Lace Panels for a Lady's Smock

Constructed entirely by hand. The white linen was reinforced with silk floss and then portions cut away. More details were added to the design with silk floss.

Purpose & Design

As my interest in drawnwork grew, I wondered how it was used. Among the items I found in my research were many examples of smocks and shirts. From these sources I noticed a trend of panels of drawn work along the shoulders, collars, sleeves and cuffs. The panels were used in cases of simple ornamentation and in some cases as ways to decorate the seams of the garments. These panels are designed to be inserted into the sleeves of a lady’s smock.

Examples

1. from the “Gouache from the Stammbuch of Anton Weihenmayer” (ca. 1586, Ausburg) which depicts “A lady at the virginal.” The sleeves of her smock are decorated with panes of lace.

2. A gentleman’s shirt from the 16th century found in the Victoria and Albert Museum has panels of drawnwork at the shoulders, collar and cuffs. Catalog item# T.86 - 1951.

3. A boys shirt from 1540 uses a drawnwork panel as a way to join the body of the shirt to the sleeve. Victoria and Albert Museum Catalog item# T.112 - 1972

4. A boy’s shirt from 1600 uses decorated inserted panels of drawnwork at the shoulder. Victoria and Albert Museum Catalog item# T.49-1934

Materials & Methods

The fabric is a linen single thread plain weave which is compatible with historical precedence. Silk floss was used for the sewing.

The pattern for the openwork is inspired by the gentleman’s shirt from the Victoria & Albert Museum. In accordance to the example of the ‘Woman at the Virginals’ in the “Gouache from the Stammbuch of Anton Weihenmayer” I chose to make the pattern cover the length of the sleeve.

Construction for Drawnwork

The execution of the panel followed a series of steps.

First is the selection and squaring of the cloth. Squaring the cloth is done by withdrawing a single thread from near each edge of the cloth. When you have four lines that intersect to form a square you know that there is an equal number of threads on the top edge of the cloth as along the bottom edge.

Secondly, with your pattern in mind, you begin to withdraw and backweave. Taking individual threads you unweave the cloth to create a hole. The loose thread you can the either cut off and stabilize the edges with stitching, or you can weave the unused portion of the thread back into the main body of the cloth.

Next, you draw threads together to form the ground pattern.

Embellishment of the pattern is then added with other stitches.