Opus Anglicanum by Bentham Tanya;

Author:Bentham, Tanya;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crowood Press

He is based on an English fragment from the late twelfth century, and this early date is reflected in the naive style of drawing, which has its own particular charm. He also features both silver and gold metal threads, as well as underside-couched silks, to introduce some more colour.

I am grateful to Dr Timothy Dawson for his advice about medieval horses. The rear end of the horse is missing from the original fragment, so I have had to restore his bum, and I was tempted to give him one of those frilly bum straps that you see in Pre-Raphaelite paintings, but Timothy told me those weren’t in use in the twelfth century – he also said that they are called rump straps, which I didn’t know. He also told me those bumps on the horse’s feet aren’t badly drawn hooves but are instead heavy-duty shoes.

The silk threads that I am using for this project are plied, rather than being the flat filament silks used for the other projects, because flat silks don’t work very well for underside couching. The silks used on the original were also plied, which makes sense, because I suspect that twisted silks have always been easier to get hold of, as well as being far easier to work with. I have used some of the same Como silk that we use pulled apart for other projects in this book, as well as some 30/2nm weaving silks that are quite handy for sewing (DeVere Yarns 36 thread can be used as an alternative, but they are a little thinner). My 30/2nm brown thread is one that I have naturally dyed. However, a similar colour is readily available as aniline-dyed silk.

As well as the usual two layers of fine ramie or linen, this project uses a layer of twill silk. Twill refers to the weave structure of the silk, which is two threads over two, instead of the more basic one over one (known as a tabby weave). Twills are generally more robust than are tabbies (it is quite hard to rip a twill, because the weave structure doesn’t give an easy tear line such as you would get with a tabby fabric) so are better able to withstand the punishment of underside couching. Silk taffeta is a tabby weave, but note that it can be a bit temperamental with certain types of embroidery and really isn’t ideal for underside couching.

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