White Threads

Finalist in the Australian Craft Industry Awards

I found out on Thursday that Sardinian Knotted Embroidery has been selected as a finalist in the Australian Craft Industry Awards for Craft Book of the Year!

This award will be voted for by a panel of expert judges. There are other categories that are able to be voted upon by members of the public, or craft retailers.

As it turns out, there are only two finalists in the category, and one wonders if because this is the first year of the awards, AND they extended the deadline for nominations, whether there were only two nominations in the category… I actually did wonder when I nominated the book, how many nominations there would be in the category, because really, there aren’t that many craft books published in Australia each year.

Regardless, it is lovely to know that “Sardinian Knotted Embroidery” has been selected as a finalist! Voting opens tomorrow. Go me! 😉

A morning with Miss Fisher

Here in Australia, ABC TV has been making a wonderful murder mystery series called Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. It is set in 1920s Melbourne. The show is great, but most people I know watch it for the clothes.

Ending tomorrow is an exhibition at Old Government House, Parramatta, of some of the costumes, designed by Marion Boyce for the TV show. It started back in April, I think, and I’d been meaning to go and see it, but hadn’t really had the chance.

Before I booked my trip to Mystery Country, the family decided to give me tickets for us all to go, but they didn’t tell me, because the tickets were my Mothers’ Day present. The date they’d booked for was when I was away! So off they all went and celebrated Mothers’ Day without me, and my mother-in-law used my ticket. I finally went to see it yesterday morning, and it was most enjoyable!

This definitely has always been my favourite Miss Fisher outfit. I just love the fabric of this coat. I could happily wear this!

In one of the rooms there was a display of bits and pieces that Marion had used as inspiration: bits of fabric, lace, thread, ribbons etc. This was a little bit of beading that caught my eye.

The coat on the right here was made of the most beautiful velvet. It was simply stunning.

When the rest of the family went, The Reader particularly enjoyed the exhibition, because of her experience with our pattern drafting class. It would have been lovely to be there with her, and enjoy seeing her enjoy it!

It was interesting to see how plain some of the clothing was. I guess when you see it up close, it is different than seeing it from a distance on TV. And the other thing that really struck me was that the *wearer* makes a difference too. Miss Fisher is played by Essie Davis, who has a lovely way of wearing the clothes – she really wears them well, and very stylishly.

So I was glad to go, and finally see this long awaited exhibition. If you get a chance to see any of the Miss Fisher episodes, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the clothing too!

Advance copies of Sardinian Knotted Embroidery!

While I was away, the advance copies (copies sent ahead of the main shipment for final approval) arrived on my doorstep.

While there is a certain excitement about this, there’s also great trepidation: what if I find a mistake?! I haven’t found any mistakes yet. Thankfully!

It is a little bit exciting that this book is so close to being published!

I’m back from my research trip!

Last Thursday night I arrived back from my research trip in Europe. It was wonderful to see my family again. We’d all missed each other!

In the time I was gone, I managed to take over 1000 photos, which The Reader and The Husband have since sat through. The Gymnast gave up well before the end!

It was a very worthwhile trip. I was able to do the three things I really wanted to do: I visited two museums and experienced one cultural event. They were all useful to adding to my understanding and learning of my chosen topic for my next book.

The people I met were so helpful and generous. At the cultural event, I happened to strike up a conversation with a lovely woman named Anna, standing next to me. She explained to me some of the things I otherwise would not have understood. It was so nice to have someone to share the experience with. And for her, it was useful as she got to practice her English in preparation for a family vacation later in the year.

At the first museum, I did not have an appointment – not surprisingly they could not fit me in at such short notice. However, I really enjoyed the exhibitions and displays and learned a lot. At the second museum, I did have an appointment, and we spent a very informative few hours together.

I took lots of photographs, and asked lots of questions. We exchanged information on teaching embroidery (the curator I met with sees it as part of her job to hand on the skills of the embroidery she is preserving – wonderful!). It was so good! Thank you, very sincerely, to AS for your generosity to me.

After spending the morning with the curator, I went out and sat nearby to eat my lunch and process what I had learned. I tried some things out with my needle and thread, and also started the job of emptying my head onto paper in an effort to really cement the things I had learned.

I realised that there were some things that I had neglected to do, to ask and to check. So as I was still there, it was better for me to go back to the museum and do it, rather than wait until email was my only option. They were quite happy to see me again! They’re rather pleased about the idea of there being the first English-language book on my topic. There have been some in their language, but none that any of us know of in English.

I came home with about 6 reference books that I’d never be able to purchase here. One or two are in English or partially in English. The rest I will use either via the photos and diagrams, or with the help of online translator tools. There were others that I could have purchased, but they were large, heavy, and fell more into the “very nice to have, but not actually necessary” category. As my life is not about accumulation of stuff, I was quite ok with leaving them there.

The countryside I travelled through on my way between locations was absolutely stunning. It is an amazing part of the world, and I look forward to sharing my photos with you, well down the track!

Thank you to all who encouraged me to go on the trip. It was extremely worthwhile and will make the book a far better book than if I hadn’t gone. I have so much more understanding of the embroidery and its context within its cultural setting than if I had just stayed here and looked at photos of historical artefacts. Seeing it in real life really made a huge difference. I understood things, particularly about the scale, that I never would have otherwise.

When I arrived back bearing gifts for my family, they also had a parcel for me: the advance copies of Sardinian Knotted Embroidery have arrived! Today I will contact my shipping agent and see when the likely arrival date of the whole shipment is going to be. It’s getting closer!

A lovely day in mystery destination capital city

I arrived in mystery destination country yesterday after well over 24 hours of travelling time. Australia is a long way from Europe!

It was cold yesterday when I went out for an afternoon explore. I found some surprising things to look at, which cheered me no end. (I didn’t particularly need cheering, I was just happy I found these things.)

I wasn’t able to find two shops that I’d picked out as wanting to visit. One had obviously closed as the windows were all papered up, and the other, well, there was no sign of it ever having been there. This seems to happen to me! When in Dublin many years ago, I went a long way out of my way to find a particular needlework shop, and it had closed a little while before we’d gotten there. Not closed as in for the end of the day, but closed as in closed the business down.

Jet lag hit last night, and I was in bed soon after 7:30pm, and I must have fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. By 1:30am, my body decided it was time to wake up, so I spent a few hours before I could convince it it was wrong, and that I still needed to sleep some more!

Today I went to one of the two museums I plan to visit for my research while I am here. While I was not able to arrange an appointment at this museum on such short notice, I was still able to view the embroideries they had on display.

And I learnt a lot. There were some *beautiful* embroideries there. Photos were permitted in the museum, so I took heaps. They will form a wonderful resource when I go home, and one day I might share some with you! 😉

I also did a bit of souvenir shopping, and today found a much better class of souvenir than yesterday which was very pleasing! Yesterday I did manage to find some souvenir flags for my daughters, as we like to collect flags of the countries we’ve been to. Not that they’ve been here… 🙁

By asking at the tourist information centre I was able to learn where one of the shops I had planned to visit was now located, so I spent a lovely hour there.

Tonight I’ll take the overnight train to my next destination. It’s a pity, because it is apparently a very scenic journey, and for me it will be in the dark. But I chose that time deliberately, to make the most of my daytimes.

Tomorrow I will be in a regional city for some sightseeing. I’m really looking forward to it.

On my way today

Well, I’m all packed (Except for my phone. Mustn’t forget that!)

I’ve braided The Gymnast’s hair into cornrows so she doesn’t have to worry about it for most of the time that I’m away. (Hopefully she’ll get a week out of it!) I’ve RSVPd to various things for the kids. I’ve backed up my computer and my phone. I have packed food for if they stuff up my special order meals on the plane. The freezer is packed with meals to make life easier for my husband (he is an excellent cook, but he’ll appreciate not having to cook, seeing he’ll be being two parents while I am away.)

So, now I’m really just waiting until it is time to go.

I’m feeling very sad about leaving my family behind. It feels all wrong. I’ll miss them very much, and they’ll miss me.

But, before you know it, I’ll be back again, having gathered lots more knowledge and some wonderful photos for the next book.

Mixed feelings. Excited and sad. Bye!

Travel scissors

Tomorrow I’ll be heading off on my next research trip. It’s more than a little bit exciting!

I’m nearly all packed, and as you’ll know if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, I travel with only cabin luggage where possible. This time I’ve managed to keep the weight to about 6kg including the bag, clothing, and all extras. It all fits nicely in my little bag that I made last year for our trip to Italy.

When you travel with only cabin luggage, you can’t really take scissors with you for your embroidery. Needles are ok, but scissors are problematic.

A few years ago in a goodies bag at some embroidery thing, I received these tiny little scissors.

They’re about 4.5cm long, so very compact and very light. I’ve quite successfully taken them on flights with me before – both domestic and international.

While they are NOT sharp, either the cutting surface of the blades, or the points, they are enough to cut through embroidery threads. They are never going to be useful for any drawn thread work, as you just couldn’t get those tips between fabric threads to make a cut in the fabric to remove a thread. But if you’re not needing to do that, then they might be just what you need for travelling!

I know that some people use blade cutters – a tiny blade mounted in a decorative thing, often worn as a necklace. They’re useful, but I can’t cut my fingernails with one of them, so these scissors are more useful to me, because with them, I can do both!

If you’re interested in this type of scissors, if you do an internet image search for “mini scissors” you should be able to come up with several links where you can get them.

Armed with these scissors, needles, thread and fabric, I’ll be right for all those boring sitting-in-waiting-rooms parts of travelling! I started a new project yesterday, ready to take it with me.

wearable embroidery by Helen

Following my recent post on embroidery on clothing, I was contacted by one of this blog’s regular readers, Helen. Helen has embroidered many pieces of clothing and enjoys wearing her embroidery. She sent me some photos of her creations, which she has kindly given permission for me to share with you.

Helen: “Embroidery is what I do; embroidery is me. I would wear my thimble to bed and take a needle and stitch the sheets during my sleep if only the gorgeous man I have lived with for the last 45 years did not complain, but alas he prevents me from being a completely obsessive lunatic. He’s worth his weight in gold.”

Following is a selection of Helen’s work. She’s very kindly included details of where she has sourced the designs. Helen is a nurse by profession, so enjoys using other people’s designs rather than creating her own, though she is not afraid to adapt when necessary!

Glamour Girls waistcoat: designed by Sue Thompson of NZ.

Jacobean waistcoat: from a bag in an old Embroidery and Cross Stitch magazine. This was one of Helen’s first attempts at Jacobean embroidery, about 8 years ago. Helen personalised the design by adding the bee, ladybird and butterfly.

Frivolous Scarf: This design is by Nikki Delport Wepener, and was from a class that Helen took at Koala Conventions. The scarf was fun to make and has been much admired.

Chook Cardigan: This cardigan embroidered was for one of Helen’s grand-daughters. It was much loved, and has since been passed on to the next grand-daughter who also loves wearing it! The chooks were from a design in Inspirations magazine.

Red flower jacket: This is another design from Sue Thompson. When Helen saw the jacket in her local shop, she knew just what she could do with it!

Thanks so much to Helen for kindly allowing me to share these photos of your gorgeous embroidery with the White Threads readers. It has been very inspiring!

Perhaps you also have embroidered clothing that you’d like to share with White Thread readers? Just email me as I’d love to hear from you. 🙂

Beating Around the Bush classes

At the end of September and beginning of October, I will be teaching at Beating Around the Bush needlework conference in Adelaide, Australia. This is always a fabulous conference, with lots of wonderful tutors, students and classes.

This year I will be teaching the following classes:

Portuguese Whitework Bookmark – Sunday 28th September, 2014
Single day class.

This gorgeous little bookmark features whitework embroidery from Guimarães in the north of Portugal. With drawn thread work and a profusion of bullions and eyelets, this is a lovely mix of counted and surface embroidery.

No need to be scared of bullion knots; you’ll come away from this class very proficient at working them! The method I teach for working bullions is different than the method many people use, and often using this different method gives great results that were previously unachievable for many stitchers.

This project includes both counted embroidery and surface embroidery. Make sure you can count well – magnification will help!

If you are at all likely to have trouble working with 38 count linen, please bring magnification and or lighting.

Some experience with counted thread embroidery would be an advantage in this fast-paced class.

Elizabethan Strawberries Panel – Monday 29th and Tuesday 30th September 2014
Two day class.

Elizabethan embroidery often featured plants and the small creatures who live around them. This colourful design features luscious strawberries and a couple of little critters.

Explore traditional Elizabethan stitches including corded detached buttonhole stitch, corded Brussels stitch and plaited braid stitch. We will be using silks, metallic threads, and sparkly spangles.

This class is for experienced embroiderers who are looking for a fun challenge. The stitches we will be working are not for beginner embroiderers. While you may not have worked these particular stitches before, it is important that you are a confident embroiderer.

You can see the full panel on this class’s page on my website.

Mountmellick Daisy and Forget-me-not Cushion – Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd October
Two day class.

Mountmellick embroidery is a style of floral whitework embroidery from Ireland. It uses white thread on white fabric and a range of knotted and padded stitches to create rich and sumptuous embroidery. The knitted fringe is a traditional edging.

We will be creating a cushion with a pretty design featuring daisies and forget-me-nots. All stitches will be taught in class, and a demonstration of the traditional knitted fringe will be given.

This two day class is suitable even for people who have never tried embroidery before – all skill levels are welcome!

The embroidery stitches will be learned and the cushion embroidery started in class. Cushion construction and knitting will be done in your own time following the class.

Stitcher’s Village Market Day – Wednesday 1st October
As in previous years, there will be a market day of stalls on the Wednesday. This will be open to conference participants, and also the general public. I plan to have a stall at this day again. I will have copies of all my books with me, particularly Sardinian Knotted Embroidery: Whitework from Teulada.

If you have any questions about any of these classes, please just ask me. If you’d like more information on the conference itself, and for bookings, please go to the Beating Around the Bush website. It promises to be an extremely enjoyable week!

exploring the guild collection

Yesterday I spent a lovely day with a few others exploring the collection at the NSW Embroiderers’ Guild. I’ve been in the room once before, I think, but never really had much of a look at anything.

We had a lovely time. I was there to be photographer (and whitework expert, I suppose), while the others all chose the items for me to photograph. We’re going to use the photos in an upcoming guild promotional/fundraising activity.

I can’t show you any of the photos that I took, partly because that’s a bit secret, but also because I don’t have permission to do so.

I saw some delicious whitework, some amazing beading, some incredible crazy patchwork dating from the 1800s, beautiful goldwork, and much more. I just hope that the photos show up how beautiful they all are!

Normally when at home, I take quite a bit of time getting things just right, but we had to churn through all the photos in just a few hours. I haven’t uploaded them to my computer yet, but hope the photos have turned out ok.

It was a very enjoyable day, spent in lovely company, surrounded by exquisite embroidery.