White Threads » left handed embroidery

Booking classes

yvette — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 20:46:27 +0000

Just a note to those who are likely to want me to come and teach for their shop, community or guild group next year. I am taking a lot of bookings – it seems people really want to learn Portuguese Whitework! – so if you’re interested, get in quick.

I do limit my quantity of teaching as I have a young family, and taking me away from them increases the load on my husband and extended family.

While classes on Portuguese Whitework seem to be the flavour of the month at the moment, I also teach Hardanger, Mountmellick, Merezhka Poltavska, left-handed embroidery, and stitch exploration classes.

If you’re interested, please email me with details of your requirements. I look forward to hearing from you!

the carnival is over

yvette — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:38:35 +0000

Well, the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair for 2011 is done and dusted! We had a great time. I really enjoyed meeting so many wonderful customers and spending the five days with Janie and Belinda. It was lots of fun and especially over the final few days (as we were getting more and more deliriously tired) we shared a lot of laughs!

It was an absolute pleasure to meet some of the people who read this blog. Thank you so much for making yourselves known to me! I was also visited by some past students, and it was good to hear what they’re up to these days.

For those of you who weren’t there, here’s a photo of my section of the stand. It changed a little bit over the show, as I tweaked the display and reorganised things.

Yesterday in the morning I had a chat with a lady who was considering purchasing a copy of The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion. She had a really good look through it and decided that it was something she could use and benefit from. In the afternoon, she came back especially to tell me that she’d been reading it over lunch and thought it was so wonderful that she had to come back and congratulate me on it. She said that she has many other stitch books, but that mine really stood out from the rest. I was so pleased that she made the effort to come back to tell me! Its one thing to enjoy a book, but its another to let the author know just how much you enjoy it!

On each of the five days I taught a 1 hour class on basic embroidery for left-handers. I love teaching this class, as often the students have had less than happy experiences in classes before. Some of them related stories of how they have paid their money to attend classes then at the class had embroidery teachers walk away from them saying that they cannot help them as the student is left-handed. (I’m sorry, but that’s just not good enough, and it makes me very cross!)

Anyway, it was great to see their delight at having a left-handed teacher and learning the stitches in a left-handed manner. They all went away very satisfied, knowing that they too can do embroidery, even though they are left-handed!

One of the nicest things about my left-handed class was the fact that I taught about 6 students who were younger than me. This doesn’t happen very often, so it is always a thrill to know that my skills are being passed on to a younger generation.

There was a lot of interest in my Portuguese whitework book, with many people gathering around during my stitching demonstrations at the stand. Many people mentioned how much they are looking forward to the book being available – so am I!

And on that note, I’d better get back on with writing it, now that the carnival (show!) is over.

Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair

yvette — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:29:14 +0000

A reminder that in just over a week’s time, I’ll be exhibiting at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair at Darling Harbour. It runs from 9-5 each day from 22nd-26th June.

I’ll be at Stand K39, so please come and visit me! I will be running a Craft Circle each day from 1:30-2:30, “Basic Embroidery for Left-Handers”. The class is free, but requires prebooking at my stand, and payment of $5 for the supplies.

Throughout each day, my colleagues and I will be doing demonstrations on our stand. So you’ll be able to catch me at various times demonstrating various forms of embroidery. I’m thinking I’ll demonstrate my Portuguese Whitework embroidery, but is there anything in particular that you’d like to see me demonstrate? Perhaps the Mountmellick knitted fringe?

Please come and say hello, as I’d love to meet you!

drawn thread work

yvette — Tue, 24 May 2011 20:34:39 +0000

Yesterday I spent the day trying to finish stitching the drawn thread work base for my Portuguese whitework tablecloth for the book. I really hoped I’d get that part done, but time got away. Maybe I’ll get it done today.

And while that will feel like an achievement of sorts, then I have to embark on the process of working the surface embroidery of mostly bullion stitch. I feel like I have a looong way to go on this tablecloth yet!

Yesterday I also received a lovely message from Paula, a Brazilian teacher of embroidery, which she gave permission for me to share with you:

Now that I use the The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion I am also loved by the lefties even being a right handed teacher! To avoid problems I keep both books in the classroom – really great books!

The books that Paula is talking about are my left and right-handed stitch dictionaries, The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion, and The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion.

I wholeheartedly support the idea of teachers having a copy of each of these books in their classrooms when teaching. As a teacher myself, I find that they are invaluable for those moments when I can’t be everywhere at once (no, I still haven’t mastered that…!) as it means that students can get started or sort our their difficulties because the instructions are so clear. I often make my way round a classroom and find that I’m not really needed there, because students are so happily working from the instructions in my books!

Of course, I do understand that some need additional help, perhaps manipulating a needle or getting started, and some just need to be shown. And that’s why I teach classes – because sometimes a real in-the-flesh teacher is what people need.

But for those times when a real in-the-flesh teacher is not available (perhaps even during a class) then The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion, and The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion are great to have on hand. If you’re a teacher, just like Paula, your students will love you for it.

Upcoming Sydney craft show

yvette — Thu, 19 May 2011 20:58:35 +0000

I will again be exhibiting at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair at Darling Harbour this year. The show runs from 22nd to 26th June. I will be sharing stand K39 with Belinda of Cassis Craft and Janie of Janie Hubble Designs – two lovely ladies!

I just had notification the other day that I have been allocated a Craft Circle for my “Basic Embroidery for Left-Handers” class, which will be from 1:30-2:30pm each day. The class is free, but has a kit cost of $5 for materials, payable in advance to me at the Vetty Creations stand (K39). Please prebook at the show, with me before the class. First in best dressed!

If you are on the mailing list for the Craft Fair Friend, the brochure that the organisers send out with information about the show, you may find me amongst the pages. Apparently I’m one of “the” people who will be at the show, and you need to come and meet me! The organisers had a photo of my books, but asked me for a photo of me instead to use for the Craft Fair Friend. I went one better and provided them with a photo of me *with* my books! (You can see it at the top of the email if you’re reading this via email, or at the top of the right-hand column if you’re reading on the web.)

Janie and Belinda and I will also be demonstrating our specific craft techniques on a rotating basis on our stand throughout the day. There’ll be lots to see and learn! If you have specific questions for me, please come and ask me!

I really look forward to meeting any of you that might be able to come to the show. I don’t bite, and most of the time I’m really quite pleasant to be around.

proud mum

yvette — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:15:10 +0000

On Saturday I had a half day just with my younger daughter, age 6. She had expressed a very strong desire to do some embroidery with me. So we did.

Firstly she drew a flower on some paper, and I traced it onto the fabric. We were using fabric and thread left over from my mini class at the craft show last year, so while there were only a few colours of thread to choose from, she was quite happy with them.

She decided to outline the flower petals in outline stitch. I started her off, and then she kept going. I did have to restart her for each new petal, because outline (and the closely related stem stitch) are not the most easy ones to change direction with. She’s not the most exacting little girl, so she didn’t really worry if the needle accidentally came out on the wrong side of the thread!

Once the petals were complete, she chain stitched the stem. I showed her one stitch and she was off. Then she wanted to choose another stitch for around the leaves but wasn’t sure what. She looked through the entire The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion (she’s a leftie too) but nothing caught her fancy (oh dear, my book is wanting!). So she “made up” her own stitch. Actually it was just running stitch, but she worked it short and knobby, so she named it “knob stitch” and was extremely proud of herself for devising a “new stitch”.

Then she worked a cross stitch in the flower centre, and French knots around it. I showed her one French knot and she didn’t need me anymore for them either. She then worked two French knots in the leaves.

I was very surprised about how independent she was with her stitching. I really only needed to be there to demonstrate the stitches once, thread needles, start new threads, and listen to her unending commentary about where she’s up to!

Once she’d finished the embroidery, I asked her if she’d like to make it into a cushion. She was so excited! So we got out the sewing machine and I set it up for her. She couldn’t reach the floor to press the presser foot, so I put a carton of my books there and placed the presser foot on top.

We pinned the front and back of the cushion together, with right sides together. She understood why they had to be right sides together. She operated the presser foot, and I guided the fabric through the machine. She learnt how to pivot at the corners, including getting the needle to stay down in the fabric, then lifting the sewing foot, and turning the fabric.

Please understand this whole process is accompanied with a very high level of excitement!

I showed her how to tie off the threads and clip the corners of the cushion. We turned it right side out through a gap we left in one side, making sure the corners were fully turned. It was stuffed with polyester fibre fill, and then together we whip stitched the gap closed. I started it off for her, she did a bit, then she got me to do the rest.

And she was the absolute picture of happiness, looking at her first embroidery project made into something REAL! She’s been showing it off to family and friends ever since, and now I’m showing it off to you!

something all embroidery teachers need

yvette — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 19:48:42 +0000

Yesterday I received an order of The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion from a lovely lady who told me about the circumstances that resulted in her purchasing the book:

Last year I attended a course at [a patchwork shop], to do with hand-appliquéing designs. There were 3 left-handers out of 12 participants, and one had your book on left-handed embroidery. It was certainly a help on the course for some of the more complicated stitches [the teacher] encouraged us to use.

I’ve always enjoyed needlework, but it has very much been my hobby, not my consuming passion. Now I find needlework can strain the eyes, so have done little embroidery or cross-stitch in the past 10 years, finding patchwork easier to do. However I like to have “something on the go” so was pleased to see a book for left-handers.

Her comments raise a very interesting point: she found The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion a useful addition to the class she was taking. It seems that it made it easier for her to learn about the stitches that the teacher suggested that they could use, from a left-handed point of view.

Statistics suggest that 10-15% of all people are left-handed. It is therefore likely that we can extrapolate that to show that about 10-15% of embroiderers are also left-handed. Within an embroidery class, that usually means that from about one to three students are likely to be left-handed. (That’s my experience anyway.)

I’d therefore like to suggest:

If you are a needlework teacher where your class might include any sort of embroidery, PLEASE supply at least one copy of “The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion” for the left-handed stitchers to use within the class. They will love you for it.
If you are the shop owner of a shop where needlework classes take place, PLEASE supply at least one copy of “The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion” for the left-handed stitchers to use within the class. They will love you for it. And make sure you have enough on hand to sell to each of the left-handers in the class. You’ll find that when they try the book, they’ll see the great benefit to owning their own copy!
If you’re a left-hander, off to a new needlework class any time this year, please remember to take your copy of “The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion” with you. Chances are you will find it useful in the class, and even if not, other lefties in the class are still likely to find it interesting.

With such a useful left-handed embroidery reference book available now, the nicest thing you can do for left-handed embroiderers is have it available for them.

If you received a copy of any of my books as a Christmas present, or have recently treated yourself to a copy, I’d love to hear what you think of them.

Liking Vetty Creations

yvette — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 19:42:05 +0000

I’ve been spending some time over the last few days adding “like” buttons to my website (you can see one at the bottom of this post). I haven’t done all the pages yet, because it takes time, but I’m getting there! These buttons mean that you can “like” various pages of the Vetty Creations website (and blog) and share that love with all your Facebook friends.

When you click on the like button, you’ll be given the opportunity to add a message to share. You could use it to pass on some information to other stitching friends. For example, if you like my information on Hardanger embroidery, you could click the like button and add a message like “Fabulous information on Hardanger embroidery. A really great read.”

Or if you like my video of how to knit the Mountmellick fringe, you could click on the like button and add a message like “When I watched this video, my jaw just dropped! Its a great way to learn how to make a knitted fringe.” I’m sure you can think of something much more interesting to say, though!

Adding my message for my Facebook friends

I know many of you just love our left-handed stitch dictionary, and if you go to the page for The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion you can share it with your friends via the new like button. When you add your message, you can tell them why you love it so much.

So if you find something you really like on the Vetty Creations website or on our blog, its now even easier to share it with your friends via Facebook.

And don’t forget, we have a Vetty Creations fan page on Facebook, so that you can keep in touch with the latest. Why not become our fan? Give us the thumbs up!

left and right-handed reviews

yvette — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 19:40:10 +0000

From Jennyflowerblue, an excerpt from her review about The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion:

These books are exceptionally clear in their directions and stitches are shown worked in all sorts of different ways and in sample to really give inspiration for their use. I am finding this book invaluable in my City and Guilds stitch samples. I have already got a few stitch dictionaries in my library, including the classics, but this is my first choice now as it is so bright and light and well indexed.

And a review of The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion, by Nicole from Follow the White Bunny:

The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion truly is my companion and for obvious reasons: all other books have diagrams for right handed stitchers so this book is my first choice to learn stitches from. It has very, very clear diagrams of the stitches too.

And from another left-handed review by Tamara Kowald on Lefty’s Left-Handed Products:

Clear instructions and pictures make it simple to get through the steps of even the hardest of stitches.

more left-handed stitch dictionary reviews

yvette — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 20:25:45 +0000

As I regularly do, I was visiting Amazon yesterday to have a look to see if anyone had written new reviews of The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion. Umm… yes… they had. Many of them…!

As a left-hander myself, I was very interested to see if this book would improve the constant struggle with learning and implementing new stitches that is present in a world of right-handed instructions. It is a colourful and comprehensive stitch dictionary of 170 stitches, with step-by-step instructions, full descriptions and photographs of the finished stitches (so that you can see how they are supposed to look, and other stitches they go well with). I had a go at a few stitches, armed with stitch books that I have used up until now when needing to tackle a new stitch. I used both to compare the instructions. I was very impressed with the clarity of instruction and the detail given. I found it very easy to create new stitches and was impressed at how well they turned out (especially compared to my attempts following my other books). The book is far superior to my existing ‘stitch bibles’ (which are admittedly from the 1960s) because it contains many more stitches, the visuals are clearer, and you are able to see each step of the way without necessarily having to read the instructions (not always easy mid-stitch). The number of stitches contained in this book also exceeds the selection of either of my older books, so as it stands, it’s a great reference book on many levels. And as it’s targeted at left-handers, that’s an added bonus.
Workshop On The Web

This is the book that all left-handed embroiderers have been waiting for. Containing step-by-step stitch instructions, it has been written specially by a left-hander for left-handers. It explains, clearly and simply together with diagrams, how to stitch over 170 different stitches, including some unusual stitches such as nun stitch, parma stitch, spiral trellis and Breton stitch. Right-handers needn’t feel left out as there is a right-handed version for each stitch too. A stitch dictionary for left-handed embroiderers is long overdue – but this one was worth the wait.
Stitch

The trouble with most embroidery books is that all the diagrams are for right-handed people. Here at last is a book filled with diagrams for over 170 different stitches that left-handers can use without the aid of a mirror. It’s a simple enough idea, but how useful. I am amazed that I have not seen another book like this before, but I haven’t. All the diagrams are in color too, which avoids the problem a lot of black and white diagrams have which show threads – often they look like a bowl of spaghetti or mazes in a puzzle book. Every stitch has several captioned diagrams which also avoids the problem of having to guess what happens between one part of the stitch and the other. There is certainly an impressive list of stitches, many of which I have not previously encountered myself and which had me wishing for a companion volume for right-handers. Each stitch also has a small photograph of a piece of embroidery showing the relevant stitch which is useful, plus a few hints of what the stitch is used for. Variations are shown too, with diagrams on how to achieve this alternative look, as well as a page of instructions for starting and finishing work and tying knots. What you won’t find are any patterns which is perhaps a pity, but there are many other books which have these. If you or somebody you know is left-handed and keen on embroidery then this is the book for them.
Rachel A Hyde Myshelf.com

Are you frustrated by right-handed embroidery instructions, by having to mentally flip them over, use a mirror or substitute the right for left in all instructions? Here is the very solution to the problem as written by a left-handed teacher. The text gives clear step-by-step instructions and illustrates how to do over 170 stitches comfortably and sensibly for the left handed stitcher, using the method which has obviously been tried and tested by a proficient left-handed embroiderer.
Fabrications

“I’ve packaged myself up in a book so that all left-handed stitchers can have their own left-handed teacher.” Thus embroidery instructor Yvette Stanton introduces fellow lefties to her consummate guide to mastering 75 embroidery stitches in 170 variations. Not simply a set of directions for flipping stitch diagrams from left to right, the Companion includes guidance on how to hold the needle comfortably, turn the fabric to its best advantage, choose needles and thread, and much more. Full-color photographs, clear and concise text, and step-by-step color illustrations make stitch instructions easy to follow. This classroom-in-a-book is bound to be the embroidery reference that left-handed embroiderers will want to keep close at hand – the left-hand!
Piecework

Thank you to all the reviewers for their very kind words!