White Threads

Exploring the needlework internet this week

It’s been a few weeks since I did one of these posts, but I didn’t have time to explore the needlework internet in the weeks up to and including the craft show. It’s taken me a little while to get everything back on track since then, so you’ve just had to be patient.

However, I have some real goodies for you today!

Tapestry weaving video
First up, a fabulous video from BBC Sussex about the Stirling Castle tapestries. There is more information about the project at the Stirling Castle website. When we were in the UK in 2002, for me to research for Mountmellick Embroidery: Inspired by Nature, we stumbled across these tapestries being made at Stirling Castle. I had no idea these weavings were being done, and it felt like we’d uncovered a wonderful secret. To this day it remains one of my loveliest holiday memories.

Michele Hill’s latest book
Michele Hill has brought out yet another gorgeous Morris-themed patchwork/quilting/applique book to go with her previous two. Afternoon Tea with May Morris focuses on work of the daughter of William Morris, May Morris. As with Michele’s previous books, this one is filled with beautiful projects. Like me, this time she’s a self-published author, so please support another of the brave ones amongst us who decide to go it alone without a traditional publisher! Books can be purchased from Michele.

And for those who are interested, in 2005 I wrote an article for Piecework Magazine on May Morris. You might like to try and dig it up from somewhere to have a read! You can find it in Piecework Vol XIII, No 2, Mar/April 2005.

Articles about embroidery in the news
CNN featured an article on what crafting does for your brain. Bizarrely, they obviously couldn’t find any suitable picture of someone making something craft-ish in their photo library, because they featured a video entitled “Not into crafting: Build a gadget” right at the top of the article. Skip the irrelevant video and scroll down to the article! Honestly, CNN, it wouldn’t have been hard to find a suitable picture…

The Japan News featured an article on young Japanese women getting into embroidery with cafe-based workshops.

Embroidery inspiration
If you haven’t visited the Embroiderers Guild NSW Facebook page, I suggest you do. With the recent “Stitched Circles” installation at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair, most, if not all of the stitched circles have been photographed and displayed on the page. There’s lots of inspiration to be found there, with a very wide range of techniques used.

An exhibition starting and one ending
From the National Trust, starting on July 10th at Old Government House in Sydney is a new exhibition called Love Desire and Riches: The Fashion of Weddings. This exhibition has already toured Victoria (Australia) in 2014 and has now come to Sydney. I’ll definitely be going to see this! It seems that in recent years, Australian museums and historically-focussed organisations have realised that textile related exhibitions are very popular.

For those in Melbourne, Exquisite Threads: English Embroidery 1600s–1900s at the NGV ends on 12th July, so you’d better hurry if you want to see it! I never managed to get down there – never really expected to find the time or money, but we can always dream! I do know many who have seen it who thought it was spectacular, so if you can get along to see it, it is highly recommended!

Right. I think that’s me done for this week! I can’t think of anything else to update you on for now. Off to collect more… 😉

Vetty Creations online shop makeover

At the end of last week and over the weekend I gave the Vetty Creations Online Shop a little makeover. Out went the brown backgrounds and in came a paler neutral, taupe colour. It’s a little fresher now.

I also updated the postage options. Postage is still included because I still think it is better to know up-front and without having to find the information buried in a dark corner of a website somewhere… However, now the options for “Postage to Australia” or “Postage to the rest of the world” have been put into a drop-down menu. It’s a little neater and takes up less space.

All the new products have been put on the website. There are the pendant bezels, the pendant kits, the Hardanger beginners patterns in both blue-green and raspberry, and the “bullion” buttons.

You can also click on any of the photos below, and they will take you to the appropriate part of the website for more information and purchasing.

Hardanger headdresses – a tricky technique

When I was in Norway last year, I spent some time with Agnete Sivertsen, curator at Hardanger Folkemuseum in Utne. Agnete is very knowledgable and we spent some enjoyable hours talking about Hardanger embroidery and about teaching people how to do it the traditional way. Things like that the needle woven bars should be NARROW, not wide, as so many people stitch them!

Close up of the pleated headdress on a wax display dummy.

Winter costume of Hardanger region. Married women wore the headdresses.

We also talked about the value in preserving traditional skills by teaching them to others, so that the techniques are passed on as living skills. She mentioned to me that one of her huge concerns is that the technique of creating the specially starched and pleated headscarves, that are part of the local costume in the Hardanger region, may soon die out. There are very few women who are still able to do the starching and pleating properly.

I saw this article the other day and was reminded of this issue. (The article is in Norwegian, and you will need a translator to read it, but it is worth the read and also for the photos which show fabric in the process of being starched, with the boards that are used as guides.)

The fabric is starched and pleated in a very particular way. According to the article, while it can be taught to those who are willing, it is difficult to get right. This is part of the dilemma in passing these skills along. They will take years of practice and persistence to get it right.

Once pleated, the headdress is arranged and manipulated over a padded board that sits on the head, to create the large voluminous shape shown in the pictures. In old times, married women used to wear these to church every week. Because the pleating is only held in place with starch, if the headdress was rained on, it would collapse as the starch softened. Unfortunately, the region is known for its rain!

padded headboards

Taken in the window of an antique shop in Norheimsund, Norway. Unfortunately it wasn’t open on the day I was there which was probably good for my bank account… The rolls of pleated white fabric are how the headdresses are stored.

I really hope that in years to come there are a good number of younger people learning and perfecting the skills of creating the starched headdresses. It is an important part of the region’s cultural dress and would be a real shame if the skills were lost. They are so difficult that would never be able to be resurrected again.

Photo credit: All photos by Yvette Stanton. All photos except the one at the antique shop are of articles in the collection of the Hardanger Folkemuseum, Utne, Norway.

Take better photos of your needlework – upcoming class

For quite some time at the guild I belong to, people have been asking me to teach a class on how to take better photos of your needlework. At a recent meeting of tutors, this became a loud chorus, so we’ve now scheduled the class!

Take better photos of your needlework
Workshop with Yvette Stanton
19th November 2015
Embroiderers Guild NSW, Concord West

You would like to take photos of your needlework that capture people’s attention. You want to take dynamic images, not flat and boring ones. This is the class for you!

In this one day workshop, we will look at the basics of photographing needlework. Whether you have a phone camera, a point-and-shoot or an SLR, there are probably ways that you can improve your photography skills. We will look at lighting, composition and depth of field. We will explore photographing whole works and focusing in on details. We will look at the specific difficulties with photographing things like whitework and goldwork.

Bring your camera (whatever type you have, or ALL the ones you have) and its manual, a tripod if you have one, and a selection of objects to photograph (including one small, one larger, one flat, if at all possible). Do not bring any items framed behind glass. Please also bring a sheet of white cardboard (the type you get from the stationery shop or a cheap shop – nothing special; just large, white and semi-rigid!)

Make sure you have enough batteries to last all day in your camera, and lots of spare memory space in your camera (or an empty memory card) for all the photos. Expect to come away with a selection of images of one or two of the items.

I strongly encourage the students to contact me by phone or email, before the class to discuss particular items of needlework that they’d like to photograph. It will help me to understand their specific needs, and get the student thinking about what they want to get out of the class.

More details and bookings: Embroiderers Guild NSW, ph: 02 9743 2501

Other classes with Yvette Stanton
For details of all my upcoming classes and a selection of past classes, check out my classes page. I still have space for class bookings for 2016, though availability is limited, so get in quick. Please also note that due to family commitments, I will not be taking any bookings for classes in 2017. However, by that time I hope to have started teaching online classes. (Isn’t that a tantalising statement?!)

Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair wrap up

From Wednesday 17th to Sunday 21st of June, the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair was on at Glebe Island. This was my sixth year exhibiting! When you’ve been doing it that long, there are lots of faces you recognise and get to catch up with again, year after year. It makes it feel like you’re catching up with old friends, even though for most of these people I don’t even know their names. But we share a love of embroidery, and that’s what counts on these occasions!

Here’s a little view of what the stand looked like this year. For those who are viewing this as an email, you can see the video at: http://youtu.be/qHZBAI0kWuY

My stand was a little different this year. I took away the shelving unit that the books sat on, and replaced them with narrow shelves attached to the wall. This gave a little more room in the stand, and when you have a stand as small as mine, space is at a premium!

I also had a TV showing embroidery demonstrations for the first time. It was a real drawcard for many people, and meant that “video me” could demonstrate how to do some embroidery stitches even while “real life me” was helping customers. It was also bright and colourful, so was very eye-catching.

Because I’m on the stand by myself for the whole show, I don’t generally get around to see the rest of the show until Sunday afternoon when my family comes in to help me pack up at the end. The Reader and The Gymnast enjoy having a little bit of spending money and choosing some things to purchase. My husband can man the stand for a bit while I have a look around.

Of great note this year was the Embroiderers Guild NSW stand. They had a large display of embroidered circles donated by members of the guild and stitched specially for the display. It looked fantastic and was a real showcase of members’ stitching and the wide range of embroidery techniques that are enjoyed by the guild. They also had some of the guild’s collection on display, which was lovely to see.

A skirt embroidered by Heather Joynes in the 1970s (I think that’s the right period.)

From the guild collection.

“Stitched Circles” installation. Embroidery by members of Embroiderers Guild NSW

Great display of embroidered clothing from Cavalcade of Fashion.

The show went really well for me, with lots of customers and wonderful conversations. One lady had recently been to Mountmellick in Ireland and came to specifically let me know that the ladies at the museum there were extremely complimentary about my book Mountmellick Embroidery: Inspired by Nature. They even have a photo of the cover in the brochure about the museum! Others told me about the embroidery of their culture. Some had questions to ask about what they’re working on, and many people were interested in seeing a demo of the knotted stitch used in Sardinian Knotted Embroidery.

The Beginners Hardanger Patterns were extremely popular – it seems that many would like to learn how to do Hardanger, and have just been waiting for a way to learn! And of course my new pendant kits were very popular as well. People enjoyed seeing the projects for my next book “Early-Style Hardanger”, and I heard quite a number of people refer to the apron on the dressmaker’s dummy – “I did a big tablecloth of Hardanger when I was at school.”

At the end of the first day of the show, after raining for most of the day, we were treated to the most amazing double rainbow stretching across the Sydney city skyline. The ferry ride back to Darling Harbour was lovely anyway, but made all the more special with such a gorgeous sight!

Packing up on the last day always takes far less time than setting up, and we were out of there in a little over an hour. I always look at my booth without its walls covered in my stuff and realise how tiny it is. Somehow it doesn’t seem so tiny when I’m all set up and living in it!

Thanks to all who came and visited me, bought things, asked questions, told me about your embroidering, and generally made it an enjoyable experience. A special mention goes to friends and past students who were kind enough to offer me a “comfort stop” or a cup of coffee. Your thoughtfulness was lovely.

I’ve booked for next year’s show, and have asked for the same stand position yet again. So next year you’ll find me in exactly the same place to make it easier for you. I’ll yet more goodies to entice you and help you to learn new and exciting styles of embroidery!

embroidered pendant kits now available

This is just a quick post to let you know that the embroidered pendant kits are now available on the Vetty Creations website. There are nine assorted designs and colour ways for you to choose from. These kits contain all you need to make the necklace, including 27 count cotton evenweave fabric, Cosmo Seasons thread, Mill Hill beads, silver-plated pendant, 50cm silver-plated chain, mounting card, acid-free adhesive, needles, full step-by-step instructions with diagrams and charts, for ONE pendant.

They make the perfect gift – either already made up, or ready for the recipient to make. And did you know that it’s now only 6 months to Christmas…?! You’d better get cracking on making all those lovely gifts for the special people in your life! 😉

The pendant bezels in assorted sizes, for your own designs, are also up now too.

I do need to get around to giving you a wrap up of the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair last week, but I’ve been so busy all this week catching up after that! Suffice to say for now, that it went extremely well!

Today I’m off to a training day, learning about book publicity for writers. I always assume that there is more I can learn, even if I know stuff already!

I hope you have a great day and a great weekend!

Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair 2015

All ready to go.

The show starts tomorrow morning at 9am, and run to 4:30 each day, 17th-21st June at Glebe Island Exhibition Centre. The Vetty Creations stand is stand C86.

I’ll have projects from “Early-Style Hardanger” on display, new products and old favourites. I’ll have video stitch demonstrations, and a video showing examples of traditional Sardinian whitework from Teulada in Sardinia.

I look forward to answering your questions and helping you out. See you there!

embroidered pendants

Well, here they all are. These are the embroidered pendants I will be releasing at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair. After the show I will also put them up on the Vetty Creations website for general release so that everyone can have one!

Which one will you choose?
There are 9 assorted designs to choose from, and in each kit you’ll get the fabric, variegated thread, needles, beads, mounting card, silver-plated chain and pendant (fits 35x35mm), and step-by-step instructions for ONE pendant.

I will also have a range of pendant bezels in other sizes and shapes for those who would like to be creative with their own designs, and to make the pendant from my book Sardinian Knotted Embroidery.
A: round, fits 38mm diameter
B: round, fits 25mm diameter
C: rectangular, fits 25x50mm
D: square, fits 25 x 25mm – this one can be used for the Sardinian pendant
E: square, fits 35 x 35mm

What’s on at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair?

In about 2 weeks I’ll be exhibiting at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair. The fair runs from 17th-21st June, 9am – 4:30pm each day, at the Sydney Exhibition Centre at Glebe Island. This is the second year of the fair at Glebe Island, and most people agreed last year that the new venue is fantastic! I loved arriving by ferry boat each morning – it was such a lovely way to travel on clear winter’s days. The new venue has excellent lighting, so that everything is bright, well lit, and good colour. It makes it so much easier to see colours properly!

This year I will have all my books with me, and as always, I am very happy to autograph all books purchased. I will have a range of patterns, including my new step-by-step beginner’s Hardanger pattern. I will also have my new range of embroidered pendant kits – small and achievable even for beginners. There will be linen fabric, threads, accessories, and lots of other exciting products.

But the big news is that I will have projects from my upcoming book “Early-Style Hardanger” (due for release in late 2015) on display! While not all the projects will be on display, you’ll get a really good feel for the style of projects in the new book. It’s a great chance for a sneak preview!

Because there is only one of me on the stand, unfortunately I won’t be able to teach any classes at the show this year, but I will have video demonstrations of embroidery on a large screen on the wall. So you can hang around and watch and learn!

I’m really looking forward to seeing you there. Make a beeline to see me at Stand C86! 🙂

New products for the craft show

Today I have the pleasure of showing you the first image of a new set of products I’ll be unveiling at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair at White Bay in June. I’ve been working on these little pendants for a little while now, following the success of the pendant project in “Sardinian Knotted Embroidery: Whitework from Teulada”. And yes, they’re in colour! “Yvette can do colour as well as whitework?” Yes, I can!

This will be one in a series of counted thread embroidery pendants. There will probably be about 4 different designs in a range of colours, making great use of lovely variegated threads. I’ve got little samples of these everywhere, testing out different colour ways!

They will come as kits with the silver-plated pendant, fabric, thread, beads, needles, mounting card, acid-free adhesive etc. All ready for you to pick up and make, and then wear. I made one of these for my mum for Mothers Day and she loves it. They’re the perfect gift for a special friend, or even yourself. You can give the made pendant, or the kit to make it – either way, it’s a great gift.

The stitches will be fully explained in the kit instructions, so even if you’ve never done anything like it before, that’s no problem! There will also be full instructions for how to mount the embroidery onto the mounting card and into the pendant.

I plan for the range of counted thread embroidery pendant kits to be available exclusively at the craft show, and then generally released on my website. I hope you have as much fun with these as I have!