Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Elaborate Embroidery, Fabrics for Menswear before 1815

When I am at the MET, I always have to zip down the staircase that leads to the Ratti Center (where all our yummy embroideries are kept!).  The vestibule of the staircase has been turned into a mini gallery where the center can run small embroidery, textile and lace exhibits all the time.  YEA!  The current exhibit is about 18th century embroidery on mens fabrics.  It is lovely as it uses a selection of uncut waist coats, pattern books and tiny (approx 4" x 5") samples from sample books of the embroidery companies to show the variety of embroidered patterns available for the male consumer of the 18th century.

The fineness of the silk embroidery is stunning, including the use of thread patterns over the velvet to give the impression of lace overlay, as seen in this picture to the left.

The exhibit also contains a few magnified pictures by our friend Cristina Carr!   This has become a new thing at the MET where her microscopic images are being used to enhance the conversation about exhibited textiles and, I for one, am mesmerized by that level of detail!

If you can't get there before the exhibit is taken off on July 19th, then take a gander at a few of the examples on the exhibit webpage.

Tricia

1 comment:

  1. Fill stitches are a series of running stitches sewn closely together to form broad areas of embroidery with varying patterns and stitch directions.

    Thanks for sharing.....

    Embroidery Digitizing

    ReplyDelete