Wherever the Roman legions went, they left their mark on the area one way or another. You find Roman aqueducts in Spain, a Romance (i.e. Roman) language in Eastern Europe, and, in England, floor mosaics from the time Rome ruled the island. When I was in England about 10 years ago, I fell in love with this mosaic that hangs in the Bath Museum. I thought it would make a great needlepoint piece and it did. The picture is of the finished piece.

It’s one of my favorite projects ever with the strong curvy center of the design is surrounded by seven different borders, each with a different pattern in them. In addition to being a very nice design on its own, the Mosaic has lots of ideas for border designs for other work. I did it as a free project in 1998 for About.com with hand-drawn charts. But it’s too good to sit in my archives. So, beginning with this post, I will be sharing it with you as a free project. Weekly I will be doing another chuck of it with new charts and instructions.

Today’s post will give you some background about the mosaics, including on-line resources for further exploration. It will also provide you with the original material list and how to reproduce it in materials available today, since both the fabric is no longer made.

The Romans often decorated the floors of public places and villas with elaborate stone mosaics. Most of these either depicted the gods or were entirely geometric. In almost all of them you find complex geometric borders and fill patterns. In England, which stayed Roman until the Fourth Century and didn’t reach the same level again until the Eighteenth Century or so, many partial mosaics remain and have been recorded and studied. One listing of Roman Mosaics in Britain has seven pages with excellent pictures of new and reproduction Romano-British mosaics.

There is also an organization, ASPROM, devoted to the study and preservation of these mosaics. Their site has a list, with links, of many places to see Roman mosaics, a resources list, and information about news and events.

There are also books you can get on the subject, including Geometric Patterns from Roman Mosiacs, an excellent introduction, available from Amazon. This book concentrates on the British mosaics. Another is Roman Mosaics in Britain. There are many other affordable (and expensive) ones on Roman mosaics in general.

The overall design uses a deep greenish blue and a pale terra cotta color to make the design. Small bits of gray (which matches the canvas) and darker blue (in the outermost corners) add depth to the design. Two strands of silk were used throughout.

To make the design you will need: 12 x 12 inch square piece of gray Congress cloth (This will give you a wide border) Silk floss in the following colors: 2 skeins Needlepoint Inc 325 Dull Marine Blue (blue x’s on chart), 1 skein Needlepoint Inc 928 Dull China Blue (blue solid dots on chart), 1 skein Rainbow Gallery Splendor S925 (red slashes on chart), 1 skein Rainbow Gallery Splendor S920 (green dashes on chart)

You can substitute any brand of stranded silk or cotton floss for these colors. Hand-dyed threads will also work, as long as they are shades of the same color, close in value, such as those from The Thread Gatherer.

The material is more of a problem. The original used gray Congress Cloth, which is no longer available. Needle in a Haystack does have it listed on their website. You can use white Congress Cloth and color it light gray with paint or COPIC markers in a very, very pale gray. (The gray background is an important part of the design and reproduces the look of the original.) You can also switch to fabric. Looking at the fabric list at Needle in a Haystack, Dublin Linen, Legacy Linen, Lorna Linen, Soft Congress Cloth, Floba, and Jobelan come in counts of 24 or 25. In terms of color, the closest match I found was Dublin Linen in Platinum.

The design uses Tent Stitch and Blackwork only. Since the Tent Stitches are only single or in straight lines, Continental Stitch will be the best choice. This will give the most coverage on the back and will prevent the stitches from disappearing on the canvas. If you are stitching the piece on an even weave fabric, use Cross Stitch instead of Continental.

The Blackwork on the model was done continental style, always moving the needle up in a clean hole and down in a dirty hole. You could also do this as double running stitch or backstitch. I like the thicker look this method gives Blackwork because of the greater coverage on the back.

Assemble your materials, while I try to rechart the center, and next week we’ll start stitching.

Follow the entire series on-line: Introduction and materials, central medallion and borders 1, borders 2, borders 3 & finishing ideas

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The rest is here:
Roman Mosaics in Britain