White Threads

White Threads FlossTube 90 – tutorial: how to work an eyelet cluster

Today’s video from White Threads FlossTube is a tutorial from my upcoming online self-paced video course. The course is on the Frisian Whitework Silk Sampler, and the video tutorial shows how to work a square eyelet cluster.

If you are reading this in an email, the video can be found at https://youtu.be/OGd3s-4LM8o

I also need to let you know about an error in “Frisian Whitework: Dutch Embroidery from Friesland”.
On Page 39:
Stitches and techniques: “four thread eyelet” should be “Algerian eyelet – page p90-91”.
Row 6: instead of four thread eyelets, work Algerian eyelets. If you’ve already worked them as four thread eyelets, it isn’t wrong, just different! I certainly wouldn’t undo them and redo them as Algerian eyelets.

Episode notes:
“Frisian Whitework: Dutch Embroidery from Friesland” – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/frisian-whitework.html

White Threads FlossTube 89 – Tips for working with Gumnut Yarns Buds silk

Today on White Threads FlossTube I have a number of updates for you. I ran a class in Smøyg here in town on the weekend, and I show you the fabulous results of my students. I provide an update on my now-no-longer upcoming Frisian Whitework Silk Sampler class in August and how it means I now will be running an online pilot class instead, with a view to opening up this as an online class in the future.

The Frisian Whitework Sampler project from Frisian Whitework: Dutch Embroidery from Friesland has had a supplies pack available for a while. Now you can just buy a precut of the fabric for that project. For the Silk Sampler project you can now purchase the full supplies pack or just the silk threads. And I’m wondering if any of you would like to buy the supplies pack with the fabric already pre-tea-tyed. Let me know if this interests you!

My website shop has had a makeover because we are visual people, so now instead of a boring list of words on the front page of my shop, it is now found in full glorious colour with a picture of Every. Single. Product. Much easier to browse for what you need/want/like!

And FINALLY, I give some tips on working with gorgeous Gumnut Yarns Buds silk thread.

If you are reading this in an email, you can view the video at https://youtu.be/OB92zZgd3-g

Episode notes:
“Smøyg: Pattern Darning from Norway” by Yvette Stanton – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/smoyg.html
“Frisian Whitework: Dutch Embroidery from Friesland” by Yvette Stanton – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/frisian-whitework.html
Frisian Whitework supplies packs – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/frisian-whitework.html#supplies
Frisian Whitework Sampler fabric precuts – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/frisian-whitework.html#samplerfabric
New look online shop – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/cat.html
Frisian Whitework Silk Sampler thread packs – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/frisian-whitework.html#silkthreads

White Threads Floss Tube 88 – Hardanger needlecase and an online event?

Many years ago I designed a Hardanger needlecase for a class. I’ve enjoyed using it ever since, and it remains one of my most popular patterns. Today I show it to you.

I also discuss the idea of an online event in lieu of (or in addition to!) the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this idea.

If you are reading this in an email, you can find the video at https://youtu.be/DJ8klGc-zN4

Episode notes:
“Frisian Whitework: Dutch Embroidery from Friesland” by Yvette Stanton – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/frisian-whitework.html
Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair – https://www.craftfair.com.au/wp/Sydney/
Needleminders – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/catalogue-needles.html#needleminders
Hardanger needlecase pattern – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/hardanger-needlecase.html

Thoughts on this year’s Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair

Given we’re just over a month away from the new dates for the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair (1st-5th September), and Sydney is still in lockdown and looks like it could be for some time yet, I am really unsure that it will go ahead. Maybe the organisers will postpone it again. It’s hard to know, because it’s likely that they don’t know yet either. None of us are very good at our crystal ball skills, these days…

I want to acknowledge that Expertise Events, who run the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair, are trying to do the best with the knowledge that they have. They want to run their fabulous events for the vendors and general public, but they also want to be safe and not put people at risk. I don’t envy them in their decision-making, or their difficulties in running their business at a time like this. For me, they have been great to work with over the years, and very supportive of my business, as I am of theirs, and that’s a great relationship that I really would like to continue!

I am grateful that by the time the new dates (as they stand) come around, I will be fully vaccinated. If it had run on the original dates, I was feeling very nervous about the fact that I had been unable at that time to have either my first or second vaccine shot.

Moving forward, if the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair is cancelled OR postponed, I’m thinking of somehow running my own “online show”. Just to be quite clear, if it is *postponed*, then I’d still want to do the in person, real life Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair when it happens. So the online show would be in *addition* to that, unless I deem being present at an in-person show simply is too dangerous and risky for me, who lives in a small country town where we just don’t have a good health service. I would never want to be the person who brought covid to Walcha.

Vetty Creations at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair
If I was to run an online show, somehow I would endeavour to give you as much of the show experience as I could, but online. So what are the experiences that you get at an in person show that you usually can’t get otherwise?

1. We get to have conversations – I get to have them with you and you get to have them with me. I love those conversations. They can be so thought-provoking. So, somehow, I’d want to be able to have those conversations. Maybe question and answer sessions on Facebook or Zoom.

2. You get to see my work, in person, in real life. You can get up close and really look at it. You can ask me questions about the pieces. You can be inspired by the array of projects. So, I think having videos of me showing the projects I would have displayed, showing you the details I think you’d like to see, and talking about them, might be good.

3. You get to see my new products. I would therefore want to show you all the new stuff, and explain it to you, probably via video.

4. Usually when there are fewer customers around, I sit and embroider at the front of my stand. It catches peoples’ eyes as they walk past. Some of my best conversations happen when people come to watch. So I’d love to just sit and embroider with you able to watch and ask questions. This might be able to be a Youtube live video or a Zoom session.

These are the things I have been thinking about, in an effort to still be able to exhibit, even though the in person show might not be able to go ahead at this stage.

What do you think? Would you be interested in this? Do you have suggestions for things I could include in an online show that I may not have thought of? One of the difficulties for me is timezones – you’re not all on the east coast of Australia, so I’d need to perhaps run multiple sessions at different times. However, this also presents opportunities for a much wider audience than just me exhibiting at a show in Sydney, Australia!

I just think it might be worth giving it a go. It will likely be a huge amount of work for me. Probably far more than an in-person show. It might be a terrible flop, but it might also be something new and fantastic that we agree is certainly better than no show at all! And for those of you who would never make it to the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair because of distance, finances, health or other reasons, this might mean you can participate in an experience you would never have otherwise.

White Threads Floss Tube #87 – revisiting thread twist & myth busting

I have talked about thread twist before in previous Wihte Threads FlossTube videos. Today I revisit it. In this video, I bust a few needlework myths, but primarily focus on thread twist and how it stays the same, regardless of what you do with the thread. Many people have had needlework myths passed on to them, usually because they were told to them by someone they respected. It’s important to know how to find out the correct information for yourself, usually by experimentation and trying something for yourself.

If you’re reading this in an email, the video can be found at https://youtu.be/URmjov_tfCQ

Episode notes:
White Threads FlossTube #17 – Thread twist and how it affects teaching embroidery to left-handers – https://youtu.be/M4UtJPABVLc
White Threads FlossTube #18 – More about thread twist – https://youtu.be/FUAEannF2m8

White Thread FlossTube 86 – How is it whitework if there’s colour?

In today’s episode of White Threads FlossTube, I explain where to find errata notices for my books. And following a question from a Facebook group participant, I answer the question “How is it whitework if there’s colour?” with regards to Frisian Whitework.

If you are reading this in an email, the video can be found at https://youtu.be/SI22mBlsdqY

Episode notes:
Errata notices on the Vetty Creations blog: http://www.vettycreations.com.au/errata.html
Blog post about “Frisian Whitework” errors: http://vettycreations.com.au/white-threads/2021/07/19/errata-notice-frisian-whitework/
Supplies packs for Frisian Whitework Silk Sampler and Frisian Whitework Sampler: http://www.vettycreations.com.au/frisian-whitework.html#supplies

Errata notice – Frisian Whitework

I am always incredibly grateful to the people who contact me to let me know they have found a problem in any of my books. It’s always disappointing to know that some mistakes have crept through the checking process, but it is also understandable, because I’m human. I’d love there to be no mistakes, but each time I send a book off to be printed, I accept that unfortunately there will be some.

These are the mistakes in Frisian Whitework: Dutch Embroidery from Friesland that I have found or been alerted to so far:

page 39 – materials listing: DMC 3750 should be DMC 311.
page 40 – size should be 40 x 40cm / 16 x 16 in
page 49 – Row 1: “Work G in 883” should be “Work G in 833”.

My sincere apologies for these mistakes.

White Threads Floss Tube #85 – how to randomly space stitches

In today’s episode of White Threads FlossTube I explain my method for randomly spacing stitches, and as you will learn, it is anything but random!

how to randomly space stitches

“Frisian Whitework” has now arrived in Europe and is arriving in the US and Canada, so I encourage you to review the book and show us your project progress as you start to make things from it. I explain how to tag me if you’re reviewing my book or showing your progress on projects from my book. I talk about upcoming classes and the uncertainty with them due to the current covid outbreaks, lockdowns and border closures in Australia.

If you are reading this in an email, the video can be found here: https://youtu.be/s5rHvmZNhEk

Episode notes:
Frisian Whitework supplies packs: http://www.vettycreations.com.au/frisian-whitework.html#supplies
Needle minders: http://www.vettycreations.com.au/catalogue-needles.html#needleminders
Tags: @vettycreations #frisianwhitework #frieswitwerk
Whitework Embroidery Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/whiteworkembroidery

White Threads Floss Tube #84 – 3 great ways to use needle minders

In this video, I have no idea what episode of White Threads Floss Tube it is – it’s been THAT long!

I introduce my new needle minders and show a few useful ways to use them.

I let you know of the postponement of the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair, show the supplies packs for the Frisian Whitework projects, and let you know that Edinburgh 36 count linen in white is FINALLY back in stock!

If you are reading this in an email, the video can be found at https://youtu.be/0UFzInmrxWg

Episode notes:
Edinburgh Linen – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/catalogue-fabric.html#edinburgh
Frisian Whitework supplies packs – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/frisian-whitework.html#supplies
Needle minders – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/catalogue-needles.html#needleminders
Embroidery hoop and stand – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/embroidery-hoop.html
Frisian Whitework – http://www.vettycreations.com.au/frisian-whitework.html

Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair postponed

This coming Wednesday, the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair was due to start at its new location at The Dome, Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park. Given the covid outbreak in Sydney, the show has been postponed until 1st-5th September.

Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair postponed until 1st-5th September
I was much relieved.

This will give me more time to prepare more wonderful goodies for all of you. I had way too much to do, and not enough time to do it in. This will allow me to get things ready, and also allow for some rest, seeing I had been working many days straight.

It will give time for things to settle in Sydney. I was not looking forward to being amongst that many people at a time where things are so unsettled. I have not only my own health to think of (and I have had a period of significant and prolonged serious illness in the past, and never want to go there again!), but also the health of my family and my small rural community.

And I was also relieved that it hadn’t been moved to a weekend I was scheduled to be teaching!

So, I look forward to seeing all of you who can make it to the new dates of the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair. See you there!