Thanks to Laren for linking to this blog about the medieval and renaissance expositions in the V&A:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1265_frost/
Here is the flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/people/medievalandrenaissance/
He just posted some nice embroidery pictures!
I'm so busy with the house, that I haven't got energy left for embroidery (too bad!)
But I did found an interesting paper that I wanted to show you:
Young. B. (1970), Needlework by nuns: a medieval religious embroidery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, February 1970, pp262-277
It's in the Utrecht University Library, and copies are also available via amazon or abebooks.
The paper presents a detailed description of a late 14th century German wallhanging embroidered in silk and linen, for a picture, click here
Young describes the socio-historical context, compares the wallhanging with other contemporary works, explains its iconography and even gives some technical details. I've only had a quick glance at the paper, so I can't give specific details yet.
A detail that suprised me, is that the faces and other details are actually painted on the embroidery! I think that's funny!
Here are some close ups of the journal's cover:
I finally finished the tablet-weaving project I started last January. It has been sitting in my living room for almost a year, totally neglected and barely touched, until I decided it was time to change this sad situation last Wednesday.
The band is about 1.50 m long and 1 cm wide. It is made using 64 threads, 16 hand cut cardboard cards and 1200 Denier DeVere Yarns silk. I tied the threads between to fixed points attached to the ends of the windowpane.
I learned that regular tension and using a beater are very important to end up with a pretty and evenly woven band. Also I didn't like the cardboard cards, since after a while the corners of the cardboard squares split and your yarn gets tangled up with the cardboard. I'm also considering buying some kind of loom before starting my next project.
With this band I'll make a pair of garters to match my medieval outfit. I still have to find some nice 14th century replica buckles to go with them.
