My friend Talan, was to be given a Silver Wheel on Ethereal Court from the Consules of the East, and I wanted to make him a medallion. Goldwork lends itself well to the Silver awards given in the East Kingdom.
I decided to use a green velvet, since in the middle ages, goldwork was frequently done on velvet for book covers, albs, and many other items where the fabric was meant to showcase the expense and value of the final embroidery.
The thread used here is real metal passing thread #4, couched with a grey silk thread. The chips are bright purl check #6 in silver.
The velvet is backed with linen, then placed into an embroidery hoop. The velvet was a scrap from another project, so it was not as wide as the hoop, however, since it a small project, it was not difficult to maintain tension.
The printout of the wheel was pinned to the fabric and traced around it with chalk.
After tracing the full wheel with chalk, I cut out the outside portion of the paper pattern, and then traced around the inner wheel.
For the spokes, I decided not to trace them through to the center, because I did not want chalk show through the thin lines of the couched silver spokes. So, I made chalk mark guides in an area that would be covered with the purl check chips.
I first couched two lines of double strand silver passing thread around the outside of the wheel, covering the chalk lines. Then created a center circle with the same method. the spokes were added, and then the pearl. Then began the tedious work of cutting the chips, and sewing them down in an irregular pattern.
Embroidery is finished. It would have been better if there was less green visible under the chips, but I’m afraid was a little short on this purl check, and had a deadline approaching.
The finished medallion was sewn onto a wood disc, and the back covered with the same green velvet. The rattail cord was sewn inside the seam between layers, with many extra stitches to hold it in place.
It made it to the recipient just hours before the recording session, and he was duly surprised!
