Blackwork Caul

This is the first part of my planned Elizabethan outfit. White dress weight linen worked using stem stitch with 2 strands of black Maderia silk thread. I have started keeping proper time keeping records and this project took 39 hours for the embroidery and approx 1 hr for construction. I am sure the design is from a period source, but I can't find the details at the moment.

This is the caul at 20 hours work. The pink is the transfer pen I used to mark the design, not period but it works. I was afraid that the marking wouldn't come off. However, after a was in Napisan Oxy, all the pink came out very easily, with no running from the black thread. Also, after rinsing, I put the wet piece back in the hoop and stretched it out and let it air dry. This restretched the black thread (which had shrunk slightly and cause puckering) and the ground fabric, meaning I didn't have to iron (which sometimes crushed the embroidery down).