White Threads

Lumidomes now available

Vetty Creations are now stocking Lumidome acrylic ball magnifiers.

Just place the Lumidome (inset) on the surface to be magnified (top picture). The surface is automatically magnified to 3 times its original size.

The ambient light is focused onto the surface, also making it brighter (bottom picture).

Its so simple, yet so effective. There’s nothing to get broken, and no batteries needed.

Place the Lumidome magnifier on your embroidery if you’re checking for a mistake. Place the Lumidome on your chart to see where the next stitch is supposed to go. Place the magnifier on needlework to see close up what stitches have been used.

The Lumidome magnifier comes with its own fabric pouch to help keep it clean and scratch-free.

Order your Lumidome from Vetty Creations today!

Portuguese whitework in Brisbane

Back from an excellent weekend in Brisbane last night. I’d been at AllThreads Embroidery teaching Portuguese whitework on Saturday and yesterday. We had so much fun!

We started off the class with me showing the photos I took of the embroidery and the town in comes from in Portugal, from my visit there in 2009. It helped to give context to an embroidery style that was completely new to them.

They learned how to work the wrapped bar framework, and then the bullion embroidery motif in the centre. One lady had never done any drawn thread work before, and therefore had never done any precision cutting of thread before. She learned how to, at this class, and was rightly pleased with her results. Most of them found my technique of working bullions (stab style, rather than scoop style) easier than any they had ever done before. One commented, “I’ve never found bullions easy before today.” She was very pleased.

Most of them nearly finished their embroidery (one did!) and they loved the style. I took with me the square mat project I have already finished for the book, and another one, a runner, which is currently underway, as inspiration. I think a few of them would have been very happy for the square mat to go home with them…! They were absolutely champing at the bit for me to have my book on it ready for them to purchase. They’ll just have to be a bit more patient yet!

Thanks to Kerryn from AllThreads Embroidery for having me. I had a lovely weekend sharing a new (to them) form of embroidery with other embroidery lovers. I also loved seeing Kerryn’s expanded shop, which is much bigger now than when I was last there about two years ago. I reckon she has a better selection of threads and embroidery products than any other shop I’ve been to. The shop really lives up to its name!

I’m not actually here!

Today I am not here, and I am not even writing this today. I’m in Brisbane, you see, having great fun teaching Portuguese whitework at AllThreads Embroidery. I’m nowhere near a computer, so I’m not writing any blog posts. (I wrote it on Thursday night, in preparation.)

Therefore today I’m just going to say that I too have been absolutely horrified by the events in Christchurch, New Zealand, with the devastating earthquake. My thoughts and prayers are added to the many.

New Zealand is our nearest neighbour, and all Australians have NZ friends they know and love. I’m sure many of them have been touched by the prowling arm of this tragedy, and my heart goes out to you.

hardanger: flavour of the month (or week!)

In the past week I have had not one, but three very nice reviews of my book Elegant Hardanger Embroidery sent to me. It has been lovely reading people’s comments about why they love the book so much.

I wrote it 10 years ago now, which seems pretty mindboggling, actually. (I’ve been writing books for 10 years now! Me, who didn’t even like the subject of English at school!) But to continue to have people saying very nice things about it 10 years on is quite lovely and very encouraging.

Amongst the things people have said this week about Elegant Hardanger Embroidery:

Your writing style and illustrations finally made everything come into focus and showed me that I don’t have to feel like I am all thumbs when I am doing hardanger. This book will be my constant companion for at least the next two project and treasured reference thereafter.

I also am very appreciative of the way you pointed out the path to common mistakes without talking down to the reader. I tend to be one of those stitchers who makes the mistakes without the skills to get out of the mistakes because almost all my instruction comes from the written word and diagrams. Thank-you again for giving me tools to increase my confidence.

I am really impressed with it. I knew there must be more to Hardanger than the simple Kloster blocks you see demonstrated on the web. I feel quite confident now to try a project, and I’m hoping I won’t need to refer back to your section on fixing mistakes!

Thank you to each of you who has sent me these encouraging words. Each time it happened, it made my day!

If you don’t have your own copy of Elegant Hardanger Embroidery, perhaps you should! To try before you buy, you can see an online turn the page preview at Scribd. You can purchase it from your local needlework store (and if they don’t have it, ask them to get it for you!) or otherwise online from me at Vetty Creations.

From yesterday, thank you to all who have made suggestions of items for embroidery. I’ve loved reading them all, and it has been quite thought provoking. Please keep the suggestions coming!

what do you like to make?

I’m thinking about new projects for my Portuguese whitework book, and I’m thinking about project applications. We probably all have our walls full of embroidery by now (and its expensive getting things framed), so what are some other items that you like to make when decorated with embroidery? I’m thinking

cushions
pillows
bags
runners
mats
hanging ornaments
scissor cases
clothing
framed pieces…

What do you like to make? What do you like to have decorated with embroidery? Do you like my suggestions above, and do you have some suggestions of your own?

Also, for those interested in the left-handed embroidery scissors, they’re now available for purchase from Vetty Creations. Still waiting on the other products to arrive.

new stock arriving

In preparation for the craft show in June, I’ve been ordering in new stock. I’ve got some left-handed embroidery scissors, lumidome magnifiers, and some embroidery hoops with stands that you sit on.

Hopefully I’ll get these added on to my website over the next few days before I go off to Brisbane this weekend, otherwise it will be early next week.

I’ve been wanting to get some left-handed embroidery scissors for ages, so that people can have them to go with their left-handed stitch dictionaries (The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion).

The Lumidomes are something I discovered when I was teaching at Springwood in January. They’re very clever and simple, and you can use them to magnify a pattern or embroidery so easily! I will warn you that they only had a small quantity of them in stock, and the rest of my ordered quantity is on backorder. If you want one, it’ll be first in, best dressed until the rest arrive in about 3 weeks time. I’ll let you know if you are unfortunately one who will need to be a little bit patient.

The embroidery hoops with the stands that you sit on (sounds a bit weird if you don’t know what I’m talking about, doesn’t it?) are the type of hoop that I use, AND LOVE. I reviewed mine way back in February 2009, which you can read here. My embroidery world improved SO much the day I bought mine some years ago, and having recently found a source for them, I’m thrilled to be able to stock such a great product.

I’ll let you know as soon as the stock is added to the website shop.

Added later: The left-handed embroidery scissors are now up on the website. Waiting on the other products to be delivered still.

the pleasure of making

Recently, as you may have noticed, I’ve been enjoying making clothes. I’ve been enjoying planning and shopping for fabrics for those clothes. I’ve been enjoying designing and creating new embroideries for my new Portuguese whitework book and upcoming classes. I’ve been enjoying making food that fits with my own and others’ dietary/allergy requirements.

Now, if you think about it, I could quite easily go out and purchase a new bag instead of labouring for many hours over the one that I designed and constructed for myself over the past week. I could easily go out and purchase a new dress instead of making one for myself or either of my daughters. I could easily not have a cupboard full of embroideries instead of labouring intensely over articles that often are basically useless. I could easily buy mass-produced foodlike substances from my local supermarket, and just reheat them in the microwave, instead of knowing what each of those real ingredients that go into my food are.

But I don’t want to do that.

Why? Because I like making things. I like creating. I like the satisfaction of making something new, and admiring my own handiwork. Whether others admire it or not is immaterial, if I have gained satisfaction from it myself.

However, there is value in sharing these creations. I prefer to share a delicious meal that I have made with others, rather than eating it by myself, because a meal is about more than just the food, it is about the company and the shared experience. I prefer to let others see the clothes I have made and enjoy wearing (or others enjoy wearing, if they are for someone else), rather than hiding them away in a wardrobe. I prefer to share my embroidery with others, in the hope that they may gain enjoyment from them also.

And when I have made these things, they are more precious and more valuable to me than if I had simply bought them. Its very much harder to treat a piece of clothing badly, when you know how much time and effort went into making it. Its very much harder to enjoy the real flavours of a meal when you don’t know what each of those chemical additives tastes like, as opposed to the vegetables you chopped and added to the meal.

Its like there’s a story that goes behind each embroidery, each dress, each meal. If I can tell you the surrounding events that happened during the period I created that embroidery, or where I purchased the fabric for that dress and the serendipitous find that it was, or why each of those ingredients went into that meal, it becomes much more part of my personal history. It becomes part of me, and who I am and what went in to make me me.

All these things are factors in why it is important for me to make, and why it is pleasurable for me to create.

There are other reasons too, like the fact that I embroider because it is a gift that God has given me, and that by doing it to the best of my ability, I am giving it as an act of worship to my God, the ultimate creator. That will always be part of it for me.

But some of my compunction to create is much more base than that. Some of my hankering to make is just because making is pleasurable.

Therefore I will continue to create.

Sprung!

Yesterday, I was recognised for the first time in public. You can tell it was the first time, by my less than smooth reaction.

My husband and I went to Tessuti in Chatswood to have a look at some fabric. While we were browsing, one of the staff members asked if I was the lady who had sent her some photos of a red dress.

“Yes!” I replied. She looked visibly relieved, and explained that she’d been looking at me trying to decide whether it was me or not.

“But how did you know it was me?” I was quite mystified.

My husband spoke very slowly (and quite condescendingly, I might add!) “You. were. in. the. photo.. It. wasn’t. just. the. dress.”

Oh yes! I never thought of that! 🙂

We had a lovely chat about the ponti that I had bought there for the dress. I told her that I’d seen quite a bit of ponti since (now that I know what I’m looking for!) and the one I’d bought from them had been by far the nicest quality. And just think, about a month ago, I had no idea what it was!

Life is a learning experience.

a snatch of eavesdropping

This story was told to me possibly third hand, so I’m not completely sure of its accuracy, but its a good story anyway!

A family friend was recently at her local embroidery shop, just having a quiet browse. I know the shop in question, and its a lovely shop to have a quiet browse in! While she was there, another lady came in, enquiring about my stitch dictionaries, The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion and The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion.

The family friend moved a little closer to surreptitiously listen in, certainly not identifying herself as being connected to me! The conversation went on, and the shop owner and customer were very complimentary about my books.

The family friend must have been impressed, because the story was told to someone else, and it eventually wended its way back to me.

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall. However, I never could have had this experience at this shop as I am well known there, so it was nice to have someone else being ears for me! So please keep talking in public about how wonderful my books are – maybe I’ll get to hear of it too! 😀

Inner city fabric and buttons

Yesterday my friend and I went on a fabric and buttons trip together. She had never been to any of these shops before, so I was introducing her to some wonderful new delights.

Our first stop was The Remnant Warehouse in Alexandria. I’d never been to this shop before either, only learning of it recently. It was fabulous! There was a whole shop of dance fabrics, and having a daughter who does gymnastics, that’s always of interest to me. They had a great range, at great prices. I picked up a couple of offcuts which were very reasonably priced. One of them was marked as having a flaw – which it did have – but I know that I’ll be able to cut around it successfully.

Next door was the main fabric shop, with dress fabrics and quilting fabrics. I didn’t actually look at the quilting fabrics, but my glances in that direction showed me that they had a very large range. The dress fabrics were interesting, and also well priced. I picked up some very nice fabric to make a pair of pants from, for only $5.95 per metre. I also got the rainbow of poplin fabrics I needed. So all in all, I bought fabric for pants, fabric for a dress, and fabrics for a leotard all for less than $35. I was very pleased!

While we drove there on this occasion, I noted previously when looking it up, that The Remnant Warehouse is only a short walk from Green Square train station if you’re wanting to get there via public transport. I’ll definitely be visiting them again.

Our next stop was All Buttons Great and Small in Newtown. Amazingly, there was a carparking spot right outside the door – certainly not what we were expecting! Perhaps someone had only just driven away.

On entering, we stepped over the cat happily sleeping right near the doorway. If its been stepped on before, it obviously hasn’t learnt its lesson! Along the left and back wall are buttons, buttons and more buttons. My rainbow daughter would have approved as they are displayed in blocks of rainbow colour.

There was an amazing range of buttons, which the shop girls told us are sourced internationally. The shop owner goes on a buying trip internationally every two years. What fun that must be! There are also the “special” buttons displayed under glass in the shop counter, which were pricey, but might just be perfect for that very special garment.

My friend had wanted to go to the button shop as she makes chokers from buttons, and was interested in seeing a new range of buttons. I think she had fun choosing!

We then headed over to Surry Hills to visit The Fabric Store. Neither of us found anything to take our fancy there, but that’s sometimes the way things go. We drove the few streets to Tessuti, but couldn’t find a park easily, and it was really time to be heading home to collect the kids from their various places of schooling, so we gave it a miss. Tessuti will still be there next time!

It was great fun, and there was lots of talking in the car there and back. I think we might do it again some time!