Gettin' Stitchy

You've got your design transferred on the fabric, it's all hooped up and ready to go, but wait, you need some stitches! There are some amazing links with stitch libraries on the web. Some include video while others have excellent drawings and photographs. It seemed silly for me to do a bunch of my own so I thought I'd share a little bit of what is out there.  

When I do embroidery I mostly use a few simple stitches, seed stitch, stem stitch, french knots and satin stitch.  If you master these you are armed to start making art.  While many of these stitches are used as outlines or decorations I like to use them as filling stitches to create images of thread.  More about that later though...I want you to get the hang of the basic ones and then we'll get on to the really creative part. There are so many stitches to learn on the sites I've posted that it is easy to get overwhelmed. To keep it simple, you can start with the ones I've listed above (they are all linked) but do check out these links. They are so inspirational!

Mary Corbet's Needle 'N Thread Videos

     Mary's site is jam packed with information and inspiration

Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutorials

     Beautifully photographed and explained

Sublime Stitching Tutorials  

    Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching put together some great tutorials. Check out her wacky embroidery patterns while you're there.

Sharon Boggon's Pintangle Stitch Dictionary
       An extensive list of beautiful stitches

Back to Basics

Tree Woman, embroidered detail by Susan Leschke

March 29, 2008 is the birthdate of this blog and I'm shocked that over seven years have passed! I've posted about trips, projects, recipes, various moves and life events. I've participated in blog hops, gotten to know many interesting people and it's been fun.

It's time to make a few changes that I think will create a better blog. As many of you know my passion is textile arts and so that is what I've decided to focus on.

It is difficult to create anything without some fundamentals and I've been thinking about embroidery lately so let's start with that. A beginner to a novice will find some great advice at these links - I've been embroidering for about four decades and I'm going to test out some new transfer ideas.  Enjoy the little tour and brush up on a few basics.

EMBROIDERY HOOPS
Needlework Tips and Techniques
Mary Corbet's Needle and Thread

NEEDLES
Needlework Tips and Techniques
Mary Corbet's Needle and Thread

CHOOSING FABRIC
Craftsy

TRANSFERRING EMBROIDERY DESIGNS TO FABRIC
Urban Threads
Wild Olive
Sublime Stitching

Great Finds!

The Minnesota Textile Center is a favorite place for enthusiasts of all things fiber.  They have several galleries, an amazing library, a shop, a dye lab that can be rented by members, classroom and lecture space. In addition, the Minnesota Handweavers have a large space filled with rooms and weaving equipment. When I hit Minneapolis and St Paul it is always a stop and a place I like to support.  Every spring they have the Textile Garage Sale which is a great place to pick up used equipment, fabric, yarn, thread, patterns and books. There is also a silent auction for larger pieces of equipment (looms, knitting machines, sewing machines, etc)  This year I am happy to say I won the bid for a serger.  I'm still learning how to use and it's been more fun than frustrating.

Vintage textiles were also in my shopping basket.  There is a great pin on Pinterest for some brooches of old embroideries so I will give that a go.  The needlepoint was to be remade into a new pillow but it needs a lot of TLC.  After removing the old rotted backing I gently washed it and blocked it.  The more I worked with it the more problems I was finding.  It was made with two colors of yarn, one wool, one acrylic, there are lots of missing stitches and it is wonky.  The pillow idea has gone by the wayside and smaller pillows or pincushions are more likely.  If you have any ideas for what this might become I welcome them!

Please forgive the upside down orientation of this image...computer glitch that I cant seem to fix.

Adventure!

Yarn for Aranami Shawl

For the third year in a row my sister-in-law and I have gone to the Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop and the Textile Center's Garage Sale.  It is our fiber filled rite of spring.  The Yarn Shop Hop features 17 yarn shops in and around Minneapolis and St Paul. Not only is it a great way for friends to get together and explore the yarn shops, it is also a fundraiser for local food banks.  This year $37,500 dollars were raised - yahoo!  

Future Socks and Scarf

Each shop provides a free pattern (of which many can be found in their Ravelry stores) and special yarns to go with the pattern.  This year I found some beautiful yarn for a shawl called Aranami (find the pattern here), some socks and the scarf below.  The scarf was super-simple, easy-peasy and the pattern is free.  I used Schoppel Ambiente a self striping yarn - a bit heavier than sock yarn but any yarn will do.  The trick is to use the size needle the yarn calls for and not what the pattern suggests.  Here is a link to the pattern.  If you try out the scarf I'd love to see a photo! Next time - the highlights of the Textile Center's Garage Sale!

Not a Celebrity Scarf

Sew Mama Sew Softie Contest

Unfortunately I did not escape this winter's round of horrible viruses. My activities for the last week and a half have mostly been blowing my nose, sucking on cough drops and napping. I'm happy to report I'm nearing the end of all of that but alas, not much to report on. While I was sick, I was still checking my e-mail on my tablet and I kept seeing great posts from Sew Mama Sew (one of my favorite places). They are sponsoring a softie contest with some amazing prizes. In addition to the contest you will find posts by designers, some free patterns and tutorials, and lots of fun. Go here to check out what they have going on. While you are there notice their background full of pins and needles.  It's darling!

Circles in the Squares

Circles in the Squares

Circles in the Squares is now complete!  The last time you saw this the circles had been stitched down and shortly after that I added some detail hand embroidery work which gives some movement to the piece.  

Embroidery detail

This is the first time I had tried doing the quilting on the small blocks before putting it all together.  I am quite pleased with it, especially the part about not having to manhandle a large, heavy pile of fabric through the sewing machine.  It is a bold statement piece but it is only 25 inches square so it would fit perfectly on a small wall, perhaps an entryway. Now I get to decide what my next piece will be....

Circles in the Squares detail

Reubens Tapestry Series

Detail Triumph of the Eucharist Series

While in art school I wrote a paper on the influence of Italian Renaissance painters, particularly Raphael and Peter Paul Reubens, on Flemish tapestry weavers.  In a nutshell, the painters guild lobbied to have all tapestry cartoons designed by painters.  The style of tapestries went from colorful lively hangings with jumbles of figures and small floral bands to powerful figures and designs that could be woven and interchanged.  This change  lessened the power of the weavers and changed tapestry weaving forever.  I had only seen images of these weavings in books but while we were in Florida a visit to the Ringling Museum of Art gave me a great surprise.

Detail Triumph of the Eucharist Series

Upon entering was a 14 foot tall tapestry designed by Reubens from the Triumph of the Eucharist Series which had been commissioned by the Infanta Isabella Claire Eugenia of Spain.  While not one of the original twenty tapestries (which hang in the Convent of Descales Reales in Madrid) this tapestry was made from the original Reubens cartoon   To see the delicate threads and perfect color changes up close and personal was a highlight of my trip.  In addition to the tapestry the cartoons of four of the tapestries from the series were also on display.  If you would like to read a bit more about the history of these works in the museum go here.

Tapestry from Triumph of the Eucharist Series

If you find yourself in Sarasota, Florida you will not be disappointed by the Ringling Art Museum.

Detail