Monthly Archives: December 2024

I was recently reminded of the wonderfully skilled stitching found on clothing of the Elizabethan period. This sleeve panel (above right), which can be found in the V&A collection, is made using tailoring methods of the 17th century, where the sleeves are made in two pieces. You can see the under sleeve, which is probably one section of a woman’s jacket, and although the tailoring is probably a little later than Elizabethan, the embroidery technique called blackwork, is very reminiscent of Elizabethan work. Made by a very accomplished needlewoman, the blackwork, on linen fabric, is made up of tiny black running stitches, which mimic woodblock prints of the time. The designs were usually stitched in a single silk colour, mainly black, but sometimes in blue, red or, green. This unfinished sleeve panel depicts insects, grasshoppers, dragonflies, butterflies, moths, caterpillars and beetles, all which were popular nature images for blackwork of that period, on both men’s and woman’s clothing