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| Embroidered Elizabethan Gloves |
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| This is one of the cuffs that I embroidered for my first pair of gloves. They are ready to be attached to the body, or "trank", of the glove. I composed the design of the embroidery myself, using common motifs of fruits, flowers and animals--with embellishments like pearls and gold spangles dotted around as was done in the time of the Elizabethans. Many different embroidery stitches were used in the design: The green vines are stem stitch wrapped with gold thread, most of the birds, flowers, and animals are split stitch, the red rose is satin stitch, and the daisies and snail shell are bullion stitch. The peapods are detached buttonhole stitch, which was used in the making of needlelace--it yields a 3D effect, and the peapod top can actually be peeled back to reveal the pearl peas inside. |
| After seeing some of the historic gloves in the Victoria & Albert Museum (the V&A) I became obsessive with having to have a pair...and since my persona is Elizabethan, everything just fell together! My first gloves were made of felted 100% wool felt--easy to sew and very forgiving of beginner error... |
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| These are the wool gloves of my first attempt, attached to the embroidered cuff; the only thing missing from the finished project is the pink ruffle at the cuff seam. |
| The lace edging was purchased, and further embellished with tiny real-gold spangles at the points of the lace. |
| The honeybee`s wings are fine gold thread, and it is hard to see on the scan but the snail shell is outlined with gold thread as well. Flowers depicted are the rose, gillyflower (carnations today), heart`s ease (pansies) and forget-me-nots (in blue). Peapods were popular, as were strawberries. |
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