White Threads

Book review: "Twixt Art and Nature"

I recently bought a copy of “English Embroidery from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1580-1700: Twixt Art and Nature”

This is a gorgeous hefty book – 308 pages! It is actually an exhibition catalogue from the exhibition of the same name currently on at The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture in New York, until 12 April 2009.

Firstly there is a series of essays on aspects of English embroidery. Following that, there is the actual catalogue section, showing the articles on display in the exhibition.

The photos (all 280 of them, with the majority in colour) are magnificent – and that’s always what I’m after in any embroidery book. There are photos of complete objects, but also really good quality, lovely close-ups of details of the embroideries.

The styles of embroidery include goldwork, counted thread samplers, needlelace samplers, stumpwork, blackwork, Elizabethan embroidery. There are articles of clothing, such as jackets, hats and gloves. There is also a section of furnishings like boxes, cushions, chair covers and even embroidered picture frames (I used to work as a picture framer while at uni, but never came across anything like these!). There are sweetbags, wall panels, valances, and book covers.

Even if you never read a word, there is SO much to look at in this book. I highly recommend it. Copies can be purchased from Yale University Press.

And if you’re lucky enough to be in New York, there is actually a lecture entitled “The Needle’s Excellency: Tudor and Stuart Embroidery in British and American Collections” on in conjunction with this exhibition TONIGHT! Reservations are required, so you’ll have to get in quick! (For your sake, I hope that its not fully booked already!) More information can be found at the Bard Center website.

Now, if any of you lovely readers happen to go to this, I want to know about it! ‘Fess up and tell all!

Mountmellick fabric

Sad news today. I finally have sold the last of the deliciously lovely Zweigart Satin Royal fabric. There is no more left, and I cannot get anymore due to Zweigart having discontinued it in all their wisdom.

I have ordered a replacement fabric – which will be of similar quality, yet different – which I should have in stock within a month. I will keep you up to date.

I do still have the polycotton satin jean in stock, and available for purchase.

New Mountmellick cushion kits

I have the pleasure of announcing the release of two new Mountmellick embroidery kits: the Wildflower Cushion (below left) and the Dogrose and Blackberry Cushion (below right).

These cushions have been designed to be used as a pair, but will also make a splash on any lounge or bed as a single cushion. They’d make a gorgeous gift for someone special. They are rated intermediate to advanced and include a wide variety of stitches.

Each design comes as a kit including instructions, embroidery thread, polycotton satin jean fabric, knitting cotton and hand embroidery needles.

You can purchase the kits from the Vetty Creations website. Purchase your kit for either (or both!) the Mountmellick Wildflower Cushion or the Mountmellick Dogrose and Blackberry Cushion today!

Amazing feats of postal services

Here’s a little story you might enjoy.

On the 9th February I received an order for one of my books from a lovely lady in Denmark. As she was very anxious to receive the book, she followed up her order with an email asking the likely length of time it would take to get to her. She wondered if it might take about 2 weeks.

I checked the Australia Post website, and it said 5-6 working days from Australia to Denmark. Now, while this is quite possibly true, you can never tell how long things might be held up in customs, if at all. So I told my customer that while it could be 5-6 days, 2 weeks would be a good estimation, to account for any hold-ups in customs.

I posted it on the same day – 9th February.

Earlier this week I was wondering if it had arrived with my customer in Denmark yet. Later that day I received an email from her letting me know that it had in fact already arrived:

When I came home from work last Thursday i.e. on 12 February, I was truly surprised and very excited to see your wonderful book lying on my floor. Isn’t it amazing that you could send me a letter on 9 February and I received it already on 12 February!!!

It took 4 days to get from me here in Australia to her in Denmark. That is pretty incredible! Thanks Australia Post and Danish postal services!

Of course, I cannot guarantee that all orders will get to the other side of the world so quickly, but we can always hope!

Mountmellick embroidery class supplies

With the start of the new year, it seems that a lot of people are about to start learning Mountmellick embroidery. I have had many orders from people who are part of these groups. I can only encourage this as a pursuit!

If you are planning to learn Mountmellick embroidery as part of a group, or if you are a teacher who is planning to teach embroidery to a group, I am only too happy to help you with your Mountmellick embroidery supplies.

Let me know what you need, and I can supply thread, fabric, knitting cotton, embroidery needles and copies of our book “Mountmellick Embroidery: Inspired by Nature”. I can supply it in bulk for you, or for a fee (it does take time!) I am happy to prepare kits for your group.

Please let me know how I can help you. Happy stitching!

Gilt sylke twist

Look what I got earlier this week down at the Crewel Gobelin!

Back in January I asked Margaret, owner of the Crewel Gobelin, if she had heard of Gilt Sylke Twist, and she hadn’t. But always being one to try to please, Margaret said she’d try to get some for me.

Well, she did! She’s got (I think) the full range of colours. I bought Redde, Lincolne Green, and Blewe.

They ARE expensive, but as there is nothing else like them, and they are gorgeous, you really just have to accept that you have to pay for quality. And, with the dollar the way it is compared to the US dollar, I don’t think you could get them here yourself (by ordering online from the US) cheaper than that.

Thanks Margaret! Now I just have to find time to use them in a project. I do have a design forming in my mind…

bushfires and what’s really important

As I write today I am choked with emotion thinking of the hundred plus people who died during the weekend’s raging bushfires in Victoria, Australia. The horror of the tragedy is just immense. Everytime I think about it, I choke up with tears. My thoughts and prayers are with the many who have lost family, friends and everything they owned.

Each year during summer we make our home ready for the possibility of bushfires. While we live in a city, we are on the edge of suburbia, and only a street away is bushland. While a firefront probably wouldn’t make it to our house (though could under the very worst conditions) we are close enough that a bushfire could easily spot over and take our house.

I have thought many times about what I would take with me if we had to evacuate. My first priority would be my family, then my elderly next door neighbour. And basically that’s all, though I might grab my portable hard drive IF I had time. Yes, I have oodles of my needlework here, but I would leave it behind. These things are always replaceable, but people are not.

Sure, my needlework has taken many hours of labour, and I have certainly enjoyed it, but I want to live my life with open hands. Everything I have has been given to me by my heavenly Father, and I am only minding it while here on earth. I would grieve over the loss of my needlework, but I’m sure I’d be able to move on.

People are so much more important.

I’ll take this chance to add my thanks to the volunteer firefighters who give their blood, sweat and tears to help protect their communities. Without them, Saturday’s carnage would be far, far worse.

Mountmellick thread – close up

Finding the right thread to use for Mountmellick embroidery can be very difficult. You can’t use regular embroidery floss because it is shiny, and is made up of separate strands and doesn’t work right. You can’t use pearl cotton because its way too shiny for Mountmellick. You also can’t use coton a broder (broder cotton) or cotton floche because even though they don’t seem particularly shiny compared to other threads, they are still too shiny.

That’s why Vetty Creations sells the proper thread to use – so you don’t have to search high and low for it! The Mountmellick thread that we sell was specially developed in conjunction with a noted Irish teacher of Mountmellick embroidery, Maree Maher. It is manufactured specifically for Mountmellick embroidery, so you know its the right thread to use.

Mountmellick thread is very different to other types of embroidery thread.

For starters it is completely matt. It has no shine at all.
The threads are made of multiple strands, finely twisted together to create a smooth surface. The threads are never divided though – the strands are not meant to be separated.
it is always white, and only white.

This photo shows the three different thicknesses of Mountmellick thread, compared to a piece of cream No 5 pearl cotton. You can see:

that the thickest Mountmellick thread (just above the pearl cotton) is about the same thickness as the pearl cotton. Then the threads above it get progressively thinner.
that the pearl cotton has shine, whereas the Mountmellick thread does not.
that the surface of the Mountmellick thread is much smoother than the pearl cotton. While the pearl cotton has two clearly visible ply, the Mountmellick threads are made up of multiple thinner ply, which means when combined, they provide a much smoother surface.

The different Mountmellick thread thicknesses

No 2 Mountmellick thread – the thinnest

This thread is made of 4 ply. It is used for fine detail work. Because Mountmellick is not dainty embroidery – it is big and bold – this thread is too fine to use for the bulk of Mountmellick embroidery.

No 3 Mountmellick thread – the middle thickness

This thread is made of 6 ply, making it quite a bit thicker than No 2. No 3 thread is used for the bulk of Mountmellick embroidery. Many people find it a little different to stitch with, than what they are used to. This is because it is really quite a thick thread, and can take some getting used to.

No 4 Mountmellick thread – the thickest

This thread is made of 7 ply. It is used for padding and areas of very bold detail. For large scale projects such as bedspreads and coverlets, the entire design could be worked in No 4 thread because they are large projects and large scale stitching is therefore very appropriate.

Tips for working with Mountmellick thread

The thread has a habit of becoming untwisted a little as you stitch (simply because it is such a soft twist), so you may need to be vigilant about retwisting it, if need be.
If you need to undo any stitching (though I’m sure you’d never need to do that!) retain the thread, though it will be furry, as it can be used for padding. Its furriness won’t be seen beneath the covering stitching.

Keep in mind that Mountmellick thread can be used for any stitching where you would like a matt white thread. It can be used for other styles other than Mountmellick! You could use it on a whitework sampler where you wanted some contrast between shiny thread and matt thread. No 2 thread would work very well for any needlework where fine, soft white thread is needed, such as for broderie anglaise. It is such a lovely soft thread, and is well worth trying!

Purchase Mountmellick thread from Vetty Creations today and try it for yourself!

Tips for working lovely open eyelets

Following on from yesterday’s little chat about eyelets, following are some tips for working more open eyelets.

Part of the problem when creating eyelets is that some people bring their needle up in the centre of the eyelet and insert it into the fabric again at the edge. Then they bring the needle up again in the centre. If you do this with any sort of tension, you’ll be pulling the threads away from the sides and into the centre, thereby making it quite difficult to create a hole in the centre. In the picture below, the example on the left was worked this way, and you’ll see that the eyelet is quite gappy around the edges.

The better way to do it (example shown above right), and I would say the ‘correct’ way, is to bring the needle up at the edge, and insert it into the centre. Then bring the needle up in the next hole along the edge. At this point, I use a gentle-to-reasonably-strong tension to pull the fabric threads to the side – always pulling AWAY from the eyelet centre. It is THIS that creates a nice open eyelet. After each stitch, pull the thread gently to pull the fabric threads away from the centre.

You’ll get a much more open eyelet, which to me is much more asthetically pleasing, and also more historically correct.

And, for the record, Mary’s eyelets are very nice. I would probably make mine just a TAD more open, but then I AM fanatical about my eyelets…!

Just so you know, my eyelets shown above are worked on 25count linen, using No 8 pearl cotton. (I just know someone will ask if I don’t tell you!)

A whitework sampler and a word about eyelets

If you’re like me, you’ll enjoy reading Mary Corbet’s blog Needle N Thread.

One of Mary’s current projects is a whitework sampler. She plans to use many different types of whitework embroidery on it, including Merezhka Poltavska (she’s using one of the learning samplers from my book Ukrainian Drawn Thread Embroidery), Mountmellick (again she has a copy of our book Mountmellick Embroidery: Inspired by Nature though I have no idea if she plans to use a design from it) and even blackwork in white thread.

Mary posted a progress picture and report of her sampler the other day.

I love the top section with the eyelets. Its very eyecatching.

Eyelets are always interesting. I often find that people don’t open their eyelets enough (in my opinion). When doing Hardanger embroidery, some people work their eyelets so that there is only the smallest hole in the middle. Because I like the historical aspect of Hardanger, I’ve looked at photos of historical pieces and on them I find that their eyelets are very open.

If you think about it, it makes sense. Hardanger was probably originally an attempt to create a stitched version of the laces that were so popular in Europe in the 1600s. For something to be lacy, it needs to have lots of holes. Eyelets therefore were very open to make the holes.

Tomorrow I’ll give you some tips for creating very open eyelets.