White Threads

Book review: Embroidery in Britain from 1200-1750

“Embroidery in Britain from 1200-1750” is a book that I keep coming back to. I love soaking up the visual delights found in it.

This book is a visual survey of some of the delights of the V&A’s textile collection. It includes a couple of essays, then a listing of the plates with sizes and descriptions, then the plates themselves.

The first plate is of a piece that I have actually seen: a maniple dating from the 1900s, which I saw at Durham Cathedral, when visiting there in 2002. We just stumbled across the display, realising as we were there that these were actually extremely precious and significant embroideries. Quite a treat!

There are examples of ecclesiastical embroidery, a lot of metal embroidery, needlepoint tapestries, blackwork, counted thread samplers, sweetbags, silk shading, Elizabethan embroidery, crewel embroidery and more.

Whenever I want inspiration, or just to look at some really nice old things, this is one of the books I pull off my shelf. I just love it. I think that I bought it at the V&A when we were there on the same trip that we went to Durham Cathedral. I was there to research Mountmellick embroidery, as they have two examples at the V&A. But of course you can’t visit the V&A without a visit to the textile galleries and the bookshop!

I’d say this book is out of print these days, but its worth searching out one in your guild library or a second-hand copy.

“Embroidery in Britain from 1200 to 1750” from the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Textile Collections, by Donald King and Santina Levey. ISBN: 1851771263

At the craft show

Well, I have had two great days at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Show. I have met several people I have heard of before, but never met. Yesterday I met Gina Marion who wrote two Hardanger books for Sally Milner Publishing some years ago. She is delightful. I also have had several long time customers introduce themselves to me, and its great to be able to put names to faces.

On Wednesday, Lyn Weeks wandered past and waved hello. It was lovely to see her again. I met her last year at Beating Around the Bush where she was a fellow tutor. At the mini market at BATB I bought a pair of ceramic scissors from her. Because they are ceramic, they are perfect for travelling with, as they do not show up like metal scissors on xray machines. Lyn says that she quite often has them in her suitcase, and completely forgets about them being there, and has never had any problems getting them through. I showed them to some of my customers yesterday, so I think that Lyn might even get some sales out of it!

I’ve also said hello to Emily Menzel and Helen Davies from Country Bumpkin, Danielle Tebbs from Country Threads magazine (Express Publications), Michelle Moriarty from Embellish Magazine (Artwear Publications), Bernadette Thomas from Needlewitch who is an antique dealer specialising in needlework type things, and many more people besides. (My goodness, I am name dropping!)

I have also met many lovely customers whose names I do not know. I have had some delightful conversations with stitchy people, and enjoyed sharing a love of embroidery with them. I was surprised and amused when a lady who was talking to Kirsten and I, suddenly stopped when she noticed my name tag. She jumped back and said “You’re Yvette Stanton!! WOW! I’ve read all about you in magazines, and followed what you are doing there. Oh wow, I can believe I’m actually talking with you!” I assured her that I’m really very normal, and that I’m just like everyone else… She was very kind to be so enthusiastic, though.

Next door to us, we have Dairing, which sells some really interesting yarns. They sell them for knitting, but I bought some wool yarn yesterday with stainless steel in it (my husband says it must be for scrubbing the pots) that I’d like to try out for embroidery. It has a slight shimmer to it, because of the stainless steel.

Across the way is Prints Charming, who have gorgeous hand-printed fabrics. They have some as examples that are embellished with embroidery, which are quite lovely.

Kirsten and I have been having a wonderful time. Kirsten is getting a lot of interest in her digital cross stitch magazine The Gift of Stitching, and I nearly have her sales pitch down pat. I think I’m quite good at it now! And Kirsten is doing a great job of introducing my products to customers too.

My left-handed beginner embroidery classes have been going well, with students being so excited with what they have learned. On Wednesday I had a complete beginner, and she was absolutely thrilled with what she learned. I will have my second male student ever on Saturday (already booked in), which I think is fantastic!

Here are a couple of photos that we took on Tuesday when we had finished setting up.

The Vetty Creations stand at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Show

Me in my very attractive safety vest, which must be worn for setup and packdown!

Anna Castagnetti: stitching in the air

When I put out the call for people who might like to share some of their embroidery with us, this week while I am at The Big Craft Show, Jeanine of Italian Needlework excitedly wrote to me about a colleague of hers, Anna Castagnetti. Following is what Jeanine told me about the wonderfully talented Anna:

Anna's Casalguidi coral on the cover of RAKAM magazine

“Anna Castagnetti likes to experiment with embroidery. She does it well and with lots of style in the fair city of Verona, Italy. Inspired by “stitch in the air” techniques, or “punto in aria” in Italian, such as Aemilia Ars needle lace, Venice Point, Hedebo, Reticello, Teneriffe and Renaissance Lace she often takes traditional surface embroidery patterns and fills them with an assortment of the stitches from these styles.

Anna tries to inspire young people to discover embroidery and she has endeavoured to teach traditional techniques while at the same time giving her pupils license to try something new. She founded the Cultural Association “Ricami a Fili Tesi” (which does not translate into English all that well, so we’ve decided to call it Openwork Embroidery until something better comes to mind) to encourage further study along this line.

She says: “Today’s embroiderer is an artist who stitches for pleasure, but especially because through embroidery she can express something of her own personality.” She believes that to apply recognized techniques to different contexts gives freedom to creativity and imagination. She does not call her idea an invention but rather an interpretation. With this style, her aim is to have us consider an open space the same way as any piece of fabric which can be embroidered without the complication of a long and laborious preparation.

Anna is also experimental with other techniques like Casalguidi Embroidery and Pulled Thread. Her innovative Casalguidi coral design earned her the cover of the Italian embroidery magazine RAKAM in August of 2008. Since then her work has been featured often.

Cushion with openwork sun and daisies

This cushion, also featured in RAKAM in August 2008 was made with Sotema 20L 38ct 100% linen. The Daisies are filled with Hedebo stitches, non-open areas are Padded Satin Stitch and Stem Stitch.

The Sun is made of Teneriffe Lace embroidered first on a cardboard base and inserted upon completion into the fabric. The Teneriffe Lace technique has been modified to simplify it by executing one circle of Buttonhole stitches and another circle inside of Antwerp stitch around the edge. The Sun’s rays, stretching across the cushion to the flowers, are worked in Cable Stitch.

The buttons are small pressed paper balls (made in Germany) covered in Antwerp Stitches and enriched with Bullions.

Close up of openwork daisies on cushion

Close up of large daisy on cushion

In September of 2010 Anna will release her (as yet untitled) first book which will be in Italian and English, with instructions and step-by-step photos of the stitches she uses to fill the empty spaces of her designs. The book will also feature four delightful designs to embroider.

Anna can be reached at: anna.castagnetti@email.it”

Many thanks to Jeanine for telling us about Anna and her embroideries!

Right-handed book advance copy arrived!

Yesterday morning when Belinda and I were carting stuff out to the car, a truck pulled up out the front with what looked to be council workers in it. I said “Looks like some guys have come to dig up the footpath or something.” Then I noticed their woodchipper on the back, and realised they had come to chop down the great big liquidambar tree that was on council land out the front of our house.

The tree was marked several years ago with spray paint, which meant that it was earmarked for chopping down. It was large (and lovely) but kept uprooting sections of footpath, which council had to replace every few years or risk being sued. In fact, I still remember the day that Nanna and Pa were visiting, and we were saying goodbye to them, and Nanna tripped on the path and hurt herself. Nanna hasn’t been with us for quite some number of years, yet I can still see her falling in slow motion.

So anyway, they came to chop it down. A guy came over to explain to me what they were going to do. He asked if we had any cars that would need to come out during the morning. I said yes. He said, “Well I might get you to do it now, if that’s ok.” I replied “No, actually, because we are packing it.” He said that they’d just have to move when we needed to leave.

So they set up a huge cherrypicker and proceeded to make a lot of noise with their chainsaw. I didn’t take much notice though, as we were just slightly busy packing boxes into the car (it all fitted!!). They were a little annoyed when we indicated about half an hour later that we needed to leave. But we did warn them!

I came home hours later to find a stump. It’ll be ground out when they get the chance.

Both my daughters cried and cried when they saw it. We really had no warning, so it was a bit of a shock for all of us. Of course, we had known for some years that they would cut it down, but when it takes so long for them to get to it, you don’t really imagine that they ever will.

But as the title of this post says, in the midst of all that, the courier must have been able to find his way to our front door, because there was a lovely parcel waiting on my doorstep in the afternoon, with my advance copies of The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion inside.

OH they look wonderful!! So I will have one – under a VERY watchful eye – with me at the craft show this week, and those of you who are right-handed can have a look before ordering your very own copy, due to come late July.

Nearly ready for the show!

Today Belinda and I will take all the stuff in to Darling Harbour and set up the Vetty Creations stand for the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair. I really hope it all fits in the car… There seems to be so many boxes. I can’t imagine what it is like to move house!

I have a large quantity of books to take, Mountmellick kits, Mountmellick thread, fat quarters of linen and polycotton and cotton satin jean, needles, booklights (perfect for portable embroidery), more stuff to sell, and lots of embroideries for display.

Then there’s a table and my bookshelves. And all the little things like pens, staplers, price stickers, sticky tape, receipt books and stuff like that. I’ve been writing a list for weeks, so that I don’t forget anything, and I’m sure I still will!

We’re hoping to get the stand all set up by lunchtime, and head off somewhere to have a leisurely lunch together. In my mind, its the calm before the storm! 🙂

I feel all full of anticipation. While I have never done a show this big before, I did do a one day mini market last year at Country Bumpkin’s Beating Around the Bush conference. And I have also assisted on the Country Bumpkin stand, and on the stand of my previous publisher (when I was still with them), but neither of those were my responsibility! I’m sure Kirsten and I will have a great time. I’m just expecting that I will need a holiday by the end of the week though!

I know that some people do this sort of job all the time – being on their feet all day, talking with customers, and doing it all five days per week. But I don’t, and I’m not used to it! I might need to crawl into a hole and hibernate at the end. It could be all a bit much for an introvert like me, to put on my public persona for so many days straight!

If you’re coming along, we’ll be in Aisle G, Stand 32: The Gift of Stitching and Vetty Creations. (Actually though, our sign on the fascia board will say “Gift of Stitchng/Vetty Creatns” because we could only have 30 characters, and our full business names wouldn’t fit!) I really look forward to meeting you. If you’re a regular, sometimes or even one-off reader of White Threads, please let me know!

metal thread – real metal?

Some time back, I wrote a post on the fact that I was considering putting some gold thread embroidery on a black beret that I had recently purchased. Now, given the fact that I have been busy beyond belief, getting ready for the Big Craft Show, I haven’t even touched it since. (I have thought about it though, and have even worn the naked beret!)

In a recent post on The Embroiderer’s Story, Tricia talks about how Benton and Johnson 300 series are not actually REAL metal, but plastic with some metal on one side. A-HA! Somewhere back in the dim dark recesses of my brain, I seem to remember hearing once before that Benton and Johnson 300 threads were not real metal…

As Benton and Johnson 371 is my thread of choice, does this mean that it would be an ok thread to use on something that may occasionally get rained on?

The plot thickens…

Right-handed advance copies on their way!

I got an email yesterday from my printers to let me know that my advance copies of The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion are currently being couriered to me. Wow! This is earlier than I expected!

Before a books shipment is delivered in full, the printer normally sends a couple of “advance copies”, so called because they come in advance of the rest of the shipment. I have never really figured out the point, because if you were to take a look at it and say “oh no, I don’t like that…” its a little late really, isn’t it, seeing the whole print run has already been done? I suppose if there were something DREADFUL, the whole thing could still be pulped, but I don’t suppose that happens very often, as surely there are usually enough checks for most things to be noticed before that point.

I am rather excited, because there is the slight possibility that they will arrive on Tuesday (Monday is a public holiday for us – celebrating the Queen’s Birthday, though as it often falls on my birthday, I prefer to think of it as celebrating my own birthday…!), which means that I MAY have them to look at at The Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair, starting on Wednesday! Even if it doesn’t come on Tuesday, chances are it will on Wednesday, so that means I am even more likely to have them for showing off from Thursday onwards.

Oh, so exciting!

So, if you’re in town, you may be able to come and take a look and place your order at the advance copies at Stand G32 (Vetty Creations and The Gift of Stitching) at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair, at Darling Harbour. The show is on from Wednesday 16th to Sunday 20th at the Sydney Exhibition Centre, Halls 1-3.

Even if you won’t be there to take a look, you can see a turn-the-page preview, and pre-order your copy of The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion now.

I have been saying that they will ship in August, but there is every chance it may be at the end of July, depending on how long they have to sit on a dock when they get here. So there’s not much longer to wait!

Merezhka on the Dnieper River

The Dnieper River is the fourth longest river in Europe, and flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea.

One of my customers recently wrote to me about a wonderful cruise that he and his mother had taken together on the Dnieper River and Black Sea. His 86 year-old mother explored the ship’s library and found a copy of my book Ukrainian Drawn Thread Embroidery: Merezhka Poltavska there. She was quite taken with the technique, and on their return she ordered a copy of the book for herself so that she can continue to enjoy merezhka.

I was thrilled to hear this story, as I found it amazing that someone at the cruise company had been thoughtful enough to include a copy of my book in the ship’s library, thereby sharing an aspect of the local culture with the cruise passengers. It was also lovely to hear just how much the mother’s interest was piqued by merezhka.

Thanks to my customer for sharing the story with me.

Has anyone else found a copy of any of my books in an unusual place? I’d love to hear about it!

The Mountmellick stitch along

I’ve have been so flat out getting everything ready for The Show that I haven’t had the chance to do anything but glance at the Mountmellick stitch along project when I walk past it. Therefore I don’t think we can count on it starting *right* at the beginning of July…

I need to get the project stitched up before I can sell the kits, because I need to know how much thread to supply. I’d hate to suggest too little and everyone end up short.

So that we can do this properly, I just need you to all be a little bit patient. Sorry about that.

Just a reminder, I’ll be exhibiting at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair, at Darling Harbour, from June 16-20. I’ll be sharing a stand with Kirsten Edwards of The Gift of Stitching. Come and see us at Stand G32 – we’d love to meet you!

Happy birthday to me

Today is my birthday. I am therefore having a day off. 😀

Happy birthday to me.