Today it will be a mix of slightly different medieval silk embroideries. Some display incredibly meticulous craftsmanship and astonishing detail. You can understand that they were produced in a studio. Others are perhaps not quite as professionally executed.. But, what they lose in accuracy, they make up for in charm.

Of the preserved embroideries found in Swedish History’s collections, the overwhelming majority are connected to Catholicism. The most common motifs are saints. Often the saint him/her-self has been embroidered separately and then applied to a background. Sometimes only the saint remains and sometimes only the background remains.

They have been embroidered on linen fabric. Very often it is reused towels or other rather worn fabrics that can be found on the backs of the embroidery. The backside of embroideries can tell a lot!

In addition to “painting” with the stitches, the gilded thread can be sewn down with different colors on the silk thread and thus create another possibility to create the pattern effect.

Our sewing teachers at school must have had a heart attack from the backs of the medieval embroideries. What the back would look like has been completely uninteresting and strikingly often it is pure chaos and maybe also a bit of glue to make sure the silk yarns wouldn’t unravel.

Dating on these are 15th century.

Please cred if sharing photos

/Amica and Maria