Basic Blackwork Class – HL Anja Snihová Camarni
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Basic Blackwork Class – HL Anja Snihová Camarni I’m including in this handout a couple of different ways of explaining “how-to” in blackwork, because not every explanation works for every person. Also, please excuse the crass commercial plugs. I didn’t have time to completely re-write, so pretend that this somebody else’s. Which it is! Anja and MaryAnne are not the same person. <grin> MaryAnne Bartlett is a 21st century woman, making a living by writing and researching, designing and selling blackwork designs and products. Anja Snihova’ was born in the late 14th century and due to the potions that her alchemist husband makes, survived into the early 17th century! Beginning Blackwork Blackwork is a counted thread technique made popular in England in the 1500's by Catharine of Aragon, the Spanish first wife of King Henry VIII of England. It was immortalized in the incredibly detailed portraits done by the court painter, Hans Holbein, whose name is give to the stitch used, which is just a running stitch that doubles back on itself at the other end of its "journey". Blackwork can be anything from a simple line drawing to the complex pattern of #10 below, and on to designs so complex no one seems to know how to do them! It was usually done with silk thread on a white even-weave linen, and despite the name of the technique, was done in every colour of the rainbow, although black was the most popular colour, followed by red and blue. The most peculiar thing about this technique is that, done properly, the design repeats on both the right and wrong sides of the fabric, making it perfect for collars, cuffs, veils and ribbons where both sides need to look nice! Blackwork Embroidery Instructions 1. Use two strands of floss in your needle. Do not put a knot in the thread. Instead, leave about two inches "floating" on top of the fabric. Bring the needle down through the fabric and bring it back up about 1/2 inch in from one corner. This is your starting point. (Later you will weave the "tail" back under the stitching, and as you get more skilled, you may even just "catch" the 1st 1/2 inch of thread under the 1st 3 or 4 stitches, which is less wasteful of thread.) 2. Do a straight line of running stitch (over/under/over/under) across the fabric to within 1/2 inch of the far side. (This is the "journey out".) 3. Double back on the line, coming up where you went down and down where you came up. (This is the "journey back".) You have now done one line of Holbein stitch. 4. When you begin to run out of thread, weave 1/2 inch of the "tail" back through the underside of the stitching, following the stitching line. Clip off excess and begin again. 5. Next try a line of Pattern #1, which makes little "combs". If the rows are placed next to each other it makes little squares. 6. Choose a simple pattern from #'s 2-7 (which are all "out and back" patterns). 7. Then try patterns #8-10 to learn "doubling back" or "side-trips". And awaaaaay you go! Enjoy! (©1992, MaryAnne Bartlett, Portland, Oregon) 1 ©M. Bartlett 2016 Basic Blackwork Class – HL Anja Snihová Camarni From Pattern Card Set #1 – First Steps in Blackwork ©1995, MaryAnne Bartlett Published AnTir, May Crown, A.S.XXX Blackwork, also called Holbein work, monochrome work, line stitch and Spanish stitch, true stitch or punto scritto began in the Islamic world before 1250 c.e. The earliest surviving examples date to between 1250 and 1400. During the late 1400's Islamic textiles were traded all over Europe and by the 1520's Italian-influenced designs appeared on European clothing. The first pattern book was printed in 1523. This work became incredibly popular during the late Renaissance where it appeared in the reversible form on collars, cuffs and ruffs, in non-reversible form on skirts and sleeves (and in every other conceivable place!) and was immortalized by the court painter, Hans Holbein. By the 1620's it was no longer fashionable, but was practiced until the early 1800's as a standard embroidery form. The original Islamic designs were very geometric and angular and included proverbs and sayings (hence the Italian name, punto scritto) These designs are suitable to Mamluk-period Middle-Eastern and Moorish/Spanish personas. The early 1500's Italian designs became more pictorial, but retained the characteristic angularity, particularly in strapwork. As the century wore on more stitches were added in the non-reversible forms, such as outline stitch, eyelet stitches and Queen-stitch and the forms became more rounded and flowing. To the linear designs were added shapes that were filled in with patterns. These are the styles most suited to Elizabethan personas. Eventually, these forms were translated into wools and became Jacobean wool-work embroidery. In the mid-late 1500's, particularly in England, there was a style of this embroidery that called for large flower shapes, heavily outlined and filled in with various tiny, repeating patterns. Most of these are reversible. The cards in this set have several different sets of information on them. All of the cards begin with information on stitching the patterns and most end with some minimal documentation. There are occasional stitching tips included where there is room. If you are just beginning to learn blackwork, the easiest materials to learn on are 11 or 14-count Aida cloth (cross-stitch fabric) and black embroidery floss. You might also want to purchase red and blue floss to help with learning to visualize the patterns. You will occasionally find these patterns labeled as having been done in backstitch. Do not use this stitch! Use the doubled-running stitch that is on the first card. Backstitch causes odd puckers and shadowing that does not appear on the originals and detracts from the look of your work. Further sources: 1) Drysdale, Rosemary. The Art of Blackwork Embroidery, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1975, ISBN 0-684-14330-5 2)Gostelow, Mary. Blackwork, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, 1976, ISBN 0-442- 22792-2. 3) Scoular, Marion E. Why Call It Blackwork?, Indelible, Inc. 1993. 4) Pesel, Louisa. English EmbroideryI: Double-Running or Back-Stitch, 1931, dist. Manual Arts Press, Peoria, Ill. 2 ©M. Bartlett 2016 Basic Blackwork Class – HL Anja Snihová Camarni This is the text from my original Web page. There are a lot of similarities to the above. Please excuse the awful quality of the pictures. Translating to HTML and back out does nasties! What is Blackwork? Created Jan 17, 1999 Blackwork, (also called Holbein work, monochrome work, line stitch and Spanish stitch, true stitch or punto scritto) began in the Islamic world before 1250 c.e. The earliest surviving examples date to between 1250 and 1400. During the late 1400's Islamic textiles were traded all over Europe and by the early 1500's Italian-influenced designs appeared on European clothing. The first pattern book was printed in 1523. This work became incredibly popular during the late Renaissance where it appeared in the reversible form on collars, cuffs and ruffs, in non-reversible form on skirts and sleeves (and in every other conceivable place!) and was immortalized by the court painter, Hans Holbein (thus the name, Holbein-work). By the 1620's it was no longer fashionable, but was practiced until the early 1800's as a standard embroidery form. The original Islamic designs were very geometric and angular and included proverbs and sayings (hence the Italian name, punto scritto, "scribble-point"). The Italian designs of the early 1500's became more pictorial, but retained the characteristic angularity, particularly in strapwork. As the century wore on more stitches were added in the non- reversible forms, such as outline stitch, eyelet stitches and Queen-stitch and the forms became more rounded and flowing. In the mid-to-late 1500's, particularly in England, to the linear designs was added a style of this embroidery that called for large flower shapes, heavily outlined and filled in with various tiny, repeating patterns. Eventually, these forms were translated into wools and became Jacobean wool-work embroidery, the ancestor of modern crewel-work How to do basic reversible Blackwork (see glossary for terms unexplained here) This section is intended to be a basic explanation of how to do this work. If you are an experienced needleworker, you can get by on what's here and in my Tips & Tricks series #1-3. If you are an absolute beginner, or are looking for practice patterns, I would recommend starting with my Pattern Card Sets, Series A, 1 & 2 as these are a graded series, intended to give you plenty of practice and all the information needed to learn this style of embroidery. The stitch used in this work is called a lot of things, doubled-running stitch being the most descriptive. Essentially, this is stitched twice, the journey out and the journey back. If you think of running stitch (sewing stitch), it makes a dotted line. If you stitch all the way out and then double back, ringing the needle up where it went down and down where it came up, you will fill in the blanks and create a solid line. Running stitch Doubled-running stitch This work is usually counted. If you're stitching on Aida cloth (which I recommend for beginners) your "stitching unit" is "over 1". On linen-weaves, you have more of a choice (and I don't recommend "over one" as you will get threads that disappear into the weave!).