Dress Diary: Birgitta's Cap - Centre Seam Embroidery Part the Second

[ragnvaeig]

As of yesterday morning, I still found the weaving part of the interlaced insertion stitch pretty terrifying, but I think I've worked it out. This seam has been a learning process, but as the embroiderer of Birgitta's Cap missed stitches, too, I didn't feel too much pressure to create perfection. This was compounded by the fact that no set of

Comments

[peteyfrogboy]

Have you tried waxing the thread instead, or is there a reason that wouldn't work? I don't do much embroidery, let alone with linen, so it's not really something I know a lot about.

[ragnvaeig]

This is only the second time I've been brave enough to embroider with linen, so I've never tried it. Did they do that in the 14th century?

[holyschist]

I don't have any citations (yet), but I'd be very surprised if they didn't at least wax sewing thread to strengthen and smooth it. It may well be one of those practices that's so common-sense people didn't really bother writing it down, but perhaps traces might remain on extant textiles if someone looked for it.

I don't normally wax embroidery thread, but I'd probably try it if I were using linen with this type of embroidery.

P.S. I'd consider myself intermediate, but I'm still boggling. These are my eyes looking at your pictures: O_O

[ragnvaeig]

Forgive me an archaeology Ph.D. moment. I haven't any evidence that it was done that way, and until someone shows me a piece that tests positive for beeswax on the linen thread, I'll use water, which won't leave a trace when it's dry.

Really, it's not you, it's me--grad school conditioned me this way, and I have a special kind of crazy. It's amazing that I make exceptions for cotton sewing thread, really, but we can't let the brain weasels win all the time.

[anielmom]

Wowie,wow,wow! Very impressive, and terrifying to a beginner in the art of embroidery like me!