Stitching Wuthering Heights
For those of you thinking about joining in on Knit the Classics' reading of Wuthering Heights next month, I bring you some useful links that have turned up which might give you some ideas for your needlework project.
Victoriana.com might be a good place to start, and get some general ideas.
These are a few illustrations from The Beeton's Book of Needlework, published in 1870, showing a few Victorian embroidery stitches. Wuthering Heights is a great book from an embroiderer's point of view, because you might choose to work with older 18th and 17th century styles- which are a lot more fun in my opinion! Such embroidery is known as Jacobean or Crewel embroidery. This is also the kind of embroidery Jane Eyre probably saw, the 'strange' birds and people on the hangings tucked away on the third floor. I would suggest photocopying instructions from books at the library, or try going to used bookstores for comprehensive guides. I learned through some wonderful books I picked up second hand. Then, get a hoop a needle and some embroidery floss.
So, you can guess what I'll be doing this June!
4 comments:
I would love to see some crewel work or some stumpwork done for the Wuthering Heights project. Although I bet none of the characters in WH would have liked doing "fancy work". :)
Maybe Isabella and Cathy 2! ;)
My mom and I are already planning to do some embroidery for the Pride and Prejudice project.
ooooh what is the Pride and Prejudice project? Is this for Knit the Classics?
It is, although I haven't joined KTC yet. We haven't decided on a design yet but my mom has been brainstorming several ideas. I think one of them was to do one of the houses with horsemen galloping up to it or suchlike. :)
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