2️⃣ My 'Must Have' embroidery books #2 | Find out why I love THESE 2 so much!

Here are another 2 of my favourite books about embroidery and textiles - this time covering the work of English and Continental embroiderers of the middle ages.
These 2 books cover Opus Anglicanum & Medieval and Renaissance methods and styles of hand embroidery. Join me for a look!
English Medieval Embroidery
Opus Anglicanum
Edited by Clare Browne, Glyn Davies & M.A. Michael
Yale University Press
In association with The Victoia and Albert Museum
ISBN 9780300222005
Late Medieval and Renaissance Textiles
Rosamund Garrett and Matthew Reeves
Sam Fogg Ltd
ISBN 9781911300489
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[@squiddydiddy5452]

I'm a U.S. college student who's just gotten the V&A book, and it is so, so, SO gorgeous! Thanks for the wonderful recommendations. I'll definitely be looking for the Late Medieval and Renaissance Textiles book now.

[@lindamcdermott3102]

This video was my virtual trip to European museums. Love these book tours through the world of embroidery. Regards from New Jersey!

[@winnepeterson7740]

Ooh, I love your sun!!

[@maureentroake]

Thank you Sarah. Absolutely fascinating and your explanations are so absorbing.

[@TheJanestarling]

Stunning, the work that went into them is astounding! The strain on the eyes must of been huge, mine ached at the thought. Thank you for sharing your beautiful collection with us.

[@anncat1957]

Stunning work!! When you mentioned girls beginning apprenticeship at 14 due to eyesight it dawned on me that anyone with astigmatism, farsightedness, any kind of eye problem wouldn't have been able to learn this skill. No running down to Walmart for an eye exam and a pair of glasses. People were so trapped into their paths back then. This work is beautiful. Can you just imagine working and working on these - not even being able to take them home when they were finished. Work by dedicated hands. Thank you for sharing these!

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

And they had no electric light Ann!

[@anncat1957]

@@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery Yikes! And I didn't even THINK about not having a nice magnifier with a light in it! Ha! I am so spoiled.

[@heden1460]

These books are very interesting. Seven years to apprentice, wow. The history in art is great.

[@margaretlaurie4993]

I've enjoyed looking into these books with you. It's left me hungry for more! I think I'll have to go to the library now and check out some more. Thank you.

[@patkitching2656]

THANK you Sarah - such a treat!

[@rebeccat5738]

Thank you very much Sarah, that was not only incredibly interesting, but extremely informative too as always, and I actually feel like I have had a complete crash course in English medieval embroidery, brilliant!.

[@jimhooper4252]

I really enjoyed this again...thank you .i read somewhere that on some of the copes are embroidered tradesmen at their work ...apparently as the priest processed up the aisle ....the candlelight would pick out these embroidered figures and their real life counterparts in the congregation would then feel part of the ceremony ....most vestments were made to be viewed from the back as the celebrants would of course face away from the congregation ...upstage as it were .......what lovely books you have ...can’t wait for the next video

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

I hadn't heard this! Wow, an exta layer of detail...

[@angelagoodyear8099]

I live in the U.S. and I have these books. love the information in them as I am historical recreationinst.

[@Quilts4fun]

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

[@barbaracabrera207]

Love this book too!!! They are all so amazing and gorgeous. I had no idea about this history. I loved seeing the changes as years went on. So interesting. I always like to research, and learn about the history of the art/craft I'm doing. Thank you for video. I'm up for MORE BOOK videos!!! Thx,... Austin,TX USA

[@veronicaevans9438]

good likeness of St Margaret, and good outlines of faces too. I tried tracing with the lightbox you showed and it came out great, not the faces did some flowers but that will be the one for me to use thank you Sarah xx

[@conqueringmountscrapmorewi2509]

Such beautiful books and lots of inspiration! Thank you for sharing!

[@tricianilsson6870]

Thank you so much! I am enjoying this series immensely.

[@nathaliemaullin6590]

Thank you for this tour. Absolutely fascinating. Would love a tutorial or reference on Or Neue.

[@sharonhargreaves6814]

Thank you for sharing, I am really enjoying a peep into your library x

[@caralinehowden2951]

Enjoyed very much, must go to our library and see if we have anything here of that nature. Of course keep them coming, pretty please.

[@wandagrayson646]

I enjoyed these videos very much. I love seeing the techniques in their natural habitat, as it were. Gives great context in how they developed. Thanks, Sarah.

[@jenniferwhite1127]

Really enjoyed that thank you for sharing.

[@sandramyer7081]

WellSarah, these are new and interesting in embroidery and history- in the 1400 yrs, what did they use for Gold work and complicated detail- ( needles) - they must have been thin and smooth - this has an open a medieval work into me! Thank you, Sarah

[@amandapower9718]

Thankfully I have the English Medieval Embroidery one already from my lucky visit to the V&A. You are really inspiring me to pull them out and read them properly rather than just using them visually. I have the other on order too now. You are feeding my addiction to embroidery books 😂

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

This book has some really interesting info about the actual embroiderers near the beginning so that bit is worth a read! Some exhibition cataloges can be a bit dry so it's easy to get lost in the pictures only!

[@winnepeterson7740]

Gold doesn’t tarnish!

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

Gold thread does Winnie as it isn't 100% gold only 2%, the rest being made of other metal

[@lindasmyk1242]

Great video and very informative. Thank you.

[@dmacisaac9382]

I've got that English medieval book ! I've also got a few other books that I've inherited from my mother 🥰

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

Any good ones I should know about? :)

[@dmacisaac9382]

@@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery 🤣 before she passed away , she made sure that I got all of her vintage sewing goodies 😉 I've got the " Ladies guide to needlework and embroidery (a 60's reprint (from her) , various cross stitch patterns and magazines , tatting shuttles , sewing threads and embroidery threads (about 300 colours) various hooks (all from her) and the Opus Anglicanum book ( My husband's birthday gift to me) and a wee Christmas from him as well.... A very large embroidery pattern of the Bayeux Tapestry from France (Bayeux Broderie... Merci Chantal 🥰 ) I have my own personal selection of threads I've searched for and collect. I could go on with more but it would be bragging lol 😆

[@nicona610]

Thanks for sharing! I love that I have both of these books next to each other on my shelf. I have managed to find very tiny seed pearls on Etsy and at gem/bead shows. Haven't used them yet, but I have them.

[@lauravivanco]

I just started embroidering a hedgehog today and I'm doing its face in split stitch. I was thinking that that was maybe not the usual stitch to use, but I haven't tried shading yet. Now instead of feeling that I'm doing something a bit odd/less sophisticated, if anyone asks I can try to impress them by saying it's a 21st-century version of opus anglicanum ;-)

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

Definitely Laura, it doesn't get more sophisticated than Opus anglicanum!!! I have also stitched a hedgehog in split stitch so you can tell them that Sarah did it that way too....:)

[@sallyhpenny5795]

There’s some stunning work in that book Sarah, thank you for sharing it with us. Did the embroiderers use frames back in those days, or did they just hold the fabric and stitch - surely they had some sort of frame to hold the fabric taut. Also, I’ve been meaning to mention, which someone may have already done so, the book entitled Encyclopedia of Needlework by Therese de Dillmont is available on the Gutenberg Project site, complete with illustrations, all free to view.

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

Thanks for that SallyH, I'll see if I can find the link and put it in the description of the relevant video. They would have had frames yes

[@lauravivanco]

@@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery I saw the embroiderer for the V&A exhibition using a frame, but didn't realise that was also part of the authentic method! Sally H, there's a video recreation of how the sewing would be done here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJixaKKpfKiZa8k

[@needleworknut7792]

Thank goodness Amazon has both books available for sale. But I swear Ms. Sarah, following you keeps me poorer than a church mouse during the depression. Pat-South Padre Island, Texas

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

Do you not have a library Pat?! :) I'm going to make a book of all your sayings to read when I need cheering up...

[@laracraft82]

Thank you for sharing these books very interesting 😊 👍 😀 christianity was very popular subject in the medieval times

[@elizabethmcarthur5782]

Wonderful Sarah! Do you know what the social standing was likely to be of the people who did the embroidery ?

[@lauravivanco]

Kay Staniland (in a book called "Embroiderers" and published by the University of Toronto Press) says not a lot's known about early medieval professional embroiderers, but there were also lots of amateur embroiderers, including noble ladies and queens and also she mentions this, which I found very amusing, about how absorbing some embroiderers found their embroidery: "As early as AD 747 an attempt was made to check the tendency, clearly already very prevalent in convents, to spend so many hours in needlework: an ecclesiastical council, held at Clovesho, recommended that instead the reading of books and singing of psalms should receive greater attention. The problem was not so easily resolved, however, for throughout the Middle Ages clerics and commentators were to return to the subject of this distraction from the central purpose of convent life."

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

I read this too, its really funny! How many of us still get distracted from things we 'should' be doing and instead do our stitching...

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

The industry is well documented and consisted of mercers (merchants) who's job it was to source the materials and supply items made from them. These were usually (but not always) men and could hold a lot of power and had alot of wealthy and important connections. Of course it was the women who did the actual embroidery and would work for the Mercers, the latter being the ones who could afford to resource the expensive materials. There are records of the embroiderers including Maud of Canterbury, Joan of Woburn and Mabel of Bury-St-Edmunds! As with any business, the people at the top make more money than the people at the bottom! I think I shall start calling myself Sarah of Nottingham...

[@elizabethmcarthur5782]

@@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery Thanks for the info Sarah. I’m not a nun but am easily distracted from other chores. Since reading your reply l looked at the V&A web page and found a video clip of an embroiderer recreating a small piece of medieval work showing exactly the techniques that you described. Absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much for introducing this interesting topic.

[@SierraSadie1]

I really enjoy all that you have shown us. I am fairly new to hand embroidery and I cannot find any info anywhere as to how long one's stitches should be when hand embroidering. I don't know if I making them too small or too long?

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

It depends on what stitch you are doing Rebecca! Check out my stitch library for detailed instructions on how to work different stitches and what you need to know for each: kzbin.info/aero/PLC2TZFIW8ZoNyldcLSmZ2UUOtpfc_OUp8

[@jojojo8835]

14:13 I have a feeling 7 years was the norm for apprenticeships back then.

[@francesworcester3599]

Love this video... What is a cope? I thought at first you said 'coat'

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

The cope is a liturgical vestment Frances, looking a bit like a long cape

[@francesworcester3599]

Thank you Sarah very much I learned so much from you

[@lisablackburn4872]

Haha I love your version of St Margaret with a "Resting Bitch Face" lol

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

I wasn't brave enough to say it Lisa...:)

[@santhiyamathi3879]

Where is the place tell me

[@SarahHomfrayEmbroidery]

What place Santhiya?

[@totallydomestic433]

God gave Bezaleel the gift of embroidery for the work of the tabernacle. God gave him two assistants to teach. Bezaleel had many artistic talents that he used in the temple work. Exodus