Sacred Heart Goldwork Embroidery
I couldn’t think of a better project than this Sacred Heart goldwork embroidery to bring the Needle & Paper blog back from its dormancy. This too is the result of a workshop with Clara Stitching, taken about 2 years ago. The project was (as many of my other finished works) in a plastic box waiting to be used or somehow displayed. I decided to frame it to give me to my mom as a Christmas present last year. The framer, also a local embroidery artist and designer, did justice to the endless hours of painstaking work. At the end, it all paid off.
When it comes to goldwork embroidery, rarely, if ever, is a fast process. Like I said above, this project took months to be completed. After taking the workshop, I watched the videos several times over and over again, to make sure I had the right technique for each step.
The photos bellow, show parts of those steps. I followed attentively the order of work, the selection of material and stitches, from its beginning to the end.
Like I posted on my social media when I was about to start this project: "Let the challenge begin"
As you see, Clara was inspired by a holy card with the painting of an original mural (or perhaps a tapestry) displayed at Basilic of Sacre-Coeur in Paris.
The challenge began with transferring the intricate design to the fabric. I chose linen backed with cotton.
Some of the techniques were familiar to me, but some were not. Here I was introduced for the first time to cut work, at the cross.
For this design, I chose a medium weight linen fabric in ivory. A higher count linen, would’ve given a more delicate result, but I also think it could’ve been more prone to tearing. Other fabrics to consider for this type of work would be a more resistant silk dupioni or silk (satin) duchesse.
A closer look to the completion of the heart, using traditional goldwork techniques such as couching, chipping, and cut work.
Finishing the rays felt like an accomplishment. It was an immeasurable amount of hours of couching, plunging thread ends, and securing them at the back.
I love the delicate detail of the leaves. The were done in the same way as a stitcher would do a leaf, but instead of using cotton or silk threads, we used a metallic one.
Another challenge was the oval around the heart. The stitch itself wasn't the issue, we used heavy chain stitch, but the fact that we were working with the finest, 99% gold thread. It was hard to see where to bring the needle back up to catch the first chain. I would recommend to use a good quality, ideally glass magnifier when working with fine gold thread.
After over a year of being completed and a fail attempt to finishing it myself, I decided to take the project to a recommended framer. Wendy Innes, a local embroidery designer and artist, who is a fellow member of the Calgary Guild of Needle and Fiber Arts, specializes in heirloom pieces. She was the only framer who offered to cut the mat in an oval shape, and also the only one who suggested the use of velvet. For her, not just the style but the quality of the materials, need to honour the piece. Clearly, she is an expert. The photo above doesn’t do justice to Wendy’s work.
Thank you for visiting and for sticking this far. I hope you enjoyed reading about this project. I like to call it my precious child. It’s now hanging beautifully at my mother’s bedroom.
If you’d like to know more about the instructor, you can visit Clara’s site www.clarastitching.com.
See you next time. Hopefully soon!