Description

The author’s detailed study of surviving artefacts has revealed that many of the stitches found on 16th and 17th century textiles differ from those used today. For over one hundred years, publications discussing historic English needlework have described the historic stitches in relation to the stitches made popular by women such as Thérèse de Dillmont, Grace Christie (writing as Mrs. Archibald Christie), and Mary Thomas. However, the visual evidence found on the surviving textiles does not correspond with these modern interpretations. Unfortunately, most of the stitches shown in Elizabethan Stitches have been obsolete for so long that they do not appear in stitch dictionaries. It is hoped that this book will provide a valuable reference source for those wishing to identify and catalogue historic work, as well as providing practical ‘how-to’ instruction.