I’ve shared a few Blackwork designs in the past but today I’m featuring a Blackwork heart.
Just a refresher. Blackwork is sometimes historically referred to as Spanish blackwork. It is a counted thread embroidery traditionally worked with black silk thread on white or off-white linen. In the past, it was particularly popular decorating collars and cuffs. This technique consists of outlines and “fill” or repeating diaper patterns. You can see blackwork today stitched using variegated threads and I am pleased to share one example of this here.
Mary Corbet of NeedleNThread has written a great article about blackwork just in case you would like to check it out HERE.
The design above is a Blackwork pattern by Karen Bourgaizerose called Décor Wreath. Sadly despite extensive research I was unable to locate the pattern – it is an oldie! Having said this, I did find some of her patterns on Ebay so you might like to take a look.
The pattern reminds me a bit of the Frank’s Rose design from this blog post. All of the threads used in the design were solids versus any variegated. Just goes to show how effective solids can be! Some of the stitches used were scotch and triple herringbone.
