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







Monday, March 23, 2026

Another page.

 



Another page completed in for this ever growing collection.

Next step here is an overlay.

The embroidered cloth piece relating to this work is also progressing along with a small embroidered fabric book. 

The ideas keep coming..... 

Sunday, March 22, 2026

Embroidered samples....how to preserve them, keep them safe.

 



I have so many embroidered samples, I'm constantly questioning the best way to preserve them, to keep them safe, unscathed.

Large paper sheets are one option as are very large sketchbooks.

I'm still not sure which is the best way if I'm honest.

This is discussed in the video today.

What do you think?


 

Friday, March 20, 2026

Pattern and stitch

 



Thi spiece popped up in my Facebook memories today and I'm so pleased it did.

It has provided more inspiration for my current design work especially the gimp and the buttons but also the composition, the placement of paper alongside embroidery.

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

The before....embroidery on hand painted fabric

 

You last saw this piece in a short video where I was embellishing seams with bullion knots.

Today there is a short video showing the contrast between the hand painted fabric when it hasn't been embroidered and how it transforms after hand embroidery is added.

I now have a huge pile of holiday laundry to tackle.

You will find me next to the ironing board. 


 

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Holiday sewing plans

 

I'm going here tomorrow for 10 days.

This little sewing kit should keep me going for a few evenings whilst I am relaxing on the balcony.

Hexagons of Liberty fabric and paper templates for Grandmothers flower garden motifs, all gathered and placed in a hand made pocket. 

Meanwhile, if you get bored, there are lots of videos on this link. 

And also on my YouTube channel. 

Monday, March 2, 2026

Grids and Guides stitching

 








It's a hardback notebook today, one of these (and no, I'm not on commission).

I can recommend stitching into one of these books.

There are pages of dots, graph paper and other linear patterns which make spacing so easy. 

The paper is very receptive to needle and thread too.

I haven't actually worked into this one for a while and I'm tempted but I must finish some other things first. 


Sunday, March 1, 2026

Stitched notebooks.

 


You have been seeing a lot of stitching in notebooks recently.

Well....I have lots of those, embroidered/stitched notebooks. 

Today it's a different one, an old one.

(you may have seen it at the 'other place')

There are lots of these little stitched/design/exploration pieces dotted around my house.

I'm tempted to keep sharing them with you. 

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Bullion knots for a seam. A short video.

 


I love embellishing a seam!

Creating a wrapping cloth means lots of seams.

Today, bullion knots.

A short video. 


 

Thursday, February 26, 2026

My current embroidery hoop and another type of overlay.

 



My current project is all consuming. 

I am not working on anything else. 

A reminder, there's a wrapping cloth and a design notebook. 

More painted cloth is being embellished for the wrapping cloth and 'different' overlays are being created for the design notebook.

There are plans for more hand made embellshments for the notebook to accompany my little mushroom tags. 

Can you tell I am enjoying this? 

Monday, February 23, 2026

Hand painted fabric and patchwork.

 




My fabric painted pieces are now evolving into a wrapping cloth.

(girls in class, I made you a short video explaining this) 

Sections of white cloth will be added to fabric painted pieces after they have been embroidered and patchwork added to the white space.

Seams will be embellished with running stitch, French knots and bullion knots.

It's growing quite quickly but next up I need to embroider another painted piece.