From the archives – Hardanger with a sheer overlay

A long time ago I played around with Hardanger using an organza or chiffon overlay. This is a bag I made using the technique. I have always loved how it turned out.

When you’re stitching through a sheer overlay on evenweave fabric, let’s just say it’s *difficult*. It’s really slow, because when you just have the evenweave fabric, it’s a reasonably simple exercise to put your needle in the right place. Using an overlay makes it so much harder.

The embroidery itself is quite a simple design, with no cutwork at all. I figured that cutwork would mean we’d end up with a gazillion chiffon thread whiskers, and that didn’t seem to me to be a great idea.

I added Swarovski crystals and some beads to give the bag some sparkle. It all came together to create the opulence I was aiming for.

If you’d like to give this project a go – my applause if you do, because it is HARD! – the instructions can be found in an old, out of print magazine: “Embroidery and Cross Stitch” Vol 15, No 3. If you want the red chiffon fabric, contact me, because I still have some of it!

In my first Hardanger book, Elegant Hardanger Embroidery, there’s a bolster using the same technique.