The Embroiderers' Story

Project Changes

Rich — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:02:24 +0000

As Director, I first want to thank the readers of the blog for your contributions to our project “The Plimoth Jacket: A Paradise of Silk and Gold” and let you know of some changes at Plimoth Plantation which will directly effect it. By this time most of the stitchers and lacers involved in the project [...]

Progress - Day #2

Rich — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:35:48 +0000

After a wonderful day in NYC visiting the Twixt Art and Nature exhibit, Judy was back at work on Friday. She made great progress on the plaited braid, working about 8 partial coils. You can see her progress here. She is also getting quite good at tapering the plaited braid. She promises that later today [...]

Stitching Progress

Rich — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:46:22 +0000

The gold tendrils are going forward again and growing on the linen. Judy Laning is here in Boston this week to work on the Jacket. I will be posting on her progress over the next few days. She has decided to work on the Left Under Arm, which is one of two pieces that haven’t [...]

Next Stitching Session

Tricia — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:31:20 +0000

We have scheduled the first session of 2009. It will be Friday, March 27th to Monday, March 30th in the Wardrobe Department at Plimoth. The Plantation will be open for the spring and the department will be finished outfitting the interpreters so there will be space. We have a set of stitchers who are already signed [...]

Birds

Rich — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:54:04 +0000

We are gearing up for more stitching right now and birds are top on the agenda. We have a few individuals who are visiting the area in the next five weeks who will be staying over a week each to work on the jacket. (Thank you!). Also, we will be scheduling a session for either [...]

Sharing

Rich — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:00:52 +0000

We had a posting to the comments a few weeks ago that I thought many of you might like to see and not miss: ‘Hello there, I was visiting the Museum of Costume in Bath (UK) last week. I went to see an Edwardian frock, but the lady at the next table, who didn’t show, had [...]

Weavers Leave Fingerprints Too!

Tricia — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:00:59 +0000

When Justin left me the silk lining, I was musing about how much fun I had visiting when the silk was on the loom and trying it out. Justin then announced that you could certainly see where I had worked. Oh NO I screamed! Yup - I was beating the shed so hard trying to [...]

Silk Delivery Man!

Tricia — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 13:00:46 +0000

Justin made a special delivery this week - the completed silk lining! What a happy day to see it in its glory, all 6 yards of hand woven silk. It was like giving up a baby - he gingerly handed it over. Justin promises me that he will write up his experience dying the piece [...]

Confirmation

Tricia — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:00:59 +0000

While in NYC for the symposium held in conjunction with the exhibit, “Twixt Art and Nature” I had the privilege to accompany Tricia on a visit to the Textile Conservation Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We met with Conservator, Cristina Carr and were wowed with the opportunity to view several bags, pairs of [...]

Professional Workshops

Tricia — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 13:00:33 +0000

I was hit in the head by a virtual skein of yarn the other day after a post. (See comments on Stitching Gauge, January 29th) I welcome discourse as it allows us to debate points. The commentator was pointing out the close personal relationship that could have developed between two professionals working together at a [...]

Oes and Spangs

Tricia — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:00:30 +0000

I have been reading ‘Dressing the Elite’ by Susan Vincent and wanted to share a quote she included in the text with you. She writes of Francis Bacon’s advice (1561-1626) in his Essays on the costuming of masques with regard to embroidery. “The Colours, that shew best by Candlelight are: White, Carnation, and a Kinde of [...]

Call for Photos

Rich — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:00:12 +0000

We are doing a bunch of needed tasks as we are experiencing our lull in embroidery effort. All of them are much needed and too long in coming. I hope to get to re-lacing the slate frames soon. Many of them have had their lacing threads break over time and they all need a good [...]

Winter Progress

Tricia — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:00:30 +0000

We have learned over the last two years that making progress on the jacket from Thanksgiving to the thaw is tough. Between the holidays and the threat of snow, getting groups together is difficult. Here in New England, we have had an unusual string of big weekend storms all through December and January so I [...]

Stitch Gauge and Hands

Tricia — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:03:29 +0000

It was fun last week to read all your comments on how many hands may be represented in the photographs of the same elements. This is a very important question and I was happy to have all you as ‘reviewers’ of the process. I will give you the answers below, but beforehand, a diversion. Last week [...]

More Hands

Rich — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:00:14 +0000

Here are a selection of the foxgloves stitched on the Left Front. The game again is to try to figure out how many people stitched these four flowers. Answers in a few days. I am happy to report that this job isn’t so easy. Something we had worried about a lot at the beginning. We [...]

How Many Hands?

Tricia — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:22:28 +0000

A few weeks ago I spent some time trying to figure out how many hands had worked on the jacket at the MET. I could clearly see that there were several - but how to prove to others that there were different people. I realized that we have the types of evidence we need on [...]

Dyeing the Silk

Tricia — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:45:44 +0000

Some interesting things about the woven silk that I noted when I was visiting Eaton Hill Textile Works are shown in these pictures. First, I kept seeing these pins with silk wrapped around it. This is where the warp threads had broken, both ends are wrapped around the pin. After the weave is done, these [...]

Trying it Myself

Tricia — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:46:50 +0000

It is my goal on this project to try as many of the techniques as possible so I can describe it on the blog, in lectures or in an eventual book. So I gathered up my hutzpah to ask Justin and Kate if I could ‘drive’ the loom. They were very gracious and helped me [...]

Symposium Changes

Rich — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:00:28 +0000

I need to take a small break from my description of the weaving going on at Eaton Hill Textile Works for the jacket and let you know about a important change regarding the symposium. We have been hearing from many of you asking about early registration for the symposium that was being planned for September 2009 [...]

The Loom

Tricia — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:11:00 +0000

Here you can see Kate and Justin at the hand loom where the 17.5 inch wide silk is being woven. Lovely view too of the Green Mountains of Vermont in the background. Very calming to be in the workshop. Kate told me that the loom was 19th century and there is even an older loom [...]

Visiting the Silk

Rich — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:33:44 +0000

Justin has been working on weaving the silk for the lining for weeks at Eaton Hill Textile Works. They started last year indigo dying the warp silk threads and setting up the loom. Before I go into the current progress, a few words about Eaton Hill Textile Works. They are a small textile mill in [...]

New Jackets to View

Rich — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 13:00:41 +0000

In an effort to continue to expand our database of existing jackets, I went looking at a few sites again to see if new photos had been posted. The interest in this project and the book under development by Susan North (woman’s fashions of the period) has resulted in more of the photos being added [...]

Video of Plimoth Project and More

Tricia — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:00:18 +0000

If you happen to attend the exhibit ‘Twixt Art and Nature‘ you will be treated to footage of the Plimoth project in the video which is on the second floor. The story of how our project was added to such an important exhibition is an interesting one, and starts with the sorry state of many [...]

Jacket Tiling

Tricia — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 13:00:25 +0000

I thought that more explanation was needed about the coil patterns and how they repeat. So I drew this diagram to help you understand the way our pattern repeats and how the MET jacket repeats. Hope it helps! Tricia

Jacket Pattern

Tricia — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:00:34 +0000

Going back to view the MET jacket was great as I was able to look at it with a more measured eye this time. Even though I had spent hours with the piece in January 2007, I was new to the jackets and therefore didn’t ’see’ everything because I couldn’t filter out the details to [...]

The MET Jacket

Tricia — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:00:10 +0000

The MET Jacket on display at the new exhibit in Manhattan (Twixt Art and Nature) was one of the two pieces we visited while planning for the project. I am so thrilled that many of you may be able to go visit it while it is out. The jacket was breath-taking to us for several [...]

Reviewing ‘Twixt Art and Nature’

Tricia — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:54:55 +0000

I had the honor of attending the opening of the new embroidery exhibit ‘Twixt Art and Nature‘ on December 10th. The exhibit is a collaboration between the MET and the Bard Graduate School of the Decorative Arts. If you look back at the comments for December 8th, one of our lacers, Devon, was also at [...]

Getting Close to The Finish

Tricia — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:29:30 +0000

I thought you might like to see the left front and how close to being ﬁnished this piece is. Impressive is all I can say about it. There are areas where the spangles are now being ﬁlled in between the embroidery. We had some extra visitors on Friday to help us. Actually, they came to talk about a [...]

Of Golden Coils

Tricia — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:10:59 +0000

During the latest session we had made enough progress on the plaited braid that we could do some calculations. Because the gold thread was made specially for the project, we needed to know if there was enough to ﬁnish the project or if another round of thread would need to be made. So we went around on Friday and [...]

Twixt Art and Nature

Tricia — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:17:24 +0000

A few months ago, staff from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Bard Graduate School of the Decorative Arts came to visit the project and film the stitchers, lace makers and spangle maker. The product of that film footage will be part of the exhibit ‘Twixt Art and Nature‘ opening in the Bard Graduate [...]

Lamps

Jill Hall — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 02:38:01 +0000

Colleen asked how we like the daylight lamps with the attached magnifying arms; her mother-in-law is interested in getting one. I’d like to hear from the embroiderers - I can’t remember where we got the lamps, but I can look. I’m pretty sure we bought what Tricia recommended. Personally, I like the daylight part, but [...]

Thanksgiving 2008

Jill Hall — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:49:12 +0000

You may remember from last year that part of my Thanksgiving tradition is helping Die get into her Victorian dress for Plimoth’s 1863 dinners. This year Die has a new outfit. Doesn’t she look great? There was less for me to do - no lacing the black cord through the button shanks - but more time [...]

Notes from the Front

Jill Hall — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:02:14 +0000

Over the past few weeks several new blogs have linked to us - welcome! And thanks for helping to spread the word about this project. Over this weekend I got the chance to work on the gold embroidery - wheee! I was the beneficiary of a personal tutorial from Wendy, which was awesome, because I’d really [...]

Backs!

Jill Hall — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:30:18 +0000

Wendy sent this post and the photos: Over the weekend there was much discussion about the recent request to see the “Backs”. We were a group of mixed reactions because there are many stitchers whose reverse side of their work is as beautiful as the front and then there are those of us [...]

Sarah’s hat

Jill Hall — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:36:46 +0000

Sarah and Karin came over the other day collecting library books. Penny got this photo of Sarah wearing the hat that Penny made and Sarah won in the volunteer raffle last Sunday.

Whitney’s waistcoat

Jill Hall — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:36:29 +0000

I remembered to take a photo of the final fitting on Whitney’s new waistcoat. Whitney’s also wearing her brand-new petticoat, made by intern Arianna and volunteer Carolyn. This was taken on Friday, when this weekend’s embroiderers were already at work. The Saturday after Thanksgiving Whitney will be the bride for a recreated wedding in the 1627 [...]

Left Upper Sleeve

Jill Hall — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 22:16:08 +0000

Here are the long promised photos of the left upper sleeve. Lyn from Canada was working on this last time; Wendy has it this time. Debbie’s been in touch with Lyn. Apparently there are 5″ of new snow where she is, preventing her from coming to this session. We miss you Lyn!

Volunteers

Jill Hall — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:09:09 +0000

Thanks to Justin for answering the Murphy’s oil soap question; he washed the warping board before he started using it, to get rid of the “50 years of barn dust.” And more apologies for the poor photo of him; I was stealth snapping trying not to get any visitors in the background. I surprised him [...]

The Giant Warping Board

Jill Hall — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:54:18 +0000

Here Justin is making his new warp - I believe he said it is 20 yards. For most people this would be pretty ambitious, considering he is working in the Crafts Center only two days a week (at the most) and that there are only a few weeks left to Plimoth’s open season, and that [...]

Yardage

Jill Hall — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:09:03 +0000

Justin has been weaving in the Crafts Center a day or two a week. Last week he was making the warp for a second weaving project; the first one is already off the loom. In the second photo you can see the giant-sized warping board he was using. I’ll get you some pictures of Justin [...]

Slate Frames, again

Jill Hall — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:12:32 +0000

I posted Tricia’s note about slate frames here in July, 2008. Check out the comments to that post for several ideas on where to get one. Colleen asked, if she buys the Patterns of Fashion 4 book through the Plimoth mail order shop, will the proceeds go to the jacket? The answer is, not exactly. If you [...]

Snippets

Jill Hall — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:23:12 +0000

Sorry about that bad link - I’ve fixed it in the last post and here’s the link Tricia suggested, straight to the book in the mail order shop. I had an exciting day Friday. I turned on the office computer and it, well, it didn’t exactly swear, but it definitely thumbed its circuits at me. Dennis [...]

Janet Arnold Rocks!

Tricia — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:38:56 +0000

I hadn’t been at Plimoth when the new Patterns of Fashion 4 preview was viewed and so was very excited today when my package came from Plimoth with my order (benefiting the jacket project - get yours now). WOW. I am very grateful to Jenny Tiramani and Santina Levey for finishing this [...]

Donating

Jill Hall — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:06:09 +0000

Thanks to Debbie A who reminded me to post a note about how to make a donation to support Plimoth Plantation in general or the jacket project in particular. And thanks to Lois, who saw in a recent post that we were accepting donations and wrote to ask me how to go about it. Here’s [...]

Treats AND Good Works

Jill Hall — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:40:40 +0000

Have you heard that the new Janet Arnold book, Patterns of Fashion 4: The cut and construction of linen shirts, smocks, neckwear, headwear and accessories for men and women c.1540-1660 is finally really being released? If you haven’t heard, take a deep breath. Janet Arnold died unexpectedly in 1998, and since then the historic clothing world has [...]

Birds Next

Jill Hall — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:00:49 +0000

Mary asked a couple of days ago if she saw the beginning of a bird in the middle of the back piece. Tricia started that bird ages ago, but before she got any further she realized we needed better pictures before she could really decipher what was happening there. We moved on to other things, and [...]

Kris Comes to Stitch

Tricia — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:05:22 +0000

This post was written on Wednesday. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am with the boost in the arm that Judy, our weekend group, and now Kris Andrews is giving to this project. We have made tremendous progress on the goldwork and I think we might even get this project done [...]

Thank You Judy!

Tricia — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:57:15 +0000

We have to thank Judy Laning for her week of Indentured Servitude to the Jacket (or Waistcoat). We have given her a ‘certificate’ as the human who has worked the most plaited braid to my knowledge. Well, that title will last until at least Friday when the next Indentured [...]

All that Glitters

Jill Hall — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:21:33 +0000

really IS gold, in this case. The gold thread for the coiling vines is real gold, and, like the gilt sylke twist, was purpose-made for this project by Bill Barnes of Golden Threads in the UK. It is a gold wire wrapped around two ends of yellow silk thread. I know the next question is whether [...]

Indentured Servants

Tricia — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 01:01:02 +0000

As we have moved into the gold work phase of this project we must sometimes evaluate our methods of getting work done. We had been working with an apprentice system which has served us well. But now with the vast amounts of plaited braid in front of us, we need to consider [...]

Plan D

Tricia — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:45:12 +0000

This post was written on Tuesday, October 29. Some have asked what our plan is for the gold work. We have had many plans. Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. Mostly every time someone asked me this important question, I would put my fingers in my ears and sing “La la la la [...]

It Doesn’t Matter

Tricia — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:36:33 +0000

Judy Laning is here working this week on plaited braid. We choose one of the jacket fronts to work on. She started Monday and worked one whole coil of plaited braid. Then she started on the second one. That is when the questions started. Some of the coils start from another coil in [...]

Hampton Court

Tricia — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:09:52 +0000

The Embroiderers’ Guild is housed in an apartment in Hampton Court, one of Henry VIII’s favorite palaces. If you ever have the chance to visit, take it. It is a lovely place. The Royal School of Embroidery also is located there. Call ahead, each has a little store with wonderful goodies and books to buy. Once [...]

Butterflies

Tricia — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:05:46 +0000

A few weeks ago we finished all the detached butterfly wings (sans one). I wish we had the knowledge then that I have now. The wings are one color and then have a rim of a separate color at the tips. From the earlier photography we couldn’t tell if the detached buttonhole changed color or [...]

Holy Spangles, Bat Girl!

Tricia — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:04:36 +0000

The title of this post was Wendy’s reaction to my email that the Laton Jacket was sitting in front of me ready for inspection. I loved it. Back to the jacket, Wendy had a number of questions for me pertaining to the embroidery on 1359-1900. They all centered around one issue - “did we figure it [...]

Gussets

Tricia — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 18:56:16 +0000

Ok - I can’t seem to let this plaited braid on the seams go. Fear I think. When I expressed dread and how were we going to keep the jacket from getting so wrinkled this brought up the jackets with pre-installed gussets. Yes, there are examples out there that have the gussets [...]

Ink

Tricia — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:47:59 +0000

Having been trained as a scientist, I am apt to always question a statement, think about other ways things could have been done and ask for data to back up the statements. I have to thank Susan and her patience with me all day. The lack of written records because of the Great Fire in [...]

Aimee?

Jill Hall — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:56:15 +0000

It’s funny Robbin should mention Aimee J in the comments as the person who shared a frame with Kris at the first embroidery session. Yesterday I received an email from Marilyn, who came to the first session as Kris’ guest, on the last day when we had moved from the big workroom up to the wardrobe [...]

UFO’s

Tricia — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:07:23 +0000

As we were having the debate on who was seaming what and whether the jackets were custom made to order, Susan went to a cabinet and got out another piece to show me - the best part of working in the storage room that day. She brought out a set of fine [...]

Tailors

Tricia — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:58:07 +0000

As it happens when researching these things, one ah-ha leads to many questions. I am blogging all this so I don’t forget anything and so please forgive my rambling from one subject to another. So after I went “oh crud” and joked about a lot of stitching in front of American football to make those covered [...]

More Lace Thoughts

Tricia — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:35:39 +0000

Another question we had was how the lace was applied to the jacket and what happened at corners when the lace had to change direction (think front edge corners). Well, the lace is whipped down with a white thread in a very fast and crude fashion. Susan and I joked that we would [...]

Lace Answers

Tricia — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:27:30 +0000

When Jill emailed me questions about the Laton jacket, many of them focused on the lace details which were too hard to see from the photos taken outside the case. The lace was applied to the jacket later in its life, but shows in the portrait and thus is contemporary. We know [...]

Panel

Tricia — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:22:46 +0000

The panel at the Embroiderers’ Guild has often been referred to in some texts as a coif. The confusion may have occurred because the dimensions (width and height) are similar to many coifs. But it is a panel. We took a look at the edges and it was obvious that the piece [...]

Who is Doing the Spinning?

Tricia — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:04:13 +0000

There was a mistake on the panel that was very interesting to me. One of the questions I have been working on for the MET exhibit has been the method of manufacturing gold threads. This also begets the question, who was making them. From the research so far, we see gold and silver wyre drawers [...]

Bird - Beak and Feet

Tricia — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:26:53 +0000

We haven’t worked the birds on the piece yet as we had questions about some of the detailing and were awaiting my trip to examine the EG piece closer. The birds on the EG piece are in yellows and greens with blue beak and feet. The jacket has red, green, pink and yellow as the [...]

The Panel - Raised Work

Jill Hall — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:15:39 +0000

As you saw in the picture from yesterday, the panel in the EG collection is quite small. It appeared to me to be the same scale as the jacket, but some further measurements will be made from photographs I took with a ruler at the edge of the mounting. If you remember, our hypothesis is [...]

Thanks are in order

Tricia — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:08:41 +0000

Before I get into details, I must thank the people who helped me immensely by taking time to host me for the appointments. First, Lynn Szygenda, Senior Curator at the Embroiderers’ Guild and Chris Berry, Past President of the EG. Chris happened to be down in London on business this week and took time out [...]

Crossing the Ocean and a Huge Surprise

Tricia — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:02:54 +0000

I got this from Tricia this morning: I am writing this blog on the plane on my way back to the states from London. What can I say but “WOW”. I’ve been to London before and seen many embroideries in wonderful museums. This time was different, I was able to view the pieces up close that [...]

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

Jill Hall — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:07:33 +0000

Not everyone can make the pilgrimage to Plymouth for the holidays . . . so we decided to produce a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring 1621 Plymouth anywhere in America! History will actually come home for one lucky eBay auction winner this Thanksgiving! From October 2 – 11 (Today’s the 11th!) we are putting two of [...]

Small World

Jill Hall — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 01:58:59 +0000

I got a call today from one of the gift shop staff. There’s a lady here from Australia, and she wonders if it’s possible to see the jacket? This sort of thing is becoming more and more common, as more people find out about the jacket and of course want to see it. Work on [...]

Shoes

Jill Hall — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:26:53 +0000

In addition to the pin ball I showed you yesterday, Sharon also brought a pair of needlework accessories, a shoe and a pinwheel. The shoe’s sole isn’t completely attached to the upper; inside is a place to store needles. Sharon explained that the shoe was a “test project” taught to her sampler guild by the [...]

Our Foreign Correspondent

Jill Hall — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:44:59 +0000

I got a note from Tricia today. She’s in the UK, on a special birthday trip with a couple of friends. In addition to sightseeing and spa visits, she spent some quality time with the EG panel. The Embroiderers’ Guild in the UK owns a flat panel of embroidery which has sometimes been called a coif [...]

2183.5

Jill Hall — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:52:06 +0000

Melinda is working on the narration for the video of our project for her exhibit. She asked, how many hours of embroidery have been done so far? In the fine old tradition of passing the buck, I asked Arianna to go through the heap of time sheets from over a year’s worth of embroidery sessions. She [...]

Norma

Jill Hall — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 23:47:07 +0000

Norma has been here stitching at least a couple of times before. She comes from Connecticut. This past weekend for show & tell Norma brought her in-progress nightcap, the project Tricia taught last February in Williamsburg. It is an awesome piece, even in-progress. The kit came with a slate frame. Oooh. Plus Norma brought another couple of [...]

Sandye

Jill Hall — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:02:32 +0000

Last winter, Catherine and Deb from Kansas came out to Plymouth to embroider bearing gifts of coffee and chocolate. This September they came again, bringing more chocolate (bless them) and a friend! Catherine and Deb had been trying to persuade Sandye to come out to Plymouth and exercise her considerable embroidery skill on the jacket, [...]

Rewards

Jill Hall — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:50:42 +0000

Tricia sent this to me this morning: I am up early this morning preparing for my trip to see the jacket in the UK and took a quick look at the blog to see Jill’s latest entry. It made me very happy and again validated the enormous amount of work this project [...]

All Lace All the Time

Jill Hall — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:00:33 +0000

The September 26-29 session had the largest attendance since our first session in June, 2007. This session also had a really impressive show & tell on Saturday afternoon. Today I’ll share Carolyn H’s treasures. First, though, some photos of Carolyn’s protegees. She’s evangelizing bobbin lace, and encouraging newbies to try. My daughter Lilia is only too [...]

Manic … Saturday?

Jill Hall — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:26:56 +0000

Saturday morning I was the hostess on duty for the embroidery session. I’ve done this before. I can make coffee, set out Marcia’s yummy snacks, open the office door so everyone can find the frame they’ve been working on. Well. This past Saturday, the Stars were aligned in Klutz. I was running a few minutes late, [...]

Fabulous

Jill Hall — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:03:04 +0000

This is a photo of the Sunday, September 28, 2008 volunteer embroidery crew. They are holding out of service frames. That’s what I said when I saw this photo. (I was off yesterday, so I found this about 9:30 last night.) So that’s Cheryl on the left in the back, holding the frame with the collar and [...]

Embroidery Enlightenment

Jill Hall — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 19:44:01 +0000

Part of the point of doing a project like this is to spread knowledge and appreciation of embroidery and lace making and other needlework. I’ve mentioned before how Laura, our 2007 summer intern, did her first needlework project because of her association with the jacket project, and how others have been inspired to pick up [...]

Exhibit Opening New York City

Jill Hall — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:04:24 +0000

Melinda Watt, the curator from the MET who was here filming yesterday, and Han Vu, the videographer from Bard College’s Graduate Center for the Arts, said goodbye this morning and headed back to New York. Melinda is a teeny-tiny bit stressed over the way time is accelerating and the to-do list is lengthening as she gets [...]

Guests

Jill Hall — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:02:26 +0000

We’ve got a lot going on this weekend (OK, how many times have you heard me say that?). But we really do. Aside from working with us, and her several day jobs, Tricia has also been working with the Metropolitan Museum in NY on a exhibition of 16th-17th century embroidery which will open in December of [...]

New England Lace Group

Jill Hall — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:36:29 +0000

My camera was hiding in the trunk. It came out as soon as I wasn’t looking for it anymore, and I got these pictures. The first is of Mary D, who came up from Virginia to work on the lace this weekend. She set herself a goal of 6 repeats/day, and was well ahead of [...]

Penny and Arianna

Jill Hall — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:38:54 +0000

Update from the Day Job: Penny’s been working on this pair of hand-sewn stays for the past many weeks. Working off and on, and having to do some alterations on the fit, but she’s really been plugging away at them for a lot longer than she wanted to be, you know? And now they’re done! Hooray! And here’s [...]

Back-Lacing Stays

Jill Hall — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:36:35 +0000

We had a couple of questions about the stays or corsets that our interpreters wear.I’ll try to answer them, but if I miss something or raise more questions than I answer, let me know. There are precious few extant examples of early 17th-century (or earlier) stays. The one we use most is in the collection of [...]

Catherine, Laura and Jen

Jill Hall — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:50:50 +0000

Catherine, Laura and Jen joined us for last weekend’s embroidery session. All of them have been here before and so are considered “veterans.” They certainly showed their experience; they all accomplished a great deal. Catherine was working on the unwieldy back piece, and stitched three complete roses along with a few odds & ends here and [...]

Carli’s Needlebook

Jill Hall — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:32:41 +0000

Since the very first embroidery session, Tokens & Trifles has been donating a small commemorative needlework project designed by Wendy White to each new embroiderer. The back of the needlebook, which is stitched on Thistle Threads’ perforated card with cotton floss, has the date of the session the embroiderer attended. Many participants have completed their [...]

Bittersweet

Jill Hall — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:04:57 +0000

Please note! I am cancelling the October 24-27 session. Great progress is being made this weekend on the silk embroidery. We have 10 embroiderers scheduled for September 26-29. I anticipate that after that weekend we won’t have enough silk and GST embroidery left to make a full weekend session worth while. There is still plenty to do [...]

Guests for Dinner

Jill Hall — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:43:20 +0000

Look who, or what, showed up out the back window on Saturday afternoon? Only about half of this flock of turkeys show in this photo. This flock has been making regular “rounds” about the museum lately. I’ve seen them a few times mid-morning in a field in the 1627 English Village; once I surprised them crossing [...]

Status Report - Collar

Jill Hall — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:33:45 +0000

As of September 12, 2008, here is the collar piece. You’ll notice it has both gold work and sequins, necessitating the use of shades just to look at it. I’m pretty sure Tricia is going to blog about this piece, and I don’t want to scoop her so I won’t say any more - but this [...]

Status Report - Wings and Gussets

Jill Hall — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:44:28 +0000

Thanks to Debbie from NJ for the suggestion that it is time to do status reports on all the pieces once again. Here are photos of the wings and two of the five gussets. The wings are now done except for the bird beaks, a possible bird-eye detail, and all the gold and sequins. These gussets are [...]

Repeat Repeat

Jill Hall — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:36:15 +0000

Carolyn left a detailed comment about working with the GST. I thought more people would find it here: The main feature of the thread that I had to learn to deal with is similar to what the stitchers have noted: it is raspy when rubbed against other threads. This means that when tensioning, I had to [...]

Repeat

Tricia — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:58:00 +0000

I just had to add my two cents on this piece of ’show and tell’ that Carolyn Wetzel brought in at the last session. I had close-up pictures that I really wanted to post as they showed the gilt sylke twist used as bobbin lace. It was very exciting to see her piece. [...]

A Personal Aside

Jill Hall — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:39:26 +0000

Look what I did this weekend! I’ve wanted to have my hands decorated with henna, sometimes called mehndi, for a long time - about 12 years, since a colleague had hers elaborately done for her wedding (this was Joanna of the Embroidered Coif Kit, who will be joining us for the 9/26 embroidery session - yay!). [...]

Pocket Goods

Jill Hall — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:23:51 +0000

From Marty, via the comments: What would they have kept in their knitted pocket? Also, were these pockets made in other ways, such as quilted or of leather? We surmise that the colonists kept small personal items in their knitted pockets, also coins, although there was little use for coins during Plymouth Colony’s early years. We [...]

Women at Sea and Treasure Boxes

Jill Hall — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:27:15 +0000

Wendy sent this entry: Of the many things that happen during a session one of the most interesting is the general conversation, exchange of ideas, favorite books, food, movies and music. To continue the exchange and sharing here are a couple of things: At the last session I mentioned several books that deal with [...]

Playing with the Sparkle

Jill Hall — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:00:46 +0000

I have been able to spend a good deal of time recently working on the gold thread embroidery and it is really beginning to make the piece come to life. While the polychrome embroidery is always impressive, once the gold goes on a project, you realize that the piece was previously ‘flat’. There is [...]

Spangle Threading

Tricia — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:39:05 +0000

Having a ton of people working towards a common goal is really fun. Not something you often get in needlework which is usually a solitary activity. When we have work sessions, there is always something going on that you haven’t seen before and we are all whipping out camera to [...]

Send her to the Village

Jill Hall — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:19:41 +0000

Rebecca only needs a hat and coat, and she only needed the coat because it was raining ferociously that day. She looks great, and did great even on her very first day. This all happened a few weeks ago; she’s really no longer a “newbie” anymore, and in a couple of weeks when we hire a [...]

Camera-Ready

Jill Hall — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:12:35 +0000

We have a phrase here, that describes the state of being prepared to receive museum visitors - camera-ready. Often the interpreters will head down to work on the Village site in the morning not quite entirely dressed. They’ve got clothes on, period clothes even, but maybe they’re not buttoned, maybe the women’s hair isn’t [...]

A Jacket for Rebecca

Jill Hall — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:00:10 +0000

When Tricia was taking these pictures, Rebecca was dressing herself in these clothes for the first time. Before this she had only tried them all on, with help, especially with the stays. This time she laced herself in. Once she got into the petticoats I cast a critical eye upon her things and decided to [...]

Dressing Rebecca - Part Three

Jill Hall — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:17:26 +0000

When last we left Rebecca, she had on her smock, stays, bumroll, shoes, stockings, garters, one petticoat and had had her hair done. Next is another petticoat. They go on easiest over the head. We put the fastenings in front; I know some others put the closure on the side. I can think of one painting [...]

August Show & Tell

Jill Hall — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:20:04 +0000

Here are a few more treats Carli brought for us to see. She makes both knitted lace and bobbin lace. The knitted lace is draped across the small pieced and appliqued quilt she made - entirely by hand - for her grandfather. The bobbin lace she “just learned to make in March, so this is all I’ve [...]

Two Wing Pieces

Jill Hall — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:08:48 +0000

On Friday, Carolyn took the second wing piece of lace off the pillow. The “wings” are little flaps that are stitched on over the shoulder. On our jacket, as on the Laton jacket, they are trimmed with lace. Wendy arranged the lace over Carolyn’s shoulders so we could see the effect. I was out in the other [...]

Carli

Jill Hall — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:01:22 +0000

This embroidery session was also Carli’s first time with us. She comes from New York, but I can hear behind me as I write this that another of our new embroiderers is offering Carli a place to stay if she wants to come back. I think we’ll see her again soon. Carli is a very accomplished [...]

Nicole’s Berlin Work

Jill Hall — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:49:59 +0000

Here are two more pictures of the August show & tell. This antique embroidery belongs to Nicole. This weekend is the first time Nicole has joined us; she’s already planning to come back in September. Nicole bought this piece; it’s dated to about 1875 - 1900. It has a French title, A L’amitie Filiale, which means [...]

August Show & Tell

Jill Hall — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:38:00 +0000

One of my very favorite parts of these embroidery sessions is getting to see all the beautiful items our talented volunteers bring in for show & tell day. First up is a piece of bobbin lace Carolyn W is working using some Redde Gilt Sylke Twist. In the second picture Carolyn is removing some of the pins.

Rebecca’s Hair

Jill Hall — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:25:27 +0000

Here are a few pictures of Lacey fixing Rebecca’s hair. In the early 17th century working-class women (like the Plymouth Colonists) wore their hair up and covered with a white linen coif. Modern female interpreters may or may not have “period-correct” hair, but either way they have to get their hair under a coif with no [...]

Treats for Emily

Jill Hall — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:44:13 +0000

Penny knitted another awesome hat, this one for Emily. The pink is yarn Emily dyed with cochineal, which are indeed little bugs. Penny duplicate-stitched a skull, because Emily has a pirate aura. I suppose going back to school is an acceptable excuse for leaving us.

Knitted Pockets

Jill Hall — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:34:48 +0000

In the comments Meg asked about the small knitted bags several of the female interpreters wear suspended from a belt. In the early 17th century pockets in clothing weren’t as universal as they are now (although Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion 1560 - 1620 has several examples of extant items with either pockets sewn in [...]

Show and Tell August

Jill Hall — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:08:30 +0000

Betty-Anne, Rosemary and Abigail all brought lovely show and tell objects to the last session. Wendy kindly photographed for me, as I had very cleverly “lost” my camera in the trunk of my car. We missed getting a snapshot of Rosemary’s gorgeous Victorian style beaded scissors case, with the beaded fringe and beaded neck cord. Here [...]

Dressing Rebecca

Jill Hall — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:58:51 +0000

The other week, when Wendy and Tricia were here working out the directions for the various aspects of the goldwork, my Day Job involved preparing our newest colonial interpreter for work in the 1627 English Village. When Rebecca came to pick up her clothes Tricia asked if she’d mind getting dressed in the office instead of [...]

Class Picture

Jill Hall — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:59:11 +0000

Last evening at the end of the business day, the Colonial Interpretation Department hosted an informal ice cream and cake thank-you party for the 2008 child volunteer interpreters. Each child, or young person, since some of them aren’t really children anymore thank you very much, received a small gift and lots of praise. They all did [...]

Dye Workshops and Departures

Jill Hall — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:00:44 +0000

Emily is guest-posting today. As someone who takes great pleasure in all things weird and wonderful, I am extraordinarily pleased with my blue right thumbnail. That’s right. It’s blue. Navy on the edge, fading to a gentle sort of sunny lakeside-ish color in the middle. I haven’t taken a nailbrush to it because I tend to be [...]

Thank God for Stash

Tricia — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:40:51 +0000

Sometimes we all come by some book and decide to buy it and later think that you may have been crazy to have done it. Years ago I bought a modern copy of The Besler Florilegium, which was originally published in 1613. It is huge and used to hold my computer up. [...]

Experimental Archeology

Tricia — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:33:21 +0000

I like that term, when Jill said it the other day to describe what we were doing it gave me all the validation I needed to go buy myself an Indiana Jones hat and bring a whip to the next session! What she really meant was that we were listing all the means we could imagine [...]

Bring in the Cavalry!

Tricia — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 19:34:27 +0000

After spending all week here working on instructions and doing experimental archeology, as Jill puts it, it was nice to have a crew come in to make a nice push on the pieces. We have seven people here today working on embroidery and lace. Speaking of the lace, Carolyn has come today to [...]

Butterflies and Oops!

Tricia — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 19:13:29 +0000

One of the interesting things about the original jacket is the mistakes or variances we keep finding on the piece. One of the most intriguing is the butterfly heads. All of the heads on the jacket are done in a golden brown tone using trellis stitch, EXCEPT the ones on the outer left [...]

Attaching the Pod

Tricia — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:45:18 +0000

Tricia writes: During the week Wendy and I worked on getting all the detached pieces traced and labeled for stitching. We had done a few weeks ago and Jill and a few other stitchers had been working on the detached pod layer for the pea pods. It is worked in Grene gilt sylke [...]

Stitch Your Peas!

Tricia — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:32:26 +0000

Tricia wrote this post for us: Today we excitedly added peas to one of the pods that are on the jacket to make the instruction sheets. The bottom of the pod is stitched in silk detached buttonhole and then two gold spider web peas are added on top. Here you can see me [...]

Golden Vines

Tricia — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:43:09 +0000

Tricia writes: Today we took a deep breath and started the goldwork on the jacket. I am in town all week working and couldn’t wait to start putting the gold to the jacket and making it come alive. I picked the collar as the silk work was all done on it. Here you [...]

The Right Thing to Do

Jill Hall — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:37:13 +0000

After hearing your concerns and consulting some colleagues whose opinion I value, I have decided to change the date of The Embroiderers’ Story Symposium. Please mark your calendars for 24 - 27 September, 2009. This is the weekend after we originally chose. I sincerely apologize for the perceived slight, I certainly meant no offense. Of [...]

Dye Days

Jill Hall — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:20:27 +0000

To answer Robbin’s question, there will Not be plaited braid stitch instructions in the needle-gold thread kit, so go ahead and order Linda’s from Calico Crossroads. There’s a link in the upper right portion of the blog home page. Go to her searchable catalog and look for plaited braid stitch. That should bring up the [...]

There’s Gold in Them Hills!

Tricia — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:09:56 +0000

Tricia sent me this post: As you can see in this picture, the gold threads have arrived. Remember earlier this summer the second trial of gold-silver-copper on silk arrived and was a slight bit thinner than the first trial. It worked well for stitching plaited braid. I excitedly called Lamora at Access Commodities and [...]

Putting it all together

Jill Hall — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:10:24 +0000

There’s not a great deal going on with the jacket this month. I decided a while ago to not schedule any work sessions in July, and it turns out that was a very good idea. I have been spending Sundays in the Crafts Center working on the jacket, but today family concerns prevented me; Emily stepped [...]

Search the Collections

Jill Hall — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:43:31 +0000

Hi everyone, I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth. Husband Away turned into Husband Home but with Appendicitis. He no longer has appendicitis, no longer has an appendix even, but I’ve been a little preoccupied. Distracted. Frazzled, as a co-worker so eloquently put it this morning. And then last night we had the [...]

Aren’t You Hot in those Clothes?

Jill Hall — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:14:43 +0000

This is a question the role-players hear often in this season and the answer is, Yes. Very. It is deep summer here in Southern New England, and today was the fourth (or was it fifth?) day of +90-degree temperatures with smothering humidity. The role-players, dedicated to their craft and to portraying the Plymouth colonists as accurately as [...]

No Weaving for You

Jill Hall — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:51:07 +0000

Marilyn, a frequent contributor to the comments and embroiderer on the jacket as well as a student of Japanese embroidery, recently asked me if any weaving was going on in Plymouth Colony as early as the 1620s. The answer is no, we have no evidence that any was and lots of evidence that there was no [...]

Not So Much Seeing

Jill Hall — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:39:52 +0000

Another thing I’ve found, now that I’m working on the embroidery with something approaching regularity, is that once I get going, feeling the work is just as important as seeing it. I was wondering if working in the Crafts Center would slow me down a little or a lot; most of the point of being there [...]

And Superhuman Eyesight

Jill Hall — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:19:24 +0000

Tonight, Tricia’s Trellis Stitch Directions The other thing visitors to the Crafts Center often say to me is, “you must have really good eyes.” Umm, no, actually. My eyesight is so poor that whenever I order new glasses the technician delicately suggests I go for the ultralight lenses “so they won’t look so thick.” I think [...]

Slate Frames

Tricia — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:47:38 +0000

Ahem. I owe an apology; Tricia sent me this information to post way back in February and I don’t think I ever did post it. I was looking for something else in my emails and found it. As a poor defense, the cover note mentioned that her sons had just come down with what my [...]

Extraordinary Patience

Jill Hall — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:52:21 +0000

I’m going to re-post Tricia’s excellent stitch instructions, in the downloadable pdfs that she has made available for the good of this project and the spread of embroidery knowledge. Please let me know if they don’t work for you, I’m trying a new way to do this. Here’s the first - detached buttonhole needlelace directions. For [...]

Finding the two V&A jackets

Jill Hall — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:01:15 +0000

Several of the stitches we’re using on the jacket have been diagrammed and illustrated by Tricia. Her directions and photos are fantastic, I think. They really helped me understand these stitches, none of which I’d ever tried before last summer. Tricia hasn’t done up her own version of the plaited braid stitch instructions, though, and likely [...]

Borage

Jill Hall — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:06:38 +0000

Wendy stitched this borage as the model. She sent me a photo, labeling it “borage - done”. Which of course it is not. I’m trying to be careful about that now. Borage needs some black and white in the middle, and then the little spiky leaves done too. But this is the big part, and for [...]

Random

Jill Hall — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:41:30 +0000

We entered the dog days not long ago, and I can really feel it. The heat isn’t oppressive, but it is humid, the air quality is sub-par, and I’m suffering from embroidery craving. All I want to do is work on that right front piece, the one that’s less done than all the other pieces [...]

Congratulations, Mr & Mrs Carl D

Jill Hall — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:07:02 +0000

Yesterday was Shaina’s wedding day. I hope it was sunny in western MA; it was grey and chilly here. Either way, though, she and her sweetheart are now Mr & Mrs and a long happy life we wish them. Here’s Shaina’s dress as of late May. It wasn’t quite finished, but you had to look hard [...]

How to Get the Directions

Jill Hall — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:10:02 +0000

Tricia’s Blog #4 on the Plaited Braid Stitch. When Tricia sent me these blogs she copied Linda so she’d be prepared for your calls and emails. We have had a lot of requests for the plaited braid directions. As of yet, I haven’t made my set of directions for this stitch. So [...]

The Directions

Jill Hall — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:57:40 +0000

Tricia’s Blog #3: There are several sets of “Plaited Braid” directions out there. Excuse me if I don’t mention one you are aware of, but please let us know as it will help us solve this mystery! The first is a set diagrammed by Mrs. Archibald Christie (Samplers & Stitches, 1920) that is [...]

The Plaited Braid

Jill Hall — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:45:14 +0000

Tricia writes today. This is the second of four blogs she sent me before she left for Europe for two weeks. I tend not to read ahead when she sends me a few at once, but this time I’ve checked, and she answers most of your questions in the next three entries. I was going [...]

Hot Dog Buns and a Southern Belle

Jill Hall — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:08:11 +0000

Lacey guest writes today: This is Lacey here. I am the other intern here at the wardrobe department and I have a story about my experience here at Plimoth that just needs to be shared. To begin, I am very much a girl of the south. My mother is from the northwest, but she’s [...]

Selecting the Gold Thread

Jill Hall — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:24:26 +0000

Tricia writes today: If you remember, months ago we were trying out gold threads for the plaited braid stitch. Bill Barnes of Golden Threads had made a silk core wrapped with gilt strip for us. When it stitched, it was just too stiff to use, which was a surprise to me. When I [...]

Lost and Found Jacket

Jill Hall — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:54:36 +0000

This yellow rain jacket showed up during one of our sessions this spring. I thought it belonged to someone at Plimoth but it’s been hanging around for months and no one has claimed it, so I was wondering, did you leave it here? If you’re coming back we can save it for you. If not [...]

Colonial Children

Jill Hall — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:51:57 +0000

I mentioned that we were, a few weeks ago, concentrating on getting clothing ready for our child volunteers. We’ve expanded the program this year (only to children of Plimoth staff, though) and are introducing nine new colonial children to the 1627 Village site this week. Colleen asked when one might find children on site. We’re [...]

The Embroiderers’ Story Symposium

Jill Hall — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:06:14 +0000

What are you doing Thursday September 24 - Sunday September 27, 2009? I hope you answer, “Coming to Plymouth for The Embroiderers’ Story: Recreating a Stuart Jacket at Plimoth Plantation“! Yep, we’ve committed to throwing a major party to celebrate the creation of this remarkable garment. I’ll give you the details I have now so you can [...]

An Intern’s Eye View

Jill Hall — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:40:40 +0000

Emily is guest-posting today. Send her comments. We love comments. JMH My mother and I shared several squeals and a victory dance this New Year’s Eve Day. This was the day I first opened the door of Plimoth Plantation’s intern house, standing under the colonnade in the freezing cold of the December afternoon. [...]

Finishing

Jill Hall — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:32:26 +0000

Thanks, Rosemary, for catching my error in the dates for the August session. The formal session is 8 August to 11 August, a Friday to Monday weekend. However, Tricia is planning to be at Plimoth all week, from Monday 4 August to Friday 8 August (that’s what I was thinking of, I think) working on [...]

New Session Dates!

Jill Hall — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:54:29 +0000

Come stitch on the jacket Friday August 8 - Monday August 11 Friday September 12 - Monday September 15 Friday September 26 - Monday September 29 Wendy left a note in the comments. I was too distracted by the news that done does not mean done to listen to the explanation of what exactly the funny wrapping is. Debbie [...]

Linda’s Butterfly

Jill Hall — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:36:58 +0000

Linda H came all the way from Pennsylvania to work on the jacket this weekend. Here’s a picture of Linda pointing out one of the motifs she worked, a butterfly. Linda brought some of her needlework for show and tell, which was today. Here’s a picture of some of her stitching, which will be part of [...]

Never a Dull Moment

Jill Hall — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:44:38 +0000

FIRST: You didn’t miss anything, tatting has nothing to do with early 17th century fiber arts - Kate is just interested in almost ALL the fiber arts, whatever their origin. She doesn’t tat on site here, either as an interpreter or in the Crafts Center. The day in pictures: Here is the workroom, which is a beehive [...]

Nineteen

Jill Hall — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:50:24 +0000

We started our anniversary embroidery session today. This weekend last year was the first time embroiderers gathered together to work on the jacket. There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then, not to mention a lot of orts. Here’s a picture of Wendy showing JoAnn where the 3-D pea pod pieces will be [...]

Emily’s Cassock

Jill Hall — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:37:57 +0000

Here’s Emily’s first project this summer, a cassock for an interpreter portraying a sailor on Mayflower II. When I sat back and looked at that sentence I realized I’ve opened the proverbial can of worms. What is a cassock? What makes this one particularly for a sailor? What is a non-sailor cassock? Where is [...]

Real Live Foxglove

Jill Hall — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:45:24 +0000

This came from Wendy this morning, for which I was most grateful, as there is A Great Deal of Stuff happening here and my camera is at home. Jill, Here is a photo of some of the Foxgloves in my garden, they have gone crazy this year, flowering everywhere and about 4 1/2 feet tall [...]

Columbine

Jill Hall — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:09:06 +0000

Also blooming in my garden are two kinds of columbine. I see them as purple and purple & white, but the color of the plain ones could be called dark blue. They look dusty, but it’s pollen. The pollen this year seems to have been extremely heavy and when I took these photos it hadn’t [...]

Pink comments

Jill Hall — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:59:37 +0000

I’m glad you enjoyed the pink words and pictures. I had fun putting it together. Melanie Anne, the “living jacket garden” idea is still being tossed around, it may happen in conjunction with the exhibit that the jacket will be part of, which would mean next year. Colleen, I’m afraid the children’s schedule is still very fluid [...]

Pink!

Jill Hall — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:38:41 +0000

I wanted to show you some live pinks in my garden, before they “went by.” I almost missed them; we had an obnoxious heat wave here last week which shortened their bloom time as well as my ambition to take pictures of them. Yesterday was cool and lovely, though, so here we are. First a clump [...]

Shaina’s Shower

Jill Hall — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:50:10 +0000

Courtesy of Betty (who took them) and Penny (who scanned them) I’ve got some pictures of the party Penny organized for Shaina last week. Here’s Shaina being surprised. She was looking here and there, so this one’s a little blurry, but you can still see how pleased she is. The next one is Penny and Shaina [...]

Weaving

Jill Hall — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:40:00 +0000

Justin sent some pictures of the loom he’ll likely use to weave the silk lining. Right now this loom is holding some reproduction Calimanco, a worsted, satin woven wool textile produced mostly in Norwich, England in the 17th, 18th, and 19th century. Kate and I used all natural dyes to obtain the brilliant shades that [...]

Blue Silk Lining II

Jill Hall — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:32:54 +0000

Tonight I have more pictures of the blue silk lining, but right now the lining is still threads. Very fine threads, and lots of them. The first picture is “picking the cross.” The second is of Justin putting the cross on the pegs of the warping board. Justin explained the importance of the cross, and maintaining [...]

Thursday

Jill Hall — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 23:13:13 +0000

Penny and her mom, Betty, organized a send-off for Shaina which happened Thursday afternoon. Wendy came, and Tricia, and several people from the office. There were white paper wedding bells on the door and iced tea in a big punch bowl. Wendy sent me this note on Thursday night, but due to trouble with my [...]

Shaina Spins

Jill Hall — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 02:55:38 +0000

Today was Shaina’s last day with the Colonial Wardrobe department. She spent the afternoon spinning. She and Penny (who figured out today she’s been spinning for 20 years) have been planning for her to try it, but Things kept coming up, as they will. Today Penny got out some wool and a drop spindle and her [...]

Blue Silk Jacket Lining

Jill Hall — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:38:42 +0000

This came from Justin today: Here’s the latest jacket lining update- First off is a shot of the scarn holding all of those spools Kate and I have been winding. From here we’re able to warp nine ends at a time, not as many as we would have liked, but the skeins of silk [...]

Emily and Lacey

Jill Hall — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:25:58 +0000

Here, as promised, are our summer interns. The first one is of Lacey signing away her photo rights. Actually, she’s giving me permission to post her photo on the blog. This fall she will be a junior at the University of Mary Washington in Fredricksburg, Virginia. The next picture shows Lacey working on her [...]

Coming and Going

Jill Hall — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:29:34 +0000

I know I’ve said this often, but there’s so much going on around here I’m not sure if I’m coming or going. There’s even some actual coming and going going on. Tomorrow I’ll introduce you to our summer interns, who are coming. On Friday we’ll bid farewell to Shaina, who is going. Shaina’s not only going - [...]

In Which I Loaf

Jill Hall — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:27:13 +0000

And let Linda V from Arizona write tonight’s post. Linda came to Plymouth last summer to work on the jacket. She also offered to work at home on a project for us. She’s reproducing a red silk double-running stitch-embroidered handkerchief from the V & A (where else?) that we can use either in the upcoming [...]

Spin, Span, Spun

Jill Hall — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:31:44 +0000

We get COMMENTS! WHOO! I loves comments, yes I does. Carolyn H wrote: Jill, Plimoth is so lucky to have this offer from Carol. (I think so too!) I think you’ll be so pleased at the durability of stockings knit from combed long wool. Some years ago I knit a pair of socks for my husband. [...]

More Spinning

Jill Hall — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:59:14 +0000

Here’s an update on what Kat C has been working on. She’s one of the generous spinners who contacted me a few months ago offering to spin some yarn suitable for finer stockings. During our first email exchange we considered different breeds of sheep. Here’s what Kat said: I work a lot with Shetlands, due to the [...]

On another note

Jill Hall — Wed, 28 May 2008 01:20:45 +0000

Aside from, and happening simultaneously with, all the jacket progress, we’ve had lots of knitting and spinning progress happening. I’m going to take a few days and try to update that aspect of our work. I had several generous responses when I asked if anyone would be interested in spinning some yarn for a finer stocking [...]

Construction Details

Jill Hall — Sun, 25 May 2008 00:34:59 +0000

I’ve recently started thinking about the sewing-together part of this project. Thinking about logistics, I mean. By a happy coincidence, Laura brought her embroidered jacket as part of her show & tell this session. I mentioned that I’d been comparing the original paper pattern pieces to the tensioned embroidered ones and that some stretching has [...]

Columbine

Jill Hall — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:20:16 +0000

Here, courtesy of Wendy, is a photo of the stitched columbine motif. In my opinion, it is the wackiest of the motifs on the jacket. It sort of resembles a columbine to me, but not much. And it looks crazy. Several columbines were embroidered this session; Norma B from Connecticut stitched this one. It not only [...]

Just Text

Jill Hall — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:55:41 +0000

I think my home computer is looking for a little (hopefully little) monetary expression of our affection. It’s refusing to open or edit pictures, or just about anything else that requires any thought. Maybe its jealous of all the time I’ve been spending with the laptop at work. At any rate, instead of pretty pictures tonight [...]

What I did on Jury Duty

Jill Hall — Tue, 20 May 2008 00:54:35 +0000

I missed today, the last day of this session, due to a summons to jury duty. I had to go to Brockton, a city, not The Big City, but a city nonetheless. I am definitely a country mouse. Luckily I didn’t get lost, and I found a place to park. The next hurdle was to [...]

A Wee Froggie

Jill Hall — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:58:52 +0000

Here are some pictures from Friday. Carolyn, Devon, Jill, Margaret and Tricia spent some time consulting, discussing, debating, as usually happens at the sessions. Get a bunch of people, all of them experts in one or another aspect of historic dress, embroidery, lace, etc, and watch the information bounce around, speculation, comparison of items examined; [...]

Two Lacers and Right Front

Jill Hall — Sat, 17 May 2008 22:36:56 +0000

Sorry no post yesterday, friends. The evening completely got away from me. This is some of what has been going on though. Here is Devon, making lace. The lace will really be the crowning glory of this piece, and it is very exciting to me to see it really underway. Here is Jill, also making lace. Devon is [...]

Many Happy Returns of the Day!

Jill Hall — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:34:09 +0000

Happy Birthday! One year ago today, this community was born. I really didn’t know what to expect, but I jumped into blogging with both feet (and the lifeline of Rich’s help) and found all of you! This year has been more than I could have imagined, and (maybe you’re tired of hearing it but [...]

Australia

Jill Hall — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:02:42 +0000

Look what we got from Susan D in Australia! This is our very first sample received from Australia. I was so excited to see the return address on the package. Thanks, Susan, for sending it back. We’ll use your beautiful work in the exhibit (along with the other samples), so visitors can see the stitches [...]

Ceylon squiggles

Jill Hall — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:06:52 +0000

Here are more of my needlework challenges. This is the first try at a wavy line of ceylon stitch. A straight line is OK, but the worms “squiggle”. (Click on “ceylon stitch” for the pdf of the instructions.) A subsequent (I won’t say how many tries were in between!) attempt yielded this red worm. It’s still a [...]

The Left Front

Jill Hall — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:54:08 +0000

Here’s another snapshot of a piece in progress. This is the left (as the wearer sees it) front, and was taken on May 5. The shallow curve at top left is the neckline; the deeper curve at right is the armhole. The two fronts are the least-favored pieces to work because the frames are so wide. [...]

Trellis Trials

Jill Hall — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:47:20 +0000

The other day I decided it was time to branch out beyond the detached buttonhole stitch. I hadn’t worried about the other stitches since there was (and still is) so much buttonhole to do. Here’s my first try at trellis stitch. I gave up halfway through the shape, hopelessly confused. (If you click on “trellis stitch” [...]

Justin working on the blue silk

Jill Hall — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:27:55 +0000

Here’s the second installment from Justin. The italics are quotes from Justin’s email. Some more shots of the bat head on my wheel. Bat heads were the most common in New England before Minor’s, or the accelerating, head replaced them in the early 19th century to handle the newer, shorter fleeced breeds of sheep which [...]

The beginning of the lining

Jill Hall — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:55:04 +0000

This is the first email from Justin, the Village interpreter and weaver who is making the blue silk lining for the jacket in conjunction with Kate of Eaton Hill Textile Works. Here are some pictures of the current progress on the silk lining. See yesterday’s entry for a picture of the sample. I knew it was [...]

Blue Silk

Jill Hall — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:50:48 +0000

I’m sorry I didn’t post last night. There was a lot of homework to do at my house, and by the time my number came up to use the computer, it was today. Here as promised, though, is the beginning of a new story. Eventually, the embroidery will be done, the oes sewn on, and it will [...]

We Get Mail

Jill Hall — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:55:42 +0000

Or comments, really. Thanks, Jane, for your note. Jane’s from the UK and was curious about our UK stitcher, all of whom were in the US for the Celebrations of Needlework in Nashua, NH, which I believe wraps up tomorrow. I don’t know offhand where Sarah and Susan are from, but I’ll look it up when [...]

Pictures

Jill Hall — Thu, 01 May 2008 23:27:07 +0000

of yesterday’s stitchers and their work. First, here’s Anne and her leaf, embroidered on the coif. Thanks to Robbin for this great picture. Here are a couple of pictures of Tricia, Sarah and Susan. I love how Tricia curls up in a chair to work on these big frames. No matter how huge they are, she looks [...]

Thank you

Jill Hall — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:23:56 +0000

to the Loudoun Sampler Guild! They sent a $250 donation to the Textile Conservation Fund! This is even more wonderful when you know this story - the original estimate to conserve “EC” was about $3800. The Mayflower Sampler Guild donated $1000 specifically to conserve “EC” which kicked off the Textiles Conservation Fund shortly after the new [...]

Lace work

Jill Hall — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:00:12 +0000

Yesterday, Carolyn and her friend Margaret came to Plymouth to work on winding bobbins. I have lots of pictures. Quite a lot of time was spent calculating how much thread should go on each pair of bobbins. I think lacers come from the same school as carpenters, the “measure twice cut once” school, or in this [...]

Linda’s needlework

Jill Hall — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:17:32 +0000

Last session Linda joined us for Saturday. She lives locally, but not too local, so it was a bit of a drive each way. Linda used to work at Plimoth, about 35 years ago, before the program was consistently first person (which is when the interpreters pretend to be people from the past). Linda took a [...]

Tarnished

Tricia — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:28:41 +0000

A few weeks ago Carolyn left a note in the forum about her silver lace thread tarnishing. I sent Tricia a note about it, and then Carolyn and Tricia corresponded. Tricia sent me a copy, thinking the subject and her answer would be of interest. Has anyone else had such a serious tarnishing problem with [...]

Spangles on the Bobbins

Tricia — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:43:17 +0000

Tricia sent me this post for tonight: I know many of those lacers reading the blog would like to see how we are keeping the spangles on the bobbins. Here you see the spangles on one with Carolyn’s small hair clips to hold the thread in place. We are also adding [...]

An Assortment of Susan’s Needlework

Jill Hall — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:31:55 +0000

I hope you’re having as excellent a time this week as I am. It’s school vacation week and I’m officially Not In The Office, although I am checking emails every morning which is hardly a burden. We’re having absolutely golden weather here in southeastern MA, sunny and warm with a light breeze. Fantastic. Today I have [...]

We have a BLOG ROLL

Jill Hall — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:03:55 +0000

And I even know what that is! And I can add links, which I’ve been doing, a little at a time as I remember where your blog is. I know lots more of you have blogs, would you send me a note or a link and I’ll add them? Thanks for the dental floss needle threader [...]

The Gilded Lily

Jill Hall — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:46:23 +0000

Here is a photo of the back of the jacket, taken last Friday, April 18. This is the piece Tricia took home with her before our inaugural embroidery session last June. She had to work one of each motif, taking detailed photos of the steps in order to produce that fantastic instruction manual. That’s why she [...]

Short & sleepy

Jill Hall — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:47:21 +0000

Thanks for the positive comments on the divided carriers from Orleans Carpenters on Friday’s post. We’re grateful for their generosity, and pleased to be associated with them. By the way, there is a treat on the way to go with these carriers. It’s in development now and should be ready by the end of May. [...]

Orleans Carpenters

Jill Hall — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 00:00:01 +0000

Lyn from Canada was here last weekend embroidering on the jacket. She’s a veteran, she has worked on the jacket a couple of times before. On one of those trips last fall (before the snow set in) Lyn mentioned to Wendy that she’d be touring around Cape Cod for a few days before she headed [...]

Spangle Making

Jill Hall — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:38:53 +0000

Last Friday the embroiderers at our April session got an unexpected treat - Mark was working in the Crafts Center making spangles. Lots of Mark’s work isn’t suitable to the Crafts Center, requiring a big fire like it does, but this work is great for that space. Wendy and Tricia took photos and also video, I [...]

The “EC” Sampler

Jill Hall — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:52:00 +0000

A few months ago I let you know that the Mayflower Sampler Guild donated $1000 to kick off our Textile Conservation Fund, with their donation earmarked for the conservation of the “EC 1664″ sampler in Plimoth’s collection. Today I have some exciting news to share: The Swan Sampler Guild has donated $2500 to the same cause. [...]

Tallying the Progress

Jill Hall — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:01:06 +0000

Today Wendy counted up the motifs that were done this weekend. I had high hopes for this session and I was not disappointed. There were many hands working and a great deal was accomplished: 16.5 worms. The plain worms, not the fancy worms. We don’t have directions for those yet. But the plain worms gave us [...]

Bryce makes Lace, and Rose Strategy

Jill Hall — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:14:25 +0000

Here’s two pictures of Bryce working, both from Friday. And here’s what Bryce said in the comments about her time in the workroom: I had such a wonderful time making lace. I urge all you lacemakers out there to try it! It’s a little fiddly, but not difficult. The people — staff and embroiderers both — [...]

Out of Service

Jill Hall — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:26:58 +0000

Today, one of the sleeve pieces went “out of service”. This is a good thing, not like when that happens to your TV. I am plenty excited. Out of service means we’ve hit a point where we can’t do anything else on it, until either we get more instructions or more materials. This is the first [...]

The Left Under Sleeve

Jill Hall — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:30:23 +0000

Here’s the other half of the jacket’s left sleeve. You can see the concave curve at the top which goes under the armpit. And a detail of foxgloves, showing the “speckling” which is done, as Kimberly mentioned, in running stitch. I agree, the GST doesn’t show up well in a still photo. It shows to best [...]

Blog Updates and Add-Ons

Rich — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:55:31 +0000

Hello Embroidery Community, I wanted to write to let you know of a couple of updates I’ve made to the blog framework. The first is the addition of the “ShareThis” button and the second (and the one that’s going to annoy those of you who are linking the blog) is the addition of “pretty permalinks.” The “ShareThis” [...]

The Left Upper Sleeve

Jill Hall — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:14:07 +0000

Here’s a good idea, thanks Carol and Kimberly. This is the left upper sleeve as of today, April 9th. Each sleeve is composed of two parts, the upper and the under. The top of the upper sleeve has a convex curve to go over the top of the shoulder; the under has a concave curve [...]

Jill Hall — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:09:12 +0000

Thanks for all your encouraging comments. I will photograph more motifs tomorrow at the office and post them. About the plaited braid stitch, I know Tricia is working on a set of instructions with great photos that can be posted here and downloaded, like she did for all the other stitches we’ve been doing. She and I [...]

True Confessions

Jill Hall — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:47:15 +0000

I haven’t blogged three out of the last four nights because I simply can’t think of anything to say. Nothing new has happened since about 10 days ago when Carolyn and Robbin worked on the real lace. I’ve been taking this project one bite at a time for over a year (remember the old joke [...]

Sweepings

Jill Hall — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:37:25 +0000

Embroidery sample received from Debbie A; stockings received from Susan J and Monique N; 2 pair gloves received from Linda F. Riches. Penny and Shaina spent the day cleaning the office, not the big workroom, but the office. The office is a medium-sized room. There are two bookshelves, about 12 big plastic tubs that hold fabric [...]

Setting Up and Stitching

Jill Hall — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:59:17 +0000

This is Tricia’s third and final installment on a day in the life of a jacket embroiderer. Once people are settled in and feel more comfortable, we get their frames into a stitching station. Here you see me helping my mom set a frame in a floor stand. There weren’t any stands [...]

Robbin’s Turn

Jill Hall — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:36:05 +0000

On Saturday Robbin made lace. Carolyn lent moral support. Melanie Anne continued to clean up “little bits” of embroidery. Small motifs, or half-finished ones, and some of the little black stitches on the ends of the rose hips. She took a break to worship the pile o’ spangles and hear all about how they were made. Here [...]

Without whom the spangles would not be possible …

Jill Hall — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:38:42 +0000

I know I promised pix of Robbin’s lace work today, but at the time I wasn’t remembering that I wouldn’t be in the office today. I left them in the laptop at the office. Here instead, is the story of the completion of the Spangle Quest in Mark’s own words. The gratitude, though, is seconded [...]

The Real Thing!

Jill Hall — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:49:09 +0000

Mark brought us 101 spangles. After all the time and effort he and others put in, it may seem like a very small pile of result. But there was great rejoicing. Carolyn wound bobbins. Due to a greater demand for the lace kits than we’d anticipated and a longer delivery time on the gold & silver [...]

Getting Settled to Stitch

Tricia — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:39:37 +0000

Yesterday I started a photo journal of a typical day in the life of our sessions. Here we continue on the day. After going over the instructions and as new stitchers are getting their doodle cloths finished, Wendy or I do a ‘highly scientific’ process of looking at the doodles, [...]

What Do We Do?

Tricia — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:57:05 +0000

A few days ago, Robbin did a great job of describing a typical session in the comments but I would like to add to her commentary with a photo journal of the last session. This journal is courtesy of my father, Bill Wilson, an amateur photographer. He was accompanying my [...]

More Hands

Jill Hall — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:21:59 +0000

On February 29, our intern Alex worked on the jacket for the first time. Here are her hands stitching a peapod. At that session we also had another new embroiderer, Myrna. Melanie Anne decided that the state of Maine was under-represented among the embroidery corps, so she persuaded her friend to come down with her. Myrna [...]

Your Thoughts

Jill Hall — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:37:28 +0000

Lace sample received from Julie E. This and all the lace samples are just gorgeous. I get seriously distracted when a new one comes in, holding it up, watching the sequins tremble. . . getting a little nervous about sewing it all together. . . Lovely green stockings received from Monique N. I honestly feel that [...]

Forum’s Up

Jill Hall — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:22:36 +0000

I was planning to address some of the questions in the recent comments, but Robbin has done an admirable and really thorough job. Thanks, Robbin. I was a little swamped, with opening and then a come-to-my-house holiday in the same weekend. The bottom line on the session schedules is - we’re flexible. I am scheduling the [...]

OPEN!

Jill Hall — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 00:11:08 +0000

Today was opening day of the 2008 season at Plimoth Plantation. It was sunny but a little cold, with the wind off the water. It warmed up nicely, though. Here are a couple of pictures taken by Penny at the 1627 English Village morning meeting. This meeting lasts only a few minutes and is sort of [...]

Embroidering Now and Then

Jill Hall — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:32:40 +0000

Tonight I have more pictures from the February 29th embroidery session. Here is Ellen working a ceylon stitch worm in Gilt Sylke Twist. I love the worms. And here are Ellen and Wendy looking at two antique samplers Ellen brought for show & tell. The samplers belong to Ellen’s family, and within a few minutes Wendy had [...]

Catching Up

Jill Hall — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:54:07 +0000

Kandy left us a note in the comments that she’s a new knitter, too, lured in by the jacket project. She said she’d tried it before but it never “took” with her, but this time it did. Colleen asked if we’d ever tried hand pounded oak staves in our stays. No, we haven’t. We use oak [...]

A Good Day

Jill Hall — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:04:25 +0000

Today was a good day in Colonial Wardrobe. For one thing, we got to see Wendy. For another, we got to see Mark, and the way cool gilt ribbon. He kindly brought it up to show us and he and Wendy measured it. Over 18′ of gilt ribbon. We figure it’ll make, oh, plenty of teardrop [...]

Spangle Success!

Jill Hall — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:18:20 +0000

After that meeting Mark went away with research and ideas. A few weeks later, which was last November, he arrived in the Wardrobe Department with, in Wendy’s words “a battered coffee can under his arm and a big grin on his face!” Wendy goes on: The most amazing things tumbled out of that coffee can! [...]

The Spangle Quest continued

Jill Hall — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:35:37 +0000

Wendy sent me this information from her spangle research. She sent it quite a while ago, but I put off posting it in favor of other subjects. I wanted to save some for when we got nearer to the end of the Spangle Quest. I’m posting it now; think about that. While researching word origins [...]

Gilt Sylke Twist Available!

Tricia — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:28:15 +0000

Tricia has some exciting news: Other than a few spools that Access Commodities has given out to shops and designers to promote the up-coming release of Gilt Sylke Twist, Thistle Threads bought the entire manufacturing runs made for the jacket, knowing that not all of the thread would be needed for the jacket. [...]

Wire Drawer

Jill Hall — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:36:58 +0000

Tonight Wendy continues to tell about her investigations into how spangles were made in the past. These descriptions come from post-1620 sources. The methods and techniques described may very well have continued unchanged for decades or even centuries, but unless we find some pre-1620 sources, we won’t be able to know for sure. However, the [...]

Knitters’ Hall of Fame

Jill Hall — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:27:10 +0000

Since November, 2007, we have received: Stockings from: Deb W from MA Veronica M (two pair) Virginia S Melanie Anne (two pair) Linda F Liz P Deb W from Texas Cindy S Leslie H Salley C Gloves from: Rosemary C (two pair) Liz P Julie S (two pair) The interpreters have been coming in all week, picking up their period clothes and choosing new knitted stockings from this fantastic collection. [...]

Donations

Jill Hall — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:49:10 +0000

May be sent to Plimoth Plantation c/o Kim Corben, Development PO Box 1620 Plymouth, MA 02362 Please write on your check or enclose with your contribution a note saying: “Restricted to Embroidered Jacket Project” or something to that effect. And thank you so much for asking! Cheryl asked how much we need. I will sweep together the estimates and let you know in [...]

Who will stitch the vines?

Tricia — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:34:48 +0000

Tricia writes: Good Question. Jill has been asking me this question about once a month recently. I keep pretending I don’t hear her. Of all the elements of the jacket, the vines are the only one that all touch. When it is continuous like that, it is hard to cover up [...]

What Next?

Tricia — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:40:00 +0000

Boy do I love this blog. I couldn’t find my notes on how much gold thread we needed and then remembered that we blogged about it! Sometimes you might read the blog and wonder why we go through all this detail and mindless calculations. Well, this is a perfect [...]

What Needles?

Tricia — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:50:52 +0000

Tricia writes: Before we get lots of questions, I thought I would add a blog about what needles we will use for the goldwork. You can see in this picture a #8 embroidery needle and something called a #10 Japanese needle. In the 1600’s needle eyes were being made by both stamping and [...]

Rapunzel, Rapunzel…

Tricia — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:24:23 +0000

Let Down Your Plaited Braids. Tricia’s writing again tonight, but first I want to mention the receipt of two more lace samples, from Carolyn W and Mary D. Here you can see the trials stitched in plaited braid. What I found was that the 371 Gold Wire was the most flexible and [...]

Rumplestiltskin!

Tricia — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:40:43 +0000

Tricia writes tonight, beginning a “thread” about gold threads for the vines on the jacket. I’m most grateful, as we’re opening the museum two weeks from Saturday and the Day Job is insisting on more of my attention. I’ll try to take some photos tomorrow of that busy-ness. But tonight: How I wish I could [...]

The Nightcap and Horse Trading

Tricia — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:36:02 +0000

Tricia writes tonight: To answer the questions posed by Jill’s blog last night, here is the Glittering Nightcap. Remember back when I wrote about the development of Gilt Sylke Twist and mentioned “horse trading’? Well the Nightcap was part of that deal. To make sure that we could get the [...]

Productive Lace Meeting

Jill Hall — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:28:38 +0000

First, Gail J’s lace sample arrived safely. The sharp-eyed reader award goes to Catherine K, who noticed Tricia’s completed “nightcap” in the photo on Friday. Tricia’s going to write about it so I didn’t photograph it for the blog, but I saw it in that picture and wondered if anyone else would notice. It is so [...]

Leap Day

Jill Hall — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:56:51 +0000

Here are more pictures from Friday. The first two show the transformation of the laundry room into a lunch room. Remember how Beth said that some embroiderers knit? Here’s Rosemary with her first stocking (for us). She’s already knit two pairs of gloves, one larger and one smaller (the smaller ones fit me perfectly). This is [...]

The Very Busy Day

Jill Hall — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 02:03:48 +0000

Yesterday was the first day of a new embroidery session. This time we’re in the Wardrobe office; Accomack is being renovated. So much happened yesterday that it seemed like several days, and it will probably take me several days to tell you all about it. For now, here’s a picture of Tricia getting everyone up to [...]

List

Jill Hall — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:08:05 +0000

1. Are you going to Celebration of Needlework in Nashua, NH May 2 - 5? Would you like to stop in Plymouth coming or going to stitch on the jacket? We’re having “shoulder sessions” the couple of days before and after. Call me [508-746-1622 X 8119] or email jhall@plimoth.org to sign up. 2. Thank you [...]

New Session Dates

Jill Hall — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:59:07 +0000

I have spring and summer session dates for you. All are Friday to Monday weekends. March 28 - March 31 April 11 - April 14 May 16 - May 19 May 30 - June 2 June 20 - June 23 We will be making lace at some of these sessions, but I’m not sure yet if we’ll be ready to do [...]

Mystery

Jill Hall — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:30:55 +0000

In January, Melanie Anne from Maine brought two embroideries for show & tell. They came from her grandmother’s house, but other than that she doesn’t really know anything about them. She and Wendy undid the back of one but found no clues. They’re pretty, and remind me of Jacobean crewel embroideries, with the ‘tree of [...]

For instance

Jill Hall — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 01:57:29 +0000

A few weeks ago Karen asked about having a lacemakers’ forum connected to the blog, and Sandy suggested how that might be accomplished. I forwarded the notes to Rich, both because he’d have to set it up, but also (and mostly) because I hadn’t the slightest idea what was wanted. As so often happens, Rich [...]

How we do what we do

Jill Hall — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:24:02 +0000

It’s funny Sandy should ask (in yesterday’s comments) about how we make stays. I’ve been thinking about doing a “how we do what we do” post, or a series of them, since Carolyn H noticed the rack of serger threads in the background of a photo way back in December. The Colonial Wardrobe & Textiles department [...]

Lace Update

Jill Hall — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 01:15:07 +0000

Lace sample arrived from Bryce W. Several lacers have asked this question - when you send back the sample, we only need 3 repeats of the lace motif, that is 3 scallops of the lace, not 3 of the gold + silver repeat, or 6 scallops overall. I had an update from Mark yesterday. He’s been busy, [...]

Back to School

Jill Hall — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:11:09 +0000

Emily’s gone back to Bennington, and we miss her. But, by working very hard and very fast, she finished the pair of stays for Norah before she had to go. I missed the very end of her stay, including the final fitting, due to yet more germs. It’s been the worst winter for illness [...]

Chris

Jill Hall — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 03:19:11 +0000

At our last session, Chris was our only new stitcher. She was also our only stitcher from out of town - from Michigan. I think (I hope) some folks are waiting for our spring sessions to avoid the New England winter weather. But for some, like Chris, and like Catherine and Deb a few [...]

Of birds, and lace

Jill Hall — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:28:11 +0000

The bird on the blog header is indeed the same as the bird on the jacket, as Mary says in the comments. The bird on the jacket will be a little smaller, though, and the stitches may be a little different. Since we traced and Tricia worked that sample we’ve received more detailed photos of [...]

Just Notes

Jill Hall — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 23:45:38 +0000

Hi everyone, ELIZABETH N PLEASE CALL KATHY. She got your request for 2 kits, but not your contact info. 508-746-1622 X 8114 or kroncarati@plimoth.org Thank you for your very kind compliments on my little leaf. Hi Suz, yes, there will be critters on our jacket, but the embroidery pattern we’re using isn’t from the Laton jacket. We’re using [...]

The Secret Leaf

Jill Hall — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:50:32 +0000

We had a new embroiderer on Monday. It was me! I stitched a plain, single-color leaf in #325. I chose the location carefully; there aren’t that many single leaves left; they’re one of the “training motifs” we’ve been using as first work for those new to the jacket. (The other training motif is the [...]

The Lackey’s Leaf*

Jill Hall — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:32:21 +0000

Lace sample arrived today from Robbin. Today Emily embroidered on the jacket. The first thing she did was a pink bud, shown here next to someone else’s leaf. The top corner shows a little of Wendy’s pansy. This bud is on the lower left corner of the back of the jacket. Next she did a whole leaf [...]

Guests for Lunch

Jill Hall — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:04:20 +0000

Today we had special guests join us for lunch. Jonny and Shelley spend much of their time caring for the rare breed animals in the 1627 English Village. That brief sentence doesn’t begin to capture all they do (I realize I say that often about the staff here, but it’s always true). They build and [...]

Friday Morning

Jill Hall — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:20:43 +0000

Karen asked, in a comment on The Spangle Quest post, whether a blog or list on this blog can be set up for the lacemakers to get together. I have absolutely no idea whether that can be done; I’ve asked Rich. He’ll know. This morning the embroiderers gathered in Accomack to begin another session of work [...]

Intern, Helper, Lackey*

Jill Hall — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:11:51 +0000

Lace sample arrived from Jill H. We’ve got a lot to accomplish this winter, but fortunately we’ve also got help. Joining Shaina and Penny in the Colonial Wardrobe workroom are Kelley, Alex and Emily. Kelley is a Colonial Interpreter who during our open season works in both the 1627 English Village and aboard Mayflower II. This winter [...]

The Spangle Quest

Jill Hall — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:24:22 +0000

Wendy continues the story: Time to rethink - so I went backwards and began again from the “process” point of view beginning with goldsmiths and how the metal is made. Having done wire drawing (the process of stretching or “drawing” metal out to a longer length) and being familiar with the tools I started there. The actual [...]

Spangles Redux

Jill Hall — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 01:37:17 +0000

Both Robbin and Wendy answered my call for more information on spangles on bobbins. See Robbin’s comment on yesterday’s post. Wendy emailed me with pictures; her note is below. Jill, I have attached two photos for the “Spangles” discussion. They show lace bobbins from my collection ( I have been collecting tools for over 25 years) [...]

Sequins, Spangles, Paillettes, Oe My!

Jill Hall — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:15:34 +0000

Tonight’s post was written by Wendy, a Spangle Quester with a background in metal work and jewelry making. I know the lacers wish we wouldn’t call the teardrop shaped metal bits that will be worked into the bobbin lace “spangles”. To lacers, spangles are a hoop of beads affixed to the end of a particular [...]

Gratitude II

Jill Hall — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:09:17 +0000

samples received: Lisa G (embroidery); Susan L (lace) One thing that touches me every time is how grateful the stitchers are to be involved in the recreation of this jacket. It amazes me, because I feel so grateful to all of you - after all, if you didn’t show up, on the blog, in person, by [...]

More Thanks

Jill Hall — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:53:16 +0000

Yesterday, when I mentioned the Textile Conservation Fund and thanked the Mayflower Sampler Guild for their donation, I neglected to thank the Fund’s godmother. Wendy of Wee Works and Tokens & Trifles not only suggested that we establish a fund for the conservation of Plimoth’s samplers, she pretty much insisted on it. It wasn’t that [...]

Thank You

Jill Hall — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:27:06 +0000

Today Plimoth Plantation’s Textile Conservation Fund received a very generous donation from the Mayflower Sampler Guild. The guild’s donation will support the conservation of the “EC” sampler, dated 1660. In this picture, Tricia and Wendy are drooling over I mean examining “EC”. It’s a fantastic sampler, and includes both whitework and colored silk embroidery. Anyone [...]

Lots going on …

Jill Hall — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:25:21 +0000

around here. Thanks, Jen, for offering to check your photos to see if you saw blue “strawberry” flowers on coives at the MFA when you were here. I’d appreciate the info. I think Lauren, mj, and others may well be right on with the thoughts about symbolism in the embroidery. It will be fun to look up [...]

Thistle while you work

Jill Hall — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:23:53 +0000

Kris and Heather are embroidering to close out the week. Those are Kris’ hands. Heather’s working on a thistle. Thank you, Wendy, for the photos and for the title for today’s post. Yesterday we walked to the 1627 Village in the freezing cold and gathering clouds (seems it only snows around here when we’ve got [...]

Strawberry Flower

Jill Hall — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:08:54 +0000

Here’s a picture of Wendy’s completed strawberry flower. I don’t know why the strawberry flowers are blue; and not even pale blue, but BLUE. Strawberry flowers now are white. Heehee…another reason to like this blog program - I can put more than one category on a post!

Odds & Ends

Jill Hall — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:57:59 +0000

At a session earlier this month, Abigail from MA brought a masterpiece of needle tatting for us to admire. Here’s a picture. I don’t know how to tat, so if I dare try to explain I’ll get myself in trouble, like the time with the bobbin lace. I do know that “regular” tatting uses a [...]

Categories AND Tags

Jill Hall — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:47:52 +0000

Seems I misunderstood, and then misinformed you. I CAN have categories, but it isn’t a simple matter of Rich “importing” them from the old program. He has to build them from scratch, which he will, and then I have to go back and manually categorize all the old entries. In the meantime, let me share with [...]

Working Away

Jill Hall — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:59:09 +0000

We started another session this morning. Here are a few pictures of the embroiderers. Wendy’s embroidering today, doing the very first of the strawberry blossoms. They’re blue, for some reason, and the petals are tiny and fussy. Here ’s a picture of Catherine K from Kansas. She’s the Catherine from the lace committee, and has been [...]

Early morning wake up!

Jill Hall — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 23:34:31 +0000

I got up this morning and found that my inbox was very, very full! I hadn’t had my caffeine yet and so it took a minute to register that Susan North (Curator at V&A) had been generous with her time and photographed motifs that I was having difficulty figuring out stitch direction [...]

This is going to be great

Jill Hall — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 01:28:14 +0000

Rich gave me a tutorial today, which was mostly us both browsing around here and saying, wow, this is going to be so much easier/more fun/less stress, AND we can do so many more interesting and exciting things. Now we just have to explore and learn. Which I’m working on. Tonight’s job is to post a [...]

Our First Gentleman

Jill Hall — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:12:51 +0000

Tim, our first gentleman stitcher, proved not only skillful with a needle and steadfast in the face of multiple trefoils, but also adept at “reconfiguring my bluetooth places” which is what was the trouble the night I couldn’t blog from the embroidery session. Tim brought a little pocket to share at show & tell; work [...]

Saturday

Jill Hall — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 01:33:40 +0000

I took many pictures yesterday, and many more today. Lilia took many pictures today, including some amazing ones of finished motifs. I uploaded them all to the laptop, using the wireless internet connection in Accomack. I TRIED to upload them to the blog program. Nothing. More nothing. I decided to email the photos home, some of them, [...]

Plain Silk versus Gilt Sylke Twist

Jill Hall — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:50:57 +0000

Another question from the comments: Could you guestimate how much of the embroidery is done using plain silk vs. gilt twist? Does there seem to be a pattern as to what made the original embroiderers use the gilt rather than the plain?- Phil Tricia responds: I am just loving this blog as it is allowing us all to [...]

Comments on the Comments

Jill Hall — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:32:00 +0000

Some interesting conversations have been happening in the comments lately. I decided to bring them to the main blog so no one would miss any information. Also, I wanted to let you know that over the last several weeks this blog has been the target of spam comments, lots of them. Rich, Plimoth’s patient and hugely [...]

How Much Gold Thread?

Jill Hall — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 23:49:34 +0000

One last post from Tricia on thread development – this time the gold thread for the coiling vines. One of the challenging things on this project is knowing how much of a thread to have made. Since we are doing some rather new stuff, having an accurate estimate is very important because we can’t just pick up [...]

Seeing the Past Again

Jill Hall — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:24:07 +0000

This is the last installment of the Gilt Sylke Twist story. I think saying that this tale was “interesting” is putting it mildly. Even those of us who were there, and/or knew the end result, were eager to hear the next bit. I didn’t read ahead, either, even though I had them all at once [...]

Gilt Sylke Twist

Jill Hall — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:54:26 +0000

Tricia continues: Lamora has promised to fill us in someday on the process she used to name the threads. But we were thrilled to learn that she didn’t use a numbering system. Instead, she named them using 17th-century names and spellings. How appropriate and indicative of the detail she puts to everything. Gilt Sylke Twist is the [...]

What Colors?

Jill Hall — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 01:29:29 +0000

More from Tricia: Once Lamora and I had determined that the thread could go ‘commercial’, it only made sense to turn over control of manufacturing to her and Bill. I would take the role of active consumer and promoter of the thread, trying to find ways to use it and make the [...]

Will it be a Product?

Jill Hall — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:30:13 +0000

More from Tricia. We’re almost to the end of the story! Lamora and I discussed my trials, sent pictures, and passed little samples back and forth. We discussed in detail my opinion on how well the average stitcher would do with the thread. It’s one thing for someone with years of training with gold threads and [...]

Can You Stitch With It?

Jill Hall — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:50:30 +0000

Tricia works with the sample threads for the first time. Think about that – this kind of thread hasn’t been available for, how long? Centuries? And there she is in her living room, working with prototypes, bringing the materials and the technique back to life. Having worked with many different metal threads, I was concerned [...]

The First Trials

Jill Hall — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:47:37 +0000

Happy New Year everyone. I hope the New Year brings you peace and joy and everything you most wish for yourself. I’m looking forward to 2008. I hope it is kind to us all. Tonight Tricia continues the story of the thread: Needless to say, we made some progress in the horse trading and brought up [...]

Sourcing Silk

Jill Hall — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 00:41:06 +0000

Tricia writes: My conversations with Bill had not yet come up with a weight of flat (floss) silk to use for the core of the gilt sylke twist. Again all these terms are difficult, there are many ways to measure the size of a silk thread. Tex and Denier are two of the [...]

How Much?

Jill Hall — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 22:29:39 +0000

Tricia continues the story: This is a question I still don’t have the greatest answer to, although with the record keeping we are doing on the project, we will at the end. So how to estimate the amount of thread you need to make of each color on a project of this magnitude. [...]

Hand Twisting Silk

Jill Hall — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 00:50:36 +0000

Tricia writes tonight about the process of hand twisting silk for embroidery, with pictures. Just a few pictures to give those who haven’t seen anyone twist flat (floss) silk by hand an idea of how it is done. We didn’t take pictures of the entire process, but in brief: - you unreel the silk [...]

More Experiments

Jill Hall — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 02:06:23 +0000

Tricia continues: Last night I talked about the experiments I was doing in January trying to find a solution to the composite thread we needed for the jacket. Well, a few weeks went by and I realized that the bullion was a “s” twist and the silk was a “z” twist thread. What does that mean? [...]

Do You Speak English?

Jill Hall — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:36:31 +0000

Tricia writes tonight, continuing the thread development story. Check also her comments in answer to other comments, on twist direction and thread availability. An old adage in my field is to fail often to succeed - you saw the proof of that the last few nights. Now to convince Bill to make the threads that [...]

Experiments in Thread

Jill Hall — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 02:12:01 +0000

Tricia resumes the thread of the story (pun intended): I was so excited with a possible solution that night that I took the silk gobelin I was working with and ‘made’ a wire wrapped thread by expanding a purl on the silk after threading the two. I placed my fingernails on the [...]

The Usual Work

Jill Hall — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 02:55:13 +0000

Here are Penny and Shaina, carrying on the usual winter work of the Colonial Wardrobe department. I took this during the December session last week. I think here they’re trying to decide whether that shirt is worth saving or is ready to be recycled as a rag. Behind Penny you can glimpse one of the several [...]

Across the Pond

Jill Hall — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 01:16:21 +0000

Tricia continues the story of the research & development that led to the production of gilt sylke twist. At the time we were starting this project, I was aware of only four authentic western style gold thread makers in the world: one in Spain, one in France and two in England. I am now familiar with [...]

Sharon

Jill Hall — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:31:11 +0000

I mentioned the other day that Sharon embroidered several trefoil leaves during this session. The trefoil leaves are not most stitchers’ favorite motif. They have several things going against them - they have toothed leaves, so you have to fuss with stitching the detached buttonhole across tiny spaces; they’re stitched only in plain silk - [...]

Blue and the beginning of something wonderful

Jill Hall — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:47:15 +0000

Tricia wrote this for me, as I’m supposed to be on vacation. Over several days she’ll be telling us the story of the development of the gilt sylke twist threads. I was there through this process, and I’m finding it fascinating reading! I hope you enjoy the story as much. JMH We had a wonderful event [...]

December Session

Jill Hall — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 01:38:06 +0000

The December session is over; everyone has gone home. We were small in number this time, but you could never tell that by how much was accomplished. Here’s Tricia talking with Cheryl S on the first day. The second picture is Sharon, who earned the title ‘trefoil queen’ by completing at least four of the complicated multi-colored, 3-leaf [...]

Watch us on TV!

Jill Hall — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:43:06 +0000

Tricia writes: If you remember, Needle Arts Studio with Shay Pendray filmed our first embroidery session back in June. The episode is going to start airing in the next few weeks at a few stations around the country. The episode is #1710. The first airing that I tracked down was in the KPBT PBS viewing area (Midland, Texas) on December [...]

Other Columbines

Jill Hall — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:55:51 +0000

These drawings were sent in by Libbet (thanks Libbet). She copied them from some period representations of columbines. These, to me, look much more like a columbine, but maybe it is only because they show a side view. If the motif on the jacket is a different perspective, that might account for it.

More Motifs!

Jill Hall — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:49:29 +0000

The numbers in parentheses correspond to the master pattern. First up is the maybe the columbine(6). Like I said the other day, it may well look more like a columbine once it’s been stitched. We’re waiting for some of the new colors of gilt sylke twist. Next one is honeysuckle. This has two numbers - the buds [...]

Motifs to Color

Jill Hall — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 01:24:51 +0000

One thing we haven’t done yet is name all the motifs on the jacket. We may have mentioned some or talked about twelve major motifs, but I don’t think we have yet listed them all out. To help us with putting directions together and keeping track, we have used a numbering system for each motif. This [...]

Correction

Jill Hall — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 18:26:07 +0000

After a hurried email conference, we’ve decided we won’t be able to host lacers at the first two January sessions. The kits won’t be going out in time for folks to work the samples before the session, and we’re still a little up in the air as far as stock for the spangles. Do sign up [...]

Lace Threads Have Arrived!

Jill Hall — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 01:36:22 +0000

Tricia writes: The lace threads for the project have arrived! After testing several threads (noted in earlier blog entries), we chose a family of threads fabricated by Benton and Johnson (www.bentonandjohnson.com). The diameter of the thread was close to that found on lace samples from the first quarter of the 17th century viewed at the Boston Museum [...]

Old Lace or New Lace?

Jill Hall — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:02:24 +0000

Since we’ve started talking about reproducing the lace on the Margaret Laton jacket, several people have left comments or written to me offline to ask questions. First off, the Margaret Laton jacket lives at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England. It is permanently mounted inside a closed case. No one can get in and [...]

Samples Received

Jill Hall — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 01:22:23 +0000

Samples received from Peggy V, Catherine G, and - our first gentleman - Timothy M. I copied the phone number for the Mail Order office wrong - the correct phone number is 1-800-262-9356 X8332. I did fix it in last night’s post, and thanks to Mel for finding it and letting me know. I have no pictures [...]

Embroidered Coif Kit Instruction Book

Jill Hall — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:47:47 +0000

Is Still Available These are just the directions for the old embroidered coif kit, not the kit itself with the design-stamped cloth and floss. But many people have asked for the directions so we’ve made them available. There was a rumor that these were sold out, but they were only sold out of the Crafts Center Gift [...]

Beth’s Work and Play

Jill Hall — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:50:32 +0000

Today’s treats are courtesy of Beth from NJ. I met Beth ages and ages ago when she was doing some research into how living history sites organized their historic clothing programs. I was new at the managing end of things and didn’t know that you weren’t supposed to send back surveys when you got them [...]

Allison’s Treasure

Jill Hall — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:52:04 +0000

Today I’d like to show you another treasure from November’s Show & Tell Day. This belt or girdle was made by Allison. The green velvet piece was 60" long before finishing, and it only lost a few inches in the making up. The embroidery covers 55" of the girdle. The embroidery consists of a double line of [...]

Kandy’s Show & Tell

Jill Hall — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:22:13 +0000

Back to the November session, where there were so many beautiful treasures brought out for show & tell day that it will take some time to show them all.Here are Carol on the left and Kandy, looking over some of Kandy’s work.This is a blackwork cuff, which some day will have a mate and a [...]

WPI, yardage, and laundry

Jill Hall — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:35:36 +0000

The glove pattern we have now calls for 1800 yards of yarn. We are currently using either Jamieson & Smith 2-ply jumper weight or Harrisville Designs’ shetland, which are about 14 wpi. I had these numbers last night but forgot to put them in. WPI means wraps per inch, or how many times a given yarn [...]

Lace, Sheep, Laundry, not in that order

Jill Hall — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 02:06:21 +0000

Last night I promised a picture of the big pile o’ dirty clothes in the wardrobe department. I took several, but forgot to reset my camera so they’re too big (file size) for Bloggie. I’ll get more tomorrow. Those piles aren’t going to disappear overnight. I do have a picture of Shelley-Jo in her brand new [...]

Housekeeping

Jill Hall — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 02:28:11 +0000

Just a few notes tonight; I’m suffering from a surfeit of Thanksgiving. I’m sorry about the problem with the text and pictures from the other day. My sister noticed that reading the blog using Firefox as the web browser showed them fine; I have been using Firefox and don’t know if that’s affecting things. I’ve asked [...]

Back to November

Jill Hall — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 03:06:41 +0000

Here are two pictures from Friday’s lunch last week. Michael, a long-time interpreter in the colonial program (and my husband, not coincidentally) came up for some of Marcia’s chili and conversation. Other days Beth and Kelley, also interpreters, joined us for a meal and chat. This seemed to work very well - the embroiderers as [...]

The Same, but Different

Jill Hall — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 02:29:33 +0000

Here’s more of the November session’s show & tell. The green velvet bookcover embroidered in gold is by Cathy. Under it are two pillows, the top one embroidered by Kandy, the bottom by Kathy. The first time they met they realized they were working on the same pattern. I imagine there was a little of [...]

Happy Thanksgiving

Jill Hall — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 01:45:37 +0000

I had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I went to work. I love going to Plimoth Plantation on Thanksgiving, and today was a beautiful day, unseasonably warm, with a lovely late autumn sunshine reflecting the holiday atmosphere. After checking in at the 1627 English Village’s morning meeting, my Thanksgiving tradition is to head over to the Visitors’ Center [...]

IT’S HERE!

Jill Hall — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:30:10 +0000

Tricia found time in her crazy busy week (try getting a family of four ready for a driving “vacation” to share some good news: Did you all hear a scream of delight from Plimoth and Boston today? If you did that is because a big box of Thanksgiving bounty arrived from Access Commodities and Golden Threads. Our [...]

Cathy’s Show & Tell

Jill Hall — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:24:39 +0000

We had a pile of riches at this show & tell. First up is some of Cathy’s work. She made the coif in three weeks for a competition. She freely admitted she wasn’t working at the time, which really frees up a chunk of time for fiber play. And yes, she did win the competition. Here [...]

November Group

Jill Hall — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 01:33:53 +0000

Here is the November group. From left, Penny, Beth, Wendy, Allison, Kandy, Melanie Anne, and Cathy. Absent are Carol, who joined us for two days but had to work today, Shaina, who was off today, and me. Being the blogger has its privileges. I got to take the picture. We were in the Wardrobe office [...]

Hard at Work

Jill Hall — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:55:24 +0000

Laren asked a few days ago about a PayPal account, in connection with the Textile Conservation Fund announcement. I learned that Plimoth Plantation will soon be launching an e-commerce aspect to the www.plimoth.org website; Rich is busy with it right now. When that goes live we may not need any other vehicle; I’ll keep you [...]

The November Session

Jill Hall — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:18:35 +0000

is in full swing. Today we lost Carol to a migraine (sending get-well wishes to her) but gained Beth, whose professor seemed to think attending class yesterday was important (!?). Here’s Cathy working away at one of the sleeves. The sleeves were the last pieces framed, so they’re the least embroidered. But not after this [...]

Ta-Da!

Jill Hall — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 04:33:43 +0000

Plimoth Plantation is pleased to announce the establishment of the “Plimoth Plantation Textiles Conservation Fund” This fund has been established as a result of the enthusiasm and support for our current project “ A Paradise in Silk and Gold”. It is a recreation of a 17th century embroidered jacket currently housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum [...]

Email Kathy Again

Jill Hall — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 00:56:47 +0000

If you emailed Kathy on or after Friday, November 9, please email her again. She had an email problem (I believe “corrupted” was in the explanation) and lost everything post-Thursday afternoon. Thanks. Those of you who have attended a session or have been following the blog realize that those blue striped tablecloths mean only one thing [...]

Stocking Knitting

Jill Hall — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:31:46 +0000

About the stocking knitting. We buy yarn from Harrisville Designs – their Highland style 100% wool yarn, to be specific. We use that yarn for a few reasons, one is that it comes in a number of colors that look like natural dyes. Other reasons are that it is not expensive, is readily available, and [...]

Judy’s Big Project

Jill Hall — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 14:41:48 +0000

Today’s post is a show & tell. Judy H does beautiful embroidery, both on The Jacket and on her own projects. These pictures show elements from Judy’s Big Project, to complete the panels for a 17th century casket. Judy says: “When in the early 1960’s, I saw an advertisement in an English magazine for a lovely [...]

First Doublet

Jill Hall — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 03:02:23 +0000

This week we’re trying to finish up some warm garments for the interpreters before the start of the next embroidery session. Yesterday I showed you the blue gown I’m working on. Here’s Shaina’s project. This is her first doublet. A doublet is a man’s upper body garment. It’s the most fitted garment we make for men, [...]

Hand Sewing

Jill Hall — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 01:20:41 +0000

When I’m hand sewing, what am I doing? Here are some pictures of my current project. So far it is just the bodice part of what will be a gown in simple blue wool. I lined the front of the bodice in brown linen mostly because when I was cutting it out there wasn’t enough [...]

Spangle Progress

Jill Hall — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:46:11 +0000

During the October session, the Spangle Group (Mark, Tricia, Wendy) met to talk over the spangle research. By spangles, I mean the teardrop-shaped metal tags that are strung on the metal threads used to make the bobbin lace. I have learned from Carolyn that to lacers, spangles mean beaded rings that decorate (and weight) bobbins [...]

Powerless

Jill Hall — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:57:43 +0000

Today we were even more in the 17th century than usual. Saturday there was a big wind and rain storm that affected southeastern New England. Power went out at the office in the morning (only a little while after Penny got in, apparently) and hasn’t been back since. When I got in this morning, we [...]

Old Business, New Business

Jill Hall — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 01:01:52 +0000

Old Business: Thanks for the comment about yesterday’s post, Amy. I was feeling a little guilty this morning, like I was whining about my office computer which I totally didn’t mean to do. (Honestly, partly because if it gets offended it might just Quit. Heaven forbid.) Somewhat outdated technology is just the way it is [...]

New Toy

Jill Hall — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 02:08:46 +0000

We got a new toy today. Robbin, one of our steadfast embroiderers and who is also on the lace committee, works at IBM. Through an IBM program, she applied for a community grant on behalf of the embroidered jacket project. We were able to ask for a cash donation or a gift of technology. Living [...]

Thanks to Cheryl

Jill Hall — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 23:41:00 +0000

Today’s post is a big thank you to Cheryl. Cheryl stayed late on the last day of October’s session helping Wendy and Lilia and me clean up and pack the car for the move back to the wardrobe office. There was a Red Sox game on that night, too. Thanks, Cheryl. Here are Cheryl’s hands working [...]

Food for Thought

Jill Hall — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:48:21 +0000

Some random pictures tonight and some food for thought. Wendy took this first picture; she calls it ‘the hands of the hand photographer.’ Lilia is our youngest embroiderer at the sessions, although she isn’t working on the jacket. She’s been fetching and carrying, generally helping, has taken photos of all the embroiderers’ hands at work, and [...]

Two Loaras

Jill Hall — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:17:37 +0000

How cool is this? TWO Loara Standish samplers. Both Kimberly from PA and Lyn from Ontario stitched a reproduction of the reversible Loara Standish sampler which is in the collection of Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, MA. They each chose slightly different colors and slightly different sizes. Lyn’s is on the left, Kimberly’s on [...]

Sharon

Jill Hall — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 01:50:10 +0000

Tonight’s guest embroiderer is Sharon H. Sharon is in the midst of a pharmaceutical degree program and took time out to visit us and work on the jacket. The second picture shows Sharon’s hands at work. The last picture shows some of Sharon’s embroidery and some of her lace treasures. The lace came from a friend, who [...]

I Love Show & Tell Day

Jill Hall — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 00:56:53 +0000

Here are Jen’s hands working, fastening some thread ends to the back of her work. These floor stands hold the frames acceptably well, but the frames are pretty big. Flipping the frames around in the stands has been a difficulty for most of the embroiderers. Here’s Jen’s blog. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good picture [...]

Genuine antique needlework

Jill Hall — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:14:41 +0000

The other day I mentioned the antique needlework pieces Sharon from VA brought for show & tell. Here they are. First is a panel of flowers worked in queen stitch on a metal ground. My favorite kind of needlework is counted thread, and my favorite counted thread stitch is queen stitch. I may have a new [...]

SCA

Jill Hall — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 01:41:46 +0000

I maybe didn’t mention last night that stumpwork (Rosemary’s dragonfly) is 3-dimensional embroidery. It got that ugly name by accident, because sometimes the raised parts are worked over little bits of wood – stumps. Better name is raised work. So those wings are free from the cloth. The berry type things are really round. I [...]

Samples Received

Jill Hall — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:40:08 +0000

I’ve been lax. Sorry everybody. Samples received from: Tanya S Susan K Linda F Kandy F Cathy B If you requested to be signed up for a January session, consider yourself reserved a spot. I’m a little behind on sending out confirmations; I’ll get right on that as soon as I’m back in the office. This is an extra post; don’t miss the [...]

Pretty Pictures

Jill Hall — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:27:38 +0000

Short, early post tonight. We have a picture of Rosemary from MA sorting out what is the next step. We also have a picture of Rosemary’s hands at work. And a detail photo of Rosemary’s stumpwork dragonfly – stunning. I’ve been hit with a truly nasty bug, which makes the simple sinus infection I’ve been fighting look like a [...]

Lace News

Jill Hall — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:17:17 +0000

At the last session (which just ended Sunday evening) Carolyn, Robbin, Tricia, Wendy and I talked lace. Carolyn has made a spectacular sample of lace using the real-metal threads Tricia recommended, with sequins standing in for spangles. I was deep in conversation about logistics with Robbin and Carolyn when Tricia spirited the sample off to [...]

Introduction

Jill Hall — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 02:10:28 +0000

Every volunteer embroiderer in every session is an amazing, interesting person. I’ve said a number of times that the best part of this project for me has been the opportunity to meet and get to know so many talented and generous people. I’ve been thinking you might like to get to know them too. The first [...]

Like a Needle in the Carpet

Jill Hall — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 00:44:39 +0000

Today was the last day of the October session. An awful lot was accomplished this session, even though it was only three days (this is the last 3-day session; all the rest will be four days as we’ve found that’s more efficient). Wendy caught one of the lighter moments today, when Laura dropped a needle. Embroiderers [...]

The Rest of the Story

Jill Hall — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 03:02:37 +0000

If a picture is worth a thousand words…. This is a picture of Lyn from Ontario taking a photo of two surprise visitors to the embroidery session. These interpreters were hosting a 17th-century dinner for museum guests. Afterwards they noticed the lights still on in Accomack where we have our sessions, so they stopped in. Anne [...]

Well Begun

Jill Hall — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 02:33:47 +0000

Today was the first day of the October embroidery session. It was a long day as we had supper together and then a tour of the Colonial Wardrobe Department afterwards. In upcoming posts I’ll have a spangle update and I want to chime in on the discussion of Linda’s samples that’s been happening in the [...]

A Different kind of Sample

Jill Hall — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 01:48:55 +0000

Linda is testing linens and silks for a new project – she’s volunteered to make a handkerchief with a double running stitch border for Plimoth Plantation. When she came to embroider in September I gave her samples of the three linens we had on hand. Two were unevenly woven and so unsuitable. This is the [...]

Preparations

Jill Hall — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:35:41 +0000

Offers to volunteer to knit stockings keep coming in. We are working on fulfilling the requests for stocking kits and will send them out next week. Thank you all so much. You were right, Beth, you did tell me. And Beth is really from New Jersey, not New York as I said the other [...]

Knitting Again

Jill Hall — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 03:08:58 +0000

Thank you, Carolyn, for tonight’s post topic. I’m home today, and will be again tomorrow, the sinus bug having “failed” the first antibiotic and succeeded in making me miserable. My generous boy also shared his sore throat with me and now I can’t speak at all. You just don’t notice how freely you use your [...]

Some Knit

Jill Hall — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 22:51:06 +0000

During the last embroidery session we had a behind the scenes tour of the Colonial Wardrobe Department. Our office and workrooms are not part of the public area of the museum, so many people find it fun and interesting to come see what we do and how we do it. In this picture Lyn and [...]

The Art of the Embroiderer

Jill Hall — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:08:42 +0000

My apologies to everyone. This is Tricia’s final spangle post (for now anyway). I thought I’d posted all the ones she’d written, and today she sent me a gentle reminder. (smacking forehead) I forgot to post this one. jmh My next look was in that great volume "Art of the Embroiderer" by Charles Germain de Saint-Aubin, [...]

Answers, and Leaf Prints

Jill Hall — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 03:13:05 +0000

First, I asked Tricia to address MJ’s questions in the comments – whether there are any net articles on Edmund Harrison and if the satin stitch would in fact be cheaper than detached buttonhole. She said: I am not aware of any other information about Edmund Harrison outside of the two article set written in Textile [...]

We have Lace

Jill Hall — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 02:03:25 +0000

Carolyn has been working on the bobbin lace for the jacket. Tricia sent her some of the round sequins that will be sewn to the jacket in between the embroidery motifs, just so she could get an idea of how it would be to be sliding spangles along the working threads. In an earlier email [...]

Janet Arnold and Spangles

Jill Hall — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 02:01:38 +0000

Tricia writes: If you own a copy of Queen Elizabeth’s Wardrobe Unlock’d, you know that no one human can parse the density of good stuff in that volume. Last night we talked about spangle info from 1630’s-1660’s. Tonight information from the late 16th century. Orders of materials supplied by Silkwoman Alice Mountague to members of the [...]

In the Books

Jill Hall — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 01:01:46 +0000

All y’all are most welcome on this amazing journey. And now, more from Tricia on the Spangle Quest: Patricia Wardle wrote a fantastically researched two-part article in 1994/95 for Textile History (Vol 25, No.1 Spring 1994 p. 29 and Vol 26, No. 2, Autumn 1995 p. 139). The articles are entitled: "The King’s Embroiderer: Edmund Harrison [...]

Doing Our Homework

Jill Hall — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 02:39:40 +0000

Tricia tonight, writing on the Spangle Quest. This entry was sent to me last Monday, along with all the others, so the weekend in question was last weekend. The process of researching embroidery (or anything) is a random walk if it isn’t your full time profession. (Yeah. And sometimes even if it is.) You do what [...]

Observations and Thoughts on the MFA Spangles

Jill Hall — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 01:19:40 +0000

More Spangle Notes tonight, but first, Tricia reports that the answers to MJ’s questions in the comments are in upcoming blog posts. Carolyn left a message in the comments for Kandy, that the lace pillow is in fact oval and was bought from a Canadian supplier at the IOLI (International Old Lacers, Inc) convention last year, [...]

Spangle Field Trips

Jill Hall — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 01:48:48 +0000

Great questions in yesterday’s comments, MJ, and I’ll work on some answers for you. Tricia’s writing tonight and my comments are in italics: My first trip was to see a wonderful stumpwork picture owned by textile conservator, Joanna Hill. While the piece was fantastic and I will ask her if I can fill many a blog with the [...]

The Description Leads to Questions

Jill Hall — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 02:22:04 +0000

Tricia writes: From the pictures, Mark noted that the divot was most likely the top of the previous spangle in the line of spangles being punched out. He also noted that the ‘awl’ described above was most likely not a pointed awl but a flat or slightly concave die. A pointed awl would not remove material, [...]

Spangle Research

Jill Hall — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:52:22 +0000

Tricia’s writing tonight and probably for most of the week on the progress of the spangle research. First, though, I wanted to let Kandy know that Carolyn’s beautiful lace pillow is indeed oval as it looks in the picture from a few days ago. And I wanted to send some thanks to Lyn, who sent [...]

The Nitty-Gritty

Jill Hall — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 19:44:00 +0000

Today’s post returns to the last day of our September session, fitting on the last day of September, I think. The first photo is Beth finishing ends. When you start a thread on this embroidery, you begin with an “away knot.” That means you put a knot in the end of your thread and take [...]

Magazines

Jill Hall — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 03:09:28 +0000

Tricia’s writing tonight, but first a very small update on the lace. Tricia and Mark had a profitable research trip yesterday, looking at how spangles were made and how to make some now. Tricia got a good look at some 17th century lace, and judged that the threads used, even for lace up to 1 [...]

Reversible Stitches and Flamenco Witches

Jill Hall — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 01:15:54 +0000

After our recent discussion about reversible cross stitch techniques, Linda sent in the information for ordering her little alphabet sampler which uses four different reversible stitches. The picture shows the heap of beautiful items Linda brought to the September session for show & tell. Do you see the reversible sampler? Linda also posted a picture of [...]

More Lace Trials

Jill Hall — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 02:52:49 +0000

“Trials” like tests or experiments, not trials like trials & tribulations. This process is actually going well. Tricia and Mark have an appointment to see some original artifacts with spangles tomorrow. I’ll let you know as they evaluate what they discover. Tricia writes tonight: At our last session, Carolyn came up and we had the chance to [...]

Lace Update

Jill Hall — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:17:46 +0000

This is Marilyn’s hand embroidering. She uses a neat light box contraption that sits right on the embroidery. Marilyn lives locally and is planning to come to Plymouth to embroider for a few days in between sessions. (Yay!) Many thanks to Linda F, who in the comments yesterday offered us the loan of a beginner bobbin [...]

Reversible Stitches

Jill Hall — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 02:01:08 +0000

I referred to my Day Job again yesterday. Here’s a picture of one of the three new interpreters we dressed (i.e. prepared a full set of period clothing for) over the last two weeks. She started on site last Saturday and is having a great time. Thought you’d like to see what we’ve been up [...]

What you can do for the Jacket

Jill Hall — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:42:35 +0000

Tricia is writing today, and I can’t tell you how pleased I was to see this “blog kit” in my inbox – truly pennies from heaven. My Day Job is demanding my attention right now, and I’m also fighting a nasty sinus germ. Thanks so much, Tricia, for jumping in. And I’m glad you and [...]

Loose Ends

Jill Hall — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 03:20:43 +0000

I’ve got some fixing to do, again. The other night when I was having trouble with Bloggie I referred to this picture of Norma’s embroidered butterfly top, but didn’t include the picture. MJ caught the omission and kindly left a comment. Then Norma added that it wasn’t actually her FIRST embroidery, it’s the earliest one [...]

Reverses

Jill Hall — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 01:38:00 +0000

Today I had the first sign-up for a double embroidery session in January. Yay, Judy! Judy will be joining us for a full week of stitching, good company and great food. Want to come keep Judy company? Email me jhall@plimoth.org to hold your spot. Here’s the dates again: Tuesday, December 11 – Friday, December 14 Tuesday, [...]

Maybe just one post tonight?

Jill Hall — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 01:01:46 +0000

I owe a technical post, and I’ll get there, but I’m still recovering from the weekend. I do not have the stamina of this session’s embroiderers, that is for sure. Tonight, more from the show & tell. Lyn is working on a reproduction of the Jane Bostocke sampler. This one is notable for a few different [...]

Again

Jill Hall — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 02:55:41 +0000

AND ONE MORE POST because this foolish machine is smarter than I am. Here is some of Abigail’s needle lace – also called reticella. And here’s a LINK to a bigger picture. It was amazing and beautiful and rich with hours lavished on it. It seemed like there was an extravagantly long strip of it but [...]

Show and Tell, 2

Jill Hall — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 02:42:16 +0000

Part the Second. Abigail brought some treasures, too. Here she is wearing the coif she made from Plimoth Plantation’s coif kit. Is that the smiling face of a woman who has been able to devote four days in a row to stitching? Here’s another view because you can either see the coif or the wearer but not [...]

Show and Tell Part One

Jill Hall — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 02:38:46 +0000

OK. Bloggie has won. I’ve been trying for 40 minutes to put what I think are a reasonable number of pictures in this post. Bloggie (grrrrr) thinks my picture use is excessive. SO. TWO POSTS. Take that. Here’s the first bit. Thanks for giving me last night off. I’d fully intended to blog after winding up [...]

September Session Hands

Jill Hall — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 03:07:34 +0000

Today was a good day, but long. One embroiderer chose to see Plymouth Cinema’s first screening, La Vie en Rose. A few others opted to go for a late dinner and embroider while they waited for her to join them. These ladies put in a very long day of stitching. I’m exhausted just watching. So [...]

September Session Day Two

Jill Hall — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 02:44:27 +0000

Yesterday we had an excellent lunch of turkey sandwiches, carrot salad and frozen pumpkin ice cream with gingersnaps. Anything that comes out of Marcia’s kitchen is worth walking a long mile for, and this lunch is getting to be an embroidery session tradition. Marcia runs the behind-the-scenes Foodways kitchen for the Colonial Interpretation program. She [...]

Session Three and the Spangle Quest

Jill Hall — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 02:38:44 +0000

So now I look like a real idiot. I totally messed up where those kits went yesterday. Carol is in England, not Australia. SUSAN is in Australia. CAROL was wondering if buying a kit and sending in the sample was really contributing. Well, I was right about that part. You ARE really contributing. Hello to [...]

Everyone’s helping, and beginner lace kits

Jill Hall — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:23:54 +0000

Kathy sent out two more kits today. One went to Australia. Australia! That is really and truly the other side of the world. How cool is that? Apparently Carol in Australia (Hi, Carol!) felt she wasn’t able to contribute to the project because she’s so far away. Au contraire! (I’ve now exhausted the sum total [...]

New Session Dates

Jill Hall — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 02:00:42 +0000

No samples came in but FIVE kits went out! It is absolutely not too late to participate, so if you’ve been thinking about ordering a kit, now is the time. Call Kathy at 508-746-1622 X 8114 or email at kroncarati@plimoth.org Get a kit now and join us to embroider in December and January. October and [...]

Question Answered

Jill Hall — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 03:34:39 +0000

Today Shaina checked the lacing in all the frames, tightening and replacing where necessary. She also whipped up a new cover or two. Last time Tricia brought two new framed pieces and they needed their own covers. I guess the lace trials are going OK. This is part of a message I got from Carolyn today: I [...]

Successful Soiree

Jill Hall — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 02:51:14 +0000

I have successfully soirée’d. It was a fun evening, more so than I thought it would be. I hadn’t been to one before and it’s not that I thought it wouldn’t be fun. It’s just that in order to meet new people I sort of have to gather myself up to it. I get much [...]

Lace Trials

Jill Hall — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 01:17:35 +0000

Sample arrived today from Linda V. I got a question and am throwing it to our experienced lace makers. If the pins hold the twist or mark where the holes are going to be in the lace, what holds the holes open when you remove the pins? Why don’t the threads just mush together like they [...]

September schedule, and Carol’s leaves

Jill Hall — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 02:47:03 +0000

In answer to a comment left yesterday, the silk thread has an S twist. Sample received today from Sharon W, who cannot travel to embroider but was very kind to complete the sample and send it in. Even if you can’t come, we’d really like to have as many samples as possible so we can include [...]

The Swanky Soiree

Jill Hall — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 03:42:07 +0000

EESH. I better create a section where I just correct mistakes, like the “oops” part of my favorite knitting magazine. I messed up the initials of Carolyn’s lace group – they are the New England Lace Group and can be found at www.nelg.us And thanks for the offer, Carolyn, I think it would be great [...]

Lace II

Jill Hall — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 03:25:02 +0000

OOPS. I mistakenly described bobbin lace incorrectly yesterday. See, I’m really not on speaking terms with this art. After the threads are twisted (by moving the bobbins around, I mean you put the bobbins over or under or around and then slide the resulting twist all the way up to where the lace is actually [...]

Lace 101

Jill Hall — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 02:52:06 +0000

What is bobbin lace? I know it is not made by cutting threads out of a fabric and then filling in the open places. It isn’t crocheted or knitted. Bobbin lace is made by twisting threads (wound on bobbins) around pins. There seems to be a fair amount of magic involved. Here’s a PICTURE of [...]

Bobbin Lace

Jill Hall — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 02:27:33 +0000

I’m sorry I neglected to mention that a sample arrived from Kathleen S last week. So. Bobbin Lace. For the next week I think the blog will be bobbin lace central. First up is an examination of the lace on the Laton jacket. I’ve been in contact with the Victoria & Albert museum, owner of the [...]

Making Progress

Jill Hall — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:30:43 +0000

Tricia writes: This shows the back of the jacket after Session 2. The back is the largest piece which has the most embroidery on it already. It is being used as the ‘testing ground’ to develop the instructions for each motif, therefore it progresses faster. It’s exciting to start to see the color fill in, but there is soooo [...]

Links

Jill Hall — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 02:08:32 +0000

Tricia writes: During Session 2, Lauren Sauer (seen here relaxing with the back of the jacket), brought her notebook to share with us. Lauren has been diligently printing out the blog and keeping a notebook. In this book she has added any pictures of embroidered jackets or portraits she has dug up. I was so excited to see [...]

The Crafts Center - Embroidering for the Public

Jill Hall — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:31:33 +0000

Tricia continues: Along the theme of education that I started the other day, an early goal of the project was to somehow share this with the general public. If you have visited Plimoth Plantation before (and you should), you will know that there is a Craft Center where modern artisans who are experts in 17th-century techniques [...]

Our Girl Friday - Laura learns to Stitch

Jill Hall — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 01:33:04 +0000

Tricia writes: I am excited to report on our education mission of this project today and tomorrow. When we started the project we felt that it could be used as a focal point to bring new people to the embroidery community. I am happy to be able to introduce you to one such new convert – [...]

Historic Threads Part Two and some Lace Talk

Jill Hall — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 03:28:25 +0000

Here’s the end of last night’s post which was written by Tricia. Rather than fight with the blog program to put in more pictures, I decided to save two for tonight. The last thread to show you is the silk wrapped purls. This is when a copper wire is wrapped with a silk thread so no [...]

Historic Threads, part one

Jill Hall — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 03:42:22 +0000

Tricia writes tonight: One of the things that infrequently shows up in books on embroidery are close-ups of the work and the complex materials that embroiderers of the past had at their disposal to work with. I have taken a few close-up pictures of Joanna’s piece to share with you the complexity of things we no [...]

Visitors to Session Two

Jill Hall — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:25:54 +0000

Tricia writes: One of the nice things about recreating the jacket is how so many people are interested in the project and sometime we have special visitors with things to share. This sharing is really enriching everyone and also bringing on more and more collaborations between communities. During this session, Joanna Hill (a well-known textile conservator in [...]

The Age of Homespun

Jill Hall — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 01:18:25 +0000

Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth. New York, Alfred A. Knopf: 2001. ISBN 0-679-44594-3 Laurel Thatcher Ulrich has a gift for making history accessible, personal, even intimate. In this volume she tackles one of the most prevalent myths of American history, that all colonial housewives [...]

Plymouth in January

Jill Hall — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:41:25 +0000

In the interest of making a lot of embroidery progress in a short amount of time, we’ve scheduled four sessions in January. We’re going to run two sessions back-to-back, twice. If you haven’t been able to make any of the sessions so far, now’s your chance – come to Plymouth in January (OK, doesn’t have [...]

December session expands and Who gets to Wear it?

Jill Hall — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 02:35:07 +0000

First, Kathy has managed to secure us a larger room for the December session – December 11-14. (YAY, Kathy!) That means we can have the full complement of 12 embroiderers. So far I have 10, and a couple of those are tentative, so is there anyone else out there who would like to come to [...]

Crystal Clear

Jill Hall — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 03:43:33 +0000

HA. I think I did it. Last week, or is the week before? Carol left a request in the comments. The photo of the full sleeve was blurry, could I post a clearer one? I consulted with Rich (I’m all the time with the calls, how do I do this? Can I do that? and [...]

Get Well Wishes

Jill Hall — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 03:11:16 +0000

One of our embroiderers had to leave early last week due to illness. I’d like to send some get well wishes to Joanne D; we all hope she’s all better in no time, and will be able to join us again. I incorrectly credited one of last night’s photos. The close-up of Shaina’s hands embroidering was [...]

New Recruit

Jill Hall — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 02:51:50 +0000

One of the objectives of the embroidered jacket project is to introduce not-yet-embroiderers to the art, and to encourage beginning embroiderers to tackle more complex projects. We’re meeting that objective already. Here’s Shaina, the newest tailor in the Colonial Wardrobe Department. She started in June, just before the first embroidery session. She had done some embroidery [...]

Session Two Show & Tell

Jill Hall — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:14:08 +0000

Well, Session Two is in the books, and by all accounts was a resounding success. The whole story’ll unfold over a couple of days, especially because I have lots of pictures, but for starters: An unexpected delight of the first session was getting to see and admire treasures brought in by the volunteer embroiderers. This time, [...]