Marriage Pillowe – Dressing Harmony

Since I saw this embroidered casket at Sudeley Castle last year, I’ve been interested in stitching people and clothing. I’m now at the point on the Marriage Pillowe from the Crewelwork Company that I’m dressing Harmony and Issac : Harmony first, of course!

The stitch used to create the dress on Harmony is crewel stem stitch. Each row is worked very closely to the previous row. The bands of color shading generally go from light to dark or vice versa. The placement of the colors is what gives the visual effect of folds in the fabric along with the gentle curves of the stitch guidelines.

The stitch guidelines for each separate color aren’t identical on both sleeves, nor are they the same on both sides of the bodice of the dress, which keeps the dress from looking like something from a coloring book. In the photo above you can see how the lines for the left sleeve and the skirt indicate different widths for the different shades of blue.

When looking at images of needlework from the past, there is a wide variation in the success of “dressing” their subjects. More often, they look both stylish and realistic, giving us a glimpse into the fashionable world of the past.

Panel with musical party in a garden, 1647 English, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Canvas worked with silk thread; tent stitch

Look at the folds on the blue gown of the woman playing the lute: the embroiderer has taken great care to make it looks as realistic as possible. The brown cape on the man next to her hangs beautifully off his bent elbow. The dress that really catches my eye is the flowered one. The embroiderer has not only stitched an intricate design on the fabric, but included stitches that give the impression of the folds in the dress.

David and Abigail, mid-17th century English, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Canvas worked with silk thread; tent, back, and cross stitches

The clothing on all of the figures in the piece above give a sense of movement. The soldier on the top of the hill to the far left is walking briskly as indicted by the movement of his uniform. The shading is really beautiful on all of the dresses.

Sometimes the skill of the embroiderer isn’t quite up to the task, however, and the person looks less than lovely. Here the men seems to be quite well turned out but the poor woman has been dressed in what appears to be a large, deep pink sack. not a good look! I hope my effort for Harmony will be more flattering!

She looks much better with her whole top on, doesn’t she? The collar and the necklace will be a nice finishing touch.

Stem stitch worked closely together has a beautiful texture for clothing. Harmony has only her top on thus far, but her skirt will be finished soon and then it’s time to dress Issac, poor man. The little bit of work that’s done on Harmony’s dress gives a hint of how lovely the piece will be when it’s complete.

Have you ever stitched clothing? What’s your favorite stitch to use?

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This entry was posted on Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 at 13:32. It is filed under Marriage Pillowe, Phillipa Turnbull and tagged with Crewel, Crewel work, Marriage Pillowe, Phillipa Turnbull. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.