Pages

▼

Embroidery Resources

Brick Stitch
  • Historical Needlework Resources  - has links to all kinds of extant pieces of needlework, including a number of examples of brick stitch.  They also have a great write up on the Goss Vestments
  • A Stitch Out of Time  - the article that started it all.  Great analysis of the V&A bags
  • Finishing the seams of 14th/15th cen. pouches  - an excellent tutorial on the braided seam treatment seen on many extant bags
  • Medieval Silkwork  - a blog about all kinds of medieval embroidery, including patterns for 2 brick stitch bags in hard-to-get-to (at least for me) collections
  • Taschen: 13th cen. brick stitch pattern - another pattern I want to try, from another blogger and very accomplished embroiderer.
  • Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage Search  - where you can find the original lattice bag and other goodies (though you have to do text search in Dutch or French)
  • Joyce Miller's Embroidery  - charts for two brick stitch projects, a box and a cushion.  The cushion is quite similar to a book cushion in V&A and charted out by Master Wymarc (see A Stitch Out of Time, linked above), so similar it took me awhile to figure out they weren't actually the same.  I wonder if they were worked by the same person or in the same convent?  Very curious and interesting.
  • Brick Stitch Box This is a photo taken from a book in German. The same stitch pattern is on the alter hanging at the Met in New York.
  • Medieval Arts & Crafts - a lovely blog by another A&S 50 challenger, whose challenge is to chart out 50 brick stitch patterns!  This is a great resource if you are looking for pattern ideas, though not all of them are 100% straight-off-the-artifact documentable.  She does tell you how she derived the pattern though so you can pick and choose whatever will work best for your projects documentation needs.
Blackwork
  • Ensamplario Atlantio - a free PDF e-book collection of blackwork filling patterns.  Gotta love free patterns!  There are 220 or so individual designs so this should be very useful if you do a lot of blackwork.
    Resources and Supplies
    • Needle'n'Thread books and links page.  There is a fantastic list of online shopping resources, which is great if you live in an area with few or no embroidery specialty shops.  She also has a great book list, including some online books.
    • Hedgehog Handworks - wonderful resource for hard-to-find embroidery and costuming supplies, including several kinds of silk (including filament) and metal threads.  The prices are good and the service is excellent.
    • Needle in a Haystack - has a great selection of needlework silks and actual photos of all the threads so you can get a better idea of color!  Yay for that!  Those color cards as expensive, especially for Au Ver a Sois.