For centuries women have used cloth as a tool of comfort and as an expression of beauty within their homes. Creating cloth for warmth, cloth for shelter, our female predecessors embellished these linens with hand stitch using laborious and time consuming techniques thereby enhancing the functional beauty of objects which enveloped and protected their families. Inspired by these women I hope my creations pay tribute to and recognise the devotion expressed in cloth by our female ancestors .







''the use of traditional often time consuming process alludes to the devotion of a mother''. c K. A. Ruane 2007







Wednesday, January 26, 2011

white silk and embroidered paper...

Embroidered white paper for my wedding comission.....at the moment loosely tacked to the white silk with text.
So far the embellishment is minimal, a few random stitches and some cutwork hearts with lace inserts. Tacking is still visible as there is a lot more embroidery required. I did however damp stretch the piece last night prior to showing it today. It will be damp stretched again numerous times before it is finished. As far as I know damp stretching only ever enhances the cloth, that's my experience anyway.
I really must mention too how shocked I am at the reaction to yesterdays pieces...so many of you love them, that's amazing and thankyou.
The unmentionable is now mentionable...phew!! For the past two weeks I have been trying to put together a little publication of my work. I shifted between ideas, more text than images?? Lots of instruction and diagrams?? Very hastily printed but poor quality?? In the end I settled on lots of images, very good quality images that do the embroidery and fabric manipulation justice, few words yet words in the form of little prompts and ideas to get you going....It has been much more complicated than I ever imagined, has used way more ink than I thought it would but finally I think I am ready to go. The printer has been working overtime since monday and all that is left is for me to get it all together and stitch a few spines. In the morning I hope to have them finished, wish me luck...

12 comments:

deanna7trees said...

all is beautiful and luck is always sent your way.

Suztats said...

Oh, yes! Great stuff, and wishes for the Best of Luck!

Jane said...

Oh, well done you, hope it's all successful.

Love the first two pictures, they look so delicate

Elizabeth said...

So gorgeous, I didn't know that it was possible to dampstretch paper.

fabriquefantastique said...

fabulous start...
oh...I gave you a link yesterday...hope thats OK

Heartwideopen said...

sigh.... lovely, lovely... dreaming of lacy cloth and beautiful stitched hearts...

;-) Debi

Anonymous said...

Good luck indeed with the publication. Always more time-consuming than you expect, I'm afraid!

Helena said...

It's perfect for a marriage!

Carol said...

Oh this is just beautiful, so delicate so stunning - this is going to be someones most treasured memory. Can't say how much I love it

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Don't forget that I want a copy of your book and you'll have to let us know how to get one!! Can't wait to see it. Now you're embroidering on paper? ooooooh - scary, but oh so beautiful.

sylviesgarden said...

So lovely and delicate, it's beautiful.
I'm biting the bullet and teaching myself cross stitch, I've decided that this year I will learn to sew somehow.
x

Beacee said...

I looked at this a couple of days ago and thought the embroidered paper was wonderful.Since then I've not been able to get it out of my head - questions, questions, questions - what sort of paper/thread - how to actually do the stitching - whether the paper stays or is removed to give a stitched lace. I'm not asking for answers, just thank you for the stimulation.