The Crooked Embroider's Shop....

This is the book that gave me the idea to turn the crooked cottage into an embroider's workshop.  I found it on Amazon a couple of years ago.  It is beautifully done and has really good information about how embroidery was being done in the 1700s and what kind of equipment was used.

This illustration from the book is a line drawing that the author made of an illustration from another book....Pretty well done and informative.

I used it as a jumping off point for drawing up plans for a stretcher frame for the cottage.

I like the idea that only one end was supported by a saw horse.  The other end sits on a ledge that runs the length of the room...Very convenient. 

I drew up plans for a frame and sat it in the shop opening.  The nice thing about drawing plans on graph paper, in scale, is that you can instantly see how the piece is going to fit in the room.

I may make it a little longer, but It seems to fit very well.  If I run a shelf along one wall and put the sawhorse under the other end, it will leave room for other things in the room.

I still wanted more details.  That's when I remembered that I have  Charles Germain de Saint-Aubin's book, "Art of the Embroider".  It is translated from the French and is profusely illustrated.  I should have thought of this one in the first place.  This is a translation, so I don't have to worry about trying to decipher it.

The book was written in 1770, so everything in it is accurate to the period.  Granted, it is French, but at that time, the French were stealing ideas from the English and the English from the French.  So....I think it will be accurate enough for what I have in mind for the crooked cottage.

This will give you some idea as to what I will be getting ideas from.  The original illustrations are intact.

That funny looking machine on the right side is a bobbin winder.  I imagine that there were quite a few people with relieved arm muscles after that was invented.

There is also a large colored section of photos of embroideries of the time. 

Saint-Aubin's father was also an embroider.  Who knows?  Maybe the line goes back further in the family.

I don't remember any mention of the rest of the family.  I may have to break down and re read this epic.

I guess I had better get started.

See you tomorrow.