White Threads

Sewline wash out/erasable fabric pencils

Sewline wash out, erasable fabric pencil I’ve just added a new product to the Vetty Creations website: Sewline fabric pencils.

This fabric marking pencil is much better for marking fabric than a normal HB pencil and a fabric marker pen (texta). Why? It has ceramic lead that is designed to be easily removable from fabric. It washes out easily and rubs off using the included eraser. It does not sink into the fabric in the way that a marker does, and it won’t bleed as markers sometimes do.

The included lead is green, meaning that it works well on pale fabrics, and darker fabrics. A packet of refill leads comes with the pencil. The leads are 0.9mm, which is thicker than leads in regular propelling lead pencils. This means the lead is less likely to break. I’ve had my pencil for some time now, and dropped it quite some number of times, yet the lead has not broken. (That’s not to say it can’t or won’t break – but even with some punishment, mine still hasn’t yet!)

The lead thickness also means that you always get a constant line thickness, unlike regular pencils which need regular sharpening to maintain a fine line. With a constant lead thickness, you always get a constant line thickness. No need to carry around a pencil sharpener; the lead is always ready to go, whenever you are.

To remove the fabric markings, you can use the following methods:

* gently hand wash the embroidery in cold water
* dab the line with a wet cloth
* use the eraser at the end of the pencil to erase the line

Where possible, the method I prefer to use is to gently hand wash the embroidery. However, there are times where washing is not possible (such as when threads or fabric are not colourfast), and then you could use the eraser method.

When the lead gets worn down through use, more lead can be exposed by pressing down on the eraser at the top of the pencil. A click will let you know that the lead has propelled. To retract the lead, press down on the top of the pencil, and with the other hand, gently push the lead back into the barrel of the pencil.

When the lead is finished, and a replacement lead needs to be inserted, remove the eraser from the top of the pencil, and carefully slide a new lead into the pencil barrel. More than one lead can be inserted into the pencil so that when one lead finishes, the other will be there ready to be used. (This also means if you drop the pencil, you’re at risk of breaking both leads rather than just the one, so I prefer to keep spare leads in the caddy, rather than in the pencil.)

When the eraser gets worn down through use, more eraser can be exposed by holding the hot pink top section of the pencil (where the metal clip is) and twisting the lower part of the pencil. To retract it, simply twist in the opposite direction.

This wash out/erasable fabric pencil is perfect for all your embroidery marking needs. I use mine regularly for any embroidery where patterns and lines need to be marked on my fabric, such as Mountmellick embroidery and Portuguese whitework. Because it washes out easily, I never need to worry that I’ll be left with ugly line markings on the finished embroidery.

Replacement leads in other colours (grey, white, yellow, pink) are available, however we do not yet stock these. If you would like us to, please let us know.

NB: Always patch test on the fabric to ensure lines can be removed satisfactorily. As with fabric marker pens, markings should be removed before ironing.

Sewline fabric pencils are available from the Vetty Creations website.

app progress

I’m still working away on the app pictures – changing them from one format to another. It is slow going, but I am making some progress. That’s why I don’t have anything much to say, because nothing much interesting has been happening here!

As you know, we don’t have a TV, so I haven’t really seen anything much of the Olympics. I have seen little bits of the gymnastics from people’s videos that they have put up on the internet – those who were there at the arena and filmed it for real (meaning not just swiped it off the TV). Rainbow Girl has enjoyed those little bits that she has seen too.

As the Olympics have been going on, it has been interesting to see things from a different point of view. NEVER before have I ever watched the Olympics and thought to myself, “One day, that could be my daughter competing there.” But this time, I have. And let me tell you, it is rather strange! Who knows if she will ever get there or not, but she will certainly give it a try. She is an amazingly determined little girl!

Book review: “Portuguese Whitework” on Into Craft

Into Craft has done a review of my book “Portuguese Whitework”. You can also go into their contest to win a copy!

From the review: “This book is not only packed with projects embroiderers will want to stitch, it will be a reference text for many years to come.”

Head on over to Into Craft to check out the full review!

Pattern drafting

On Friday I spent some time with the Embroiderers’ Guild group at Miranda, teaching them Portuguese Whitework. It was the first of two lessons with them, so I will go back in a few weeks for the second class.

It was a very nice morning, and I enjoyed meeting some lovely ladies. I’m looking forward to joining them again.

On Saturday, The Reader and I went to a Ciam Pattern Drafting Course open day. I had had it in my diary for several weeks, and during last week I suddenly wondered if The Reader might like to go with me. She was very interested in going! We both enjoyed it immensely. The teacher took my measurements, and then drafted a bodice using the technique. It was very fast and we were very impressed. Another lady was a little late for the demonstration, and when she turned up, she was a friend of mine! We used to work together when we were at uni, and we both did the same uni course, though she was a few years behind me. It was lovely to have a familiar face (as well as The Reader)!

We’re (all three of us) very keen to do the course, so I might finally get to fulfil my dream of learning pattern drafting. Yay!

publishing nightmare #2

Last night I had my second publishing nightmare. I dreamt I was at a craft show, selling my wares. I opened up a carton of “Portuguese Whitework” and discovered that it was all wrong! The cover was a pale, insipid yellow, with a small photo in the middle and boring writing at the top. The page numbers were all wrong – letters in the middle of the numbers and I’m sure I saw one that was about 32000. The last problem were that there were hardly any pages in the book – it looked like half the pages were missing!

I didn’t sell any books that day (at my dreamt craft show) which was extremely disappointing.

I’m so glad these things don’t happen in real life!

“Olympic” leotard

As you know, my younger daughter, Rainbow Girl loves gymnastics and trains many hours a week. Potentially, she and the other girls in her training squad could one day end up at the Olympics – that’s what they’re headed for, though who knows if they’ll make it!

To celebrate the Olympics, the gym has declared this week “Australia week” and all coaches and gymnasts have been asked to dress up in Australian colours to support the Australian Olympic gymnasts (and to have a bit of fun!).

There have been many coaches sporting Australian green and gold tracksuits. There’s been lots of girls in fluoro green. Australia’s colours are green and gold (yellow), not fluoro green, but as that seems to be the green that most girls have in their gymnastic wardrobe, that’s what they’ve been wearing.

Rainbow Girl didn’t have ANYTHING in green or gold. And I didn’t have ANY green or gold lycra fabric to make something for her. She mentioned this to her coach, who said “your mum can make something, can’t she?” Oh, yes, because I have all the time in the world to do that sort of thing…!

I ummed and aahed about it at the end of last week, arguing with myself that I really didn’t have time, but that Rainbow Girl was going to feel quite left out if I didn’t. The left-out-ness side won, and I dropped in at a local shop with a range of lycra fabrics on the way home from depositing her at gym training last Friday. As it happened, they had 30% off lycra. A friend commented, “see, even [the shop] thought you should make a leotard!”

I purchased small quantities of green and sparkly gold, knowing that I could put them with a white that I already had at home. So, Friday night, I was up late, creating a fake Australian gymnastic team leotard in green, gold and white (they often have the addition of white on their leotards – it helps to break up all the ghastly green and gold!).

It wasn’t all beer and skittles, as the white fabric that I had was velvet lycra. This is a dreadful fabric to sew. The pile means that it moves where IT wants to as you’re sewing it. Even if it is pinned, it still moves wherever it feels like. The seams with the white all had to be done and redone several times, but eventually I got there!

The leotard isn’t nearly as special or as sparkly as a real Australian competition leotard would be – they would have Swarovski crystals all over them, for one thing, and be a much more exciting design – but it is as good as she was likely to get for an evening’s work, and for as little cost as possible. In the photo, the neckline looks a little crooked, but I assure you it is not, it is just the way it has been flattened out for the photo. 🙂

On Saturday morning, the leotard was matched with a new scrunchie, and Rainbow Girl was thrilled. The big hugs said it all! She was proud to go off to gym training wearing her fake Australian leotard. It got a good reception, and several of the coaches have asked where she got it from. “My mum made it!”

You can bet that if she ever does make it to the Olympics, the leotard she’ll wear will not cost the paltry sum of $12.25… 🙂 Several hundred dollars will be more likely. Leotards – especially competition leotards – are NOT cheap, which is why it is so good that I can make training leotards for her, saving us buckets of money! And it is true that I do enjoy the challenge of creating them.

an enjoyable Portuguese Whitework class

Yesterday I had a lovely day at Lyn’s Fine Needlework at Baulkham Hills, here in Sydney. There were 10 students for a Portuguese Whitework class. This class came about during the craft show back in June. Jeanette, the owner of Lyn’s Fine Needlework, had come over to have a chat with me, and we decided to schedule a class at her shop. We had no date set, but it meant that during the show I was able to let people know that it was going to happen. I also sent people over to Jeanette on her stand at the show to let her know that they were interested in doing the class – just so she’d know it was a worthwhile thing to do.

Yesterday, I heard that one of the ladies walked up to Jeanette’s stand, shaking. I asked “Why were you shaking?” Jeanette answered by saying that she said to the lady “You’ve just been to visit Yvette, haven’t you?!” This lady was SO excited about learning Portuguese Whitework that she was shaking with excitement!

She did enjoy the class yesterday, along with the others who took the class. I recognised a number of them from when they visited me at the show.

I have visited Lyn’s Fine Needlework before, but not really had the chance to look around and take it in. Yesterday I was able to do so. It is a wonderful shop. Jeanette has a great range of needlework supplies, with extensive ranges of interesting threads, but also a huge range of patchwork supplies. It really has to be one of the best needlework shops in Sydney.

At the beginning of the day, one of the ladies said she’d been reading my blog and website, and learned that I was taught by Barbara Gurney at school. Miss Gurney was my textiles teacher at high school and someone that I credit with being a major influence in me being where I am today. This lady told me that she too had been a teacher, and had taught with Miss Gurney at Miss Gurney’s first school posting. She expressed great admiration for Miss Gurney’s amazing skills.

It was an excellent day, teaching the ladies something new, and encouraging them. They all did really well. Some nearly finished the project, and others were a bit slower, but all were happy with what they learned and what they were able to complete. Thank you Jeanette and the students for a lovely day!

Portuguese Whitework demonstration

On Saturday I was at the Embroiderers’ Guild of NSW exhibition to do a demonstration of Portuguese Whitework. All of the guild tutors had been offered the chance to do either a talk or a demonstration, and each day of the exhibition there were about 4 tutor presentations. As it turned out, I believe I was the only one who decided to do a demonstration.

I had a timeslot of an hour, so I pinned all the projects from the book up on the wall, and got to work. I had a nice little crowd around me, and showed them the basics of the drawn thread work, then how to trace the pattern, how to do an eyelet and how I do bullion stitch.

The demonstration went well, with onlookers asking great questions. There were several ladies whom I have had in classes before, and others who are looking forward to me visiting their group in the near future.

I have a couple of classes to teach this week, so it will be a busy, but enjoyable week.

The exhibition itself had some really beautiful examples of embroidery on display. There was some work of a *very* high standard. It was lovely to see, and also to catch up with ladies who I have met or had in classes in the past.

Colourful stitches

Some pretty pictures today, taken from The Left and Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion stitch dictionaries. If you click on the image, it should take you to a larger version of it. For the story behind these images, you can read a previous blog post.

Shown, (L-R, top to bottom) we have Diamond Stitch, Square and Double chain, Fly stitch, Norwich stitch, Drizzle stitch, Scottish stitch, Raised chain band, Smockers knot, Whipped spider web stitch.

stitch diagrams

Sorry for the lack of exciting posts. I’ve been buried in stitch diagrams, resaving them one after another for use in my stitch dictionary app. Occasionally I’ll get a batch that go through quickly, but usually it is a slow, laborious, uninteresting process.

I’ve also been packing cartons of books to be shipped to the US. That’s not particularly interesting either, but it is good, because sales have been going so well there.

Perhaps you can tell me what exciting projects you’re working on?