What Mountmellick is not

Sometimes, people who have never seen Mountmellick embroidery before have some trouble understanding what makes Mountmellick embroidery distinctively its own style. I know I did, when I first started learning about it!

Because Mountmellick embroidery is a traditional style of embroidery, by studying historical examples, we can come to an understanding of what it really is. You can learn about what Mountmellick IS from the Mountmellick page on the Vetty Creations website and from our book Mountmellick Embroidery: Inspired by Nature. To be a little different, however, let’s talk a bit about what Mountmellick embroidery is not!

Mountmellick is not called Montmellick, Mt Mellick, Mt Melleck, Mountmellic, Montmellic, or any other variation other than Mountmellick embroidery. The name comes from the name of the town where the style of embroidery developed. It is in County Laois in Ireland. If you’re looking at a map of Ireland, find Dublin on the east coast, then head westward to about the middle of the country. Around there you will find the town of Mountmellick. Its not a large town by any means, and certainly not on the tourist route. So if its not on your map, that may be why.

Mountmellick embroidery is not coloured. When Sister Teresa Margaret McCarthy of the Presentation Convent in Mountmellick, Ireland – who is seen as the mother of Mountmellick embroidery’s revival – started investigating the embroidery, all she had were some line drawing patterns, with no indication of how they should be stitched. She assumed (as most of us probably would) that they would be worked in colour. When people heard of her interest and started bringing her examples from their linen cupboards, she learned that it is always whitework – white thread on white fabric. Its not even cream on cream, although an old piece before it is washed can look like that.

Mountmellick embroidery does not use shiny thread – the thread is completely matt. I’ll say it in another way: the thread has no shine. None. Nothing. Zip. Is that clear enough? That means that perle/pearl cotton is too shiny. Somewhat surprisingly, it also means that even coton a broder/broder cotton, is too shiny. So is cotton floche. Mountmellick thread has no shine.

Mountmellick embroidery does not use silk, wool, linen, rayon or any other type of thread other than cotton. In times past, thread manufacturers wanted to promote their products in different ways, sometimes even producing booklets about various styles of embroidery utilising their range of threads. Because of this you can find booklets on Mountmellick embroidery which specify silk threads. However, traditional Mountmellick embroidery only ever used cotton thread. This is because the town of Mountmellick was in a cotton growing area. Mountmellick was even known as the Manchester of Ireland, because of its strength in the cotton industry. They grew cotton, milled it and spun it locally, therefore its what was used for their local style of embroidery.

Mountmellick embroidery is not small and dainty. It does not have tiny, sweet, little flowers and plants. It is big and bold. The plants are lifesize or even larger. Taking a design and making it smaller (because, for example, it will fit better on your tablecloth or cushion) means its not really Mountmellick embroidery anymore.

Mountmellick embroidery does not have just any plants. The plants are those which grew in the hedgerows, along the River Owenass which flows through Mountmellick, and wild in the gardens of the town of Mountmellick. As time went on, just a few extras such as lilies were added to this, but they didn’t go overboard. You won’t find native Australian plants in Mountmellick embroidery! You won’t find camellias, hollyhocks, lupins, snapdragons, irises, carnations, marigolds… It doesn’t have mushrooms, gnomes, butterflies, bugs, caterpillars or fairies in amongst the flowers. Occasionally, though very rarely, you will find a small bird, shell or even a pineapple, but these are exceptions, rather than the rule.

Mountmellick embroidery is not worked on damask, linen, twill, poplin, calico or any other fabric other than cotton satin jean. The sheen on the satin jean fabric is meant to contrast with the lack of shine on the thread, creating an interesting juxtaposition.

Mountmellick embroidery is not candlewicking. Mountmellick embroidery uses a much larger range of stitches than candlewicking. The stitches are predominantly knotted and padded stitches, and while the candlewicking that we know these days has knots, they are colonial knots, which are not used in Mountmellick embroidery. Mountmellick embroidery is always floral, whereas candlewicking is not always floral.

Mountmellick embroidery does not use just any stitches. There is a range of stitches that are generally accepted as those used in Mountmellick. They are often knotted and padded stitches, providing texture to the embroidery. You will not find long and short stitch, colonial knots, trellis stitch, cross stitch or many others in Mountmellick embroidery. You cannot just choose any old stitch to use in your Mountmellick project. Mountmellick Embroidery: Inspired by Nature has clear step-by-step instructions for the stitches used in Mountmellick embroidery.

I could probably go on with more, as there are many more things that Mountmellick is not, but perhaps it might just head towards being ridiculous e.g. its not a bike, or a mountain…!