White Threads

left-handed embroidery class

I will be exhibiting at the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair this year. (June 16-20 at Darling Harbour.) This is the first time I’ll be exhibiting with my business Vetty Creations, and to make it easier, I’ll be sharing a stand with Kirsten Edwards of The Gift of Stitching Magazine. I have previously been at the show as a teacher and demonstrator with my previous publishers, and as a teacher for Country Bumpkin.

I will be teaching a new class at 3:30pm in Craft Circle 2 each day, called “Embroidery for left-handers”. We will be covering basic embroidery stitches, and all you lefties will love having a left-handed teacher show you the LEFT way to do things! The class is an hour long, so we should be able to get through a few stitches.

The class is free, but there is a kit cost of $5. Come to Stand G32A to sign up, and pay for your kit, prior to the class. All attendees must pre-book and pre-pay. There is a maximum of about 15 students, so you’ll need to get in quick.

If you have left-handed friends who will be attending the show, you might like to let them know about this exciting new class, so that they can make sure they’re there for it.

If you can’t make it for the class, or you’re right-handed and have no need for a left-handed class (!), please come to Stand G32A and say hello. I’d love to meet you!

Happy Mother’s Day

Today is Mother’s Day here in Australia. My husband and children are concocting breakfast for me. The kids don’t know, but I already guessed what its going to be – I hoped for eggs benedict, and that’s what its going to be. I love the tangy, creamy (dairy free!) sauce… mmm….

Yesterday afternoon we hosted my husband’s family here for what I called “a posh afternoon tea”. I didn’t want to call it high tea, because I think that involves sandwiches, and quite frankly, they don’t excite me much at all.

We had been baking for days, making lots of yummy sweet things, in small sizes so that we could all have lots without stuffing ourselves silly! We had little lemon tarts, mini almond friands, mini apple maple syrup cinnamon cakes, chocolate and date panforte, and our version of cannoli.

The lemon tarts were apparently very nicely tart (I couldn’t have any as they have dairy in them), and the cannoli apparently were delicious (couldn’t have them either).

We couldn’t come at the idea of deep frying the cannoli cases, so we made tuiles instead, on our cream horn cases, and filled them with the crema pasticcera (I bet that’s spelt wrong.) The tuiles were slightly honey flavoured and the crema pasticcera has been a hit in our family with the dairy eaters ever since I found a recipe on the internet while we were in Ethiopia. You make the vanilla egg custard, then leave it to set, then whiz it to make it smooth again. In Ethiopia, we only had a whisk to mush it up, so rather than being smooth, it turned out looking like scrambled eggs. One of our friends’ kids loved it so much that we now refer to it as Noah’s custard. It also makes me think of good times in Ethiopia whenever I make it. Sigh…

The maple syrup cakes were FABBO! I got the recipe out of Donna Hay’s Seasons book, which we were given for Christmas, and then didn’t really have the chance to look at until we got back from Ethiopia. Yummy recipe, which we did in mini muffin pans rather than bundt tins.

The friands were nice, but paled into insignificance against the other yumness. The panforte was rather forgettable, and after all the effort I went to to make it, was a bit of a disappointment. May I say that glucose syrup is a disgusting substance that is designed to tie people in sticky knots?

We’re doing it all again this afternoon with my side of the family. We made enough of each yumness to do the two events. Looking forward to round two.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums and those wishing to be mums!

an interesting question

Yesterday when I was cheeky enough to ask my local needlework shop why they didn’t have my new book in, during the conversation the shopowner asked me “Are you left-handed?” I replied that I am.

When she heard that The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion was due out in August, she asked why I can write the right-handed version when I am left-handed.

A good question.

And my answer to her was “Well, I’ve been teaching right-handers right-handed for years.”

I am extremely well versed in teaching right-handed stitchers how to stitch. And despite the fact that many right-handed teachers think it is ok to make the left-hander sit in front of them and copy them in reverse, I don’t think that is an acceptable way for me to teach right-handers.

When teaching right-handers, I switch my needle over to my right hand and show them how to do it in a right-handed way. I take a little longer, and I probably look a little awkward (it not being my natural way to stitch), but it certainly gets the job done!

No-one has ever questioned my ability to teach right-handers in a class, and about 90% of my students are right-handed, so most of my teaching practice is that way round!

I reckon that really, I have the best of both worlds, being able to teach embroidery in both a left-handed and right-handed way, thereby catering to all my students, whether in person or in a book.

surprise purchases

I went along to my local craft, knitting, quilting and needlework shop yesterday. I am very fortunate because I can walk only 15 minutes from my home and be there. I realise that this will make many of you jealous!

I was wanting to look at fabrics to use for my samplers.

I knew that some time in the beginning of May they usually have their birthday sale with 20% off, but I usually miss these things. They don’t advertise it beforehand, so imagine my surprise when I found that it was yesterday!

So of course, I had to take a look around to see what they had! I bought a gorgeous ball of bamboo yarn. Its meant for knitting, but because of its beautiful sheen, I reckon it will be lovely to embroider with. The yarn looks like it will be divisible too, so I can probably use it as the full thickness, or as a fewer number of strands.

I also found a hoop to go on my very favourite embroidery stand. I already have the stand and a smaller hoop, but there have been quite a number of occasions when I would have preferred a larger hoop. This one is larger, and will be excellent. Some family members can give this to me for my upcoming birthday – they’ve already asked for suggestions…

Very happy with my latest purchases.

I did ask why the ladies who own the shop don’t have my latest book in yet (I know them well, so I’m comfortable being a bit cheeky with them!). Sheepishly they said they’d only just seen it, and they’re waiting for it to come in. 🙂 However, the girl standing just nearby said “I have it! My mum bought it for me.”

Just tacking another book review of “The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion” on the end of this post. I have been in contact with the lovely girls at Embellish magazine. I had sent them a copy so they could review it, and in the course of our subsequent email correspondence, Michelle, one of the co-editors, said the following regarding it:

Congratulations on your outstanding book. Finally an embroidery book that is colourful, easy to understand and will soon be available in both left and right handed options. I have read many embroidery books over the years and yours would have to be the most inspiring. My hand is itching to grab the thread and start yet another project. Well done. Michelle Moriarty, Embellish magazine

designing a class

I have previously mentioned here my plan to teach an “unusual and difficult stitches” class at Beating Around the Bush in 2012. I thought you might be interested in reading about my thought processes for this class.

Most of my classes that I already teach are just a variation on a theme. For Mountmellick, I teach the stitches and we work a project. From class to class, the project changes, and maybe a couple of stitches are varied, but its usually basically the same class. For Hardanger and Merezhka I teach the stitches on the project we are working. The Hardanger and Merezhka projects may vary, but much of the information taught from class to class remains the same.

As I have taught such classes many times, while I may need to design a new project for a new class, and then write up the instructions, there’s not a whole heap of preparation other than that. But this new class is quite different, and as its not one that I have taught before, I need to nut out how its going to work, and do a lot of preparation and planning.

For starters, I need to come up with the list of stitches that we are going to use. The class is going to be over two days, a total of about 12 hours (I’m not sure of the exact length, but its probably about that). I have to consider how many difficult and unusual (not necessarily difficult in that case) stitches I can teach in that amount of time, with enough time to reasonably master them and feel confident about working them, but without information overload!

I have also been trying to figure out how I will present the class – will it be a project based class, will it be a sampler class, or will it be a combination of both?

I think that really if it is presented as a project class, people will focus on the project too much. The point is the stitches that we are going to learn. But if I present it as a sampler class, then how am I going to attract people to the class if the class model that is in the brochure is just a boring sampler of stitches?

Well, the answer to that is that it has to be an inspiring sampler of stitches!

When I think of non-counted-thread samplers, I think of boring looking lines of different stitches. Completely uninspiring! So yesterday I put a notice up on the blog asking if anyone could direct me to any pictures of contemporary non-counted-thread samplers.

Elizabeth gave me some excellent links, pointing to:
http://39squares.blogspot.com
http://countedblessingsproject.blogspot.com

These really got my brain ticking over. Suddenly I wasn’t thinking boring lines of stitches any more. It could be a grid, with each section of the grid being for a different stitch. Sure, those grid sections could have lines of stitches in them, but the grid would give the whole sampler structure.

And then my husband suggested two concentric circles, divided into sections. Rather like you might see on a colour wheel. There’s a great example of the type of thing I mean here.

So this has got my brain whirring. As soon as I get the chance, I’ll be getting out some fabric and thread, and working with the two ideas (a grid of squares, and sectioned up concentric circles) to see which I like better, and to see if I can come up with any further ideas.

biscornu: useful? beautiful?

I am going to go out on a limb here…

I don’t understand biscornu.

(And I don’t know what the plural for “biscornu” is, or maybe that is plural? If it is plural, what is the singular?)

Biscornu are everywhere these days, primarily as counted thread projects. But every time I see some of them, I think “but what is it? What do you do with it?”

I think they’re quite nifty, the way I assume they are constructed – I’ve never actually looked into how they are actually constructed, I just assume I understand the process. I figure they use two squares, where the points of one square are attached to the middle of the sides of the other square, and vice versa, leading to a clever zig-zag around the edge. Like the fingers of two hands interlocking from opposite sides.

So, those of you who make biscornu, what do you do with them? Are they just pretty dustcatchers?

If I think about them through the lens of William Morris’s famous quote, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful,” I can agree that some of them are beautiful. Maybe some have found uses for them, though I am not sure what.

I have things in my house that are just beautiful, and not useful. Most of the framed pictures on our walls do not qualify as useful – well all of them, actually. But I do consider them to be beautiful. But they are also practical in some ways. Because they are framed with glass, they have a certain level of longevity built into them.

The doilies I make in my Mountmellick classes etc, are not particularly useful, (though I think they are beautiful) but at least they are practical, in that if you do want to use them, they can be washed. And doilies do have a use, its just that most of us don’t bother with them these days.

I have other things in my house that are just beautiful and not useful, such as some pieces of furniture. And quite frankly, they are the things that my “reverse culture shock eyes” see as the first things that need to go in The Purge.

So I am just trying to understand the point of biscornu (or whatever the plural is). I can’t. Even if they are beautiful, surely they are dustcatchers. I guess you *might* be able to wash them, but perhaps that would be a bad idea, depending on the threads used to decorate them.

As a disclaimer, I am coming to this discussion with the growing view that Stuff for the sake of Stuff is anathema to me. I have a birthday coming in the next while, and it bothers me that I have to “dream up” suggestions for family who want to give me something. Really, I love the fact that they want to show me that they love me in that way, but it is just so unnecessary to give me something. We’re trying to empty our house of unnecessary Clutter and Stuff, so do I have to add more?

So it is with this in mind that I try to understand biscornu…

Please explain to me what the point is… I really want to understand!

contemporary needlework samplers

I am wondering if anyone can point me to some pictures of non-counted-thread, contemporary, needlework samplers? Just doing a bit of research for a class and coming up with a complete blank…

Preferably online, but book references also welcome.

Can you help? Thanks!

Inspirations magazine articles and review

A new review for “The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion” has appeared on the Country Bumpkin website and in the latest edition of Inspirations magazine.

Here is an excerpt:

Every time a new embroidery book is published, a huge collective sigh of disappointment emerges from that most neglected group of embroiderers; the left-handers. This book should put a big smile on their faces as it has been written specifically for that 10% of the population.

You can read the rest of the review here.

Inspirations 66

If you have a copy of the latest issue of Inspirations, you’ll also find an interesting article on left-handedness, and one by me on Portuguese embroidery (with lots of lovely pictures!).

Proud mum moment! We are not a sporty family by any stretch of the imagination. Our talents lie elsewhere. I was therefore extremely surprised and pleased when my elder daughter came sixteenth in her age group in the cross country race at school yesterday! (And no, there weren’t 16 girls in the race, there were probably about 100.) A friend suggested it might be because she touched Kenenisa Bekele when we were in Ethiopia. My husband suggested that it could also be because we spent 3 months living at high altitude. That’s a more likely contributor to her success! Yay for my daughter!

Stitch dictionary available for pre-order

I have now uploaded all the relevant pages so that you can pre-order your copy of The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion: a step-by-step stitch dictionary.

At a glance: The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion: a step-by-step stitch dictionary by Yvette Stanton

160 pages
Paperback
195 x 275 mm / 7 5/8 x 10 7/8 in
170+ embroidery stitches shown step-by-step
counted thread stitches, needlepoint stitches and surface stitches
over 1000 full colour photos and diagrams
Published August 2010
ISBN 978-0-9757677-4-0

The book will ship from August 2010. By ordering your copy now, you can be assured that your copy will ship as soon as we receive our shipment from the printers.

You are also welcome to wait until your local needlework shop has stock, or you can ask them to order it for you from their distributor, so that you can purchase it locally as soon as stock is locally available.

Pre-order your copy of The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion today!

Preview of The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion

For those who can’t wait, I’ve now put up a turn-the page preview of ‘The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion’. I’m not embedding it here this time, as I feel it is too memory intensive, especially for those who aren’t actually interested.

But for those 90% of the population who are interested (I’m sure there’d be that many, if 10% of the population are left-handed… That’d be right, wouldn’t it?!) you can find it on Scribd.

Hopefully in the next day or so I’ll the get pre-publication ordering page up on my website. You’ll be the first to know! 😉