White Threads

Vaupel and Heilenbeck

In my travels around the internet the other day I was looking for linen banding. Linen banding is rarely available here in Australia, so I usually have to look further afield. I was delighted to find the German company Vaupel and Heilenbeck.

Vaupel and Heilenbeck are manufacturers of beautiful linen banding (they also do some cotton aida banding). I haven’t seen anything like their products here in Australia and would love to. I have mentioned them to a couple of my suppliers, to encourage them to bring Vaupel and Heilenbeck’s products to Australia!

While the website is partially available in English, you’ll have to go to the German section (click on the little German flag) of the website to view the linen banding. From the list of categories down the left hand side of the page, choose Stickbänder – Bandes de lin – Linen bandings to view them. That then expands the listing in the left column into new subcategories including English translations of the subcategory names.

There are bands with hemstitched edgings, printed patterns, woven patterns, monochromes, and woven checks. The widths range from about 5cm/2 inches to about 50cm/20 inches. You could use them for anything from bookmarks and bell pulls through to table runners. Aren’t they beautiful?!

Vaupel and Heilenbeck are not a retailer, so you would need to purchase from one of their stockists. I couldn’t find a stockist list on their website, so you could try either contacting the company and asking which retailer close to you stocks their products, or make a note of the product you’re interested in, and do an internet search on it.

I hope to use some of Vaupel and Heilenbeck’s products in a future project. They’re just too nice not to use!

(I’m not being paid to write this. I’m just an excited future customer!)

Beating Around the Bush 2014, Adelaide Australia

Well, the big news of the day is that the brochure for the 2014 Beating Around the Bush needlework conference in Adelaide has been released to those who had signed up for information via the Country Bumpkin website. I can’t find a direct link for the brochure on the Country Bumpkin website, but you could try this link. Not sure if that will work. If it doesn’t, I’m sure you’ll let me know! 🙂

You’ll see that yours truly is teaching three classes – a Portuguese Whitework bookmark, an Elizabethan panel featuring strawberries, and a Mountmellick cushion.

There is a fabulous range of teachers, some of whom I have met previously, and others I am looking forward to meeting. They’re teaching some really beautiful projects, although as you’ll all be booking straight into my classes, you’ll only be able to admire the others. 😉

I’ll give more information about my classes in coming weeks. How exciting!

fabric jaunt

On Sunday I taught a class for the NSW smockers guild. We did Mountmellick embroidery – they do things other than smocking! – and had a lovely time. It seemed they particularly enjoyed realising that the things they were learning in the class could be applied to other styles of embroidery. Of course! 🙂

Because I worked on Sunday I kindly granted myself the day off yesterday. I needed to purchase a range of fabric for my CIAM patternmaking course, for me and The Reader, who is also doing the class.

We each have to make a jacket, some pants and a skirt. We’ve already each done our skirts, so that just leaves the jacket and pants.

I bought some fabric for my jacket when I was in Hobart last October, and it has been sitting there ever since, waiting for me to come up with a jacket design. Over the last few months my teacher has been at me to design my jacket, and I really have been thinking lots about it, but the design just wasn’t coming. So on Saturday, I sat down and just drew the design that had been percolating in my brain for the last few months. Sometimes these things just take time! Getting the design itself out of my head happened very quickly though, and my teacher was really pleased to see it on paper as now I could start drafting it. Before the next class I have to make my toile.

So I decided that yesterday was going to be a fabric-buying jaunt. I decided to go to The Remnant Warehouse at Alexandria, and also Tessuti at Chatswood. I had a feeling that my sister might be interested in coming with me, so we arranged to go together, with my cute little niece who simply calls me Her. “Where is Her?” It is better than That One, which was what she previously called me. My niece was extremely excited about going on the train to get there, so that was her excitement for the day!

I purchased denim for The Reader’s pants as she wants to make jeans (received an enthusiastic, “That’s just what I was after!” – excellent!); calico for my toile; lining for my jacket though I now wish I’d bought a different, higher quality one (oh well); some lycra for The Gymnast’s next leotard (she keeps growing!); and some fabric for my pants.

Wool boucle on the left, and a smoother finish on the right. The boucle is on special at the moment, but we still prefer the smoother one.

I did look out for coating fabric as The Reader is going to make a winter coat instead of a tailored jacket, but it really isn’t the right season for that, so it was a bit difficult. I get some samples of some lovely wool coating at Tessuti, but the prices were not quite what I was hoping to pay for a coat that my still-growing daughter will grow out of. (At least it can be passed on to The Gymnast later.) We will probably end up using it, as it is lovely, and just hope she wears it so much that she really gets her money’s worth out of it! However I need her to draft the pattern so that I know how much fabric to purchase. Given the price, I’m only buying exactly what we need!

I bought some lovely, good quality shoulder pads for my jacket and The Reader’s coat – really good prices at The Remnant Warehouse. They are nothing like the horrible foam things I remember using in clothes I made in the eighties!

And probably the most important thing I purchased was a pair of scissors for cutting fabric. My “good scissors” have been missing for a month. I know they’re probably just buried somewhere, but I have looked and looked without success. I bought cheap scissors, trusting that as soon as I purchased new ones, the old ones would turn up! (I hope it works!)

I love The Remnant Warehouse, especially for its great selection of lycra, and its large selection of dressmaking fabrics at good prices. They do also have patchwork fabrics, but I don’t generally have a need for them. Tessuti I love for higher end fabrics. They have lots of drool-worthy material, but the higher quality is the reflected in the prices!

All in all, it was an extremely successful day. The only problem is that today I have to get back to work and I can’t just get started on using what I bought!

Mountmellick honeysuckle class and bushfire threat

On Sunday I’ll be teaching a one day Mountmellick class for the NSW smocking guild. The class is apparently much-anticipated, with the class bookings having filled very quickly. I’m sure we’ll have a great day together. Today I will spend the day preparing the class kits. We’ll be working on the honeysuckle doily from Mountmellick Embroidery: Inspired by Nature.

Yesterday I spent the day by the radio, listening to the emergency updates, and working on my tablecloth. Yesterday was the most extreme day recently in the fire emergency. Because of high temperatures, very low humidity and strong winds, the fire authorities were expecting the worst.

Because we are very close to bushland, we had prepared our emergency survival kit, reviewed our bushfire survival plan, and were ready to evacuate. While there was no direct fire threat in our area (the closest large fire was still about 50km away), the local bushland has not had a bushfire for about 40 years. If a fire had started, it could have quickly become a large threat to us. When it goes up, it will really go up, and we will to be ready to leave well before immediate danger reaches us.

Putting together the stuff to “save” the night before was actually a really interesting exercise. It was interesting to go through the girls’ suggested things to take with them, and explain to them the difference between replaceable and irreplaceable. The Gymnast suggested that she should put white socks in (for her change of clothes) as then she could wear them to school as well as just generally. I said to her that I didn’t think the school would really care what colour socks she turned up in if her house had burned down!

In terms of my embroideries, of which I have a large quantity(!), I only put in the ones that I will need for already booked classes over the next year or so, the ones for the book I am currently working on, and about 3 others which are the ones most special to me (including the tablecloth that nearly killed me – too much was personally invested in that to leave it behind!). There are heaps of others that I’m sure I’d miss if they were destroyed, but other things are more important in life.

Thankfully the day passed much more quietly than any of us had expected. While there were new fires started and existing ones flared up, by evening, all were at a much lower alert level than we might have believed possible.

Thanks again to the firies for their amazing efforts to keep the community and their property safe. We’re all pretty much in awe of you. I think you all deserve “Australian of the Year”.

Portuguese Whitework tablecloth pattern errata

I was recently notified that there was an error on the pattern chart for the tablecloth in Portuguese Whitework.

On the chart, some of the pink numbers which denote the count of threads are incorrect. Wherever it says 60 threads on the pattern, it should say 72. The written instructions within the book are correct. The mistake will be corrected in the reprint that I am currently organising.

I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

I really appreciate readers informing me if they find any mistakes in any of my books. It gives me the opportunity to update and correct future print runs, so I am very grateful.

needle size for Portuguese Whitework

Firstly, I believe that the Sydney region bush fires have made news around the world. I live in Sydney, but I’d like to assure you that I am fine, and the closest fire is about 50km away from us. We have prepared our home for bush fire, though I still have a little more to do, but can’t do it until after our bins are emptied later in the week! The fires are alarmingly huge and dangerous, and many people have lost their homes. Incredibly, only one life has been lost, and we all hope that that is the way it stays. If you’re a praying person, please pray for significant rain, and for wisdom, safety and endurance for the fire fighters and all who are assisting them.

Now, on to needlework.

One of the things I often find when teaching Portuguese Whitework is that people do not like using a no 24 tapestry needle with 38 count linen, as it feels too big. Admittedly it does feel like a crow bar with such fine fabric. However, there is a really good reason for using a needle so large when stitching with the fabric.

The idea of a needle is to create a hole in the fabric large enough to comfortably take the thread through. It needs to be large enough to take the doubled thread through, as there are two threads emerging from the needle’s eye – one on each side.

As we’re working with pearl 8, when you double pearl 8 thread, you really need a tapestry 24 needle to make a large enough hole. A No 26 tapestry needle, while it feels like more of the correct size, doesn’t create a hole large enough.

If you don’t make a large enough hole in the fabric, you will get more wear and tear on the thread. It will go fluffy quicker, and therefore you will need to use shorter lengths to counteract it.

So while a No 24 tapestry needle seems way too large for Portuguese Whitework, that is the reason why we use them.

Designed by me, stitched by others

Yesterday I received a message from my US distributor with a link to a Facebook group. In that group a member, Arlene, had posted a photo of the Portuguese Whitework sampler from my book Portuguese Whitework: Bullion Embroidery from Guimarães. Arlene has done a magnificent job, and I was pleased to congratulate her on her wonderful result. You can see the embroidery here. (Not sure if you need to be a member of Facebook to view this – hopefully not.)

I also received an email from one of the Morpeth class participants, who has already finished her Portuguese Whitework ornament! Alison did a lovely job of stitching and finishing the ornament, and really enjoyed the technique. She’s looking forward to stitching more from the book. Congratulations Alison!

I always love to see photos of your completed projects! It’s a lovely thing to know that close by, and in far-flung parts of the world, I’m bringing joy to others through the embroideries I have designed.

Off to Morpeth

Today I’m heading off on a train to Morpeth in the Hunter Valley, to teach a Portuguese Whitework class. I’m sure we’ll have a lovely day together.

Since getting back from the cruise, I’ve caught up on all the orders, and have even cleaned up my desk. (I needed to make room to fit my laptop back on it!)

I’ve started planning the photography for the new book, seeing I have now completed five of the projects. Over the past week, the colour scheme and “visual theme” has been forming in my head.

I’ve been working madly on a tablecloth, and am making great progress there.

I have been getting a lot of enquiries for teaching next year. Unfortunately for you, if you haven’t already got a booking with me, you’re not going to get one for next year. I have decided to pretty much take the year off teaching (bar a few bookings that I already have) to concentrate on writing. This year I have had so much teaching that I really haven’t had the chance to write. So next year is going to be a writing year.

I am happy to take tentative bookings for 2015 already. In fact, I already have a few, so don’t delay! I probably can’t give you firm dates just yet, but we can settle on a month.

I have also decided, that unless the booking is for a conference, retreat or large seminar, I will limit my bookings to weekend classes only, not weekday bookings. This will fit better with my family, who are, of course, my first priority. The Gymnast especially has lots to do on weekdays, and if I’m not there to take my girls to their activities, someone else has to do it, which is a lot to ask.

An unusual few weeks

A few Tuesdays ago I posted on here that I was going to be away for a little while, firstly teaching in Hobart, and then on a writing retreat. Not all went to plan…

On the Tuesday that I posted, I was descending into a flu-like illness. It wasn’t the flu, but it was pretty awful. I desperately wanted to be well, as I needed to go to Hobart on the Friday afternoon, and be well enough to teach a class all that weekend.

Unfortunately that never happened. By Friday afternoon I wouldn’t have been well enough to get to the front gate of where we live, let alone all the way to Hobart. With the sickness of some of the class participants as well, the executive decision was made to unfortunately cancel the class.

However, that wasn’t all that I needed to be well for. I was planning to leave for my writing retreat on the following Monday, and for that I needed to be well. You see, I was going on a cruise for my writing retreat!

I had planned to get away from it all to get some writing done, and thinking it through, I realised that one really good way to do that would be to go on a cruise. Then they’d take care of the cooking and the cleaning, there’d be no easy access to the internet, and I could just concentrate on writing. However, if you’re not well, they won’t let you on a cruise, because they don’t want everyone to get sick – quite understandable!

On the Friday, I realised that the cruise just was not going to be possible. I wasn’t well, and there really wasn’t any chance that I would be. A trip to the doctor on Saturday morning confirmed that I wasn’t going anywhere.

Eventually I ended up at the emergency department of the local hospital on Saturday morning. Apparently I was very very sick. I mean I knew I wasn’t well, but the doctors at the hospital found more to be concerned about!

While giving the history of the illness, I mentioned that I had been planning to go on a cruise on Monday. The doctor in charge of the emergency department said, “Is that the 9 day cruise to Noumea?” Um, yes… (me thinking, “this is weird. How would you know that?”) “I’m going on that one with my family!”

Anyway, I stayed overnight, while they pumped me full of various liquids and kept checking my blood, blood pressure, heart rate etc. They had talked about me staying until Monday morning. On Sunday morning though, my blood test results were so much improved and I was feeling so much brighter, that they suggested going home at lunch time.

And then… one of the doctors said, “When does your cruise leave tomorrow?” I replied, “I have to board about lunch time, but I’m not going! I’m not well enough!” And off he went. When he came back, I said “Is there a chance that I MIGHT be well enough to go?”

Eventually they sent me home and told me to keep my appointment with my GP on Monday morning. They said that if he thought I was well enough to go, then I could go. Wow! What a turn around!

That afternoon I packed to go on the cruise. I figured that if I could manage packing, then I might be well enough, but if I couldn’t manage that, then there really wasn’t any point in even considering it. I managed it. 🙂

On Monday morning, the doctor did some more blood tests, and got the results back within a few hours and confirmed that I was right to go. I took all my hospital discharge papers with me, to show to the ship’s doctor, who I knew I would have to also convince that I was well enough to go. My husband took me in to the ship, and the first thing we did was to fill out the health questionnaire. Basically they’re screening for people who have flu, or norovirus. Answering the questions completely truthfully though, we realised that I didn’t even need to see the ship’s doctor – I passed the health questionnaire!

So off I went on a 9 day cruise to Noumea. First stop was Isle of Pines, one of the Loyalty Islands, then Noumea, then Lifou and Mare (two more of the Loyalty Islands). It was lovely! The food was fantastic, and Israel, my stateroom attendant did a great job of keeping my room lovely.

At the port stops, I usually went across on the first tender of the day, and spent an hour or two on the island, and then went back to the ship to get on with work. It meant that I had a lovely mix of sightseeing, relaxing and working hard. It gave me a chance to recover from my illness, and also get an awful lot of work done.

Kanumera Bay, Isle of Pines, Loyalty Islands

I think my favourite place was the Isle of Pines. I took some of my embroidery across to the island with me and went and sat on the peaceful, beautiful, heavenly Kanumera Beach for a couple of hours and embroidered. There was practically no-one there when I arrived, and the beach slowly filled as the morning went on. I think it would have to be the nicest place that I have ever done any embroidery. It is a memory that will stay with me forever.

Travelling by myself was quite successful. I met many lovely people at meal times (that was one of the other things about going on a cruise, it meant that I would not be a hermit, and would still have human contact, while on my writing retreat!). Often I’d have people who I had previously dined with, come up to me during the cruise and ask how the writing was going. It felt like I had a whole cheer squad, cheering me on!

I missed my family very much, though I was able to email them a few times at great expense to the management! I did see the doctor from the hospital with his family a few times, though he showed no signs of recognition – I did look very, very unwell when I was at the hopsital! I also found that a girl I had known in my teenage years and had since lost contact with, was on the cruise with her family. It was lovely to have her as a familiar face around the place, and someone familiar to chat to when I needed it.

Would I go on a cruise again as a writing retreat? Yes, I might! I got much, much more work done than I ever expected to, particularly because of my illness I had significantly reduced my expectations. It worked really well for me, and because I got so much done, I felt it was a worthwhile use of my time and money. If I did not have good self-discipline, it would not have worked. I could have very easily spent all of the port days exploring, and all of the nights living it up. However, I limited the amount of time spent exploring, and when I needed a break from writing, I did embroidery (still work, but relaxing work!).

It is wonderful to be home, and I’m looking forward to seeing my family when they get home from their day’s activities.

Vetty Creations office closure

Just wanting to give you a little bit of prior warning: the Vetty Creations office will be closed from the afternoon of Friday 27th September until Thursday 10th October. I’ll be away teaching (at A Stitch in Time, Hobart), then going on a writing retreat to really get stuck in to my current book.

During the closure, particularly the writing retreat, I will not have access to emails or the internet (that’s deliberate, so I can concentrate on writing!), the phone or any other form of communication other than face to face. If you can find me where I am, you can talk to me, otherwise, you’ll have to wait until I get back. 🙂

I will process any orders that have come in during the closure, when I return. I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience.