This is my gauntlet. I worked it as part of my apprenticeship at the Royal School of Needlework back in 1993, or thereabouts, sometime in my second year. It was one of the last pieces I worked where we could pretty much work whatever we wanted, so I decided on this. I wanted to work something royal, regal, opulent, theatrical, and in red and gold.

 

I made the glove, but not the pattern as it is a specialist craft in itself, I found a pattern I could use, hand stitched it together by hand, and added the decoration. It fits my hand.

 

The glove part is soft red leather which I purchased from a leather merchant somewhere in London in the 90's. I light washed it in black ink to take away the glare of the bright red, and to make it look aged. It worked really well, and of course I tested my process first.

 

I did intend on working a pair, but ran out of time for assessment, therefore I concentrated on completing one, but I have the workings of the other.

 

It is worked on silk, mainly using metallic threads couched over padding. The padding was a lot of work before the decoration. It has metallic kid red leather, beads, bullion knots, metallic braid, and some free-motion machine embroidery within the diamond squares. It has a little bullion, bright check purl, but mainly it is metallic thread, all hand stitched apart from the free-motion machine embroidery.

 

It looks as though I have used bullion throughout which are traditional metal threads, but in fact it is mainly metallic threads and braids which I could manipulate more for the design I chose. The design itself is purely decorative and drawn on a curve so that it is wider at the top and fits the glove at the bottom.

 

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#tracyafranklin
#apprenticeship
#royalschoolofneedlework

 

Saint Cuthbert's day - 20th March

To celebrate the Feast of Saint Cuthbert, around the 20th March, we are showing two pieces of work in the latest RSN Durham news bulletin, by past Royal School of Needlework students.

. . . more gold work contempo . . .

More from my gold work sample based on line ~ zig-zag lines, and spirals . . .

gold work contempo!

I worked this piece a couple of years ago, but as yet, I have not really published any images of it, only a glimpse!

This is only part of the whole piece, based on couching and line.  My aim was to experiment with couching and work with straight lines, stepped lines, curves, spirals, zig-zags, etc.  I also decided to work the piece in black and gold threads, including tarnished threads, as I love the depth of colour they produced.

The threads include - Passing thread, Pearl purl intact and stretched, Rococo thread, Twist, Plate - crimped and upstanding.

Most of the plate I used was thrown in a bin by a student I was teaching on a residential workshop sometime ago which I lifted out and kept for myself.  She had obviously thrown it away because it was tarnished, but I loved it!

The last two images I experimented with in Photoshop.  I always slightly edit images anyway, but I thought I would experiment further and post them.

Enjoy!

Logo - final . . .

Final result

Another viewing point!

And this is it - complete!

Very soon, I will be blogging about my teaching for Williamsburg, which I am teaching on behalf of the Royal School of Needlework this May . . .

Logo - part six . . .

Pearl purl outline . . .

. . . all around the edge

The Pearl purl, is used to edge the final piece, which is couched into place and cut to fit the shape.  Nearly finished . . .

Logo - part five . . .

Bright check purl chip work

Centre complete!

The centre of this logo is worked with Gilt Bright check purl chip work, where the purl thread is cut into tiny little pieces and individually threaded on like a bead, and sewn on to the centre surface.  All the pieces are so small and compacted together, that it gives a very shiny sparkly appearance.

I worked this technique into the evening when the light was starting to fade, hence the mood of these images . . .   

Logo - part four . . .

Starting the Pearl purl from the centre bottom

Encase the thread around the Pearl purl, and make sure it clicks in between the beads on the Pearl purl

Circle complete - meeting both ends - head on

Pearl purl thread is used mainly for outlining and the finishing of gold work.  Outlining is normally applied after most parts of the design have been worked, but in the case of the centre, where I will be filling it with chip work, the outline is applied first, and then the centre can be filled.

I used No.1 Gilt Pearl purl, and started the circle from the bottom middle - a good tip if ever working lettering.  However, this logo of mine, is symmetrical, and therefore does not have a top or bottom as such.

Logo - part three . . .

soft string padding complete ready for the gold cut work

gold cut work - gilt smooth purl; gilt bright check purl, at an angle
worked with a No.10 crewel embroidery needle

gold cut work from the top!

So, here you can see how I do the cut work.  I don't start right at the end, but a little way in, or the centre to get a good angle on the cut work.  These gold or gilt purls are spirals of wire, which bend, and enable the needle and thread to pass through the middle.  I can work this technique quite quickly now with the years of experience I have behind me, although it can be a tricky technique, because these purl threads can fracture and damage easily.

The actual size of this silk and gold cross is about 1½ inches wide, so the images are quite magnified!

Logo - part two . . .

couching over paired passing thread with brick stitch

more couching

couching complete and the ends are ready for plunging

soft string padding ready for cut work

Every time I work this design, I approach it differently, shading with different colours, shading dark to light, or light to dark, working with finer threads or bolder threads. 

I used fine gold passing thread for the couching, which looks very delicate, with the whole piece worked on a linen background.

Lindisfarne Gospels workshop

a montage of students work

I taught a workshop at Burnbrae just north of Kelso in the Scottish Borders, testing my ideas on my students.

We worked on a combination of ideas including gold work couching and or nué, running stitch, applying gold kid leather, Pearl purl outlining and silk shading.

The Lion and the Unicorn

The Lion and the Unicorn

This magnificent piece of gold work, is part of my collection of things I have acquired or purchased.  I am not entirely sure where I acquired this piece, but it has been cut from something else and quite close to the embroidery itself, so at some point I will mount it onto another background fabric.
The piece is approximately 4 inches or 10cm square.   

Another glimpse . . .

gold in line formations

Another further glimpse of my latest work based on line as a pattern.

Gold couching in Line formation

stepped lines

straight lines

A glimpse of  some of my latest work inspired by LINE as a design source, and using tarnished, black and old gold metal threads.  More will be revealed at a later date!