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Today’s video is about my blog and channel name – White Threads – and what it means and does not mean. Many years ago when I chose the name for the blog, seeing my subject was going to be whitework, and “threads” can refer to the parts of an online conversation, “White Threads” seemed an appropriate name. If you’re reading this in an email, the video can be found at https://youtu.be/Ce6eOfMC9XQ No episode notes today. A little pep talk from Auntie Vetty today, which came about because I needed the answer to how a particular combination of stitches worked. I spent hours yesterday trying many different variations of stitches, spacing etc until mine matched the photo of the historical piece I was trying to match. —- If I’ve never done something before, how do I know if it is going to work? I don’t. Usually I don’t know if it is going to work, until I test it out. You’ve seen me now, testing all sorts of stitches and ideas about stitching, in my videos. You’ve seen the process I go through to work out whether my stitching hypotheses are correct.  testing out different threads and stitches to explore thread twist I don’t ask someone. (Sometimes I do consult books as reference, and I did yesterday to gather ideas for how it might be done.) Sometimes there isn’t anyone to ask, particularly if it’s a historical piece! I test it out for myself. Sometimes I get questions from people like “I’m using 28 count linen. I have some of X thread. Will it work on this linen?” If I have a question like this for myself, the simplest way to find out the answer is to try it out. (I really don’t know everything!) You do not need to receive the answer from someone else. You do not need to be told what to do. You can figure it out for yourself. I think some people are so used to working with kits and published projects that they are used to being told what to do, with what thread, what stitch, what spacing, where etc. Not all embroidery is in kitted or published project form. Not all embroidery starts with a set of instructions for you to follow. While these sorts of embroidery can be very satisfying because you know what you’re supposed to end up with, and someone’s given you the steps to get there, not all embroidery is like that. Pretty much none of my embroidery is. Much of it, I have to figure out for myself. What thread did they use for this? What stitch is that? How is that stitch done? What thread weight will work for these stitches on this fabric? Why isn’t this working? Why doesn’t mine look like the historical example? How can I reproduce that look and effect? Will it look better if I do it this way? The answers to all these questions are found by careful study, questioning and experimentation. It may take time. It may be frustrating. But it is learning, and learning is fantastic! I hope that through my videos, you can see that wisdom does not need to be received. Wisdom can be gained through careful study, questioning and experimentation. YOU CAN DO IT. Today we take a close look at a fine whitework handkerchief that was amongst the textiles from my Great Auntie Gen. It is simply exquisite embroidery worked in soft non-mercerised cotton thread on cotton fabric, with an insertion of lace in the centre.
Episode notes: In 2008, as I was recovering from serious illness, I worked an Elizabethan project with lots of plaited braid stitch on it. I learnt so much about the stitch from doing this, and was able to write comprehensive step-by-step instructions for my stitch dictionaries because of it. In this episode of White Threads FlossTube, I show you that project, and talk about plaited braid stitch.
Episode notes: In this episode of White Threads FlossTube Yvette finally announces the subject and title of her 2020 book. She shows you the cover and a few of the projects that will be in the book. She would love to hear from you if you correctly guessed the subject of the book! Please share this video with all your stitchy friends. A lot of people have been patiently waiting for this announcement, so we’d love them to know as soon as possible! Stay tuned to White Threads FlossTube and the Vetty Creations Facebook page for further updates.
We’ve just had a long weekend here, to celebrate the Queen’s birthday (which is nowhere near this date!). In our state, travel restrictions have been relaxed a bit, which meant we were able to travel to Sydney to see my daughter and other relatives. While there, I saw my aunt who had some family textiles to give to me. They were from my Auntie Gen. In amongst them was a box labelled “Sentimental Pieces”, which were samples of needlework made by Auntie Gen and other family members. I share them with you in this video.
Episode notes: When I started this FlossTube series I was wearing a piece of embroidery each day until they ran out. I wore embroidered shirts, an embroidered scarf, and many embroidered pendants. But I didn’t show you all my embroidered pendants… because I had lost four of them, all in one go. It was not a happy thing. Today I tell you the story of those lost embroidered pendants.
Episode notes: There are so many rules around cross stitch that most of us don’t know when we first start out, and then we have them unceremoniously dumped on us when we proudly show someone our first cross stitch, where the stitches cross every which way. “Oh, no, all the crosses should cross in the same direction.” “The proper way is to stitch top left to bottom right, then top right to bottom left.” “The proper way is to stitch top right to bottom left, then top left to bottom right.” WHY?! In this video, I test out plain old simple cross stitches, to bust some myths and break some rules! What you’re aiming for is not to be CORRECT, because who decided what that was anyway? What you’re aiming for is achieving the effect you want. Ignore the rules. Make it look like you want it to look like!
Episode notes: Products used in the video
A couple of days ago, I was reading a post in a Facebook group where someone wanted to improve upon their cross stitching. This is an admirable goal, and one I fully support. I always want to be improving my stitching. I replied with the words above. I also put them on my Facebook page, and it generated a lot of very interesting discussion! Other people replied with things like “this \ half cross should be first and then / half cross” (I probably have that around the wrong way), “they must all cross the same way”, and “it should sit on the fabric like this…” My immediate reaction was “Why?” Now, there might be a very good reason as to their “why”, but they didn’t share that. Sometimes I wonder if the things we take as gospel have any good basis behind them. Do we just accept them because they were told to us by someone we respect and who is more knowledgable than us? How far back does this passing on of knowledge go before we find that it was just an arbitrary decision someone made generations ago? Maybe there is a good reason. If so, I’d love to know what it is! Maybe it really does sit better that way. Maybe that method uses less thread. Maybe something else… When I’m teaching, I really like to explain the WHY. You may have noticed this in my videos. I’m also not content to just accept the received wisdom about stitching and stitches. I like to test things out for myself. And so I’m thinking of testing out plain old simple cross stitches; the way they’re done, and the way they interact with the fabric threads. Would this be interesting to you? Any suggestions for my variables? In this White Threads FlossTube video, Yvette presents a talk she gave at a conference dinner early in 2019 at The Auckland Great Escape. It is about the research for the book she is currently working on, though obviously when she originally presented the talk she was at an earlier stage in the book process. The book has now nearly reached the stage where Yvette can reveal its subject matter, so an announcement will be made soon. This talk is just one of many that Yvette has presented over the years. She is available to present to your group, gathering or conference. In this age of Zoom, it is worthwhile pointing out that Yvette probably doesn’t even need to be physically present to give talks, anymore. Though once the world reopens to travel again, that could be a possibility. If you are interested in Yvette presenting a talk or lecture for your event, please get in contact with her. She would be happy to discuss your requirements for a speaking engagement.
There was an error in the previous FlossTube email, in that you were pointed to the wrong video if you followed the link. I sincerely apologise for this! When I was alerted to it, I fixed it on the actual blog, but I couldn’t take the email back and correct it! If you didn’t get to see the correct video last time, you can find it at https://youtu.be/jMXAFiBBdM0. |
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
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