THE KNOW-HOW

THE KNOW-HOW

THE KNOW-HOW

The Maison Le Minor remains faithful to its vocation of maintaining and transmitting a know-how born in the “Pays Bigouden”, in Brittany. It is a rich tradition linked to embroidery that has developed a vast iconographic repertoire.  Le Minor perpetuates this ancient Breton culture when collaborating with Breton artists and through its own creations.
This know-how of our workshops is expressed through the art of hand-embroidery, Cornély embroidery, but also through the production of our printed table-linen collections..

HAND EMBROIDERY is a craft that is maintained at LE MINOR with the production of embroidered tapestries, whether based on cartoons or drawings by deceased artists such as Dom Robert or Picard Le Doux, or through contemporary creations by living artists such as Gwenn Le Gac, Valérie Le Roux or Patrice Cudennec.
LE MINOR has also made a specialty of creating embroidered religious banners for many Breton chapels or churches scattered around the region, as well as in Quimper cathedral. LE MINOR is also proud to continue the production of richly-embroidered traditional costumes for breton folk bands and groups called Bagads.

CORNELY EMBROIDERY can also be used for some of these embroidered banners and vests or other bespoke garments and tapestries. The Cornély embroidery is produced by the century-old machine but “guided” by hand. It actually takes years for an embroiderer to master this technique. A number of collections and pieces in limited editions are embroidered with the Cornély in our workshops on coton, linen and wool.

The Cornély machine was invented in 1865 by the French engineer Emile Cornély and makes it possible to embroider in chain stitches. The embroiderer follows the design by hand, thanks to a handle fixed under the machine.
The design is previously reproduced on a tracing paper, the lines of which will be dotted with small holes. The pierced layer called a stencil, is placed on the fabric to be embroidered. A coloured powder made of chalk is applied on to the stencil and reproduces the design.  The artisan then follows the design and dusts the powder once the embroidery is completed. The embroiderer chooses the colours of fabric and he/she deploys his/her creativity is deployed while working on the subject. Each creation is truly unique and that is one of the great achievements of LE MINOR.

PRINTED LINEN COLLECTIONS follow another path. The designs either derive from the archives of the Maison LE MINOR or are produced in collaboration with contemporary artists, some of whom in residence. They are then printed in Eastern France, in the Vosges region, where the best textile printing workshops are still based, keepers of an ancestral know-how. Through sewing and making that our seamstresses master to perfection, these printed fabrics are transformed into tablecloths, table runners, tea towels etc... they also give life to our embroideries which are found by their skill on our table linen and our cushions.
 
We are very proud of our talented teams; their dedication and complementarity is a strength that makes our workshop not only a place of production but also a real place of research and creation for lasting and original, handcrafted goods.