Jacobean Embroidery

To Jacobean or not to Jacobean?

Do you have it in mind to try something different in the embroidery line for your next project?  Something with some historical style and flare to it?  Consider trying a design from the type of embroidery known as Jacobean. 

Of course, embroidery has been with us for a very long time.  From early days, people (especially homemakers) have had the urge to relieve the dreariness of their furnishings by adding some color.  Sometimes, the cheapest and easiest way to do that was to give the sheep a haircut and spin some wool.

In older times, houses were generally cold and dark.  Often, lighting was weak, furniture was sparse, and money was scarce.  Hangings, tapestries, bedspreads, and cushion-covers added a note of comfort where comfort was sadly lacking.  Often, this color and coziness was provided through embroidery. 

In embroidery (unlike needlepoint), you can see the background material, and this is especially true in the embroidery known as Jacobean.  Now, the term Jacobean implies the reign of the Stuarts in England (starting after 1603), but that’s mostly just a convenient label.  It’s unlikely that any style of embroidery appears all of a sudden without a history, and this embroidery is the same. 

It probably started with medieval wool embroidery and continued on through the Tudors into the Stuarts and beyond.  Some of the designs came to England from the Orient through the East India Company, and a lot of the designs had been used in church furnishings and clothing.  Much of that was worked with gold and silver thread, but we won’t go there.

What does this kind of embroidery look like?  Jacobean embroidery does a lot with flowers and animals—most of them quite fantastic.  It is not usually counted-stitch work, and the stitches most often used are block shading, chain stitch, and stem stitch, as well as a lot of creative fillings.  Actually, you might just use your imagination; that’s probably what our fore-mothers did. 

The “Tree of Life” motif was very popular, and that gives this type of embroidery a slightly Oriental look.  The embroiderers at the time also liked to add a certain amount of symbolism, but that is optional.  The embroidery itself, was often done in wool, but it looks just as good in floss or silk.  In fact, it looks just as good today as it did when the Stuarts were in business.  You might want to try some Jacobean Embroidery, just for the fun of it.