 |
|
|
 |
|
|
| The design for this project was inspired by a 7th piece of Persian embroidery held at The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. this embroidery piece consists of a red border surrounding a black roundel on which appears a boar's head. The stitches are the same as a 7th C. embroidery held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Both pieces are done using chain stitch and stem stitch. I took the idea of a roundel, but replaced the boar's head with a rosette. The rosette used is one that is found in many other 7th Century Persian pieces, such as silver and stone works. The British Museum, London houses many stone and silverwork items that are decorated with this motif. The headscarf design was drawn free hand onto the material. The floral motif is again one that you see repeated in tapestry woven decorative bands, silverwork and stonework.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
I drew the design in Adobe Photoshop CS and then projected it onto the silk sash and veil.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is a close-up of the first roundel on the sash. Much of this work was done without the aid of a hoop. The sash roundel's were embroidered in a hoop. Whereas the veil was so large it had to be done on a frame. I eventually had to use a stand to hold the large frame up while embroidering.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is the second roundel on the finished sash.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Here are the sash and headscarf complete and ready to ship.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| As soon as I had the sash and headscarf shipped of the my friend, I projected the design onto the veil. I initially tried to complete this in a large hoop, but there was not enough space to embroidery properly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| I therefore put the veil on a scroll frame, which is more like the tools used by medieval embroiderers. We know from paintings that some embroidery was done in the 15th Century using what appears to be a wood frame, no known frames survive.
As you can see the final veil roundel is 10 inches across. This piece was started 1 March 2006. I will post regular updates, the picture at right was taken 15 April 2006.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| After working all day 16 April, I finally have all the lines covered over! Now it's just a matter of finishing up the filling. I learned from the sash roundels that it is better to fill from the outside in, which is why I begun filling in the yellow. My lines began to fade and I knew if iI didn't do the lines right away I would lose the crisp lines I worked so hard to get. This is why I switched to covering the lines. Now that this is complete I will return to filling in from the center out, finishing with the outer purple border.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Here is the piece as of 4 June. As you can see I have almost finished the sections between the petals. In two weeks time I will have a lot more time to spend on this project. I hope to finish it and send it off to Xorazne before I return to England in July. We shall see if this is feasible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| I am using the Artisan Design Gazelle 2 and locking scroll frame. This allows me to use both hands when working. This stand and frame are truly amazing. I recommend these products to anyone! Although the stand and frame are not completely authentic. There is evidence in European paintings that embroiders used frames (Barrett). This frame is much more sophisticated than medieval versions, however I did not want to tack the fabric to a medieval frame, nor did I have the time or facilities to build an authentic frame.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
