New Online University Course - Gentleman's Glittering Nightcap

This sweet piece is a miniature nightcap from the Stuart Era about 5" tall. The life-sized versions of these pieces were often worked in professional workshops and could be bought at the Royal Exchange. This miniature example is worked in coiling stems using a variety of stitches such as detached buttonhole, trellis, and spiral trellis plus reverse chain for the gold stem. The main flowers are all worked in gilt sylke twist with the supporting elements worked in soie gobelin. The nightcap lifts off of its base and reveals
an etui tower that holds needlework tools.

The story behind this piece is that it was the bargaining chip that pushed the production of the gilt sylke twist thread!!  Back when we were trying to get the GST made for the Plimoth Jacket, I needed to guarantee that I would purchase a certain amount of thread of each color.  Each production run would be larger than what the jacket project would need.  So I designed this piece to use the thread and highlight its wonderful character and taught it to a lovely group about a year after we started the jacket.  It did the trick and that is how we got GST produced!  Now in a larger color range, this thread will have a finite lifetime as it is very difficult to make and it takes a very special person to make it.  

Course start date:  August 1st, 2016 running six months, 100 spots in this course (62 available).

Lessons:  There are six stitching/history lessons with pictures of spectacular historic embroidered nightcaps

Options:  You can get the teaching project either with or without a slate frame that is sized for the project.