September 3, 2010 | Posted in: Crewel, Projects
Am I alone in disliking samplers? I don’t dislike the idea of a sampler – in the end a lot of what I stitch is just because I’d like to try some new techniques out. But most of the samplers out there… well historical stitching has never been my thing. I’m really glad there are people who love examining, preserving and recreating historical embroideries, but it’s not what flips my switch.
And just doing the alphabet again? I can already count to nine thanks.
But the concept of a sampler – using it as a way of gathering and practising techniques – [...]
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August 20, 2010 | Posted in: Featured, Projects, Stumpwork
How’s that for alliteration?
This spider was a fun little thing I did while playing around with knots. As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve been on a big knot thing recently – so large that I’m wondering if macrame is going to be appearing in my near future.
In this case I mainly wanted another excuse to do some Ghiordes Knots (because god knows it’s not like I haven’t already been putting them in everything I’ve stitched for the last year or so) and I had a vague curiousity about what would happen if I used two differently coloured threads in a Bullion [...]
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August 16, 2010 | Posted in: Crewel, Projects
So who’s had experience with wool before? I must admit I’ve avoided it for years, I think mainly because it reminded me of those orange and brown 1970s tapestries which were somewhat dominant in my childhood.
Sure they’re retro cool now, but that didn’t stop my aversion. I’ve never been known as a trend-setter after all.
So the last time I made it to a well-stocked embroidery shop (xxx in sydney – and why I have to travel halfway around the world to find decent supplies is a topic for another time) I grabbed a few dozen wools, including the Appletons I’m [...]
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August 13, 2010 | Posted in: Crewel, Projects
Have you ever tried crewel? I’ve done little bits and pieces over the years, worked some crewel stitches into other pieces – mainly just in normal stranded floss. In fact, those Pekin knots I complained about previously was me dabbling a little.
However it just wasn’t working in floss and so that particular WIP went back into the drawer. Now, though, I’ve finally dared to broach the whole wool theme and I’ve grabbed that design again and restarted.
So this is where it was: I was working on floss on a thick red fabric and those knots, not to put too fine a [...]
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February 2, 2010 | Posted in: Miscellaneous, Projects
I’ve been hammering away slowly at the string Or Nué project I started last year. I’d run into a bit of a problem in that I started the whole thing with a ball of string we happened to have in our kitchen drawer… and after about ten hours of stitching was done it seemed pretty clear that thi s wasn’t going to last for the full portrait. So then I spent months hunting around Berlin for string that wasn’t horrible, plastic-coated stuff so that I could continue.
I found a few likely candidates a few weeks ago and started of again. [...]
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November 6, 2009 | Posted in: Featured, Projects
A while back I tweeted that I was accepted into the City of Craft festival in Toronto in December, so I figured I’d give you a quick shot of the work-in-progress. I had a very definate idea in mind for this, wanting to emulate stencil graffiti in stitch and so I figured I could probably use blackwork for that. What do you think, has it worked out? There’s still a few more pieces to stitch to complete it, but they’re simpler than this so – come hell or high water – I will get this finished this weekend!
Overall pic. [...]
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September 8, 2009 | Posted in: Miscellaneous, Projects
Ahh goldwork. So pretty, so shiny. I mentioned Tracy Franklin’s book yesterday, or just go and check out her website. Tanja Berlin does more flower-type designs and has a lot of kits which are definately pretty, shiny and a great way to get into the technique without having to try and source all the specialty threads (and instructions!) yourself.
I’ve been collecting goldwork threads and books in a very magpie-like fashion for a couple of years and have been slowly incorporating them into my pieces (the threads and techniques I mean, not the books). But there’s one technique I hadn’t yet [...]
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July 15, 2009 | Posted in: Featured, Miscellaneous, Projects
Y’know sometimes, when you just get so damn excited about something working out, that you go ahead and try and expand on it and totally screw it up?
Yep, well that happened to me with temari.
I tried my first temari and it worked out better than I expected (after the first few failed attempts). So then I decided to branch out a little. To get a bit experimental. To just wing it.
my first temari - from detailed instructions
That, I ‘ve discovered, is not a good idea. Especially not with three-dimensional geometries which make even me pause to think about it- [...]
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