White Threads

Social distancing and needlework – how can I help?

I’ve been thinking about all this isolation and social distancing. Many of us are already required to do these things, depending on where we are in the world. And if you’re not yet, you likely will be very soon.

I am still able to make it to the post office, so if I have stock of what you want, please order, and unless the postal system closes down, I will send it to you.

Being the creative people that we are, many of us are already relishing the quiet, creative time that we are having forced upon us. As time goes on, though, I know I will feel limited by my lack of social contact.

How can I best help you, needlework-wise, during this period? Would you like personal Skype lessons (allowing for the limitations of computer cameras and their focusing)? Or would video lessons help? Or live chat, where you can ask questions? Or do you have some other idea? I’m not making any promises, especially if I or a family member gets sick. But in an ideal world, what would you love from me during this period?

The Australian Lace Guild, NSW Branch library

Some time back I was thinking about guild libraries and said that I’d love to hear about your guild library. Guild libraries can be a fabulous resource, and are worth hearing about!

I was contacted by the Lynette Foley, the librarian for the Australian Lace Guild (NSW Branch). She told me about their library.

Linnwood House. Image © State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage 2019. Used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

The Australian Lace Guild (NSW) has a specialized lace library situated at Linnwood House in Guildford. Linnwood House is open on the first Sunday in February, April, June, August, October and December. The library is open to the public for browsing however, you must be a member of the Lace Guild to borrow from the library.

A catalogue is available on the website http://www.lacemaking.com.au/ along with the specialized classification system.

The specialized classification system has been devised to cover the many types of lace in our library. The books and journals cover Bobbin lace, Needle lace, Knotted lace, Knitted lace, Contemporary lace, Embroidery and the history of lace. The journals are mainly from Europe and include; La Dentelle, Kant, Twist and Cross, English Lace, Oidfa, and Australian Lace.

Lace makers gather at Linnwood house on open days to participate in workshops, use the library and socialise with other lace makers. The public is welcome and teachers are available to anyone wishing to learn this old craft. There is a charge of $10.00 for the day. The cost of workshops vary depending on the length of time involved.

If you’re interested in visiting, you can contact the NSW Branch of the Australian Lace Guild via the Lace Guild’s website or via the NSW Branch’s website.

If you’d like to tell me about your guild library, I’d love to hear from you!

Classes with Yvette Stanton in 2020 and 2021

Yvette Stanton teaching Portuguese whitework on 2015 Needlework Cruise

I’ve recently had a few enquiries about whether I could teach for a particular embroiderers guild group this year.

I love teaching embroidery. However, I don’t teach a great deal because of my commitment to my family, so my calendar fills up very quickly with teaching engagements. If you contact me at the beginning of the year you’d like me to teach, chances are, you will be disappointed as I will not be able to fit any more bookings in to my calendar.

However, in 2020 and 2021, my teaching bookings are even more limited. In these two years, one of my daughters will be doing her HSC exams (end of secondary school exams). At most schools in our state, these exams take place at the end of Year 12. However, as we live in the country, things work slightly differently here. She will do half her subjects this year, including the HSC exams for them, and then next year, the other half including the HSC exams for those subjects. This means that instead of one HSC year, she has two. Because of that, I will not be travelling to teach much during this period. And my travelling calendar is already full for 2020 and 2021.

I *will* be teaching here in Walcha. I haven’t gotten myself organised enough yet to figure out what and when. We have an excellent classroom at Walcha Handmade, a local creative co-operative, which I plan to use. Walcha is about 5-6 hours driving from Sydney, and about 6-7 from Brisbane. There is an excellent daily train service to/from Sydney, which although there isn’t a train station in Walcha, is linked via bus service from Walcha Road to Walcha. (Just book all the way to Walcha, or from Walcha, rather than Walcha Road, which is where the nearest train station is.)

We also have a good number and range of accommodation options here, including a caravan park with onsite vans or space for your own caravan. There are several pubs offering accommodation, a motel, at least one B&B and a guest house. Walcha would love to have you come and spend your money here in our drought-struggling town which has also been affected because of nearby bushfires!

My teaching calendar currently includes (and I think this is everything!):

8-9, 10-11 February 2020, Embroiderers Guild Victoria, Melbourne.
8th-9th – Mountmellick Embroidery
10th-11th – Mountmellick Embroidery

21-23 February 2020, Australian Embroidery Convention, Brisbane.
21st – Smøyg
22nd-23rd – Portuguese Whitework

13-16 July 2020, ANZEG Conference, Masterton NZ
13th-14th – Smøyg
15th-16th – Early-style Hardanger

End of August 2020, Embroiderers Guild Victoria, Melbourne. TBC.

As far as I know, there are currently spaces in all these classes, so if you’d like to join one, contact the organisers. I’d love to have you in one of my classes!

For the Walcha classes, please keep monitoring this blog, or my Facebook page.

I have also had speaking engagement enquiries. I have a very informative 35 minute talk called “A Survey of Whitework” which is accompanied by photos of examples. I probably cannot travel to you to present this talk. However, if you’re interested, we may be able to consider a video-conference presentation of the talk, where you beam me into your meeting space (wherever in the world you are), and I deliver my talk remotely. I haven’t done this before, but maybe we can get it to work!

I have also done talks on publishing needlework books, Hardanger embroidery, and my book research process. If you’re interested, please contact me.

If you’re wanting to book me for 2022, I am not taking bookings yet. It’s just too far off in the distance for me to know what my life might be like then. However, do not leave it until the beginning of 2022 to contact me. I’ll be booked up by then. My suggestion is to contact me from mid 2021 onwards.

Thank you for your interest in my classes, and I hope we can meet at a class one day, if we haven’t already!

lesser known stitches

I’ve been playing with stitches a lot in the last week, and I think I may have come up with a new one (yeah, yeah, there is nothing new under the sun!) so now I’ll need to see if I can find it in any books anywhere.

What’s your favourite lesser known or lesser used stitch? There are some that most stitchers are familiar with, even if they’ve never used or mastered them. These might include back stitch, chain stitch, running stitch, satin stitch, blanket stitch, French knot, bullion knot…

But then there are many that don’t get used so much. Many of them can be found in my left- and right-handed stitch dictionaries, but not all are! So what’s your favourite more unusual stitch? I’d be very happy for you to surprise me with something REALLY obscure!

In using this lesser known stitch, what have you used it for? Was it on a sampler, or a project designed by someone else? Or did you find it in a book somewhere and decide to use it on an embroidery of your own making? Or something else?!

Palestrina stitch is probably one of my favourites. There are so many ways it can be played around with, and when worked with a thick enough thread, it gives such lovely texture.

Guild libraries

I often find that some of my best thinking time is in the early morning when I wish I was still asleep. This morning my mind drifted towards my guild’s excellent library. I have spent time there, trawling through books, particularly trying to identify stitches that I’ve seen on historical works, trying to identify their name (in any language – doesn’t have to be English!)

I’m a member of the Embroiderers Guild of NSW, and we have an excellent library, with many books on various textile and design related subjects. I have no idea how many books that are in it, but there are many! There are enough to fill a good sized room, with shelving space to grow into. There are desks at which quiet study can be made. This is the main library at the guild headquarters. I expect most of the guild groups also have their own informal book collections too.

Photo by mentatdgt from Pexels. (Not of the library at the Embroiderers Guild NSW!)

And so I was wondering if you’d like to tell me about your guild’s library. Does it have an excellent selection of books that are a wonderful resource for you? What are its strengths? What do you wish it had that it doesn’t have? Is it easily accessible to members (and non-members)?
Are there are guild libraries or textile museum libraries that you’ve visited that you found particularly helpful or of note?

Just a word of caution: Libraries often hold special and valuable copies of books. I’m not expecting for you to tell me about anything that could cause security issues!

If you happen to be the librarian or book collection custodian for your guild library, perhaps you would consider contacting me, because I’d love to interview you about your library!

Some years ago with help from many people, I put together a listing of textile museum collections that were searchable online. I’ve found it to be a very useful list that I go back to again and again. If there’s enough interest, perhaps I could put together a textile library list too.

I’m still alive!

After moving last year to a rural town (Walcha, NSW), renovating a house, and settling in to a new lifestyle, I have been much remiss about keeping this blog up to date.

We are loving life in Walcha, and are getting to know people, and adjusting to what life is like here. Many people have been greatly struggling due to the drought. It just keeps getting worse. It is a privilege to be able to walk with some of our friends through their dark and difficult times, and learn from them.

From about October onwards, we have had fires in our region. Friends have been threatened by bushfire on and off for months. Just when you think things might be settling down, a new fire front emerges. While most of the major fires near us are (hopefully) nearing their end, each day when we have dry lightning (common in summer for thunderstorms, though normally would be accompanied by rain), new fires start. Thankfully, none of them have yet taken hold. I took this screenshot the other day of the fires in our area from the Fires Near Me app.
Fires

The blackened bits are the areas that have been burnt, and the fire icons are probably fairly self-explanatory. We have been fortunate that we really haven’t had any fires terribly close to Walcha, though many in our community have been affected. This effect has included major roads being closed due to bushfire damage, which has caused a severe downturn in trade in the town, meaning some businesses are only operating a few days a week. Very difficult for both employers and employees. So even though we haven’t had fires on our doorstep, the effect has been very severe.

We pray that rain will come soon.

I am working on my next book, and if I stuck to my usual schedule it would be due out in about June this year. However, due to the big upheaval in our lives last year, I am behind on it. I hope that it will be out late this year or early next year. I do sincerely apologise for the delay. I am only one person!

I know that media around the world has been covering the fires here in Australia, so I wanted to assure you that we are ok. Many people have been badly affected by the fires. However, the whole of Australia is not burning!

I wish you a very happy New Year. May 2020 be a year of joy and large quantities of stitching for you.

Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair starts today!

Vetty Creations Stand G12 – new location!

The Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair starts today at ICC Sydney Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, Halls 5 and 6. You can find me – Vetty Creations – at Stand G12. Also, opposite me at G11 is a display of my embroidered clothing.

We’re in a new location this year, so if you see my stand details in the Craft Fair Friend as being D06 – that’s old news! We’re now at G12. When you enter the show, take a slight left to Aisle G and go to the start of the next block back. That’s where I’ll be.

Embroidered clothing display at G11

The show runs from today through until Sunday, 9am – 4:30pm daily.

I have new kits available, and a new Hardanger runner pattern coming soon, which will be on display.

Look for the orange flag!

Look out for the tall orange flag – that’s where you’ll find me!

Come and meet me and have a chat. I look forward to seeing you there.

Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair 2019

Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair

I’ll be at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair again this year, from 19th-23rd June at ICC Sydney, Darling Harbour.

Embroidered tins This year, I’ll have new whitework embroidery kits which are gorgeous little tins with embroidered tops. They feature Mountmellick embroidery, Sardinian knotted embroidery, and Hardanger. Each kit has all you’ll need to make one embroidered tin, including the fabric, thread, needles, tin, and Liberty print bias tape. They have step-by-step instructions.

I’ll also have my books, embroidery patterns, smøyg supplies packs for the projects in the Smøyg book, thread, linen banding, precut linen, embroidery scissors, fabric pencils, laying tools, needles, embroidery hoops and stands, pendant trays and chains, and a huge display of my embroidery.

This year, the Vetty Creations stand has moved closer to the entrance. We’re now in Aisle G, at Stand G12. When you enter, the first aisle is H. Go to the next one along, and we’re in the second block back from the front. Look for the bright orange flag!

We’ve moved!

town streetscape In the past month, we have moved house from Sydney to the town of Walcha (pronounced Wolka) in the New England region of New South Wales. We have been warmly welcomed by the community. My husband has started at his new job, and my daughter has started at her new school. Our elder daughter remains in Sydney as she is now at university.

The picture shows a view down one of the main streets early on the morning of Anzac Day. It was about 7 degrees Celcius. When my doctor found out we were moving to Walcha, she said, “What are you moving to that cold little hole for?” It is undeniably cold here, but it is a lovely town, with many creative people, so I think we’ll do just fine!

Today is my first day back in the office, in my new office! I’ve been filling many orders, and will continue to over coming days. I’ll still be back and forth from Sydney for a while as I do some work on our Sydney house. I apologise that there will still be some times where I’m not in the office and therefore unable to send out orders until I return. As we’re no longer in a metropolitan area, post will take a little longer than it previously did. I apologise for this, but that’s where we live now!

We’re settling into our new house, and I’m starting to get my office organised. There are still a lot of books to go on bookshelves, fabric to be organised, and homes to be found for various things. One of the first things we did was to paint the walls of my office the appropriately named “Linen White”, instead of the bright yellow with a pink feature wall! It’s much more conducive to being creative now!

We’re making new friends and adjusting to a different way of life. Apparently there has been great excitement that a new family has moved to town. I was coming down the driveway the other day, and there was a man walking along the street on the other side of the road. He yelled out, “Welcome to Walcha!”. Everyone knows we’re new, and people have been so welcoming.

Many people have asked what I’ll do here, and the answer is – of course – continue writing my books! There is a co-op called Walcha Handmade that I might get involved with. And over the next year, I’ll look for other ways to be involved with the community. I’m sure I won’t have any problem occupying my time, even if it is just knitting new garments to keep me and the family warm!

Book tour – Smøyg: Pattern Darning from Norway

Some people go on a book tour when they release a new book. I’ve never done this, but I thought I could instead take you on a tour of some of my books. I know that some of you have been along for the ride since the beginning but some of you are newer to my books and may not be aware of particularly some of the earlier ones. You are all most welcome to join me on my book tour!

Our previous stop on the book tour was The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion. Today is the last day of our tour, and we will take a tour of Smøyg: Pattern Darning from Norway by Yvette Stanton. Thanks for coming along for the ride with me!

This is another book I didn’t have plans to write. I learned of smøyg when I was in Norway researching Early-Style Hardanger. As I really liked the embroidery, I decided to try it out. I made a collar for a shirt, which, when I wore it, people asked me, “So when are you going to teach us that?” And that set the little cogs turning.

Many people wonder how to pronounce smøyg, so if you view my video here, you’ll hear me say it.

Smoyg Pattern Darning from Norway

I loved doing the research for this book. Smøyg is used in so many different ways, on so many different types of items that it was fascinating to learn about it all. The introductory section of the book details the many uses, with heaps of lovely colour photographs. The many different ways it is used also gave me much scope for many different projects – there are 13 in the book. I know people think of me as being a whiteworker, but I also love colour, so I found the projects for this book most enjoyable.

Most styles of smøyg uses a fine wool thread on evenweave linen fabric, but some use silk thread instead. There are projects in the book using each.

In the back of the book there is an appendix which visually shows thread and fabric compatibility. This is because I realise that the threads I have available to me might not be available to you. By way of a large series of stitched samples on different counts of fabric, the guide will help you to choose a thread which will work well for the count of fabric you have.

Here’s what some people have said about “Smøyg: Pattern Darning from Norway”:

This book is a little gem! It has a bit of everything, from history to projects you can actually do (and some small ones for instant gratification or last minute gifts), to very detailed tutorials. But those are elements that I would expect from a great craft book.

Where I think this one goes one step further is the fabric and thread compatibility guide at the end of the book. With all crafts it takes time trial and error to discover those things and the guide saves you from a lot of frustration! – Ms. Sofia Komninou

Ok so to be honest I had never heard of Smoyg, but I am always looking for new ways of darning and embroidery so I was thrilled to receive this book. I spent ages just reading about the history of Norwegian darning and looking at the various patterns and guides to stitches and techniques. There are 13 beautiful embroidered projects using bright colours and various designs. The step by step instructions make it so easy to follow and there is even informative parts telling you what problems you may have along the way. I am not experienced and did initially find it all a bit daunting, but I must say I have just completed my first project and it is perfect. I would highly recommend. – A Tinkler

The thing to remember about pattern darning is that it is all just running stitch, so the technique is certainly not difficult! If this sounds like something you want or need to try, you can purchase your copy of Smøyg: Pattern Darning from Norway by Yvette Stanton from Vetty Creations or from your favourite needlework retailer.