Luneville is a small town in eastern France in the Lorraine region. He is known for the beautiful faience produced there and ancient French embroidery, which made local craftswomen famous throughout Europe.
The tambour technique for decorating fabrics originated many centuries ago and was used to decorate the toilets of noble ladies and gentlemen. For several decades, embroidery with Luneville crochet has been actively used by the famous French and Italian couturiers. They attract craftswomen, who know the secrets of this technique, to create chic evening and wedding dresses, the cost of which reaches hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Tool from Luneville
The main feature of the tambour embroidery is the use of a special tool instead of the traditional needle. It is a hook consisting of 2 parts:
- needles
- handles with fixing screw.
Luneville hook only vaguely resembles the traditional one used for knitting. In particular, it has a different head structure and a cylindrical shape with a pointed end. These features of the Luneville needlework tool allow you to easily remove the hook from the fabric. In addition, he has the ability to change needles, depending on the thickness of the thread used and the type of fabric. For example, if organza is chosen as the basis, then the hook should be of very small diameter. A handle with a screw, designed to fix the needles, shows the direction of the slot on their heads, which allows you to always know which side you need to bring the thread from during embroidery.
Principle of operation and what is required
A professional Luneville hook acts the same as a sewing machine, dragging a work thread through the fabric, weaving a peculiar pigtail with chain stitches.
For embroidery in this technique often use additional materials:
- sequins;
- rhinestones;
- bugles and beads;
- silver and gold and thread.
As a basis, as a rule, use light and transparent fabrics :
- chiffon;
- silk;
- muslin;
- batiste.
If the embroidery is done on a thin and mesh basis, then it resembles an exquisite woven lace.
Products with such decor on dense fabrics such as velvet, cotton or linen or woolen cloth look quite different.
As for the threads, you can use silk and cotton of any thickness, as well as gold and silver wires.
Embroidery in Luneville style requires a hoop on the stand. Professional frames for making tapestries are also suitable.
If thin material or mesh is chosen for the base, then along the perimeter they should be sheathed with additional strips of fabric, which will ensure its uniform tension.
Training
The Luneville hook, the best embroidery workshop in France, where the world-famous Francois Lesage school operates, is usually sold as part of sets. They usually include needles of different diameters and stencils.
Before you begin, you need to transfer the pattern to the fabric. This is easy to do with carbon paper or the nodding method. If the latter option is selected, then the pattern is transferred to tracing paper and using the needle, holes are made with a sharp needle along the contour. Then combine the fabric with tracing paper and secure with pins. Sprinkle tracing paper with graphite powder, which, penetrating through the punctures, leaves pigment traces on the material.
If you intend to use finishing materials, for example, sequins or beads, then they are pre-planted on the working thread.
Luneville crochet embroidery: master class
At the beginning of work, a tangible knot is knotted on the working thread. Further:
- a hook is introduced from the “face” of the work (from above), and the thread is fed from the inside out;
- pull the first loop and pull the working thread so that the knot rests on the base, indicating the beginning of the seam;
- the thread is held with the left hand, and the hook is clamped with the right;
- make a puncture on the base, lowering the hook down;
- put a thread on the hook;
- turn the needle counterclockwise around its axis;
- after a full turn, pull the loop on the front side of the embroidery;
- turn the tool clockwise;
- repeat all operations, building a chain of loops with a chain stitch;
- pull the thread inside out;
- fix so that the seam does not open.
All actions should be performed exactly according to the instructions presented above. Otherwise, the base material will cling and tear from time to time, and the working thread will delaminate.
Beadwork
Since ancient times, small multi-colored beads have been used to decorate clothing and interior items. For this purpose, the beads are sewn onto a fabric or other base using a regular needle. It turns out that this is much easier if you use the Luneville hook.
As already mentioned, in order to embroider with beads in the vestibule technique, you must first collect a few beads on the thread and fix with a knot. Then:
- introducing a hook from the wrong side of the base;
- capturing the thread, pull the loop on the wrong side of the fabric;
- flip the base;
- introducing a Luneville hook into the loop formed;
- turn the fabric over again;
- push the first bead to the starting puncture site with a hook;
- inject the Luneville needle into the base from the bottom up, after the bead;
- wrap a thread around it;
- take the needle from the base down and fix it.
After all the described procedures, 2 loops appear on the wrong side. The second of them is dragged by a Luneville crochet into the loop formed by the first, turning 180 degrees so as not to lose the loop.
The remaining beads are sewn the same way. As a result, on the back of the base, a chain of loops is obtained, and on the front side there is an even row of beads.
Luneville crochet embroidery: training
As already mentioned, the most famous studio where you can learn this technique is in France. A full course at this educational institution is quite expensive. However, the craftswomen with a certificate of graduation from Francois Lesage are immediately invited to work in prestigious fashion houses.
In recent years, interest in Luneville technology has increased, so the studios where you can learn its secrets are opening all over the world, including our country.
Remember that the road will be overpowered by the traveler, so if you like this embroidery, try to do it starting with the simplest options.