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victorian

Hawthorne & Heaney :Dismantling of a Victorian Mourning Shawl

January 18, 2018 by Eleanor Rowlands

Hawthorne & Heaney :Dismantling of a Victorian Mourning Shawl London Hand Embroidery

WHO, WHAT & WHY?

Hawthorne & Heaney was given the Victorian shawl by Sue Thomas from Savile Row bespoke.

HISTORY

In the Victorian era, black was considered the appropriate colour to be worn when mourning the loss of a loved one and in some cultures, this is still the case today. It is believed that the mourning attire was a protection against negative thoughts. By wearing the colour black it also informed family, friends and acquaintances that the wearer had recently lost someone close to them and was a warning not to approach them within this sad period of time. For women, the fashion symbolised the depth of affliction with the colour of clothing indicating the gradual return from black to bold clothing through the hues of purple and violet, this was recognised as the second stage of mourning. The length of time Victorian women wore mourning garments varied on the degree of relationship with the deceased from a week up to a year.

Hawthorne & Heaney :Dismantling of a Victorian Mourning Shawl London Hand Embroidery

DISMANTLING OF THE SHAWL

The dismantling of the shawl was a very long process as parts of the shawl was originally constructed using an embroidery technique called tambour beading. Tambour is French for drum and is done by using a hook where the fabric is stretched as tight as a drum. The fabric can be stretched by being sewn onto a rectangular frame or placed in a wooden hoop. The Tambour hook makes a chain stitch in a technical order where it will keep each bead securely in place. If the knot or process of the tambour chain stitch was to be done incorrectly then the whole beadwork would come undone. Depending on your experience using the Tambour technique beads can be secured in place very fast this is why a lot of fashion houses such as Dior are well known for using this technique in order to get garments completed on a tight time schedule. To get each bead loose from the shawl the embroidery stitches were cut allowing the bead to be free. Once all the beads were eventually dismantled from the Victorian shawl they were sorted into bags so all the same beads were neatly secured and measured ready to be used again. Below you are able to see photographs of sections from the shawl being dismantled.

Hawthorne & Heaney :Dismantling of a Victorian Mourning Shawl London Hand Embroidery

NEW PURPOSE

It is very important to Hawthorne & Heaney that the beads are used in another exciting project. This is because of the heritage behind this shawl and the construction that went into the making of it was exquisite. With the shawl being so old it was beginning to fall apart and unable to be restored therefore there was no other option but to take it apart and store the beads safely away until we find a project that will give them a new purpose. We are unsure currently what that project will be but we are sure we will know when the time comes.

Filed Under: Art, Embroidery, Fashion Tagged With: beading, beads, black, embellishment, embroidery, Fashion Embroidery, hand embroidery, Hawthorne & Heaney, historical, history, jet, London, repurposing, restoration, shawl, textiles, victorian

Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam

February 24, 2016 by Natasha Searls-Punter

With London Fashion Week well and truely underway, we thought we would share with you a little piece of Hawthorne & Heaney embroidery that made its way onto the catwalk. We worked with the Brighton based designer Ong Oaj Pairam on his AW2016 collection to produce a heavily encrusted, lace and crystal bodice.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam London Hand Embroidery

It was a pretty quick turn around so we used all the tools at our disposal when we were developing the techniqies. The collection has a dark fairytale/ Victorian lost love theme which we worked into the designs. Using our CAD embroidery machine we developed lace like flower and leaf designs to build up a heavy base and compliment the sheen of the duchess satin on which they would be placed.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam London Hand EmbroideryAlong side this we experiemented with a variety of different sequin techniques for creating floral effects

Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam London Hand Embroidery

Once this was all decided on then all there was left to do was to get stitching

Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam London Hand Embroidery Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam London Hand Embroidery

We were really pleased with the effect, it felt very heavy to hold but wonderfully textured. When teamed with the jaquard trousers and sheer shirt from the rest of Pairam’s collection it really comes to life.

Hawthorne & Heaney for Ong Oaj Pairam London Hand Embroidery

We hope you enjoy looking at this piece as much as we enjoyed working on it. Check in again with us to see what else we have been working on recently…

If you would like to see more from Ong Oaj Pairam, please visit his website

Filed Under: Embroidery Tagged With: aw 2016, bodice, Brighton, cad, Collection, crystals, Designer, encrusted, fairytale, flowers, Hawthorne & Heaney, jaquard trouders, lace, leaves, London Embroidery, London Fashion Week, lost love, machine, ong oaj pairam, raising, satin, sequins, Silk, stitching, themes, victorian, womenswear

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