Bayeux Tapestry Recreation Project Transferring the Design

This is the next installment of the Bayeux Tapestry Recreation Project, where we transfer the design onto the ground fabric ready to start the embroidery.
In the first part I talk about what we know about how designs were transferred during the early medieval period and how we're going to do it. Then we work through the process.
Articles and websites mentioned:
Maggie Kneen and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, 'The Use of Curved Templates in the Drawing of the Bayeux Tapestry', Medieval Clothing and Textiles, 16 (2020).
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Dr Alexandra Makin Early Medieval Embroidery Professional Embroiderer Textile Archaeologist #bayeuxstitch #bayeuxtapestry #embroidery #alexandramakin

[@sannepedersen3649]

Maybe the shapes were mainly to keep a consistant sizing and placement across the piece and the detaling was more freehand? Love the update and will be looking forward to further progress videos. So interesting! ❤

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Yes, I think you could be right there. I'm glad you like the update. I'm hoping to get more time on the project now so there should be videos coming out more regularly. Famous last words, but I live in hope.

[@joanngreen9714]

I know I'm going to enjoy this series of stitching ❤

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Thank you, I'm so pleased to hear this.

[@misscranky]

You could lay a stick across the frame where you're painting and rest your hand on that to keep it from smudging/interfering with the design. It's called a maulstick when used by artists. Zero evidence it would have been used here but it's a fairly intuitive and simple solution for this process

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Brilliant! Thank you so much for this. I’ll be doing that next time, and looking for miscellaneous objects in archaeology reports / archives that could have been used for this

[@KotaMakes]

You might want to look a Japanese brush making techniques to make fine enough brushes from commercial brush materials for your scale sized experiment.

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Thank you, I will

[@xNjaMx]

Not sure if this has been suggested by another comment or in the article you mentioned already, but could shapes also have been made of bone? I'm thinking of e.g. scapulae being especially suitable for rounder shapes. I would guess that bone might have been somewhat easily obtainable, and as far as I know there is evidence of folding bones being used for parchement in the 12th century, if not earlier. Just an idea though! Slightly "rougher" or thicker pieces of parchment also sound super plausible

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

This is a really interesting idea. I’m going to investigate!

[@titaniaem1]

thank you for showing us this fascinating process! Do you think they could have used a quill pen instead of a brush for this sort of work? I did an opus anglicanum project a few years ago where I used a feather quill to transfer the lines, and I found that the rigidity of the nib was much easier to use on the fabric than a paintbrush

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Yes, I think that's possible, or even a thorn of some description. I had a conversation with someone about thorns and I can't remember what sort they were thinking of just at the moment.

[@beatellamakkabe9940]

Would a silver stylus have worked for drawing out the shapes? In manuscript predrawings this material is often seen. I was also wondering about the transfer process in the building of churches and cathedrals where they had a complete designing floor and each craftsperson could take exact reference from there.

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

I’m not sure about the silver stylus. How does it work? What sort of mark does it make? We really don’t have enough information about this sort of thing from the period to say one way or the other about the transfer process. I’m not sure when the process for churches came in / developed. Maybe

[@yarnexpress]

OK, I'm binge watching. You, previously, showed woodcuts of frames. Look at the very top left one. The "monk" has a candle on the floor & a writing implement in his hand. My guess is that he is transferring the design. Using the candle as a light box. To replicate, & this is how, from what I know, the design is attached to the back of the ground then traced. I've seen tapestries done this way at gobelin.

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

You’ve been sucked into the black hole of early medieval embroidery; there’s no escape now. Yes, you’re right about that image. It’s later in date than ‘our’ period so we don’t know if that’s how they transferred the designs then, but it could have been. We have evidence from the Lindisfarne Gospels, if I remember rightly, of prick and pounce, so that method was definitely known. So it’s possible/ probable that a number of different methods were used

[@yarnexpress]

Oh, well! I'm an armchair "historian" whose interest is the 12th century, especially the northern renaissance but have made forays as early as the the 5th century. 1066 is pivotal. Always loved medieval embroidery you're giving me the opportunity to learn not only admire. So thank you

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Honestly, it’s no problem. I’m just pleased you’re enjoying the video(s).

[@curiousyulia7653]

Is it possible that "the artist" just used chalk to draw directly on the canvas? I think that is what was done for frescos and long wall embellishments.

[@joannateague5354]

Yes, that’s what I thought. To produce a design seems quite a modern concept, divining the craft of stitching from the composition of design. If someone can draw, there is very little difference over what the surface is, they can draw onto it. Maybe an ink or a chalk?

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Now that's an idea! I'm going to look into this.

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

I think designs were produced for the carpet pages of manuscripts but I'll need to double check. I do know they were thought out methodically before being drawn onto the pages, for obvious reasons. Of course, this sort of detail isn't normally in documentary sources but I'll go back to the St Dunstan reference and see if I can glean anymore information from it. I agree, if you can draw you can probably draw on many surfaces, and as I say in the video, to me the freehand drawing seemed quite natural. The article I cite talks about the consistency of certain shapes in this design and in other media, such as manuscripts, and I can understand the use of templates to help with say, curves (me being great at drawing the right side of a curve but rubbish at the left side). Inks were made from the same sort of pigment I showed in the video. Most of the evidence for pigments being used during the period comes from manuscripts. So inks / pigments and chalk, yes, could be. Gosh, just realised how long this reply is.

[@curiousyulia7653]

Fascinating! Really looking forward to your next steps! @@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Thank you

[@juliemerchant5340]

where can i get the pattern to do the embroidery please

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Oh, right. This is something I hadn’t considered. Do you mean only the pattern as a pdf, or the pattern on fabric? Either way, I can sort out something

[@labacche]

I've bought an embroidery kit of the Bayeux tapestry. For very long part, like the boat, do I have to split the stitches? How much long stitches can be? It would be grateful if you can help me because I didn't find any informations about

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

Hi, The base or first layer of stitching, which covers the ground fabric completely, can be fairly long. The boats of the original tend to use a first layer of stitching that lies across the horizontal length of the 'wooden plank' from curve to curve or rudder to curve. The curves and sections after the rudders are then worked separately. The second layer of stitching, the short lines that are worked vertically in the boats, start at the top or bottom of the wooden plank being stitched and go to the back of the pattern at the opposite side, so if it starts at the top, the thread will be taken to the reverse at the bottom and vs. versa. These should be spaced apart from each other so the first layer of stitching can be seen. The distance can vary and I always suggest that you place them where you think they should be. Their primary role is to hold those long first layer stitches in place as well as creating a nice looking stitched surface. The final layer of stitching is made up of small over stitches placed over the second layer and laying in the same direction as the base layer, so on the boats this will be horizontal. These stitches should be worked as a 'brick effect', think of a brick wall with the cement lines. The stitches should be placed where the little cerement lines would appear between bricks. I hope this helps. If you have any more questions or need help, do ask away. I'll do my best to answer / sort them out. Alex

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

This link may also help. You can zoom in on the different sections and see how they've been worked in detail: www.bayeuxmuseum.com/la-tapisserie-de-bayeux/decouvrir-la-tapisserie-de-bayeux/explorer-la-tapisserie-de-bayeux-en-ligne/

[@labacche]

@@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery thank you so much!

[@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery]

@@labacche Honestly, it's not a problem ☺