How do do Elizabethan Black-Work with beads.

What is Blackwork?  

Blackwork is an early form of adding pattern and decoration to renaissance clothing.  Initially all blackwork was done with black silk thread that was sewn into the clothing to make geometric patterns.  In theory all blackwork was reversible.  The patterning was more expensive than buying lace, simply because of the time consuming nature.  However, because it is not considered lace, there was no tax on it through the sumptuary laws.  (Laws that basically stopped the lower classes from adding decoration to their clothing and looking higher than their class.)  

How did it come about?

This is one of those "we don't actually know the answer" moments in history.  Best guess-- Most historians believe that blackwork came to England through Catherine of Aragon.   She was engaged to Prince Arthur of England at the age of three.  Arthur gave her a doll house as an engagement present.  They were married when she turned sixteen and Arthur promptly died five months later.  Since the marriage was not actually consummated  Catherine was married again to Arthur's younger brother Henry VIII, shortly after his father passed away.  (Henry VII was blocking the marriage, because he had a falling out with Catherine's father Ferdinand)  (Yes that is the one that sent Christopher Columbus out sailing.)  I'm not going to get into the historical details of Anne Boyle and Henry's head chopping history.  (That's a story for another time.)



Let's focus on the blackwork.  Catherine loved lacework and was pretty handy with a needle.  She embroidered many of Henry's tunics with this new style.  It gained in popularity and caught on with the people in England.  At first blackwork followed the Spanish embroidery styles--which looked almost middle eastern in its nature.  An important nature of blackwork is that it is reversible.  More importantly it can be seen from both sides.  Very important if you are looking at a collar or a cuff.





After Catherine is "divorced" by Henry, blackwork falls somewhat out of favor until Queen Elizabeth I starts adding it to her wardrobe.  Since Catherine's daughter Mary was Elizabeth's nursemaid growing up, it is possible that the skill passed to Elizabeth through Mary.  Elizabeth changed the design and used fill patterns.  This style is not reversible and was used to make designs such as fruit and flowers.




Blackwork is most likely the predecessor of cross-stitch.

On to the Bodice: 

I didn't initially plan to put blackwork on the dress.  In fact, I wanted to keep this dress pretty plain, but I ran into a problem.  From a distance, the lines in the chevron were blending into the silk background.  After all the work spent making the dress to specifically have the "v" shaped chevron-ing, I didn't want to have it all blend into a dull yellow color.  Returning to the main picture, I realized that I had drawn the chevron's in with stark black lines.  This gave me an idea.  What if I played with the blackwork process to make the chevron's pop?  

Frankly I've never liked needlepoint or cross-stitch.  I can do it, but I don't like the flat look.  I do love beading.  It is one of my joys.  After doing some research on the blackwork style, I decided it would be possible for me to use black seed beads to create the same effect.  The dark black bead would make the lines pop.

Since I'm used to beading, I wasn't afraid to take this on.  I should have been.  At the beginning I used traditional beading to put on the beads--one bead at a time, double back to reinforce and add another bead.  (See pictures below.)

It worked really well--if I wanted to wear the dress in about five years.  The process was taking a really long time, so on the way back doubling the first line I started triple beading.  It is not as strong as traditional beading, but it sped up the process. To add stability I linked the the two strands of beads together wtih a binding stitch.  (see below.)

Take the thread.

Strand two to three beads.  (Four beads tends to bind together to create a flower.)

Push the needle into the fabric the distance of the beads and pull through so the beads sit firmly on the line.  

Take the needle horizontal and catch the first line of beads that have already been sewn.  Pull the needle through.

Solidify the stitch by catching the the last thread sewn.  Pull the thread tight and grab your next two beads.

I know what you are thinking...."There is not enough time in the day to do all of that."  Yup you're right.  After beading the entire bodice this way, I turned to the underskirt and the sleeves and nearly had a nervous breakdown.  Once the uncontrollable sobbing subsided, I started thinking rationally.

What exactly was I wanting?  Answer: Nice straight rows of beads.  I was fiddling with a string of beads I had bought at the craft store at the time, and I spent a moment looking at the thin fishing line they were strung upon.  An idea formed.  What if I used fishing line?  The plan was fantastic!  Here is the process: 

Items needed: seed beads (good quality-bargain seed beads tend to have holes that are not uniform.  About half of a bag may be unusable.  It's better to spend some money on quality beads.  

I dumped the beads into a custard cup.

Taking the fishing line, I dipped it into the custard cup, gathering up beads and stringing them on the line.  I thought this was going to be time consuming.  Really it only took a few hours to create several yards of beaded fishing line.  

I left the spool on the strung beads, so when I was sewing I had extra line to maneuver.  

I used my old embroidery hoop to lock down the beads onto the fabric, so they didn't shift as I was working.  

When the hoop couldn't be used, for example on the sleeves-- I used a pin to lock the beads in place.  

Just like in the processes above, I made a base stitch.  Pulling the needle through a single bead, I attached it to the fabric.  

The next series of beads I wrapped the thread around the bead and pulled tight until it slid between the beads and locked the fishing line to the fabric.  

The underside of the fabric looked like a somewhat straight line, because I always doubled back one bead with each stitch.  

At the end of the line, I threaded the fishing line back through the last two beads, and top-stitched over where it was looped.  Later I discovered it was easier to give the fishing line some slack, turn the beads and start the second row immediately.  I followed the same process as above, but I did lock the beads together, using the technique I explained in the second section of this blog.  

In the end I decided to use the beads to narrow the perceived waist of the dress.  Since I used a truly Tutor style bodice, it had a thick look to the middle.  I wanted to narrow it, so I did a filled blackwork section on the right and the left to make the waistline look narrow.  

Before:

After: 

I continued the fishing line black lines on the sleeves and the underskirt.  Both turned out remarkably well, especially when I found some flat lace which mimicked the later styles of blackwork.  I will explain how I put together the underskirt in the next post.  For now, you get a picture of the finished product.

I love the way these turned out.  I have a vague idea about how this bodice will eventually flush out, here is my initial pinning.   (In this picture I haven't completed the right side of the filled blackwork, however I have added the velvet trim around the bead work.  I really think it is lovely.  

UP NEXT: THE UNDERSKIRT

Puff and Slash: The Art of Clothing Decoration

What is Puff and Slash?

I was going to work on the skirt, until I had a epiphany about how to sew the sleeves, so I went there. (Shrug)

Looking at the inspiration picture of Elizabeth of Austria, there is quite a bit of slash and puff work on her sleeves. In general I'm not really a fan of doing slash and puff because they tend to look messy. To do it well, it requires a lot of hand work and a great deal of faith. The name is really backward- it should be slash and puff, since the former can't happen without the latter- something that has always annoyed me. :)

I also tend to shy away from Puff and Slash because of the need for a chemise under your dress. Again, it causes extra bulk. Therefore I always try to mock puff and slash when I can. This will be an example of my mock style.

Where did this style come from?

In short- the Germans. The Landsknechts, German mercenary soldiers who thrived from approximately 1487 - 1556, became known for their outlandish dress and effective fighting tactics. They were the finest fighting force in Europe. Their clothing was characterized by its "puff and slash" decoration, created by cutting slashes in the outer garments and pulling puffs of the under garments through those slashes.

The "puff and slash" style of clothing was adopted by non-Germans too, becoming a standard mode of decoration in several parts of Europe. The English nobility was particularly enamored of puff and slash. Henry VIII started wearing it after seeing it on Landsknechts he had hired; in fact, the famous painting of Henry VIII by Hans Holbein depicts him in a doublet decorated with puff and slash. Other paintings of Henry depict him wearing what looks like a knee-length skirt; he adopted this style from German warskirts worn by some Landsknechts. Henry's children Edward VI and Elizabeth I also wore puff and slash.

Shortly thereafter the French picked up the style and used it extensively much due to Queen Catherine De Medici- she started wearing it in the mid 1500s. Catherine is responsible for many fashion trends in history including the high heal, the infamous corset, and wearing underwear- but more on my hero worship of this queen later. Since Catherine was the mother in law to Elizabeth it is not surprising to find the puff and slash styling on her dress. And in doing my research, I have also found the elusive lattice worn by Catherine herself. She had a great deal to do with the styling of this dress.

The Process:

I really can't take full responsiblity for my brainstorm regarding the Puff and Slash on this dress. The inspriation came from Simplicity Pattern 2589. For the undersleeve they provided a type of oval facing that you cut down the middle. I played around with it, and decided that I could use a device like it to style my dress.

For the sleeves I am using a combination of Simplicity Pattern 8881 and 2589. The majority of the sleeve will be done using 2589 since it has the Trumpet or Tudor Bell sleeve. However, it match the Elizabeth style, I needed to have a bit of a roll on the shoulder. I don't like regular shoulder rolls, I think they look bulky, but I could manage a puff to the sleeve. Trick was--- they all needed to be puffed and slashed. Difficult to do with the tudor upper sleeve which is supposed to be fairly tight against your arm.

First step in the process: I took out my pre-cut fabric pieces for the sleeve. Taking the puff from 8881, I first tacked down four pieces of interfacing in the desired locations for the slashing. It is important to make sure you leave the glue face up, I'll get to why later.

I then sewed tapering channels on top of the fabric, making sure they ended in points- not squares. Next, I took the scissors and cut down the center of the channels. I tried to get as close to the point as possible without cutting the seams.

Turning the sleeve over, I pulled the interfacing through the slit in the fabric and ironed down the interfacing. (The reason the interfacing must be face up.)

Next, I took my white fabric that I will be using for the inner sleeve and sewed rectangles of fabric over the slashes. I made sure that each piece of white fabric was at least an inch larger than I needed on all sides to give the fabric enough volume to puff.

Taking the puff I then basted gather lines on the top and bottom of the sleeve, sewed the side seams together, and gathered the upper-puff into a neat little ball. I then repeated the exact same process with the upper, fitted, Tudor sleeve.

In attaching them together I had to make a decision. Would I connect the puff completely to the tudor sleeve (similar to pattern 8881 or would I connect the puff to the bodice and then to the tudor sleeve. I decided for comfort. Renaissance costumes are difficult to move in- especially the sleeves. By using the puff as a top sleeve I gave myself a bit more room for arm movement- I'm afraid it's not very SCA, but I threw that out the window when I designed the dress with a Tudor sleeve. (Though I'm 75% sure that this is a possible style from the 1560-1580s in France.)

To fit these sleeves together I placed the right sides of both sleeves together. I matched the lower part of the puff to the upper part of the tudor sleeve and released the gathering on the puff to match the width of the Tudor upper sleeve. I sewed it making sure that I followed my inner gather seam, so it doesn't look messy.

Contrary to what the picture shows, I haven't actually attached it to the bodice yet. I wanted to see how it looks, so I pinned it. The inspiration pictures puff is a bit more narrow than mine. I'll fix that by using a greater seam allowance when I attach the puff to the bodice.

To ensure that the white will puff through, I hand stitched around the opening of each of the slashes, pulling the white out so it will naturally flow in that direction rather than falling back under the sleeve.




At this point, I'm also tacking my marks for the ouches. I'm giving about an inch and a half to two inches, between connections. Here again, I'm pulling out the white fabric to ensure a puff.

Next adding the ouches: This is a simple tack on over each of the stitched points.



You can see that this makes the sleeve less bulky. It's important to leave a little bit of room between your stitches on the lower sleeve. Otherwise you may make it too snug. I figure about an 1/8 of an inch does well enough.

Next: Sewing with Fur and finishing the oversleeve.