Faking Blackwork

[Stasiakatt]

You could use fabric markers. I'm pretty sure that I have seen some with a fine tip. I know I have seen fabric markers at Michael's and JoAnn's. I would think that for a parlet or sleeves faking the blackwork would work. Something that popped into my head was using a lightbox, or a lamp under a glass tabletop to illuminate a pattern to trace over as long as the fabric was thin enough for the pattern to show thru.

[isabelladangelo]

  Sweet!  I was going to start work on the 4th (and final) chapter of the Thesis tonight.  As soon as I check out the sites, make sure they are in the 'allowable sources' and book mark them for the foot notes, I can start harvesting quotes. I can also print a copy of the Hardwick portrait for extra credit on the Artworks and references page.  Thanks!


   Sorry I side tracked the thread, We should get back to helping the lady with with her Blackwork instead of using you all to do my homework ^_^.

Page 78, QEI's wardrobe unlock'd by Janet Arnold.  "The delightful variety of motifs in the Hardwick portrait include pansies, roses, iris, sea monsters, a crab, snakes, butterflies, fish, a sea horse, a kingfisher, and a swan, among many birds, executed in a wide range of colours.   These are scattered over the white silk in a random arrangement.  All this suggest that the design is probably embroidery rather than staining."   In the book are several examples of similar extant embroideries from roughly the same time period.

And I don't think anyone minds too much when hijacked threads contribute to learning something new. 

[Cilean]

Why not check for people who have embroidery machines? I make some awesome cuffs and collars in about 20 minutes! Also there is a lady here who makes things for people on her embroidery machine with some lovely patterns!

Cilean

[Rowan MacD]

  Sweet!  I was going to start work on the 4th (and final) chapter of the Thesis tonight.  As soon as I check out the sites, make sure they are in the 'allowable sources' and book mark them for the foot notes, I can start harvesting quotes. I can also print a copy of the Hardwick portrait for extra credit on the Artworks and references page.  Thanks!


   Sorry I side tracked the thread, We should get back to helping the lady with with her Blackwork instead of using you all to do my homework ^_^.

Page 78, QEI's wardrobe unlock'd by Janet Arnold.  "The delightful variety of motifs in the Hardwick portrait include pansies, roses, iris, sea monsters, a crab, snakes, butterflies, fish, a sea horse, a kingfisher, and a swan, among many birds, executed in a wide range of colours.   These are scattered over the white silk in a random arrangement.  All this suggest that the design is probably embroidery rather than staining."   In the book are several examples of similar extant embroideries from roughly the same time period.

And I don't think anyone minds too much when hijacked threads contribute to learning something new. 

The QEI's Wardrobe book is probably my best bet.  The teacher told me "NO Wiki-anything, webpages, Blogs, or works of Fiction when quoting authors for supporting facts".   I should be able to use this to support the statement that artisans used both methods to achieve approximately the same result.             
   In the Hardwick Portrait, embroidery is a more likely choice simply because stain doesn't always stay where you want it; especially if it finds a fiber it likes and decides to follow it (wicking).
   On a project this ornate, for a Queen, no less, you can at least pick out a bad design if it's stitched in.  Not so much with dye.


Cilean gave me an idea....If you can find some black lace with a pattern you like, it could be stitched to the edge (not hanging over) of a sleeve or collar and it might pass as an intricately embroidered edge.  Anyone tried that?

[Magpie Flynn]

Lol, I don't mind the hijacking at all, it'a all been an interesting read. I'm pretty decent with freehand drawing so I might give the fabric markers a go and see how that works out!

[Anna Iram]

Here's a wonderful page full of helpful information and links to pictures and patterns.
http://www.prettyimpressivestuff.com/blackwork.htm

Looking forward to seeing how your hand drawn blackwork comes out.

[gem]

I just stumbled onto a dress diary for Anna Valerius from "Van Helsing," where the costumer used paint to recreate Anna's elaborate embroidered Romanian blouse:

http://www.squidoo.com/anna-valerious-cosplay

For comparison, here's a couple nice images of what the real embroidered blouses look like:

http://www.costumes.ro/detailsOTMA02.htm

Now, the costumer doesn't give any close-up pix of her work, but from a distance it looks pretty impressive! 

That said, she spent SIXY-TWO HOURS doing the paint job. For that amount of labor, I would definitely go with the real thing (either do it myself or buy it; those blouses run around $100-120. I'm seeing shirts/chemises trimmed in machine blackwork on etsy anywhere from $50-80.).

[Cilean]

I was also thinking you can use a fancy stitch to mimic blackwork like this:


You can play with several stitches to get the look!

Cilean