07/09/2014
bound, wrapped, tied....
Don't worry, I haven't gone over to the dark side and developed an interest in bondage...well not in that sense anyway. This is all about wrapping, binding, swaddling in order to protect and keep safe. It has evolved over in Simply Stitch 4, part of a theme, swaddling bands. To be honest it looks like a shroud to me. Having said that I don't see that as a negative, I find it quite fascinating because if you think about it we swaddle newborn infants, we wrap them in cloth and then when it's time for someone to leave us we wrap them in cloth too.......a circle of being wrapped in cloth.
This particular sample is created from pleated muslin which has been bound with torn cloth strips and then embroidered. To add a little delicacy I have partially edged one side with little dangly things. I made the buttons for the edge too but I'm dithering over those, undecided. There's no rush, it's not finished, I will take my time.
If you have registered for Lace, paper, cloth and stitch you should have received your first installment this morning. If you haven't received that then please let me know as soon as possible.
07/08/2014
adding to my doodly thing
I played a little with my stitchery doodle thing last night. I was a bit weary for some reason and wanted something simple, something relaxing, something soft and gentle. There was a little moment of anxiety, one area tore as the cloth is so fragile, it's vintage, it's older than me. I patched that area, (bottom image, left, running stitch and bullion loops). It actually adds to the piece so wasn't quite the disaster I first feared.
Aside from that emergency repair I have added partial seams of bullion loops, tiny seams of tiny cross stitches and some running stitches to highlight pattern within the cloth. Really, seriously, I have more pressing embroidery to attend to but you know what it's like...you do, I know you do. Sometimes simple is all you need.....
if you are registered for Lace, paper, cloth and stitch you should have received mail from me this morning. If you haven't received that please check your spam/junk folder and if there is no sign of it let me know as soon as possible.
07/07/2014
finished
Since I came back last week I have been finishing this pouch as well as working on my stitchery doodles. It has been backed, lined and edged with buttonhole lace. I think it's quite lovely....I also think?? it's spoken for??? We shall see about that one. If it isn't then it will go in the shop at some point.
Yesterday I went to London, a quick visit and an even quicker turn around. We moved our son down there to start a new life. I am now childless, it's quite liberating really. In total I have driven 1000 miles over the past two weeks.....it may be some time before I leave the house again.
This morning has been about catching up with class, videos for Alchemy and preparation for Lace, paper, cloth and stitch which starts on Wednesday.....later today it will be about cleaning and laundry, domestic goddess mode. It won't last long though, I give it 5 minutes!
OOps, I do apologise. This isn't spoken for after all so it's now listed in the shop.
07/04/2014
stitchery doodles....
I know, I know, I said Monday. Just goes to show you can't believe a word I say. This is definitely it until Monday though. I am moving my son to London this weekend. Sadly there will be no visits to Liberty or other exciting places either...insert sad face :(
I have been trying to get my brain in class mode whilst being desperate to stitch. In order to get the juices flowing I have been doodling with my needle on something which is purely frivolous, putting scraps of vintage white together alongside the tiniest scrap of colour. I have no idea what I will do with this but neither do I care. You probably know already that just ''having'' these pieces is enough for me.
07/02/2014
shhhhh
shhhhh.....don't tell anyone you saw me. I'm technically still on holiday. Trouble is I can't keep away. Normal service will be resumed on Monday but I wanted to say hi!! I also wanted to let you know what is on my mind and it isn't holidays....first off there's Lace paper cloth and stitch which has now been re listed in the shop. Then there's Alchemy and SS4....I daren't look at what they've been up to. Actually, I have homework for both those groups, sit up straight and pay attention....
pretty please can you mail me and remind me what I said we were doing when I came back...I know...useless teacher...couldn't teach water to freeze...incompetent....I do have a vague recollection, vague being the essential word......help....
In my defence I've been partying here for almost a week. You can see pictures of that here. I survived mud, I survived floods, I even survived an inflatable mattress popping at 4 am!! I was the only teetotal person amongst 150,00 drinkers.....that's a lot of people to take care of.
Having said all that......I LOVED it. I'm going back. I want to go back now. Acquiring tickets is a lottery. I was lucky this time....I'm scared I won't get them again. Think good thoughts. Send positive vibes. Bribe someone.......October is sale day......I'm limbering up as we speak.
06/23/2014
finishing and fiddling
The past couple of days have been spent finishing ledger pages with Simply Stitch 4 and fiddling with the lace I showed you yesterday. I don't take embroidery with me when I go away anywhere. For some reason I can never stitch unless I'm at home, in my familiar place, all my things around me. I would most likely forget something essential anyway....just ask anyone who has ever taken one of my classes....airhead central that's me. So I will miss this. I am sure there will be moments when I wish I had something to stitch. Perhaps I could put a note on my tent ''get your buttons stitched back on here'', now there's a thought.
My to do list today includes a very important task.....drop my long suffering sewing machine off for a service and some respite care along with buy more toilet rolls and a shed load of wet wipes.
So this is it for a couple of weeks. I will definitely be around on Instagram and Facebook....did I mention my smart phone addiction?
Despite the complaining and the angst about living in a tent I am very, very excited. I have always wanted to go to Glastonbury. It's going to be amazing.
06/22/2014
lace play....
It's been a busy morning, lots of pictures taken, videos made, samples finished for ''4'', critiques finished for Alchemy, lots of effort on my part to mentally prepare for this and living in a tent for 5 days. (if you watch it on TV I will be the one crying because I have to live in a tent). On the plus side....lace, silk, metallic silk tissue, embroidery and a new bathroom will all be waiting for me when I get home.
I finished some sampling for ''4'' last night and had a little thumb twiddle for 30 seconds before deciding to continue titivating this piece. It's an old one, it's been hanging around untouched but not unloved. I finished a few more tiny areas, neatened a few straggly bits. The areas which received most attention are the ones in the hoop images. There's more to do on this which will keep me going until I leave on Tuesday.
The shop will close tomorrow until I get back. You have around 36 hours to register for Lace, paper, cloth and stitch. Some of what's happening above may make an appearance in that class...we shall see.
(Alchemy girls....you will have your videos VERY soon)
06/21/2014
white lace and bullion knots....
This is all I have for you today....a tiny sample of white lace with a bullion knot edge and a French knot seam. Tiny means fiddly which equals time consuming but tiny also means it can be kept safe easier than something big whilst I have dirty workmen in the house traipsing back and forth.
They've gone now though...sigh...relief...smiley face...things are slowly getting back to normal and I now have a bathroom fit for a King or even a Queen. There are a couple of pictures on my Instagram if you are interested and there will likely be more added over the coming days.
Today? I have videos to make and I want to stitch.....that's the next 10 hours sorted.
06/20/2014
paper and silk
I've done a little bit more work on my sample for lace, paper cloth and stitch. I've also made a little bit of paper. I say made....it was the most basic form of paper making but stand by girls in ''4'' because you'll be doing this tomorrow, you might need a zip too.
Bathroom? Ongoing....still. I do have a new working loo and most other things are finished, he's up there now doing the final finishing touches...he's titivating, plumbers titivations....who knew they did that too?
06/19/2014
almost finished....
The surface embroidery on this pouch is now finished, it's damp stretched and titivations in the form of buttons and puffs are ready. It won't actually be put together though until I get back from my holidays.....it's a task too far.
I still have videos to make and a house to clean before I leave next Tuesday....standing in my way is a plumber. A very good plumber I have to say who seems to be making amazing progress today but nevertheless he makes a little too much noise for my liking and I've lost count of the cups of tea I have made.
This morning, in order to source a loo, I went on a zip hunt. It was a failure, not a decent zip to be had this side of anywhere. Mail order it is then. Meantime I did a little collage, with my legs crossed and I have plans for bullion knots later.
06/18/2014
gathering....
I'm trapped, I can't do anything of substance. I can't make videos or get my sewing machine out. I can't clean the house. I can't really leave the house. So I have just been gathering bits together and looking. The only new piece here is the zip piece, created in Alchemy earlier this week. The other pieces aren't new but they do inform in new ways when laid out like this. Three very different online classes yet put them all together and they fit, like pieces of the puzzle that is my brain.
If I print these images and look some more every so often then a new body of work would form. So rather than this being a futile exercise it has been an informative exercise.
For the rest of the day I will work some more on this....hand embroidery....I can't do anything else.
06/17/2014
it's not the same as yesterday
I'm late, I'm sorry. I had to escape for an hour. The mess here would test the patience of a saint and I'm no saint. Anyhow.....two hoops, two pieces each with something added since you last saw them. Honestly, they have. The piece from yesterday has new additions, three of them, along the line of running stitch. I didn't plan to add running stitch but I had to. If I told you why it would mean I had to confess to a certain level of incompetence so I'm keeping quiet. If you do the class it's for I may mention it but then again I may not.
The pouch with the Liberty cloth has a new area of applique, chain stitch and some bullion knots. Neither of these pieces is damp stretched.....yikes. Having them in a hoop does add a certain amount of tension though so I guess they are acceptable.
06/16/2014
happier....
Focus Karen, focus. That's what I said yesterday and I did it. I ignored the madness, I ploughed on and before I knew it I had achieved loads. it was invigorating, I can recommend it. First of all I did wonderful things with that zip. You will get to see it on Wednesday when school is over on Tuesday....I cut board, I mounted work and then there's this. Puffs were made, just three of those but then this embroidery. This tiny piece of embroidery which took me four hours. I think I'm in love. It's the beginnings of another sample for the new class. It needs a lot more work, a lot more hand embroidery and I'm itching to get on with it.
06/15/2014
two
Two piles of stuff from this mornings gathering. I have a plan for each of them, a different plan. I gave myself a good talking to, pull your socks up Karen, ignore the chaos. I am ignoring it mostly but the fact that it lingers in my head, even in the smallest way is blocking me a little creatively.
But...I can't stop. I'm not one to twiddle my thumbs. So the plan....work with these today, make progress for Alchemy and ''4'' before I disappear for a couple of weeks.
twiddle your thumbs
06/14/2014
fiddling....
I wasn't in the mood last night, couldn't seem to get my head together to do anything much that was embroidery related. It's most likely because I feel dirty, unwashed and consequently the house feels dirty and unwashed and not the best environment in which to embroider so I just fiddled with this little piece. A few chain stitches, a bit of edging with buttonhole lace, not much at all.
To be honest things are much improved on the bathroom front. The walls are boarded as is the floor which has removed the dust aspect. Today I'm travelling to have a shower, later. When I get back I will have my ''clean'' head on and will stitch. I will. I promise.
06/13/2014
a single button
This piece has been added to. There is a single button, can you spot it? It's only visible in two of the pictures and I'm sorry but there's no prize for finding it. There is more piping, a double row with bullion knots wrapping it, several bumpy bits and some applique with little beaky bits. Oh yes...there are more prairie points too, can't forget the prairie points.
So that's it.....the madness of renovation continues around me as I stitch, eyes closed to the dirt and disruption. Up to now I have survived without the need for a bucket. I am told that Tuesday is the day I will need a bucket. I can't wait. Meanwhile it's off to mothers again tomorrow evening for a shower (150 mile round trip but I would hate to be smelly when you come visit)
Just another reminder of the new class....here...
06/12/2014
sampling a swaddling band...
Swaddling is an age-old practice of wrapping infants in blankets or similar cloth so that movement of the limbs is tightly restricted.Swaddling bands were often used to further restrict the infant. Swaddling fell out of favor in the seventeenth century.
This piece is taking shape over in Simply stitch 4, sampling, creating cloth from scraps of lace, using historical reference to inform my process, keeping past research at the front of my mind before making any decision regarding my swaddling band. I first investigated the practice of swaddling years ago, at Uni. I haven't forgotten any of it, it was actually quite barbaric. It doesn't compare in any way to the gentle wrapping of infants which is practiced now although the origins of current methods are firmly embedded in past practice.
Sampling and ledger work is ongoing, the actual band is taking shape, (5th image). I am creating the foundation cloth myself from scraps of lace and silk. I am adding text and stitch. It's growing.....
We will be creating similar cloth to this in my new class, Lace, paper, cloth and stitch....similar cloth to this and more....
06/11/2014
life from my phone
Last week from my phone. I do take pictures of other things with my phone, relatives, cakes, flowers and such, non embroidery related. I have actually been taking pictures of the wreck that is my bathroom, the dirt, the piles of rubble but you don't come here for that and trust me you are better not knowing.
Anyway, because I have no bathroom to speak of I have escaped to mothers.....just for the day but let me tell you....a full day with unhindered lavatory access is a day to be treasured.
06/10/2014
composition
A little glimpse for you of where I am with Alchemy stuff. Design sheets, thread wrapped card, fabric swatches, stitched papers.....and let me tell you, I am way behind everyone else. I ordered a ledger for these yesterday, just a plain scribble pad actually. It will be used as a mount, somewhere safe to keep these sheets in order that they don't crease, creasing and paper is not a good combination.
06/09/2014
Adding embellishment
Really good progress was made with this piece last night. I added piping, points, and bumpy bits. I like how this is evolving, a little blue thread for French knots and plain cloth for the bumpy bits as a contrast to the pattern in the Broderie Anglaise and the Liberty cloth.
Today, while I'm ''on a roll'' I will add more, pin some more points on perhaps, maybe some more piping....
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