Blackwork Waistcoat

I have created an English Blackwork Waistcoat.  It is Linen, embroidered with Black Silk thread, Silver Metal thread, Silver Paillettes in two sizes.  It is lined in White Silk.  The entire coat is hand sewn.  Only the Black Lace and Black Silk ribbon ties were purchased.

When I began I knew this would be a long term project.  The prep work would take about 6 months.  The actual embroidery took at least two years.  Assembly, hand sewing the coat together, another 3 months.  It has been finished about 6 months now, but I have been saving it for the King and Queens Arts and Science competition. ( march 30, 2019)

Process of making a Blackwork Waistcoat.

One.  Make a Waistcoat.
I first needed to make a waistcoat, which fit.  I used two main sources to create my pattern.  Reconstructing History pattern, and The Tudor Tailors book and chart.  My first coat was made out of  yellow linen.

I had difficulty fitting over the breast area.  Not unusual for women.  I had too much bubble in the center.  Needed to cut that down.  So a couple of reconstruction solved that problem.  The lining was also a problem.  Where the linen was will to "give" the poly lining underneath stayed too tight.  My solution for this test coat was to simple unsew the center back seam, and finish them off as.

Started the second jacket out of nice white linen.  I had learned important construction tips.  The gores are best done surface stitching on the outside.  This coat fits much better, and I have worn it often.  

The coat was too long in the back.  This is a regular problem for me.  Even when I measure and cut correctly I get ripples.  Again the Lining was tight, and the linen looser.  But that is the nature of these two different fabrics.

2  So now you have a pattern ..  What next

Research.  What Pattern.  There are several extant examples of Blackwork coats.  What did I want to do.  

English embroidery was evolving with time.  Earlier Jackets were monochrome with simpler patterns, as time past you see Polychrome jackets with more and more use of metal enhancements. So what period did I which to do.  

One inhibiting factor was, I can't draw. But in period that was not a problem.  I came across patterns by Laura Mellin.  She studied extant Coifs, and recreated patterns for them.  One was created from a small extant piece in the collection at the Bath Costume Museum in Bath England.  That this has been drawn out onto a copy able medium worked for me. In period there were pattern books, and pattern drawers at Broidery Shops.  Having my linen sent to a Broidery's shop was common.  To test out the pattern I made the coif first. 

I decided to enhance this coif by substitution silver Paillettes for the buds on the branches, and the peas in the pea cots.  This added a touch of sparkle to the piece.  Also added to the level of who would have worn such an item.  The use of silver showed wealth.  For stitches I used stem stitch for out lining the leaf, and the stems.  The pea cots were buttonhole stitch. Then I decided to shade the leaf with speckle stitch.  This added to the piece big time, and to the time required to complete it X2.

3)  Transferring the pattern

So I have a patter.  But it's in the shape of a coif.  I needed to transfer the pattern to a medium that I could then use to transfer the patterns to the coat pieces.  I took a square from the pattern, and painstakingly move it from place to place along the pattern material to create a embroidered coat in transfer material.  

Transfer material on left, transfer material with pattern on right.