Embroidery for Beginners

Have you missed me?  No?  Okay then, I'll just crawl back into a corner and lick my wounded ego.  I think I have been suffering from Bloggers Block.  Yes it is a medical condition but it has absolutely nothing to do with bowels.  I just couldn't get around to taking up my virtual pen and writing again.  

Of course life sometimes conspires against me (and my blogging).  I spent a month on a fantastic holiday in the US (I just can't wait to go again!).  As you can see, I did a little bit of shopping whilst there, just to get my creative juices going again.

I know it looks like a lot of shopping, but in the big scheme of things, this really was just a drop in the ocean of what I bought.  Anyway, doesn't everyone undertake international travel with a crafting lamp, a wax melting pot, three plastic popcorn tubs and fabric dye?

Once back home, I spent a week trying to reorientate myself to the craziness of Bangkok again.

Boy did this lady spell out crazy!  I bet Ginger Spice NEVER looked as sexy in her Union Jack dress!  I think the young girl next to her is trying to hold the laughter in, as Crazy Spice gives her a few fashion tips.

A week after getting home, Alan had scheduled surgery on his shoulder.  The poor thing found himself with a few more scars to add to the other one he acquired earlier this year.  I don't want to be mean, but I have less stitches on some of my quilts, than has been in Alan's body this year!

The surgery was a bit more severe than had been expected, but he came through it well.  They very kindly asked me to stitch him up.  A quilting stitch here, an embroidery one there and voila!

Next came an embroidery course, three days with a lovely French woman, who had worked in the world of haute couture in Paris.  Embroidery has never been a particular love of mine, but never one to pass up a chance to learn a new skill, I went eager as the proverbial beaver.

The first project involved learning some different embroidery stitches and how they are constructed.  Silly me thought we would work a sort of sampler of stitches, but instead she had the idea of a Russian doll, worked on cotton.  Well this really is not my sort of thing at all, but...  Personally I would just have preferred rows of designs as I think this looks really stupid, but some of the students were really good at turning what in my case looked like a bit of rag, into quite a mini masterpiece.  I didn't bother finishing mine, as I knew it was destined for a box like object that resides under my desk!

We transferred the same outline onto silk for the beads and sequins day.  I have to say this was my favourite day, not because I liked what we made (Yuk!), but because it was just more interesting to sew them on.

Again there were people who created amazing, shiny and very bejewelled pieces of work.  I should say that the class was made up of both people who sewed as a hobby, and those who had or were looking for, a career that involved sewing.  There were more than a few fashion students.

I know that there are a lot of quilters who just love to embellish their quilts with all sorts of things (especially those who love crazy quilting), but that has never been something that has ever attracted me.  One or two things okay, but sometimes it is simply a load of junk sewn on some fabric.  I was struggling to think of how I could use any of these beads and sequins in my work, but all I could come up with was for another Stupendous Stitching quilt.

Ribbon embroidery was something that I was eager to learn about.  I have never attempted it, but had always thought it looked pretty when I saw it.  I have to say, my interest for this was more towards the possibility of producing personalised cards, rather than quilting.

We were given another outline that we transferred onto silk and then embroidered along.  Like the other projects, I didn't finish this either (you can still see some of the marks where other bits of embroidery were to go).  I found this the hardest technique to feel comfortable with, but I think it was just a case of needing to go home and work it at my own pace.

I could see how one could get caught up with all these pretty bits of silk ribbon, making lots of different types of flowers, but again, I don't see a huge application for the way I work.

Doing this embroidery did make me feel rather nostalgic for the days when people had beautifully embroidered linen in their houses.  Tablecloths, tea tray liners, chair back covers, all were at one time embroidered to perfection.  Then I sighed and thought about the tea being sloshed onto the tray liners, the cake crumbs littering the tablecloth that had taken months to complete and finally, the greasy heads resting against the chair back covers.

Maybe it is well that we don't spend a lot of time labouring over something that will probably never truly be appreciated, except by a few.

During the course, there were plenty of little tips picked up from the teacher that I found hugely useful:

• How to properly tie a knot in one's embroidery thread (hold the needle in your left hand, fold the tail end of the thread across the needle and hold in place with the left hand, wrap the other end of the thread around the needle twice with the right hand and pull the needle up through that little bundle, whilst holding the bundle secure with the left hand)
• how to correctly remove embroidery threads from their skeins (hold the smaller ring of paper wrapped around the skein and pull down through the larger ring)
• How to measure the correct length of embroidery/sewing thread (the length between your extended hand and your elbow)
• why your embroidery thread gets tangled (too long thread and humidity, which makes thread tangle easily, I guess like hair)

Okay, these may sound like small potatoes to you, but these little bits of knowledge can be really useful.

The best bit about the class however, were all the lovely interesting women that I met and hope to meet up with again.

Now, if anyone would like an embroidered head rest for their chair, complete with sequins, look no further!