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Bayeux Couching

Article: 20376 of rec.crafts.textiles.needlework
From: "Gaylin J. Walli"
Date: 17 Jul 1995 14:00:11 GMT

Can anyone point me to or give me foolproof instructions for how to do couching similar to that in the Bayeux tapestry? I can't imagine what I'm doing wrong, but here are my problems (maybe it's just inexperience):
(1) I can't seem to get the threads close enough together to get that nice woven look. Could it be the weave of the scrap of linen I'm using or should I be looking at something else?
(2) The Bayeux isn't consistent about stitching up and down or across from left to right. Is there a way to do this couching precisely or do you just go the way that's longest?
(3) I'm allergic to wool. Violently. What would be the best fiber to substitute to get the same non-shiny look? ('Cause I'm guessin' it ain't DMC embroidery floss ).
Thanks in advance for your help,
Jasmine
(m.k.a. Gaylin J. Walli)
gjwalli@mtu.edu
http://www.hu.mtu.edu/~gjwalli

Article: 20520 of rec.crafts.textiles.needlework
From: Johnston
Date: 18 Jul 1995 03:02:31 GMT

"Gaylin J. Walli" (Jasmine) wrote:
>Can anyone point me to or give me foolproof instructions for how to do couching similar to that in the Bayeux tapestry?
>(1) I can't seem to get the threads close enough together to get that nice woven look.
You will be able to get your couched thread to lie closest together if you stagger the tie-down threads, so the tie-down thread on one row is opposite a space between stitches on the previous row.
>(3) I'm allergic to wool. Violently. What would be the best fiber to substitute to get the same non-shiny look?
Rather than looking fruitlessly in your local stitching store, find a shop that sells yarns for WEAVING. There are lots and lots and lots of wonderful cotton and linen threads and yarns out there, which are not smooth enough to be pulled through fabric repeatedly in embroidery, but will be perfect for couching!
Janet

Article: 20681 of rec.crafts.textiles.needlework
From: Tara
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 1995 20:13:07 -0400

On 17 Jul 1995, Gaylin J. Walli wrote:
> (1) I can't seem to get the threads close enough together to get that nice woven look.
> Could it be the weave of the scrap of linen I'm using or should I be looking at something else?
Make sure your tack thread isn't too close to another. Use an every other pattern or only when needed.
> (2) The Bayeux isn't consistent about stitching up and down or across from left to right. Is there
> a way to do this couching precisely or do you just go the way that's longest?
Nope - it seems to be stitcher's preference. The couching style on the Bayeux also differs on different parts due to the stitchers involved. ;)
Tara R. Scholtz University of Maryland at College Park
tara@wam.umd.edu or ts94@umail.umd.edu McKeldin Library

Article: 20714 of rec.crafts.textiles.needlework
From: marbeth@ix.netcom.com (Martha Beth Lewis)
Date: 19 Jul 1995 04:45:51 GMT

Ok, Jasmine, I got out my reproduction of the Bayeux tapestry (which I fortuituously bought in Bayeux in 1982 when I saw the tapestry---WOW!!!!) and my magnifying glass and tried to see the sts. I couldn't; too small to see texture.
Then I went to the May-June 95 issue of THREADNEEDLE STREET, where there is a motif turned into a pillow. I do not know how authentic these sts are, but here is what they used:
French knots (mais oui! quelque chose d'autre?)
Oriental st (lay threads beside one another, touching; on the perpendicular, lay threads 3/8" apart; couch this second group of threads every 1/2")
double couching st (couch 2--or more--threads at once with couching sts)
trellis st (lay threads at 45-degree angles to the vertical and couch the intersections)
I will try to find the notes I made about the tapestry and see if I wrote down any details on what sts were used. I seem to remember chain st, but I could be quite wrong.
As to materials, how about perle cotton?
Incidentally, the Bayeux tapestry is not a monstrously large piece. It's only 20" high--but it's 230 feet long.
Am hoping one of our textile historians will take up this thread and enlighten us all. Martha Beth

[The Embroidery Thread from the Rialto (also linked from this page) has several messages that touch on bayeux-type couching. ]

Article: 20747 of rec.crafts.textiles.needlework
From: "Gaylin J. Walli"
Date: 19 Jul 1995 13:45:26 GMT

jcole@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (cole joan) wrote:
> You can see the stitches in a couple of close-up views that Matt Stum has added to his Bayeux Tapestry web page.
Visited this site before I asked the questions actually, but I really appreciate the reference. Excellent site for those of you who haven't been there yet. I think the majority of my trouble is that I'm using the wrong fabric. It's just a scrap of some nameless pseudo-linen I happened to have lying around. The weave is bigger than I wanted, but I figured it would work okay for practice. It works well for any of the other embroidery stitches I've tried, but just not couching.

Article: 20892 of rec.crafts.textiles.needlework
From: terric@starbase.neosoft.com (Steve and Terri)
Date: 20 Jul 1995 14:20:14 GMT

Gaylin J. Walli (gjwalli@mtu.edu) wrote:
: jcole@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (cole joan) wrote:
: > You can see the stitches in a couple of close-up views that
: > Matt Stum has added to his Bayeux Tapestry web page.
I know this is dreadfully low-tech, but when I was looking at Matt Stum's web page and his closeups of the tapestry, I remembered the first time I saw a picture of it: in National Geographic, probably thirty years ago. The photos were wonderful (that is one thing NG was good at) and I remember being amazed by the detail (babe in arms though I was :-)). If you want another close-up view of the tapestry, this might be a good source for it. I can't think of any other place (besides Matt's web site) that has published photos as good.
Terri
Steve and Terri Carl
terric@neosoft.com

Article: 21462 of rec.crafts.textiles.needlework
From: jdawson@exit109.com (Susan Dawson)
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 1995 14:18:14 GMT

>>Can anyone point me to or give me foolproof
>>instructions for how to do couching similar
>>to that in the Bayeux tapestry? I can't
>>imagine what I'm doing wrong, but here are my
>>problems (maybe it's just inexperience):
The base is a laid foundation, that is the thread always travels across the surface with only a short visit to the back at each edge (as opposed to satin stitch which wraps around the fabric). One of the problems with a laid foundation is the edges tend to be uneven because a tiny gap forms when the thread turns around. To minimze this effect the foundation is worked in two passes. On the first pass the stiiches are not placed too close together, there is breathing room between them (like venitian blinds):

 1 1 1 1 1 1 . 

On the second pass the stitches are placed between the stitches of the first pass:
 1212121212. 

The end result is a more even and more dense foundation. This approach is common in good silk embroidery also. You can't tell whether or not this was done from the surface, you must see the back and you must know what you are looking for.
Laid foundations have to be anchored. In the tapestry a holding thread was laid across the foundation (perpendicular to the foundation) and then self-couched on the retrun pass. The trick to keeping gaps from forming in the foundaion is to make sure that the couching stitches come up and go down through foundation threads (as opposed to going between them).
Still no matter how carefully you stitch, if the work is not properly mounted, it is not possible to get top quality work. Laid work needs to be mounted TIGHTLY and SQUARELY, with tention in both the warp and weft direction. This is notwork that can be done well "in the hand" or in hoops.
I have not been lucky enough to see the tapestry. When I did my research on this I used:
Needlework, an Illustrated History, Bridgeman & Drury, 1978
Crewel Embroidery in England, Edwards, 1975
A Brief History of Western Man, Greer, 1972
Antique Needlework, Synge, 1982.

Regia Anglorum Anglo-Saxon Embroidery How-To Page
Viking Embroidery
Nick Austin's site on the Norman Invasion, containing much information about the Bayeux Tapestry (more of a backgrounder than a how-to-reproduce)

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