Learning Mountmellick Embroidery: An Irish Needlework Journey
If you're joining the journey, I've been delving deeper into my heritage and exploring the traditions of Irish embroidery. I'm experiencing first-hand what it's like to learn these crafts, seeing the work and hearing the stories of the stitchers who made them and, of course, bringing you along for the adventure.
This year, the Ulster Folk Museum embarked on a project called Drawn Threads and Running Stitches, including workshops in Irish Whitework, Mountmellick and Drawn Thread embroidery. You can read our first chapter exploring Irish Whitework here.
In this next chapter, we pored over beautiful, historic pieces and learnt a form of embroidery completely unique to Ireland...Mountmellick.
What is Mountmellick Embroidery?
Mountmellick embroidery is a traditional Irish form of whitework, originating in the town of Mountmellick, County Laois, in the early nineteenth century. Worked with white cotton thread on white cotton fabric, it's recognised for its beautifully textured, raised stitches and botanical designs inspired by the Irish countryside. (And if you've been following our Wild Irish Flora journey, you'll know my heart's in the hedgerows!)
Flowers, leaves and berries are brought to life with a treasury of beautiful stitches, creating depth and detail without the use of colour. Historically, Mountmellick embroidery was used to embellish household linens and became an important source of employment for local women during periods of hardship, including the years surrounding the Great Famine. It's a beautiful example of Ireland's rich textile heritage, with nature, practicality and traditional craftsmanship at its heart.
Experiencing Mountmellick
I've been embroidering for almost two years and yet, on the needle, Mountmellick was a completely different experience. There are common threads, techniques and stitches bridging the different forms of embroidery, but Mountmellick felt like a world apart. Its robust materials, with thicker thread and heavier fabric, required a stronger hand. The unique stitches, and novel placement of familiar ones, felt like a gift of new creative tools to play with.
And although this freshness was dominantly in texture, its looser approach of choosing your own stitch placement made the experience feel like a freedom on the canvas. Experimentation became the objective. And once you discover what works, what doesn't, you eventually find a rhythm of your own.
It was a challenge to achieve what I could immediately envisage and, spoilt with textural choice, even to know what to place where! But even though my first attempts didn't master the art of composition, simply sitting with and forming these new stitches was a joy. I know that time and practice will bring what only experience can. And I'm looking forward to a second wave of creative joy when I can put these new Mountmellick stitches to work in designs of my own.
Just an Ordinary Woman
Mountmellick connected with me on many levels, beyond the stitching itself. Although the craft originated before the Great Famine, its development as a cottage industry offered women opportunities to earn an income during a period of great poverty in Ireland. Women learnt together, shared their skills and used the work of their hands to help provide for their families.
Once again, I was blown away to find a familiar story. My story, echoed in the lives of women embroidering generations before me. I didn't expect to visit a museum and find it. We pore over museum pieces as precious, priceless works of art, and indeed they are. But what I saw were pieces made, in their time, by ordinary women like me. Women using what they had in their hands to create something beautiful and useful, and to help provide for their families.
I imagine if they knew the fate of their humble creations, lovingly preserved, praised and studied by experts, they might struggle to believe it. And it made me think about how we view our own work. If you've ever admired a museum piece and judged your own stitching against it, wondering if you can even call yourself an artist, or a maker...isn't it refreshing to think, she might have felt the same. You're in good company, dear friend. Among ordinary, extraordinary women.
Practical Isn't the Opposite of Art
I have this wiring to make things useful. Maybe it's my thrifty side or simply the hope to be helpful. Either way, I've recently learnt to embrace it as another creative outlet. And Mountmellick spoke this language too. Bedspreads, pillow covers, nightdress cases, brush and comb bags, tablecloths, napkins and doilies all gave home to these beautiful, historic stitches. And they weren't just made to be admired. Mountmellick embroidery was crafted to be sturdy enough for everyday use and regular laundering.
I love making beautiful stitchwork, but if you know me, you'll know I'm always looking for a place for it to live. Somewhere it can be celebrated and used long after the joy of its creation. Whether that's simply framing a piece to be seen more often or placing embroidery on something you use in daily life, I think the women of Mountmellick have given us so much inspiration for where we might find a home for our stitching.
Perhaps practical isn't the opposite of art, just another way of bringing it into our daily lives.
A Lasting Influence
Although this was my first time trying Mountmellick embroidery, a book on the subject was actually the first embroidery book I bought when I began stitching. As my confidence grew and I began designing my own embroidery patterns, Mountmellick remained an influence in the back of my mind. Looking back, I can see its veins running through my own ode to the Honeysuckle.
And it excites me that this beautiful tradition can continue to inspire our own interpretations, without necessarily following every historic process or technique. There's something lovely about learning from the past and letting those skills find a place in what we make today.
An Unexpected Connection
During our Mountmellick workshop, we had the privilege of seeing some incredible historic pieces. I'll share photographs from the museum's collection below, but one piece in particular completely captured me....a nightdress case. Intricately embellished with embroidery, it was both beautiful and practical. And the concept resonated deeply.
Earlier this year, I designed a sewing pattern called the Envelope Case. The design began when I made a linen blouse for a dear embroidery friend. I wanted to wrap it in something that could be used again. So the first Envelope Case was a reusable gift wrapping for her blouse, I embroidered a monogram on it and designed it so that afterwards, it could hold her embroidery light pad. I had no idea that beautifully embroidered cases had such a rich history of holding garments. Now I'm dreaming of making another Envelope Case and, of course, an embroidered nightdress to put inside it.
(Pieces from The Ulster Folk Museum's textile collection)
Must Try: Mountmellick Stitches
If you're new to the world of Mountmellick embroidery, there's one place I recommend you start. And that's with what you have. The materials traditionally used in Mountmellick embroidery are an important part of what makes the craft so distinctive. But its history is also rooted in women learning practical skills and making use of the resources available to them. While it's a wonderful experience to try Mountmellick in its traditional form, you don't need to have all the specialist materials to begin exploring its stitches.
You can use the thread, fabric and needles you're already comfortable with and simply have a go. Your experiments might not have the dense, raised texture of traditional Mountmellick work, but you can enjoy forming the shapes and textures of its stitches. And perhaps, like me, you'll find yourself falling in love with its therapeutic rhythm and imagining how those beautiful botanical details might sit in your own style.
The Next Chapter
Next, I'll be sharing the final chapter of our Irish needlework journey, trying Drawn Thread embroidery for the very first time. I hope you're enjoying this little look into Irish embroidery heritage as much as I am. There's something very special about finding the stories behind these historic stitches and how deeply they resonate with our own lives and making.