Ansteorran Royal Rose Pouch

For larger pictures, please click on the photos.

I have completed the pouch for the West Kingdom Needleworker's Guild Royal Rose project!

The beads on the embroidery are all glass. I usually stitch with 22K gold charlotte beads. Charlottes are flat on one side, which adds a bit of sparkle to the design. Since I can't find any reference of charlottes in period, I chose to use gold-colored round glass seed beads. Several pictures of gold beads can be seen in historical beaded embroidery, such as the painting of St. Dorothy by a Master of the Rottal Epitaph, circa 1500, found in the Old Gallery of the Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz or the painting of Susannah Fetching Water (detail from Susannah at Her Bath by Albrecht Altdorfer, 1526. These photographs are taken from Jen Funk Segrest's website, Medieval Beads.

As for techniques, I used both the modern and the medieval methods of beaded embroidery. The flower and the star are both done in the modern method, whereas the backgrounds were done entirely in the medieval method. The modern method, also known as the Athabascan method, consists of laying down six beads, couch them down, and then backstitch through three of the beads before adding more. The period technique is done by laying down a strand of beads and couching them in place. The medieval technique is quicker, but the modern technique is more secure. Since I was hoping that the pouch would get a lot of use in the future, I wanted the beads on the design to be as secure as possible. Given that the end results look identical on the front of the work, I felt good about my decisions.

I started with the center of the rose, then did the black star leaves, and progressed on to the gold rose. Once I had done most of the gold rose, I decided that the flower's center was off-center, so I ripped out both the center and the star. I knew that if I didn't rip it out now, I'd be coming back to rip it out later. Sometimes, it's the little things that bug you like crazy. Once I took out the parts I didn't like, I stitched the black star leaves before completing the center again.

The rose and rose background are done completely in 11/0 beads. At 49 square inches, there are an estimated 11,760 beads on the front. I used gold beads, black beads, and two shades of green beads for the flower. The background is done in silver-lined amber-colored beads.

I know that a lot of people think that silver-lined beads aren't period, but they are. At least, they were in Italy, during the later period of the Renaissance, which is when my persona is from. The book Arts & Crafts in Venice by Doretta Davanzo Poli has a great section that deals with glass beads and glass bead embroidery. On page 198, Poli describes how some glass beads were "filled with a special gold and silver paste". Granted, Poli is referring to a different size of bead, but applying the same technique to seed beads would also be possible. Poli continues with discussing how "avventurina was among the most prized types of glass, a cinnamon colored or amber glass incorporating thousands of glittering specks which looked like gold."

When I was contemplating which bead to use on the flower's background, one of my first thoughts was an amber-colored silver-lined bead. Although it doesn't look exactly like avventurina, I would suspect that the overall effect is relatively similar.

The back of the bag is done with 11/0 beads on the star and 10/0 beads for the background, estimating a total of 10,992 beads for the panel. Getting the straight lines for the star was a bit difficult to do from only a chalk drawing, so I took a printed design, and stitched it to my fabric. Once that was done, I simply stitched over the outline of the star, and then ripped the paper away. The lines on the star were completely straight.

Stitching onto paper in this manner is similar to something done in period. In her article in Beadwork Magazine, Jen Funk Segrest (THL Elspeth Grizel of Dunfort) states that when she personally examined several pieces of Medieval German beadwork, she found that they were all sewn with linen thread onto animal hide parchment (page 55). The technique of using paper or parchment is something that is still taught in the Athabascan communities up here in Alaska, however the paper is applied behind the fabric (Goessel, page 2). Although I ripped the paper away from my design, Goessel recommends leaving the paper, in order to keep the design stable.

To complete the star panel, I decided to do a bit of shading. Also, instead of laying the background in straight rows, I chose to follow the outline of the star. I used three shades of amber-colored silver-lined beads. The darkest is near the star, and the lightest matches the rose’s background. I couldn’t find all three shades in 11/0, so I decided on 10/0. The difference is slight – 11/0 beads are 20 to the inch, and 10/0 beads are 18 to the inch.

Once completed, the black linen had faded, and so I appliquéd the beaded panels onto black cotton velvet. I then outlined the appliqués with black and gold twisted cord. I used yellow linen as the lining for the pouch. I did a drawstring at the top, and put tassels on the drawstring. To complete the bag, I did a trim of black, twisted bugle beads. From start to finish, I put in over 500 hours worth of work.

PROJECT TOTALS:  

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References

Arnold, Janet. Patterns of Fashion: The cut and construction of clothes for men and women
      c1560-1620. New York: Drama Book Publishers, 1985.

Goessel, Ann. Ann’s Creations: Designs & instructions for making your own Athabascan
     beadwork. Self-published, 1990.

Poli, Doretta Davanzo. Arts & Crafts in Venice. Cologne: Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft
     mbH, 1999.

Segrest, Jen Funk. "Sacred Embellishment: A look at Medieval German bead art."
     Beadwork Aug./Sept. 2004: 54-56.

The Medieval Beadwork Page. Segrest, Jen Funk. 2005. 10 June 2005.