I just wrapped up teaching the Zoom version of my Modern Blackwork Embroidery Sampler class. We had such fun stitching it and for my group who have been meeting together weekly for several years now, this project had a unique challenge: counting.

So a little here’s a little history lesson. Blackwork has been around for a long time. The version you see if you Google the words “blackwork embroidery” was popular in the English Renaissance, although similar kinds of counted-thread embroidery were being done in other parts of the world much earlier. Traditionally, it was black silk thread on off-white linen, and it was often used on clothing, especially places like collars and cuffs. The reason it was specific to those parts of garments is because the traditional stitch, called the Holbein or double running stitch, is reversible. Since you can often see both sides of the fabric on collars and cuffs, that meant your stitching looked good no matter which side you were seeing.

A lot of the early designs were geometric and floral, which makes sense when you’re stitching on an even-weave fabric that gives you a built-in grid. It’s a pretty good setup for crisp geometrics and repeating patterns. [read more…]