#flamestitch

[vintagehomecollection]

House Beautiful Christmas, 1994

[my18thcenturysource]

Flamestitch Embroidery

If you're into embroidery, you MUST take a look at these great examples, all from the Victoria & Albert Museum, of punto fiamma or flame stitch. This kind of embroidery is made with flat stitches laid in a mathematical pattern to create motifs, being the most popular/known one, the zig-zag motif.

It is also known as Florentine or Bargello stitch because of a series of chairs in the Bargello palace in Florence, but funny enough, in Italy it is known as punto unghero (Hungarian point). Here, the famous chairs:

In English, the main motifs of this embroidery are called:

Flame Stitch - the zig-zag

Hungarian Point - diamond

Bargello - curved motifs

This embroidery was very popular during the 17th and 18th centuries, for furniture, cushions, accessories and shoes, like we can see on the examples at the top.

Traditionally it is stitched in wool on linen canvas, but nowadays we can perfectly use cotton threads. The motifs are colourful, or might use different shades of the same colour creating shading effects.

Now, would you like to try it? Or, would you like see someone making an 18th century embroidered pocket? I'm sure you do:

Images from top:

Pair of shoes, 1730s-1740s, Great Britain, Victoria & Albert Museum.

Pin Cushion, Martha Edlin, 1670-1680, England, Victoria & Albert Museum.

Chair Seat, 1700-1750, England, Victoria & Albert Museum.

Pair of Shoes, 1730s-1740s. Great Britain, Victoria & Albert Museum.

Chairs at the Bargello Museum, Jeff Beck, via American Quilter blog.

Making an 18th Century Bargello Pocket, 2021, Margaret ONeil, via YouTube.

[librarycompany]

This bible belonged to Mary Sandwith, who also likely crafted the embroidered chemise. The bible itself is bound in calf and covered with canvas stitched with a vibrant bargello or flame stitch pattern.  Mary's name is stitched on the spine, along with the date, 1743, her eleventh year.  Mary was the sister of Elizabeth Drinker, the famous diarist.  A similar chemise covers Elizabeth's bible, which is in the collections at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

[pinsandweevils]

Irish stitch/flame stitch sample.

[vintagehomecollection]

100 Designers' Favorite Rooms, 1994

[vintagehomecollection]

The Complete Book of Home Decorating, 1999

[vintagehomecollection]

Barbara Taylor Bradford’s Easy Steps to Successful Decorating, 1971

[vintagehomecollection]

Laura Ashley Style, 1987