Drawn Thread Linen Towels
I make a lot of Drawn Thread Linen towels as they make awesome Largess gifts and they are one of the few embroidery objects I make in under 20 hours.
The Hawkwood Largess Linen Towel (2017 May) – Made from linen cloth, hemmed with linen thread, and embroidery done with linen thread (100/3. 80/3. 50/3 and 30/3 widths). The embroidery was started on May 18 and completed May 19 and took 10 hours. The item was given away in the Hawkwood Largess Basket on May 20.
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The Atlantia Largess Linen Towel (2017 May)
Tools and Materials – Linen Fabric (not an even weave); hemmed with Bocken Knyppelgamn’s Linen tread (90/2); Satin stich and drawn work gather stitches worked with Londenderry’s 50-3; The interlace stitch secured with Londenderry 30/3. All linen thread run through beeswax before stitching. No hoops, frames or other tension tools used during the sewing. An embroidery needle (sharp) used for all sewing. Steel pins were used during the hemming stage. Small embroidery scissors used to cut the fabric to draw threads and also during the sewing.
Technique notes: An away knot was used to start the stain stitch and the drawn work gather stitches. Most of the end threads were tucked into the satin stitch lines. Those that were not, are turned into the back along the stitch work. This towel is slightly larger than my normal draw length for thread so I have four threads end during at the “wrong” place.
New stitch: I love the interlace stitch but had been unable to get the double ladder interlace to work with my typical 8-gather. It was just too stiff and twisted the fabric at the edges. This time I only did a 6-gather for the interlace area (8-gather was used for the Hound’s Tooth and the Zig-Zag). This time the interlace did not pull the edges out of alignment. A little extra work, but I got to try something new!
Date worked – The embroidery was started on May 20 and completed May 26.
Final Ownership: Passed on to Mistress Gisela vom Kreuzbach who was coordinating the Pennsic Largess Basket for Atlantia in 2017. Unknown which kingdom received the towel as a gift.