Charm School Week Six: Berlin Work

Devotion

I loved this week in Charm School! First of all, the book I was "studying" was an absolute joy. The book is about 200 pages. The first 100 pages deals with the history of many types of embroidery in the 19th century and gives many wonderful historical examples of Berlin Work. The second 100 pages deals exclusively with patterns -- copies of antique, hand-painted patterns with some of them converted into a counted stitch chart for ease of use.

As I mentioned the other day, the patterns are what captured my attention the most in this book. The charts were hand-painted over a printed black/white grid and there is a subtlety of shading and mixing of color that you don't normally see on a counted chart -- kind of reminds me of pointillism.

Here's an example to give you an idea:


First thing I did, was separate some beads from my vintage purse fragment. Thank you to all of you who suggested that I save a rose -- I intend to take your advice.


I tested the beads over various count sizes of linen and finally decided on working on 40 ct. linen over two. This was the right size and shape for the beads to fit perfectly.

There was no stitching with this "bead dust", as Allie called it, without a magnifier. Frankly, I couldn't see the holes for the beads OR the fabric without it!


The rest was just counted work following a piece of a pattern from the book. I then used a button form and covered that with the beading, just like I learned from my mentor, Robin Atkins.


I had only one glitch which was that I misjudged the finished size of the button and so I had too much fabric around the rose which wasn't beaded. I chose to add clear beads to fill in the space and I wish I hadn't. Now the rose looks a little like it's floating out in the open whereas I would have liked you to see a true, smaller piece of a larger pattern. If I were to do it over again, I would have a better sense for the dimension of the beading and would use the pattern all the way around the edge of the covered button.


Overall, I'm very pleased with this little Charm I named "Devotion". It didn't turn out looking much like the antique button that I so love but that's a project for another day. The reproduction of that button is going to take me a little more prep time because I have to find a fabric that is slightly ribbed. I believe that the beads were couched in rows along the ribbed lines in the fabric...I think...

Oh and I almost forgot to mention how much I loved working with those teeny, tiny beads! Thank you to all of you who emailed me helpful hints and information. It was a real learning experience. I was also contacted by a woman named Nicole Belolan who did her Masters thesis this past Spring on Berlin Work -- and wrote this article titled Redefining Berlin Work in America: 1840-1865.

Next week I will be taking a blogging break for vacation but since I skipped last week's Charm School due to technical difficulties, I'm planning on posting Charm School on Tuesday anyway.

Next week, I'll be working from this book:


See you next week for school!