German Brick Stitch Needlebook
At times it is so easy to put the “pro” in procrastination. Judging from the timestamp on the photos, this project took around a year and a half from start to completion. A few stitches here and there, but frequently being put aside for other A&S endeavors.
This needle book was from a class given during the fall Prince’s Prize Tourney in A.S. XLIX (2014). Which I thoroughly enjoyed both from a crafting aspect, and from the vast knowledge of the instructor on the subject.
This pattern was from a late 14th century wall hanging, possibly made in Lower Saxony. German Brick stitch was used in the early 14th through the mid 15th century, with examples being found in the Westphalia and Lower Saxony regions of Germany. It uses geometric patterning, and a satin stitch construction, The historical examples used mainly silk or linen for the embroidery thread. Sometimes a “gilt strip” was used as well, which was a gilded material of similar diameter to the pattern threads. Metal wrapped threads were well known in Europe since the 10th century from the imported woven cloth samite, and I surmise that gilt strip is the same gold and silver wrapped threads.
End of the first day. Progress alongside the class handout showing what the resulting pattern will look like.
Continuing on. I had run out of blue, so started with the gold sections. The “metal” wrapped threads posed a challenge to work with, but became easier with practice and changes to technique.
I used cotton embroidery cloth for the base. Blue and grey embroidery threads are cotton, while the gold “metal” is polyester. The inner cover is linen, and the pages are wool. A more period version would be nice to do in the future. The materials used in this needle book had advantages in that they were inexpensive and readily available, though with the diameter of the embroidery floss a tighter hole spacing in the embroidery cloth would have suited the project better. The ground cloth was convenient in that the weave gave regularly spaced holes, making the pattern much easier to work.
Here we go loop de loo… Attaching the linen inner cover to the embroidered outer cover, while binding the edges. I used the blue first, while leaving space, then came back to fill in with grey.
Despite my taking so long, this was actually a fun little project. I learned a lot, mostly because of constructing the finished product after the embroidery was complete. Having never done anything reminiscent to the techniques needed to bind the edges while attaching the inner and outer covers together. Then problem solving in order to attach the pages to both covers in a manner that would be secure.
Binding all done, just needing to attach the ties. But first to put the celebratory first needle in the pages (well, storing it actually while I prepped for the ties).
References:
German Brick Stitch Needlebook by Mistress Cynehild Cynesigesdohtor, 2014
A Stitch Out of Time: 14th and 15th Century German Counted Thread Embroidery By Master Richard Wymarc (Timothy J. Mitchell), 1996
