Sample of ecclesiastical needlework and/or embroidery by Barbara Dawson, British, Royal School of Needlework, 1948-50

Sampler of Jacobean stitches, linen embroidered with wool; mounted on a board. There are four sections:

Upper Right: light, open motifs including a bird and a butterfly.

Lower Right: heavy, dense foliate pattern.

Lower Left: unconnected elements of leaves and flowers.

Upper Left: four unconnected motifs - a fruit, a flower, a leaf and a creeper entwining a branch.

Given by Miss Barbara Dawson

Notes from Miss Dawson:

Experimental work with Jacobean or crewel embroidery was limited.

Bringing the needle up into the end of the previous row makes a softer insertion than when the needle is taken down. A double stitch at the tip of a leaf or petal holds a good shape with stitches on either side in support. A line of split stitch makes a useful padding.

Two main ways to use shading:

Long and short stitches: only the first row is worked in long and short stitches, the next row is worked with stitches of equal length.

Block shading: the first row of stitches are of equal length. The second row are also of equal length but overlap the first row, the needle being taken down between the stitches; succeeding rows follow in the same way.

Worked by Barbara Dawson as a student at the Royal School of Needlework.

T.46-2003