Tudor and Stuart Goldwork Masterclass Stitches – Month Seven

Ceylon Stitch

Ceylon Stitch

I’ve not been making as much progress on the silk work for the Spot Sampler as I would have liked, recently. Still, I have managed to have a go at the Month Seven stitches, Diagonal Half Guilloche Stitch and Ceylon Stitch. As always, I have done them at two different scales.

I’ve worked Ceylon Stitch before, although certainly not using a metallic thread. It produces something that looks a little like knitting. I suspect it will be easier if I use a stiletto to control the thread. I know I have one somewhere, so I’ll look it out before I try this one again. I think I used it as a needlelace stitch before, and that, of course, used a simple round cotton thread.

Diagonal Half Guilloche Stitch

Diagonal Half Guilloche Stitch

I think the Diagonal Half Guilloche Stitch has possibilities for some of my other projects. It looks very like one of the braids sometimes used to edge upholstery, and might also make a good filigree necklace for the Amarna panels. It will be important to pick the right scale of thread and fabric, as you can see in the picture here, but at least when I have been working at the large scale it has been easy to see where the needle is supposed to be. This hasn’t been one of the most complex stitches, but I’m glad that I have chosen to work practice versions of all these stitches before I work them on the sampler or the pincushions!

4 Comments

  1. karen says:

    this post reminds me that I have a stack of goldwork samples upstairs from my C&G days. I may just go and have a look at them!!

  2. Lady Fi says:

    The stitches look lovely – especially with that gold thread.

  3. Janice says:

    Mmm – really like that Ceylon stitch. For some reason all I can think of is a stitched Peter Rabbit at home with his mum, who is knitting for her little bunnies… I’m sure that isn’t what you will use it for!

  4. […] first of this month’s stitches is Ladder stitch. Like last month’s Ceylon Stitch, this is a stitch I have worked before; in fact it’s very like Ceylon Stitch in structure as […]