How many stitches does it take to make the Bayeux Tapestry?
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- čas přidán 5. 01. 2022
- In this video I talk about the number of embroidery stitches used to make the Bayeux Tapestry, how they were used and why. Its amazing how few stitches can make nearly 70 metres of story come to life!
Interested in making your own Bayeux Tapestry inspired embroidery using authentic materials? Check out kits at: alexandramakin.com/kits/
Videos mentioned:
Stitch Focus: Bayeux Tapestry: • STITCH FOCUS | Bayeux
Stitch Focus: Loop Stitch: • STITCH FOCUS | Loop St...
One of my favourite early medieval embroideries: • One of My Favourite Ea...
Referenced Book:
Isabelle BÉDAT and Béatrice GIRULT-KURTZEMAN, ‘The Technical Study of the Bayeux Embroidery’, in The Bayeux Tapestry: embroidering the facts of history (Presses Universitaires de Caen, 2004).
You can read more about my work on the Bayeux Tapestry in:
‘The Front tells the Story; the Back tells the History: a technical discussion of the embroidering of the Bayeux Tapestry’, in Making Sense of the Bayeux Tapestry: Readings and Reworkings, which can be bought here:
www.waterstones.com/book/maki...
www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Sense...
‘Les six châteaux de la Tapisserie de Bayeux: Une discussion technique du travail de broderie de la Tapisserie de Bayeux’, in Sylvette Lemagnen, Shirley Ann Brown and Gale Owen-Crocker (eds.) L’Invention de la Tapisserie de Bayeux: naissance, composition et style d’un chef-d’œuvre médiéval (Colloque International), which can be bought at: www.amazon.com/Linvention-tap...
The Lost Art of the Anglo-Saxon World: the sacred and secular power of embroidery, which can be bought as an eBook or print copy: www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/the-...
www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Art-Ang...
Picture Credits:
Line drawings, microscopic images and photographs of recreations ©Alexandra Makin.
Bayeux Tapestry images are with special permission from the city of Bayeux, from La Tapisserei de Bayeux (Edition Ville de Bayeux, 2008) and David Wilson, The Bayeux Tapestry (Thames and Hudson, 1985).
Images of the conservators from 1982-1983 are from, Sylvette Lemagnen, 'The Hidden Face of the Bayeux Tapestry', in The Bayeux Tapestry: new approaches (Oxbow, 2011).
The Orkney Hood is via the National Museum of Scotland.
The Orkney Hood plan is from, Audrey S. Henshall, 'Early Textiles found in Scotland', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland, 86 (1951-2).
The Kempston fragment is via via creative commons license from the British Museum.
The York pouch is from, E. Coatsworth & Gale R. Owen-Crocker, Medieval Textiles of the British Isles AD 450-1100: an annotated bibliography (BAR series 445, 2007).
Dr Alexandra Makin
Early Medieval Embroidery
Professional Embroiderer
Textile Archaeologist
#bayeuxstitch #bayeuxtapestry #embroider #textiles #alexandramakin - Jak na to + styl
I found your video by accident. I love it. The BT is my favorite work of art and I am working a scene from a fabulous kit I bought from Broderie Bayeux across the street from the BT museum. It’s a terrific kit but I’m having trouble dealing with curves in Bayeux stitch. Seeing the tapestry in person was one of the best days of my life and moved me to tears but I only had a couple of hours. I want to go back for a whole day! A highlight was the exhibit in the interpretive area that shows the entire work both sides at once! I wish you had zoom classes on the Bayeux stitch specifically as done on the tapestry. Thank you for this terrific video!!!😀
I'm so glad you found and enjoyed the video! I know that shop and the owner; she's lovely. I completely understand what you mean about seeing the Tapestry for the first time. There's just something about it. It seems to come alive with the 3D-ness (not a real word but perfect for this point) of it. Photographs flatten it, don't they. Keep an eye on the museum because its going to be shutting for renovations soon and once its re-opened, I think its going to be fabulous.
Curves can be difficult. I found a knack to working them. I'm not sure if its right or not. ITs difficult to explain so maybe a zoom class would be useful to people.
Actually, its funny you should mention zoom classes! I've been thinking about whether people would be interested in some only this week 😀. Watch this space, my other media outlets and / or you could join my occasional mailing list, which will announce them too. If you email me through the contacts page on my website I can add you to the list.
I got to see it in person, its an amazing piece of art
It is isn't it.😊
Another excellent video thankyou . Can you tell me what sort of weight the linen they used was ? What would be the equivalent that we could buy/use today ?
Thank you.
The ground fabric of the BT is made up of eight sections, so there's a variation in thread count. The average count, taken across the whole piece in the early 1980s, is 22 warp threads by 18 weft threads per cm. It's all Z-spun and unbleached.
I'm assuming you're in the UK or have access to shops here. If you want an authentic linen woven to as near the original average thread count as possible, I have some, depending on how much you want. I've also just put another order in with my weaver and should be getting that in February.
The nearest manufactured linen I've found is the Zweigart 55ct Kingston Linen, which comes from Germany. It comes in white and cream and is an evenweave, so has the same thread count in both warp and weft. Because its from Germany, there's been issues getting it over here recently. Here's a link to the only place that I know of that's got some in stock (in the white): golden-hinde.co.uk/product/kingston-55-tpi-100-linen/
If you're interested in the authentic type, you can contact me through the contact page on my website: alexandramakin.com/contact/
I hope this helps.
@@EarlyMedievalEmbroidery Oh ! Thankyou . No one ever seems to talk about the background cloth , so this is very useful to me . I will check out these links for sure . I,m just enjoying doing small favourite bits of the Bayeux Tapestry . I would love to use some cloth as close as possible to the original . Thanks again .
@@DaisyDebs Ooh, you're right! Ok, I'm going to work up a video about the ground fabric now. I think I need to start a BT playlist.
If your working small areas then I should have enough of the authentic material. If you decide to explore that, give me a bell and I'll work out prices for you. Even if you don't go for that option, let me know how you get on.
I know very little about the Bayeux tapestry but one thing that stands out for me is that most photos show that the lettering is not very regular (I mean not like modern printing). And yet in this video I saw areas where the lettering seems very regular. Is there any explanation for the difference?
Sorry I've not replied before now, I've been thinking this through. I'm still not sure. It could be that the areas I show are worked more consistently that those you've seen in photos. When looking across the whole hanging you can see where different embroiderers have completed work. It could be due to the resolution of the different images and / or how they were photographed. How the light was hitting them as they were photographed... I'm sorry I can't give you a better answer. There are so many permutations.