books, 1993.
Levey, Santina M. “Bess of Hardwick Hall and Her Household Stuffe.” Piecework: January/February 2000.
Levey, Santina M. Elizabethan Treasures: The Hardwick Hall Textiles . New York: Henry N. Abrams, Inc., 1999.
Pickens, Mary Brooks and Doris White. Needlepoint for Everyone. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1970.
Staniland, Kay. Medieval Craftsmen: Embroiderers . Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991.
(Copyright 2000, Katherine Estep Stephenson)