Characteristics of fabric
Usually, in the Middle Ages precious pictorial embroidery with silk and gold was performed on silk fabrics sewn on a linen base. Therefore now we choose for medieval embroidery similar fabrics if possible.
There are some exceptions. For example, the famous pictorial embroidery from the 11th-century, the Bayeux Tapestry, was made with woolen threads on linen.
An important condition for fabric selection is the absence of elastane or spandex in its composition. Even a small percentage can spoil the embroidery.
The fabric should not stretch, should be sufficiently tightly woven and not transparent at all.
Chiffon, silk gauze, tulle, or any thin silk fabric are not suitable as ground fabrics for this type of embroidery.
Color
The ground fabric can be almost any color. It depends on the creative idea.
If you start with an old embroidery as an example, then you can choose fabrics according to the color of the example. Keep in mind that the color of fabrics (and threads) on ancient embroideries has faded significantly or even changed beyond recognition. You can get a more accurate color range from ancient icons, manuscripts, mosaics, or enamel products from the same historical period.
In the Middle Ages, purple, dark blue, blue, ocher yellow, sand, lingonberry, crimson, burgundy, red, mustard, and grass green colors were popular. It is only necessary to know that in ancient times, fabrics were dyed with natural dyes, so at that time there were no bright, no pure, "acid" colors as there are today. Therefore, it is desirable to avoid such colors for traditional embroidery.
Most ancient embroideries have a central part of one color and a border of another color. Sometimes these are contrasting colors, sometimes they are close, but it is always a very harmonious combination.
With a pattern or without?
Plain smooth fabrics or plain fabrics with a jacquard pattern were used for embroidery most often. Jacquard patterns give additional preciousness to the embroidered work. These fabrics are easy to work with and the embroidery looks great on them.
Fragment of an ancient embroidery on patterned fabric.
As for patterns, before purchasing a patterned fabric, you should know about textile ornaments characteristic of the Middle Ages. These are always very stylized images, not naturalistic flowers, fruits and so on.
Medieval patterned silk fabrics.
Patterned silk fabric from my stash.
Sometimes you can see ancient embroidery on fabrics with a large contrasting pattern. Often it happens that the bright contrasting background is a late addition, and in the original, the embroidery was made on a plain background, which obviously faded over time. The gold-embroidered composition was then cut out and sewn onto a new fabric. However, sometimes embroidery was performed directly on such fabrics, more commonly for decorative ornamental embroidery designs with gold and pearls than for pictorial embroidery.
In any case, if there is a desire or need to embroider on a fabric with a contrasting pattern, make sure that your embroidery is large and bright enough to stand out well against this background and that the pattern of the fabric will not dominate the embroidered composition.
Frontal "The Queen Appeared", early 17th century. The work of Kseniya Godunova (daughter of Tsar Boris Godunov). .
As for the border, here a fabric with a bright contrasting pattern can perfectly frame and complement the embroidery in the middle part, replacing the embroidered ornament or inscription that is often done on the border. In addition such a border can be partly embroidered following the fabric pattern.
Fragment of an ancient embroidery with patterned fabric border.
Velvet and patterned velvet
Another option for the embroidery background is a velvet or a patterned velvet fabric.
Work on velvet is difficult and has its own nuances, so beginners should not embroider on it.
Instead, you can embroider on silk, and then carefully cut it out and sew it to the velvet.
Fabrics from my stash. Modern patterned velvet and silk velvet.
For embroidery directly on velvet, you should choose a fabric with the shortest pile and sew on it a thin white silk on which the embroidery will be performed. After finishing the embroidery, pull the edges of the silk gently and trim it close to the embroidery.
Another option: after applying the pattern, pluck out the velvet pile in places that will be covered with embroidery. First, transfer a reverse image of the drawing to the underside of the fabric. The reverse image on the back will result in a positive image on the front side. Next, place small running stitches along the lines of the pattern, using a thread color that will contrast enough with the color of the velvet for the stitches to be visible on the front. Next use tweezers to pluck the pile in the areas to be covered with embroidery. At this point you can begin embroidering.
This method is quite laborious and is only suitable for velvet with a very short pile; otherwise, the embroidery will look as if it has sunk into the pile.
Auxiliary fabrics
Sometimes for embroidering faces, hands or other parts of the body, a thin white silk fabric of linen weave is sewn onto the background fabric. This is done in cases where the background fabric is too bright, dark or has a contrasting pattern. The silk is needed to provide an even background tone for embroidering the face, so that the bright color of the background does not show through the light embroidery on the face.
In addition to the background fabric, a linen base is required for embroidery.
The linen base should also not contain elastane/spandex, should be dense enough, but not coarse like burlap. Linen for the base should not have a distinct texture that can be seen through a thin silk background fabric.
For covering the bars and making "pockets" for an embroidery frame you can choose the same linen as for the base, or use coarser and more textured linen. The main considerations are that it be sufficiently dense and not stretch.
Embroidery for clothes
If you plan to embroider with gold on clothes and think about the prospect of washing the embroidery, you should first check how the selected silk fabric will look after washing. Some types of silk fabrics partially lose their attractiveness after washing; this is clearly visible on larger pieces of fabric.
Silk crepe de chine usually looks good after washing.
In any case, you can embroider with gold on any sufficiently dense fabric without elastane/spandex, in particular on linen, to make a design that can be appliqued on clothing. You mayt even embroider directly on the clothing fabric. Depending on the size of the clothing component you wish to embroider, it may be helpful to trace the outline of the pattern piece on do the embroidery before cutting out the pattern piece.
In this case, you don’t need a second layer as you would for silk.
Where to get fabrics?
Plain smooth silk fabrics, velvet, as well as linen for the base and covering bars can be purchased at fabric stores for sewing and needlework.
In shops of interior fabrics, you can buy wonderful silk (or those that contain natural silk) fabrics with luxurious stylizations and jacquard patterns very similar to the ancient ones. However, the minimum order is often 1 meter or 1 yard.
Sometimes in such shops you can get these wonderful fabrics for free. The fact is that factories regularly update their assortments and some fabrics are withdrawn from production, and therefore the collections of samples of these beautiful, expensive fabrics eventually contain too many discontinued styles. . And in the case of fabrics with large jacquard patterns, there may be quite large pieces of fabric of 0.5m/sq.m and larger, in several different colors. Store employees can give them to you for free and this wealth will be enough to work on for many years.
Sometimes such collections of fabrics can be found in secondhand stores or where scraps and remainders of fabrics are sold.
If you are lucky enough to get such a beautiful fabric, do not try to place the composition of embroidery in the center of the jacquard design. It looks very authentic if it is shifted and the fabric “lives its own life” independent of the embroidery.
Ancient pieces of fabric
Piece of fabric from a secondhand store.
Olga Fishchuk.