Bayeux stitch Halley’s Comet embroidery kit

Inspired by the return of the Bayeux Tapestry to England this summer, artist and star-gazer James Tovey has created a brand new Halley’s Comet embroidery kit – one from his range at Yelling tree Press. Find out about his thoughts behind the project …

On his way to battle in October 1066, King Harold Godwinson lay prostrate in front of the holy rood at his estate at Waltham Abbey.  A terrible portent was witnessed by Thurkill the Sacristan and later recorded in De inventione sancte crucis, the Waltham Chronicle, written down in 1177.  Miraculously the figure of Christ on the black flint cross – found on the estates pf Anglo-Danish Staller Tófi prúðr’s in Somerset, and transported to Waltham the century before – bowed its head.

~

In the night skies of Spring 1066, visible to all, another miracle had been witnessed.  This time, the form of a comet was seen – and later recorded in wool, on the Bayeux Tapestry – the 70-metre long embroidery, thought to have been made by a team of nuns, commissioned by Bishop Odo, the new King of England’s half-brother.  Born in 1036, Odo had played a significant role in the Norman Conquest and as a result had become Earl of Kent.

~

Wool production was a major industry in England and Northern France during the 11th century, making the thread a readily available cost-effective material for a major landowner such as the Earl of Kent.  It can be easily dyed and makes a tough stable yarn of suitable thickness for fast coverage for blocks of texture and colour in embroidery.  The natural weatherproofing of its lanolin adds to durability of the fibres.

~

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Chinese astronomical records document the arrival of a blazing hairy-star (the word comet comes from the Greek word for hair) starting in April 1066.  The Bayeux comet, marked with the inscription ‘STELLA’ on the embroidery, appears less hairy – perhaps flaming.  A rotation of the design through 90° brings something of a pole construction to mind, with dangling flags.  The embroiderers seem to have been in some haste making the embroidery and perhaps a handy maypole type event could have been the inspiration for their comet design? The colours of the Bayeux comet are the dyes of the era, now faded, but probably in use on any maypole decoration too.  These are only my speculations of course, but I needed a starting point in approaching this subject for a novel idea.

~

I have made paintings of a hairy star and glittery glow-in-the-dark comets, but for the Halley’s Comet embroidery kit the design springs from plywood maquettes I’ve made and display on poles around our home.  Having got a shape I liked that contained something of an abstracted maypole, I then took an outline of this and placed it over a modern photograph made during the last pass of Halley’s Comet close to Earth in 1986 – redrawing it until the shape settled into the asymmetric comet tail of the photograph, as well as retaining a festival maypole aura.  The colour choice is partly a deliberate brightening of the Bayeux palette, and is combined with some coloured pencil and felt-tip experiments when colouring-in printouts to preview stitch patterns.

~

Hopefully this has created a new paradigmatic project giving inspiration to explore Bayeux Stitch as well as your own cometary journey in choosing how to turn the line drawing into a celebration of both the visiting tapestry to the UK in 2026-2027 and the periodic return of Halley’s Comet in 2061, that connects us to the events of a millennium ago.

~

The Bayeux Tapestry survival itself is something of a miracle, having seemingly been created as a piece of propaganda, subsequently stored for long periods in a box, perhaps even forgotten, then to be rediscovered in the 18th century and later variously restored, displayed, and used once again for political ends – notably by Napoleon to rally support for a new invasion of England, and later by Himmler similarly in World War 2.

~

At the time of writing, the Bayeux Tapestry is arriving back in England for first time since it was made, while the Bayeux museum undergoes renovation.  We hope you enjoy stitching your Halley’s Comet kit, inspired by the remarkable embroidery from so long ago.

James Tovey, 2026