Embroidery Document of the Day, well, An Eye for the Day  

Posted by MeganH in

I know I've seen eyes used as motifs in Elizabethan embroidery. I've just had a bit of a google but couldn't find anything to back up my memories.

Anyway, what inspired me to do this was finding this image :


at http://theglasspingle.blogspot.com/2010/07/ghosts-of-winter.html

If you were to embroider an eye, wouldn't this be a fabulous one to do? I'd use rice pearls rather than those flat ended beads tho on the lid - same as used on the bottom line of the eye. Or leave them off entirely and use 'feathering' - multiple threads of different colours....

Exctly *how* the 3D shaping of the upper lid is another question. A shape edged with strong wire and then twisted? (The brown being a seperate layer underneath = or is that the underside of a layer and it's double sided? It's hard to tell if the brown is flat against the eye, or sloping up).

And I think there might actually be two layers, one pointed, one curved - looking at the left hand extremity of the eye.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 15, 2010 at 9:11 AM and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

6 comments

I too have a vague memory of seeing a lot of embroidered eyes somewhere, but I'm not sure where... Must spend some time googling when I've caught up with my sleep!

October 15, 2010 at 9:47 AM
Leonor  

I can think off the top of my head of several examples of weeping eyes as a motif (they have a symbolic meaning I don't remember). Elizabeth I's Rainbow Portrait is probably the most famous. There's also some embroidered trim in the V&A with weeping eyes, a smock somewhere (I think?), and I've seen it on several pairs of gloves.

I can try to hunt down specific examples for you in a couple weeks if you like!

October 15, 2010 at 2:03 PM
shirley  

Could you stitch the eyelid piece to the top of the eye and then fill it trapunto style from the back by making a slit where there was not embroidery. Perhaps you could stitch the beads, lashes on first......dont know if that would work, and would depend a lot on the fabric.\ I suppose.

Maynot help, but may send your thoughts onto another tangents....I love my grain going on to tangents.?????

October 16, 2010 at 10:02 AM

Thanks Leonor, but I don't have a specific need for an Eye atm. Just ran across this one, and thought it was done in an interesting way.

Shirley - yes, it might have been done trapunto style. It'd be a matter of experimenting, or asking the artist. :-)

October 16, 2010 at 3:32 PM

yes, I have seen several eyes on gauntlets. This would be lovely as a panel on a box. thankyou for sharing it
xoxox rachael

October 17, 2010 at 7:09 AM

Thank you thank you for sharing this link. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the corset, the eye, the needlelace...it was an absolutely gorgeous piece!

October 18, 2010 at 5:23 AM

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