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, November 30, 2011

pocket progress.....







I have added quite a bit of hand stitch to my pocket over the past couple of days, web stitch and French knots to be precise. There is a row of French knots along one edge which travels all the way down to the lower edge of the piece, other areas are scattered with knots and webs. There is still a large amount of space to embellish and I am thinking along the lines of a sampler for those areas. A mixture of cross stitch and embroidery perhaps, I'm not quite sure yet. Also, this Egyptian cotton looks beautiful when it has been damp stretched but don't let that fool you....as soon as you look at it creases appear from nowhere. Because of that I am giving a lot of thought to the backing and construction process. It is unlikely that I will sew up three sides from the reverse and then turn it right way out. If I did that it would probably resemble an old rag when it was finished....so the cogs are turning on that one. I do have a good idea of how to get around that, we shall see.
I am having some problems on the computer front lately too, I am going to ring a nice man today and see if he will come and have a look. At least I hope he turns out to be a nice man....who doesn't charge the earth!! 
In the sidebar, top left, I have put a link to the sketchbook video. I got so many hits on that but not a lot of comments....strange...I am happy with the hits though and am assuming there are hardly any comments because people thought it was rubbish!! and were far too polite to say.....
Before I go and phone this very nice man I would like to mention the girls from Karen's Embroidery School....please, please, please go take a look HERE at what they are making. They are so very talented......


PS. I really must say that my comment about comments WASN'T a complaint....I was thinking out loud is all.....



13 comments:

Joanna said...

Eee Karen what are you like. A lot of hits are a lot of hits and the telling will be the next time you make a video, will there be the same or more hits. I don't have time to comment every time at the moment and it is simpler on facebook, at least you can hit 'like' just to say, okay read it and it was fine/great/stupendous etc.

Jane said...

Wow! I love the shape of the lace section.

Gina said...

Maybe there's no time to make a thoughtful comment. Maybe one just wants to mull over what you're doing. I don't understand a lot yet, but I do admire the eyecandy.

Monica said...

I read your site whenever you post and like others do not always have the time to comment. your work is always awesome.

Suztats said...

Loving the pocket, Karen!

Ingrid said...

thats strange because i did comment but its not there,maybe there was a problem with commenting?
i wrote I really enjoyed the video,thank you:-)
lovely pics today and a talented bunch of students,the buttons are beautiful!

silk said...

Karen, I love your sketchbook videos. Twyla Tharp has written a book entitled "The Creative Habit." Although she is a dancer/choreographer, her book speaks to anyone involved in creating something. One of her chapters (Before You Can Think out of the Box, You Have to Start with a Box) describes the box into which she accumulates all her research as she is beginning a new dance project. Her box is her version of your sketchbooks--archives of her creative process and her grounding in history which leads to experimentation. I hope you will keep those videos coming.

deanna7trees said...

it's coming along beautifully. and i'm enjoying seeing what your new students are doing. some beautiful buttons appearing.

Carol Q said...

beautiful karen, love that central coloured panel. so subtle but really adds to the whole effect.

barbara l. hale said...

I love that print fabric. So soft and beautiful! I hope you get your computer problems sorted out. I have a son who is good at such things. I hold my breath between his visits home hoping nothing will happen to this machine, but I have been known to call him in panic mode.

Anonymous said...

I shall be fascinated to see how you deal with the obstreperous crinklesome cotton, as I know how hard it can be!

Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers said...

I've been reviewing your posts since my last visit, and am absolutely certain that Nurse Garstang would be completely delighted with the use to which you are putting her old nightgown.
I'm very surprised to hear your hometown was heavily bombed during WW2. Not that I know that area well, but I didn't realise there was anything 'strategic' in that area.
Have a good weekend, Karen, and thanks for your very encouraging comments re my abstract cross stitch.
x

Magpie's Mumblings said...

How I wish I had kept some of my grandmothers fabrics now - hindsight is always 20/20 and unfortunately most of the time I'm blind. The buttons being designed are gorgeous!