English Royalty Beadwork *More photos added*

[LastingAllure]

I know this isn't cross stitch but I found this really interesting and just had to share! I have been away to my grandparent's for the past week. My nan has these two beadwork pieces framed in her house. I am JUST finding out that these are in fact very very old pieces made by women back in the Queen Mary and Queen Victoria days. The women who made the beadwork made dresses for the royals. Here is a picture of one:



Not the greatest picture. I will try to take better photos in the morning. But she has other panels that aren't framed yet either that she is going to show me in the morning. The picture above is just one section of it, there are two more of the same design repeated that are attached.

We aren't sure if these were pieces that were worn on actual dresses or not. I like to think they are, makes for a better story lol. They could have been salvaged from worn dresses by the women. There is so much gold thread though in them. They are absolutely stunning up close.

She got them from her husband's sisters friend, who's great great aunt was a dress maker for the queens. And they are in amazing condition after being stored away for so many years. I have a lot more investigating to do on them.

Oh and just so everyone knows I am looking at everyone's projects. Unfortunately my internet isn't the greatest here so I am lucky to get enough bandwidth to post this!

[Reta]

What a lovely piece of sewing Its amazing what Grans have tucked away

Looking forward to seeing what else She finds for you to see

[geekishly]

That's really beautiful! Looking forward to seeing more of it and what a great history behind it all.

[Lessa54]

That's beautiful I love seeing pieces like this and it's one of my favourite parts of going round old houses to see the tapestries and other needlework that has survived.

[wendywombat]

That's incredible! I love looking at old embroideries. Some of them are fantastic.....and they didn't have the wonderful lighting that we now have.

I saw some in Scotland some years back that was done by Mary Queen of Scots during her long imprisonment...such fine work.

[karen4bells]

Stunning artwork! Thanks for the picture!!

[rcperryls]

Thank you for posting that lovely lovely beadwork. I love old tapestries but there are not very many around here. The historic houses in Charleston have some of the original pre revolutionary stitching which is so amazing to see. I like imagining the dresses those would have been on. Wouldn't it be fun to find a photo or painting with the queens wearing one of the dresses. Queen Mary I would guess? or Victoria before she donned black only?

Carole

[LastingAllure]

Thank you for posting that lovely lovely beadwork. I love old tapestries but there are not very many around here. The historic houses in Charleston have some of the original pre revolutionary stitching which is so amazing to see. I like imagining the dresses those would have been on. Wouldn't it be fun to find a photo or painting with the queens wearing one of the dresses. Queen Mary I would guess? or Victoria before she donned black only?

Carole

I love the beadwork as well and stuff from the old days, especially if it manages to survive all those years and still look in great condition!

And as a matter of fact my nan and I have been looking through some of her royal history books (she is originally from England and is very British) and we think we found one picture that is very similar to one of the ones we have. Just a small variation really I am going to look online later for more about the women who made these since we have a name to go on.

[LastingAllure]

Ok! As promised I have a couple more photos to share!!


This one is a trimming we think. All of those other pieces behind are attached with a couple threads.


This is a small version of what I showed yesterday. We are going to anchor it onto some black velvet tomorrow I think since some of the edging is starting to fray so we are going to just stitch them down to keep them from going anywhere and causing farther damage. Then I think the plan is to get it framed like the other two my nan has done.


And here are some more. The blue and purple one is really long. I think my nan measured 7 feet.

And Finally...



There are six of these almost identical designs. They were all attached but my nan said since I am sewing all those black beads back onto them (the threads that were holding them on have disintegrated and the little black beads keep falling off so I am reattaching them with some black sewing thread trying not to interfere too much with what is already there) that I can have one of the sections. So I am going to mount it onto some black velvet and have it framed with a matte that follows the shape of it. Hopefully that way it will stop it from getting any farther damage. I have finished one section (above) so far with 5 more to go!

The name of the woman who did some of this work is Nanly Hill. Her sister helped as well but we don't know her name. I will let you know more if I find more about her!

Now off to more restoration work!

[Serinde]

You should send these photos and the information you have about the provenance of the pieces to the Royal School of Needlework for suggestions as to how to conserve them. The contact there is Amanda Ewing http://www.royal-needlework.org.uk/cont ... nservation" target="_blank

[Cecilia]

I love old needlework. These are truly beautiful.

[karen4bells]

All I can say is WOW!!!!!

[Fizzbw]

Lovely and fascinating!

Niki xxx

[dollystitcher]

How wonderful to be able to see and touch a fabulous piece of history. They are exquisite peices and you are so lucky

[Squirrel]

What a wonderful piece of history your Nan -and now you - have in your hands.

I agree - the Royal School of Needlework would love to know about these I am sure will certainly be able to help with conservation/repair of them..

Incidentally what sort of thread are you using to sew the beads back on? I only ask as I was told when I started quilting to only use cotton threads for sewing as they are the only ones which will not cause damage to the fabric over time. Quilting threads for hand sewing would be fine to use.

[LastingAllure]

I will contact them when I get home when I have proper Internet connection. And I am using cotton sewing thread. I am just tacking the beads on wih the least amount of disruption to the piece. Only to keep them in place so we can enjoy them for many more years

[geekishly]

It's amazing to see such fine and delicate pieces of cloth that have survived this long. The amount of care it must have taken to stitch on them in the first place must have been great.

[Pippa]

Beautiful work & to think its survived this long!

[MaggieM1750]

Oh wow- these are beautiful pieces.
Both the beadwork - and the story behind it.

[Lessa54]

They are beautiful pieces