Bayeux Tapestry Recreation Project Overview

Recreating part of the Bayeux Tapestry embroidery using original materials and techniques/stitches - my latest challenge! This video introduces what I am going to do and shares my thoughts and ideas!
Websites mentioned:
early-medieval-embroidery.squ...
www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/the-b...
Book Referenced: David M. Wilson, The Bayeux Tapestry (Thames & Hudson, 1985).
You can read more about my work on the Bayeux Tapestry in:
‘The Front tells the Story; the Back tells the History: a technical discussion of the embroidering of the Bayeux Tapestry’, in Making Sense of the Bayeux Tapestry: Readings and Reworkings, which can be bought here:
www.waterstones.com/book/maki...
www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Sense...
‘Les six châteaux de la Tapisserie de Bayeux: Une discussion technique du travail de broderie de la Tapisserie de Bayeux’, in Sylvette Lemagnen, Shirley Ann Brown and Gale Owen-Crocker (eds.) L’Invention de la Tapisserie de Bayeux: naissance, composition et style d’un chef-d’œuvre médiéval (Colloque International), which can be bought at: www.amazon.com/Linvention-tap...
The Lost Art of the Anglo-Saxon World: the sacred and secular power of embroidery, which can be bought as an eBook or print copy: www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/the-...
www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Art-Ang...
Picture Credits:
Unless otherwise stated, all images are ©Alexandra Makin.
Bayeux Tapestry images are with special permission from the city of Bayeux.
Dr Alexandra Makin
Early Medieval Embroidery
Professional Embroiderer
Textile Archaeologist
#bayeuxstitch #bayeuxtapestry​ #embroider​y​ #alexandramakin

[@yarnexpress]

I'm so happy to have found you! I have long covid which means it's nearly impossible to work on my needlework projects. Watching your progress is 2nd best to sitting down with needle in hand & working myself!

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Thank you so much. I’m so pleased the videos are helping during what must be a frustrating period for you, not being able to stitch. I hope you are feeling at least little better, even though I know it could be a while before you feel completely yourself again.

[@jennylawson1980]

This new project really caught my attention. I absolutely have a passion for embroidery and tapestry work and I cant wait to see this project come together! So glad I found your channel 😊

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

I'm so pleased to hear about your passion from embroidery and tapestry work, and that you're going to follow the project.

[@cerwelt]

I’m clearly busy if I missed this video and subsequent. So exciting. I found a black and white print out of several of the Bayeux Tapestry motifs. When I get through with my other projects in the works, hope to do one up myself. Of course I don’t have the resources to do mine in an authentic way, but just getting to try it is delightful enough for me at this stage of my embroidery experience. Just returned from my first trip to London proper and now I’m wanting to return to find the museums with textile exhibits. The British museum had such a tiny medieval exhibit. Must see more.

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

So glad you had a good London trip. The BM has a lot of textile related things in store but you can see them via their online collection database: www.britishmuseum.org/collection. For Medieval, the V&A is very good: www.vam.ac.uk/collections?type=featured At the moment quite a lot of their things are in storage for various reasons but you can check them out and when you're back, see if their back on display. The Museum of London has some things too. I've never used their collections database so I'm not sure what it's like but here's the link: www.museumoflondon.org.uk/collections Then you've got all the fantastic museums around the country. One of the cool things is that local museums get the option of buying / keeping objects discovered within their admin' area so there are many beautiful objects dotted around the country. There are also places owned and run by the National Trust and English Heritage etc. that have fantastic collections. Basically, you need to come over, spend as long as you can and explore the whole country. You never know what you'll find😄

[@cerwelt]

@@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery As the editor of my Embroidery Guild’s chapter newsletter, I’ve already taken advantage of a few of the archives you mentioned. I have to try and cover the likes of all our members, so it’s a great resource. When I return to England I hope to visit the Royal School of Needlework, as well as the museums I missed this first trip. It’s all just too exciting. Keeps me going through the mundane stuff of being older and farm life.

[@MonksModernMedievalCuisine]

All the best on your very exciting project.

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Thanks matey

[@DaisyDebs]

Exciting ! I love doing small parts of the Bayeux Tapestry . I discover new things within it every time I go to study it . Those needles are fun to try but fiddly ..thank goodness for modern needles ! I will be following along 💐

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

That's really funny because I've got used to using the needles now and I'm not sure I'd go back to modern ones unless I need to. Mind you, by the end of this project that may change😄

[@robertsheckler]

Very exciting! I am looking forward to watching this project progress. 🎉

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

I'm really excited about it too. Here's to what will hopefully be a great project.

[@joannateague5354]

Excited to follow along with this.

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

I'm really pleased to hear this! Thank you

[@zoes_story]

I absolutely loved watching the cuthburt recreation. I'm really looking forward to watching this project come together ❤

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

That's fantastic to hear. I'm so pleased you're looking forward to joining me on the journey.

[@katienewell7350]

This is so exciting! Looking forward to seeing it progress!

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Hi Katie, that's great to hear.

[@lignaquy]

This Is so exciting!!! I'm so glad i ve found you!!.thanks!!!!

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Ah, I'm glad you like the project. I'm really excited about it too. Can't wait to see what we find out

[@allonewordcaps]

Oh I am so excited about this project. Looking forward to your next video. I hope they will be weekly or often.

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

That's wonderful to hear! I'm not sure I'll be able to post weekly because of all my commitments but I'm hoping every two to three weeks 🤞

[@allonewordcaps]

@@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery that sounds great!

[@Arianddu]

When you were talking about the yarn, you didn't mention how the colours have changed due to time and light over the years. As I understand it, the "green" horses were originally chestnut brown.

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

No, I'm planning on doing that in a later video. I've not heard / read about the green horses being brown, can you tell me where you've seen it? I'd like to look it up. In fact, your comment has just sent me looking at the front and back of one of the green horses! A number of researchers have discussed colour fading, saying the shades on the reverse are still 'true' on the originally worked sections, and this is what I've seen as well.

[@Arianddu]

@@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery It was in a plant herbal, first published in the 1930s - possibly Mrs Grieg's? - that talked about dyes derived from plants. I cannot for the life of me remember what plant it was, but it supposedly could give a chestnut brown dye, that would turn green with (I think) iron mordant, and that the book claimed had been used as one of the dyes for the Tapestry. I have a vague memory that it also reacted with sulphur - I think the idea was that coal smoke in the air caused the colour change over time, rather than light. Sorry, cannot remember more than that - I read the book in the late 1980s.

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

@@Arianddu Thanks for this, I'll look out that publication.

[@dmt87uk]

In "Mysteries of the Bayeux Tapestry" (which you appeared in as well of course), a Sorbonne PhD researcher was reverse engineering the original 10 colours through spectral identification and aging mixtures of known dyes through bright light, and the research seems now to be done, but not publically available. Would be interesting to see how well it matches the colours on the back. Sadly the source of brown dye seems unknown.

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

@@dmt87uk Yes, she's just published a paper with the results. I've got a copy (mentioned in the latest video) but I've not had time to read it yet. I thought people might be interested in it so I'm going to do a short video about it once I've read it.

[@cerwelt]

Do you think there was an added pressure to finish, as in a time crunch placed on people subservient to a king? We don’t have such constraints. Plus there was likely someone overseeing the project who would also be putting pressure on to perform. Just another thought.

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

We simply don't know. I've argued that there was someone overseeing the project in a book chapter I wrote a while back. If you're interested in it, I think I've uploaded it onto my Academia page. Its called The Front Tells the Story, the Back Tells the History. If not, ping me and I'll see what I can do.

[@cerwelt]

@@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery I have no idea how to ping you. I’d love to read the article.

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

I have no idea about these things on KZbin either. If you search for Alexandra Makin on academia, there’s a (not very good quality) scanned version of the article there. Hopefully that helps