Following on from yesterday, I have been thinking about the stitches that I might teach in the difficult and unusual stitches class that I am planning for Beating Around the Bush 2012. This is the sort of class that really gets me excited, as I love sharing stitches with others, especially ones they’ve never seen before, and ones that they have seen and drooled over, but thought were way out of their reach.
So here’s the beginnings of my list – stitches that I am highly likely to put in the class (though no guarantees…!):
- Plaited braid stitch is a stitch of Elizabethan embroidery origin, that is seen as being very difficult. So we’ll attack that one!
- Cable plait stitch which looks difficult, but can be quite readily mastered.
- Spiral trellis stitch (another Elizabethan stitch) is one that many find intriguing as they haven’t seen it before. As its quite an unusual stitch, I’d likely include it too.
And once again, I look to you, my wonderful readers to suggest other stitches that you would like to see covered in a class like this. I will be limiting it to only surface stitches, so there’s no need to suggest counted thread or needlepoint stitches.
I look forward to your suggestions!
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White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations quality needlework books and embroidery products.
Oh, I wish I could go!
How about good old bullions? They often seem to cause trouble.
Now there’s a good idea – thanks! I feel rather thick for not having thought of it myself, especially with my focus on them a few months ago…
Plaited braid stitch is certainly a tricky one. One of these days I will master it… I don’t think we can manage to get to Australia in April 2012 (existing commitments in the northern hemisphere!) or I would be saving already!
French knots? Or are the kind of people you are expecting would have mastered those already. I know I’ve read a lot about people having trouble with them in the beginning.
French knots are probably something that most people coming to the class may have already mastered. However, anyone who’s ever attended one of my classes knows that I’m always happy to teach anything they want to know during the quiet periods when others are getting on with things. So these could be a bonus for those who don’t already know how to do them.
Hi Yvette,
Am fascinated with the idea of learning plaited braid stitch particularly. Just an idea – have you thought of doing a video of Elizabethan stitches (showing both right- and left-handed versions). It is so helpful to see the stitching process. I think you’d have a lot of interest from embroiderers worldwide.
Hi Sharon,
No, I’ve never thought about doing videos as we don’t have a video camera. Our little digital stills camera does do video, but I’m not sure that it does sound with it. Though surely it must, as it isn’t very old. Maybe I should look into it one day. Certainly not making any promises, though I can see that your idea would be a popular thing!
Thanks!