Elizabethan Strawberry Roundel With Yvette Stanton Sunday 15th April 2012

This charming strawberry ornament features Elizabethan embroidery stitches such as buttonhole filling, reverse chain stitch and [...]]]> I thought I might spend a bit of time over the next few days giving you more information about the classes I’ll be teaching at Beating Around the Bush.

Elizabethan Strawberry Roundel
With Yvette Stanton
Sunday 15th April 2012

This charming strawberry ornament features Elizabethan embroidery stitches such as buttonhole filling, reverse chain stitch and plaited braid stitch. Working with silks, paillettes and good quality imitation gold threads, this project will introduce you to the delights of Elizabethan embroidery. In red, green and gold, it would make a lovely Christmas decoration.

Many people admire plaited braid stitch but are scared of attempting it themselves. In this class, you’ll learn how to stitch it, with personal instruction from both me and my written instructions.

Skill level: intermediate stitchers (not complete beginners). This is because we will have a lot to get through in the one day, so instructing complete beginners would suck up a lot of my time, meaning the other students would miss out on me. Because I want everyone to have equal access to my tuition, stitchers with some experience – even if they’ve never done THESE PARTICULAR stitches before – are welcome in this class.

Kit Contents: Linen fabric, cotton backing fabric, silk thread, imitation gold thread, pailettes, needles, padding, card, instructions

Please bring with you: 10cm embroidery hoop, magnification (recommended), wash out marking pencil or HB pencil, embroidery scissors

Kit Cost: $23.00 AUD

To book in, please go to the TryBooking website.

cable plait stitch

This book is a visual survey of some of the delights of the V&A’s textile collection. It includes a couple of essays, then a listing of the plates with sizes and [...]]]> “Embroidery in Britain from 1200-1750″ is a book that I keep coming back to. I love soaking up the visual delights found in it.

This book is a visual survey of some of the delights of the V&A’s textile collection. It includes a couple of essays, then a listing of the plates with sizes and descriptions, then the plates themselves.

The first plate is of a piece that I have actually seen: a maniple dating from the 1900s, which I saw at Durham Cathedral, when visiting there in 2002. We just stumbled across the display, realising as we were there that these were actually extremely precious and significant embroideries. Quite a treat!

There are examples of ecclesiastical embroidery, a lot of metal embroidery, needlepoint tapestries, blackwork, counted thread samplers, sweetbags, silk shading, Elizabethan embroidery, crewel embroidery and more.

Whenever I want inspiration, or just to look at some really nice old things, this is one of the books I pull off my shelf. I just love it. I think that I bought it at the V&A when we were there on the same trip that we went to Durham Cathedral. I was there to research Mountmellick embroidery, as they have two examples at the V&A. But of course you can’t visit the V&A without a visit to the textile galleries and the bookshop!

I’d say this book is out of print these days, but its worth searching out one in your guild library or a second-hand copy.

“Embroidery in Britain from 1200 to 1750″ from the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Textile Collections, by Donald King and Santina Levey. ISBN: 1851771263

So far I have a section [...]]]> I haven’t actually made any progress on my difficult stitches sampler recently, as I have been busy with getting ready for the Sydney Quilt and Craft Show (Stand G32, if you’re going to be there!). I thought that you might like to see where I am up to though.

So far I have a section of plaited braid stitch, some diamond stitch, and interlaced chain stitch. As you can see, there’s a lot to go…!
The idea of this sampler is that it will form the basis of a class on difficult and unusual embroidery stitches. By using a range of thread weights and types, it means that you can get a real feel for how the stitch works in different scales, textures and circumstances. I will be encouraging the students to work the stitches experimentally once they have mastered the basics.

I find this sort of work extremely fun, as you can try to think up new ways to push a stitch as far as you can. By playing with different thread weights, you can sometimes change the look of a stitch completely. By changing stitch length, angle and spacing, you can get enormously varied effects. Working in a circle is also sometimes a great challenge!

Need to find some time to get back to this…

Kreinik Japan No 7 thread is [...]]]> I did a little experiment yesterday with the Kreinik Japan No 7 thread. I really wanted to see how it would go, in case I decide that I want to use gold thread on my beret. I don’t think real metallic thread would be happy about being rained on.

Kreinik Japan No 7 thread is a synthetic gold thread, with a ribbon of lame (plastic) wrapped around a gold coloured thread core. Proper metal threads have a metal ribbon wrapped around a gold coloured thread core. I usually use T71 Benton and Johnson thread.

The difference between these two threads, apart from quality and cost (!), is that the Kreinik thread uses a wider ribbon than the Benton and Johnson. This means that it is more difficult to curve the thread as it doesn’t bend as readily. Imagine a curve being made up of straight line segments. The more segments you have, the smoother the curve, the less segments you have, the less smooth the curve. With the Benton and Johnson thread, because the ribbon is narrower, it takes more wraps around the core to cover the same length of Kreinik (more segments over the same length). This means the B&J thread gives a smoother curve.

Looking at my stitched sample, I worked it on black as the beret is black. This isn’t the beret fabric, but a piece of faux suede. I used it because it was black and had the soft slightly fuzzy surface that the felted wool of the beret has. I tacked some guides that were about 5mm apart. I started stitching (at the top end) and decided that it was too wide. So I narrowed it down as though the guides were only about 4mm apart. This looked MUCH better. I still think it could do with a little more downwards spacing though.

When plaited braid stitch is worked too wide, you have to compensate by spacing the stitches closer together (down the length, not the width). This isn’t how it looked on the historical examples. To counteract this, you need to either work narrower, or use a thicker thread to fill up the space better. (I talk a bit about this in my left- and right-handed stitch dictionaries, each of which has a double page spread of step-by-step instructions for plaited braid stitch.) In this case, it was easier for me to narrow down the stitches.

I found that I don’t like working with the Kreinik thread very much. Each stitch has to be guided down onto the surface of the fabric, as otherwise it twists against itself and knots up. Grrrr!! This makes it a much slower process.

It also looks dazzlingly plastic… Really ultra shiny, rather than the soft shine of metallic thread. (This also makes it a bit hard to photograph!)

But, it does work. And it would be rain-on-able.

Added later: If you’re here for the first time, perhaps visiting from Pin Tangle or Craft Gossip – welcome! You can sign up to receive White Threads delivered each day to your email inbox. Just go to the top of the right-hand column and click on the little envelope symbol. Follow the instructions, especially the one where you have to confirm your subscription in the email they send to you. Do it now and you’ll be enjoying White Threads every day!

It was FASCINATING! This museum has a good write up in the Lonely Planet guide, but it was SO good!

The museum itself is housed in the magnificent palace that [...]]]> On Saturday morning we went to the Ethnological Museum (also known as the Institute of Ethiopian Studies Museum) in the grounds of Addis Ababa University.

It was FASCINATING! This museum has a good write up in the Lonely Planet guide, but it was SO good!

The museum itself is housed in the magnificent palace that used to be Haile Selassie’s. When you enter, just past the gift shop (where there are nice souvenirs at reasonable prices) there is a large room with a temporary exhibition of Ethiopian basketweaving. Now, during our travels we have seen various examples of basketweaving here, but until we saw this exhibit, I had not fully appreciated how gorgeous the weaving can be, and how the best weavers are absolute masters of colour and pattern.

Then there is the permanent exhibition, which starts with an exploration of childhood, and moves through the ages and stages of the lifecycle, ending with death (and a small nod at afterlife!). It covered children’s toys, stories to teach children morals, marriage, children being born, adulthood, religion (there are three main religions: Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, Islam and Judaism), clothing (including weaving and embroidery), coffee, honey, tools, war, death, and burial, amongst other things.

Unlike the National Museum (with Lucy) that we visited a week or two ago, all the exhibits were extremely well labelled, with lots to read and learn. I think this is what made it so particularly interesting – because we learnt more about the different people groups of Ethiopia, which are extremely diverse. It meant that we gained some understanding of what we were seeing, rather than just looking at objects.

Then we moved on to Haile Selassie’s apartments, and saw some beautiful examples of goldwork encrusted gowns. I have never really been all that interested in trying goldwork for myself, but keeping on seeing so many beautiful examples has made me think I just might give it a go when we get back home! (Though I must remind myself that as a beginner, my skills will NOT be able to produce the simply gorgeous work that was on these royal ceremonial robes!)

We saw the empress’s ensuite and bedroom, and the emperor’s ensuite and bathroom. Haile Selassie’s bathroom was bigger than our loungeroom at home. Though that’s not really saying much as our loungeroom is quite small! But his bathroom was expansive, and full of marble. How do you explain what a bidet is to a six-year-old, while out in public? I sufficed for “its part of the toileting process for some people.”

Out the front of the museum there is a most unusual “sculpture”, consisting of a concrete or stone (not sure which, though concrete seems more appropriate) stairs spiralling upwards. Each step represents a year of Italian Fascist rule over Ethiopia. Right on top is a lion, placed there by the Ethiopians once the Italians had been overthrown. “Smug” and “triumphant” would be good words to describe the feeling that must have accompanied its placement!

Afterwards we wandered down the street, to a bookshop that my librarian husband had been wanting to visit. On the way, a young Ethiopian man joined me and my daughter as we walked and asked us what we thought of his country. I said that we loved it. He also asked how we saw it. I replied that I saw it as a country full of lovely people who are extremely friendly and welcoming. And I do see it that way. We have felt very welcome here.

Further down the street an older man proclaimed at us as we passed “Enjoy our country, while you can!”. While he was being friendly, I did think there was an undertone of doom that made me wonder if he knew something that I didn’t. However, I replied happily to him “We ARE enjoying your country!”

The bookshop was a complete disappointment, so on we went home. If ever in Addis, and you get the chance to visit the Ethnological Museum, do, as it is so very interesting.

Today we went to the National Museum and saw (amongst other things) Lucy. Lucy is the earliest bipedal hominid that we have a record of, classified as australopithecus afarensis. She was found in northern Ethiopia in [...]]]> My husband feels that this post should be entitled “Lucy in the glass case without any jewellery at all”.

Today we went to the National Museum and saw (amongst other things) Lucy. Lucy is the earliest bipedal hominid that we have a record of, classified as australopithecus afarensis. She was found in northern Ethiopia in 1974, and is known as “Dinknesh” to Ethiopians, which means “wonderful” in Amharic. Her common name of Lucy, is from the Beatles’ song “Lucy in the sky with diamonds”. Not really sure why…

We saw a replica of her today, recreated to be standing as she might have done. She’s much smaller than I imagined. She’s about the same height as my nearly six year old daughter, who is about average height for her age. That was quite a surprise!

We also saw some absolutely beautiful examples of goldwork embroidery. The royalty and nobility of Ethiopia had the most amazing and sumptuous ceremonial robes, encrusted with goldwork and semi-precious stones. They were incredible. We were allowed to photograph, but without flash. Because the robes were in glass cabinets, the photos have weird reflections, but they will be a great record.

There were also some amazing pieces of headgear, made from lions’ manes. Think wild fur, sticking out in all directions, and you have the right idea. One of them also had ostrich feathers, in the Ethiopian colours (red, yellow, green) which did actually look like a patriotic feather-duster, but in a regal sort of way…!

We also did some more touristy souvenir shopping this afternoon, and got each of the girls an embroidered Ethiopian outfit (top and skirt). They look lovely in them, and the outfits will be excellent for multicultural day at school this year, when we go home!

Tomorrow we are off to the NGO bazaar. These are held once a month on the last Saturday and apparently are a great place to buy souvenirs and handmade goods. We missed the last one due to the school field days/athletics carnival, and will be home already when the next one is on, so this is our only chance!

This is a gorgeous hefty book – 308 pages! It is actually an exhibition catalogue from the exhibition of the same name currently on at The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, [...]]]> I recently bought a copy of “English Embroidery from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1580-1700: Twixt Art and Nature”

This is a gorgeous hefty book – 308 pages! It is actually an exhibition catalogue from the exhibition of the same name currently on at The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture in New York, until 12 April 2009.

Firstly there is a series of essays on aspects of English embroidery. Following that, there is the actual catalogue section, showing the articles on display in the exhibition.

The photos (all 280 of them, with the majority in colour) are magnificent – and that’s always what I’m after in any embroidery book. There are photos of complete objects, but also really good quality, lovely close-ups of details of the embroideries.

The styles of embroidery include goldwork, counted thread samplers, needlelace samplers, stumpwork, blackwork, Elizabethan embroidery. There are articles of clothing, such as jackets, hats and gloves. There is also a section of furnishings like boxes, cushions, chair covers and even embroidered picture frames (I used to work as a picture framer while at uni, but never came across anything like these!). There are sweetbags, wall panels, valances, and book covers.

Even if you never read a word, there is SO much to look at in this book. I highly recommend it. Copies can be purchased from Yale University Press.

And if you’re lucky enough to be in New York, there is actually a lecture entitled “The Needle’s Excellency: Tudor and Stuart Embroidery in British and American Collections” on in conjunction with this exhibition TONIGHT! Reservations are required, so you’ll have to get in quick! (For your sake, I hope that its not fully booked already!) More information can be found at the Bard Center website.

Now, if any of you lovely readers happen to go to this, I want to know about it! ‘Fess up and tell all!

A few days ago I had tried the 371 Jacobean Gold thread that I’d bought last week (a small amount of to test) and it was too thin and didn’t give good enough coverage. Then I’d tried some Kreinik #7 [...]]]> For my current needlework project, I needed some gold thread for stitching plaited braid stitch.

A few days ago I had tried the 371 Jacobean Gold thread that I’d bought last week (a small amount of to test) and it was too thin and didn’t give good enough coverage. Then I’d tried some Kreinik #7 Japan thread, which was a good thickness, but it didn’t curve well, and looked very fake and plastic fantasticky. I really didn’t think I was going to be happy with it.

Despite the fact that I said I was going back to The Crewel Gobelin to get the T69 Benton and Johnson imitation Japan gold thread, plans changed. An unexpected visit from an out-of-town old school friend and her children!

But, this morning I went back to choose the thread I needed. It turned out that the T69 was too thick, so I got the T71 instead. I tried out a small section of it to see how it stitched up and was very happy with it. I then estimated how much I was going to need (I think I’ve completely overestimated actually, but too much is better than too little!) and purchased the rest of what I needed.

I also got some slightly thinner T72 thread for the smaller tendrils.

Started stitching and mmm… I like it very much!