The Westphalian Pouch

A 3.5" x 4.75" drawstring bag embroidered in red, dark orange and yellow in a style common to Westphalia in the 14^th and 15^th centuries, with handsewn linen lining, tassels and fingerloop braided cord.

Documentation as Submitted with this Entry

I am heavily indebted to Master Richard Wymarc OL, whose Compleat Anachronist publication 'A Stitch Out of Time' was the primary motivation behind the initiation of this work.  Master Richard has extensively documented this form of embroidery through his examination of many examples during his travels.  Extant examples primarily date from the 14^th and 15^th centuries in the region of Westphalia and Lower Saxony in modern-day northern Germany.  It was used for pieces such as bags, pillows, and garments.  The style consists of multiple ply silk threads worked in long stitches over the linen ground fabric, completely covering the ground.  Design elements are brightly colored and exhibit strong vertical tendencies.

Three extant examples demonstrate its use in small drawstring bags ranging in size from 3 inches square to 10 inches square (Mitchell, 13 & 15).  One example of these bags demonstrates red silk lining, while another has a woven band along the opening which may or may not relate to a lining (the interior was not examined).  All the bags have drawstrings of various constructions.  These drawstrings were not passed through casings but instead were sewn directly through the bag and lining, then plaited at the ends.  Several bags have tassels along the closed end of the bag, and one bag has a fingerloop cord attached on both sides between the lining and the embroidery.  Similar five element fingerloop cords are found in contemporaneous deposits in London (Crowfoot, 138-140), and recipes for construction are documented in several period manuscripts (Swales and Williams, 58).  Use of fingerloop braids as handles on pouches is also demonstrated in an extant late 14^th century pouch from the London excavations (Crowfoot).

The embroidery is done with six strand DMC embroidery floss (814, 783 and 725), strands separated and aligned, over even weave linen.  The lining is garment-weight linen hand stitched in place.  The seams on both side edges of the bag and one top seam along the lining are covered in a two-color running split stitch using two needles.  This was done after the lining had been attached on one of the open edges, allowing it to be laid out flat during the split stitch.  Through trial and error I discovered that it was likely not an accident that only one of the open edges on the original artifact was oversewn; once the lining was fully stitched in place the thickness of the embroidery and lining did not allow sufficient flexibility in needle placement to get a good result.

Tassels were created prior to inserting the linen lining. DMC cotton embroidery floss (color 783) was separated and aligned in the needle, passed multiple times through the corners wrapping over a card, then cut off the card and bound at the point of origin with like material.

The drawstrings are two different colors of DMC floss (814 and 725) passed through both sides of the bag in opposite directions.  In order to make them pass through the same needle holes, I used an awl to temporarily open a small hole in the embroidery and lining.  These holes closed up immediately upon passing the drawstring, consistent with the finding that no punched or bound holes were found on the extant artifacts.  The emerging strands were bound on both sides with the identical DMC floss.  The trailing ends were fingerloop braided in an identical pattern as that described below, then split into two further plaits, with the ends finally worked back into the terminating plaits.

The pursestring is a round five-element fingerloop braid worked in monochromatic DMC pearl cotton (color 783).  The pattern for the 'round lace of V bowes' is found in the period manuscript Harley 2320 from around 1450 translated by Stanley (96) and interpreted for modern workers by Swales and Williams (27). When worked in two colors this pattern produces alternating chevrons.  In order to avoid a bulky knot between the lining and the embroidery at each edge, I left sufficient length at either end of the braid to split it into two flat plaits of three grouped elements each.  The cord was attached to the inside seam allowances of the embroidered ground roughly ½ inch below the top, with the two terminating plaits floating loosely between the ground and the lining.

The Round Lace of V Bowes, in two colors

In period silk thread would have been used for the embroidery; however, considering the enormous amount of thread required in an all-over design such as this the cost of obtaining this material was prohibitive.  Another issue with this piece is the lack of contrast between the burnt orange color and the yellow. As the photographs demonstrate, period examples generally used highly contrasting colors. Unfortunately the burnt orange shade was far more distinct in the store than in the finished product. 

            Bibliography

Crowfoot, Elizabeth; Pritchard, Frances; and Staniland, Kay.  Medieval Finds From Excavations in London:4 Textiles and Clothing 1150-1450. London: HMSO, 1992.

Mitchell, Timothy J.  'A Stitch Out of Time.'  Compleat Anachronist, volume 86, July 1996.

Mitchell, Timothy J.  A Stitch Out of Time: Medieval Embroidery for the Modern Era.  30 Dec 2002.  

Stanley, EG.  'Directions for Making Many Sorts of Laces.' In Chaucer and Middle English Studies, ed Rowland.  London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1974.

Swales, Lois; and Williams, Zoe.  'Fingerloop Braids.'  Compleat Anachronist, volume 108, March 2000.