The folk embroidery of various countries fascinates me, so I was happy to see a recent post on The Textile Blog about Hungarian Flower Embroidery. The folk embroidery of Hungary is quite colorful, and, in its simplicity, I find it very appealing. After perusing the article on The Textile Blog, I found myself meandering about online, ending up at one of my favorite resources for online books.

Have you ever visited the On-Line Digital Archive of Documents on Weaving and Related Topics? It's a hefty title for a website. I just call it the Digital Archives. There, you will find some terrific books on all kinds of textile-related subjects. I found a couple books on folk art in particular, and both books feature some beautiful folk embroidery, needlelace, and related textile goods.



Both of the books I found myself browsing through are by author Charles Holme. The first is Peasant Art of Austria and Hungary, and though it covers more than just textiles, much of the content is dedicated to peasant costumes, embroidery, and needlelace.



Various items of the peasant costumes from Austria and Hungary are featured throughout the book, like this head-shawl, adorned with beautiful eyelets, cutwork, and textured embroidery.



The hand-made laces - like these two laces embroidered on net ground - are a terrific source of inspiration for surface embroidery patterns of a folky nature. I love those birds!



This bridal veil is exquisite. The design, embroidered on net and very light and delicate, would take on a completely different look if stitched in traditional Hungarian surface work, which is generally super colorful and somewhat heavy, as this photo from The Textile Blog demonstrates:



Though the types of needlework make both pieces look completely dissimilar, note that there are some elements in the flower designs that are look somewhat similar. I like both of these designs - the veil is certainly more elaborate and "formal," while the surface embroidery is simpler and somewhat "casual," but they're both beautiful in their own right.



The other book by the same author is called Peasant Art in Italy. Can't you just imagine this nice piece of crisp linen embroidered in bold blues or reds and adorning a tea table?

But what is that description under the photo? An embroidered bullock cover? Are they kidding? What do they mean - I mean, really... what DO they mean? Surely, they wouldn't really cover a bull with that.

"What a beautiful tea cloth!"

"Thanks, but it's not a tea cloth."

"Oh, what is it?"

"It's a bull cover, of course."

I thought there was some discrepancy between the description of the cloth and my understanding of the description. Towards the end of the book, in the section on painted carts, I arrived at this picture:



And so you see that a visit to the Digital Archives is always a learning experience!

I'm glad I don't have cattle. I might be tempted....

This weekend, if you're looking for a source of inspiration, some good reading on textile-related subjects, or just in the mood to browse good books, visit the Digital Archives. You can find these two books under the "H" section, by the author's last name.

Have a swell weekend!

Labels: online needlework books, regional embroidery techniques

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, February 12, 2010
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Thanks to Sharon of Threads in Bloom, I've got a beautiful Brazilian embroidery kit - including EdMar threads, full instructions, and printed fabric, along with a mesh bag to store it all in - and a book that I'm going to give away to a lucky reader this week!

If you haven't tried Brazilian embroidery yet or aren't familiar with it, you might want to check out the Brazilian Dimensional Embroidery guild website, where you'll find lots of information on the technique. Essentially, Brazilian embroidery combines regular surface embroidery stitches with dimensional stitches, to create a highly textured embroidery design. The threads normally used in Brazilian embroidery are twisted rayon (Edmar Threads are commonly used), so the overall effect of the style is colorful and textured, with a high sheen.

Threads in Bloom is an online shop specializing in Brazilian embroidery kits and supplies. Sharon offers many Brazilian embroidery kits that she has designed herself, and some of them are really beautiful! She sent this kit to me for a give-away, along with the threads to complete it and a mesh bag to store it in. So - here it is:



For this give-away, you'll get everything you see in the photo above - the kit, the threads, the mesh bag. Oh - and needles - milliners needles in different sizes. I forgot to include those in the photo!



Inside the kit, you'll find the design pre-printed on trigger cloth, which is traditionally used for Brazilian embroidery, a set of printed instructions that include diagrams of the various stitches, and the beads required for finishing the piece.



The threads are beautiful, aren't they?



In addition to the kit and bag, you'll also receive this book, Apples to Zinnias: A Dimensional Embroidery Project Book, which details how to make the alphabet sampler on the front cover of the book.



Inside the book, you'll find diagram instructions on how to complete the various stitches and combinations used in Brazilian embroidery.

So if you've been hankering to try Brazilian embroidery - or if you've been wanting to practice dimensional stitches - here's your opportunity to try it for free!

To join the give-away, please follow these instructions:

1. Leave a comment below (on this article on the website - not via e-mail or on another post).

2. In your comment, answer the following question: What do you like best about Brazilian embroidery - the colors, the texture, the threads, the dimensional stitching, or....? and why? If you haven't done any Brazilian embroidery, what intrigues you about it?

3. Make sure you sign some kind of name to your comment, if you post anonymously.

4. I'll draw a winner on Friday, December 4th at 5:00 am CST, so leave your comment before then! Check back on Friday to see if you've won, and then, if you did, follow the instructions in the winner post!

That's all - not too complicated, I don't think. I hope not, anyway!

By the way, even if you don't do Brazilian embroidery, this little package would make a great Christmas gift for a stitching friend!

Best of luck!

Labels: regional embroidery techniques, stash contest, stumpwork

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, November 30, 2009
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Sometimes, photos of needlework can be the best source of inspiration for me. When I see a beautiful piece of needlework in a photo, it makes me..... well. It makes me want to DO something - to make something beautiful! But the fact o' the matter is, there just aren't enough hours in the day, days in the week, weeks in the year to do all the needlework things I'd like to do! Do you ever feel that way? So, often, I content myself with looking at pictures. And along those lines, here are some photos of magnificent examples of Schwalm whitework embroidery.

These first two pieces belong to a friend, Joey, who helped Luzine Happel with the translation of two of her Schwalm embroidery books, Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework and Fancy Hems.



This first piece is a teacloth embroidered by Luzine. Isn't it gorgeous? You can click on the photo for a closer view of it. The stitching is so stunning! Check out the variety of filling stitches!



This second piece is a decorative pillow, with the Schwalm work covering a red pillow - which makes the whitework stand out beautifully. I had not considered finishing a whitework pillow this way, with a contrasting fabric behind the whitework, but it makes all the sense in the world if you really want to show off the whitework. Again, you can click on the photo for a larger version.



The books above are published by the Museum der Schwalm in Germany. The books are a kind of photographic journal of the pieces that have been featured in the museum's displays. Talk about inspiration!



Here's one piece featured in one of the books. Pretty, isn't it? I don't know if it's exactly "traditional" Schwalm embroidery as far as design goes - the design seems a bit more contemporary. I like it a lot!



A lampshade! I think I would love to have this in my house... but I can't help wondering if it would stay this pristine? I'd feel obliged to put it under glass to keep the Kansas dust off it!

Yep, I do love to browse through these types of books!! They goad me into doing something with my needle and thread.

A Give-Away!

Now, speaking of Schwalm work (again), I'd like to give away another book. Joey sent me a copy of Fancy Hems, but since I already have one, I thought it would be a good opportunity to put this excellent book into some other keen stitcher's hands.

You can read my thorough review of Fancy Hems here on Needle 'n Thread, to see what the book is about. Note that it's not just for stitchers interested in Schwalm whitework. Anyone interested in drawn thread or pulled thread embroidery will find this book useful and instructive.



If you'd like to win this copy of Fancy Hems, here's how the give-away works:

Leave a comment below (on this article, on the website - not via e-mail or on other posts), answering the following question:

If you could launch into a Schwalm project right now, assuming you have the materials and instructions at hand, what would you make?

Make sure you leave a name, even if you use the "anonymous" feature when posting your comment. I'll draw for a winner on Wednesday, October 28th, by 5:30 am.

Best of luck!

Labels: Book Give-Away, needlework pictures, pictures, regional embroidery techniques, Schwalm, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, October 26, 2009
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DMC and Coats are both well-known needlework thread producers, world-wide. I marvel at the variety of threads they produce for the various markets around the world. Jeanine up in Canada recently sent me a gift from Italy - two types of thread that are available on the Italian market, but not available here in the US. Check them out...

The threads are DMC Alsatian Twist (or Retors d'Alsace) and Coats Cucirini (Anchor's Italian branch) Ritorto Fiorentino. Both threads are similar to pearl cotton, but they are not the same as pearl cotton.



There are three hanks here - the two green hanks on the left are DMC Alsatian Twist and the white on the right is Coats Ritorto Fiorentino. I put the typical 6-stranded DMC floss next to the hanks, so that you could get a proper sense of the size of the Italian bundles.



Both threads come in two sizes: 8 and 12. They are similar, as I said, to pearl cotton, though there is a difference in look and feel. The Alsatian Twist, for example, feels heavier and limper than pearl cotton, and it has more of a sheen.

Jeanine mentioned that the Alsatian Twist by DMC is a return to an old style of thread DMC stopped making at the turn of the century. They re-released the thread this past May in Italy, and they may release it to other markets as well, though there are no present plans to release it in North America. You can find references to Alsatian Twist in the old advertisements in needlework and pattern magazines from the turn of the last century, and especially in the Therese Dillmont books like this one, Motivi per Ricami (Embroidery Motifs) - a PDF hosted on the Digital Archives. Check out the advertisements in the back of that book (which is full of beautiful embroidery motifs, by the way), and you'll see this thread listed.



The Alsatian Twist is listed on DMC Italy's website, if you want to take a look at it. You can drop the URL in Google for a translation if you want. The thread comes in 77 colors in size 8 and 56 colors in size 12 - all in 20 gram hanks like these above. (They're... HUGE!)



The Coats Ritorto Fiorentino is produced exclusively for the Italian market. It comes in many colors as well, in 40 gram hanks (even HUGER!). You can read more about it on the Coats Italian website.



Now that you're in a very Italian mood, I want to direct you to another resource - a nice Italian website (with a good English translation!) - called TuttoRicamo. You'll be able to click on a flag in the left column, to choose the Italian or the English version. This is an amazing site to browse - full of great resources and inspiration. While you're there, check out the Techniques section, to read about different embroidery techniques, and the How It's Done section for many excellent photo tutorials on different techniques. What a great resource!

Thank you, Jeanine, for the thread - I'm happy to know a little bit about it and the Italian thread market, and I can't wait to try the thread out!

(I think tonight is a spaghetti night...)

Labels: embroidery resources, pictures, regional embroidery techniques, threads

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, October 16, 2009
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Just to convince you that I do still pick up a needle and thread now and then and do some stitching, I thought I'd give you an update on the Schwalm embroidery project I'm working on. The project comes from Basic Principles of Schwalm Embroidery by Luzine Happel, and although it seems as if I began the project a hundred years ago, I haven't gotten very far on it! So, to make up for the lack of noteworthy progress in stitching, I think I'll throw in a give-away!

First, the Schwalm whitework project! I've managed to get through the first two steps on one side of the square in the middle of the teacloth.



Woe is me! I know that looks just awful - a wrinkled mess! I don't want to iron it until I've finished the stitching and washed it because the transfer marks might set.

So far, I've outlined in coral stitch and I've done all the buttonhole scallops and wheels.

Not very impressive. *sigh*



I worked this mostly in hand (without a hoop). I think this lends to the general wrinkled appearance of the linen!

When working the buttonhole scallops, at first I progressed without a hoop, and it went ok, but I found it wasn't so easy to manipulate that much fabric while trying to work the scallops. I ended up wadding the linen up in one hand while stitching with the other.



Eventually, though, I decided to hoop the project up for the rest of the scallops and wheels. Stitching the scallops with a hoop seemed much easier!



I enjoyed stitching this part of the project. If I had all four sides of the square done, it would've been nice to keep going and going on buttonhole scallops and circles. It's a fun stitch! But my design has faded too much on the other three sides of the square, so I can't really do anything on those parts until I re-transfer the design.

So that's my progress right now on this project.

Now, for a give-away!

Thanks to Joey, who sent me an extra copy of Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework, I am offering this book to an interested reader who wants to try (or improve upon) techniques of Schwalm embroidery. Schwalm is a beautiful form of whitework, and the stitches learned in the technique can be widely applied to other embroidery styles.

If you're interested in owning your own copy of this superb book, leave a comment below (on this post, on the website) letting me know you're interested in the book. Please make sure you sign your name to the comment, even if you use the "Anonymous" feature.

The give-away deadline is Monday, October 12, 2009, at 5:30 am CST.

If all goes as planned tomorrow, I'm going to spend Friday evening making some serious progress on this piece! I want to get to the point of drawing out the threads for the center fillings - wish me luck!

Labels: Book Give-Away, needlework pictures, pictures, regional embroidery techniques, Schwalm, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, October 08, 2009
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Castelo Branco is a city in Portugal just north of the Spanish border in central Portugal. Like many cities and regions in Europe, Castelo Branco has its own unique style of embroidery. Méri recently introduced me to this type of needlework when she sent me a beautiful magazine dedicated to the embroidery of Castelo Branco and featuring many gorgeous projects. Take a look!

The embroidery of Castelo Branco brings one word to mind - it is rich. It is rich in color, design, and symbolism.



This traditional Portuguese embroidery is worked on a linen ground, traditionally with silk threads. The predominant filling technique used is Ponto Castelo Branco, or Ponto Frouxo - long satin stitches with a perpendicular thread couched over the satin stitching to secure it. The technique reminds me very much of Italian stitching, which is comprised of long silk satin stitches couched over with gold passing thread (I used this technique for the sky in my Agnus Dei project). The obvious difference is the type of thread used for couching.



Among the other stitches used in the embroidery of Castelo Branco, you'll find satin stitch, stem stitch, long and short stitch shading, chain stitch, French knot, detached chain stitch, fern stitch, fly and feather stitch, shadow stitch, herringbone stitch, straight stitch, and various fillings. Méri was very kind to translate the stitches for me! The magazine, Belas Ideias, published by tuttirév, includes not only an abundance of designs but also a pictorial stitch dictionary.



The embroidery is by no means "popular" or common embroidery - it was worked, in its day, for those who could afford to pay for it.



It seems the most wide-spread application was in decorating bed coverings, which were often part of the trousseau or dowry of a young bride. Today, the embroidery of Castelo Branco can still be purchased or commissioned, with prices ranging all the way up to 45,000 Euros for a bedspread, depending on size and design.



Have you noticed that the designs are somewhat reminiscent of Jacobean embroidery? The tree of life is a common image, as are fanciful birds, animals, flowers, vines and tendrils, and fruit.



The elements included range from the sacred to the profane, and many of them have symbolic meaning.

I think this embroidery style is lovely! While it is like Jacobean in some respects, in other respects it is quite unique - the abundance of couched-over satin stitching is defintely different, and the threads used are a flat, lightly twisted silk (originally, a filament silk - today, artificial silks are also widely used).

The designs in the magazine are calling my name!! (They're practically screaming, actually!) Méri often teases me for introducing her to embroidery she "must" try (like the Schwalm project!), but I think she has avenged herself! I've added this to my perpetually growing List of Things to Do, and I'm already looking ahead for my next block of time, where I can set up a small project. There's an ideal "little" project in the magazine, which would make a perfect Christmas gift.

Thank you SO much, Méri, for introducing me to the embroidery of Castelo Branco! The book is beautiful! Thanks, as well, for the linens and threads! I will make use them all soon and keep you posted on how it goes!

Labels: Jacobean embroidery, linen, needlework pictures, pictures, regional embroidery techniques, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, September 01, 2009
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Continuing on my exploration of "trip loot" from my recent vacation, during which I stopped at four popular needlework shops, I thought I'd show you a couple kits I picked up at Nordic Needle. They're kits for Huck embroidery, also called Swedish Weaving or Huck Darning. I thought they were appropriate to buy at Nordic Needle (considering the "Nordic" angle), and surely, thought I, they would make Really Good Projects to work in the car!

Six thousand miles and almost three weeks later, I'll admit I never did open up these embroidery kits while I was in the car. In fact, I don't think I ever looked at them again until I unpacked everything (and that was just briefly)... but while reorganizing this morning and putting things in a "definite" place (you know how it is - from The Stack to the Definite Place?), I came across them again, and thought I'd show them to you.



The kits are for two towels, which is a typical (but not the only) application for Huck work.

Strangely enough, though the kits caught my attention at the time, now as I look at them, I find myself chuckling. Neither are in "my" colors! They aren't really typical of me at all.

Yet, still, I like the idea of them.



Huck embroidery is worked on a specific type of fabric, normally (at least for beginners, anyway!) by following a pattern like the one in the photo above. The lines of the design represent the floss, while the little vertical dashes speckling the pattern represent the fabric weave.



You can use specific fabric for Huck work called Huck fabric, or you can use Huck toweling (or huckaback). You can also get away with using aida cloth or monk's cloth for Huck embroidery, too. For the actually "weaving" of the design (running the needle under loops of the fabric, according to a pattern, to create stitches that look like darning stitching - hence, "Swedish Weaving" and "Huck Darning") you use a blunt tapestry needle. And almost any kind of regular cotton embroidery thread or floss can be used, including pearl cotton and stranded cotton.

Those are the tidbits of information I picked up about Huck embroidery in reading the backs of the kits at Nordic Needle. Other than that, I don't really know much about the technique, as I've never tried it!

I've relegated these kits to the Someday Pile - I'm interested in trying them, but not right now, as there's just too much on the plate at the moment!

Still, I thought they were interesting enough to show you the kits, and ask if anyone out there is a great fan of Huck work, and if so, can you tell us any other information about it? Are there links and resources available for this craft? How 'bout some photo pages and so forth?

Labels: pictures, regional embroidery techniques

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 23, 2009
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Ok, that's a dumb and punny title. Still, I was on the ball - I actually completely something! One of the best parts of creating anything is actually completing it and enjoying that sense of accomplishment. I don't always complete everything I begin, needlework-wise. (Have you noticed that? Think: whitework sampler, silk shading sampler, Long Dog sampler... the list could go on!) My excuse list, by the way, is just as long! However, Temari balls are small enough to finish in just a couple sittings, and this makes embroidering these spheres extra fun.

The beginning of my first attempt at Temari went pretty quickly. After selecting the right threads and a pattern, all told, I think I worked for a bit less than an hour.

The next chance I got, I went back out to the studio to finish up the Temari ball, and this took about two hours, with a few interruptions in there.



I worked the other side of the ball exactly like the first, although I tried to loosen up my tension a bit and not crowd the tips so much. That's going to take a little more practice, methinks. I wanted both sides to come out even, as far as the spacing from the tips of the "star" to the middle band, or obi. I added to both sides one more row of light blue and one more row of dark blue, to try to bring out the pattern a bit more.



The obi, or band across the middle, is worked in the same threads. I had plenty more yellow and pink, but I don't like the yellow, so it ended up being mostly blue with a little bit of pink and only one row of yellow in the center I think double herringbone stitch would normally be worked over the top of the obi, but I only had two strands of dark blue left.



The pattern called for gold braid for the herringbone, but since I didn't use gold anywhere else (except the original marking threads on the ball, which I tried to cover up as much as possible), I figured the blue would be fine. I've got the impression that, pretty much, you can do whatever you want to with colors.



The final test of whether or not I got the process right was passing the ball off to Adele, who inspected it for me. I figure if Temari were originally presented as baby gifts, I might as well see how a baby liked this one. She approved, though I had the impression she would have liked it better if it had a bell or something inside. Next time, I may just have to make my own core and add a bell!

So that was my first experience with Temari, and I found that I did like making it (a lot), and will probably delve into the craft again. Hm... they'd make good Christmas gifts, baby gifts, housewarming gifts, and even just regular decoration. I like the idea of a decorative bowl filled with different sizes - a good conversation piece, if nothing else.

For books, I like Barb Suess's Japanese Temari: A Colorful Spin on an Ancient Craft best for beginners. The instructions were really clear.

If you take a look at any Temari book and feel intimidated by the angles and markings on the ball, start with Barb's book, and once you get through the first ball, your intimidation will vanish, even if you're working with the pre-made and pre-marked cores. Actually working with the marked ball helps dissolve that befuddlement of looking at all those angle diagrams in the books - you'll suddenly "get it" without too much effort!

If you're looking for pre-made and pre-marked cores, you can find them available in three colors (red, white, and black) at Nordic Needle, for $10.99 each. (Lacis charges $14.95 for the same thing, and theirs only come in black or white.)

Working on a pre-made and pre-marked core has its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages. For example, the pre-marked balls are divided into a simple 6 division, which limits your pattern choices to 6 or 12 division patterns. Most of the patterns that catch my eye are 8 or 16 division patterns. So there's a bit of a limitation there. BUT - on the other hand - if you want to try Temari, and you are intimidated by the idea of making your own core, or you simply don't want to put the time, effort, and expense into making the core until you know if you like the craft, then starting with a pre-marked 6-division ball is a good idea.

I'd love to hear your Temari adventures. If you want to link to your photo page, blog, etc., that features your Temari, leave a comment with a link below. If you know of good resources to share, feel free!

Labels: needlework pictures, pictures, regional embroidery techniques, temari

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, July 18, 2009
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It's true. Temari is addicting. I haven't discovered yet if it is addicting as a craft - I don't know, for example, whether or not I'll be desperate to start another one once I finish my first attempt, because I haven't finished my first attempt yet - but I do know that, in the process of creating one ball, it is addicting. I didn't want to stop. And my First Attempt Temari is ugly. And I still didn't want to stop!

Yesterday, the itch to try to make a Temari ball finally overcame me, and in the later afternoon when I should have been doing a dozen other things, I slunk out to the studio, furtively planning to to give in.

The first thing I had to do was gather threads.

Oh.

Darn.

Threads.

Never start a project until you have at least a goodly bit of the supplies actually in your possession. I know this rule, but I really had to make a Temari ball yesterday afternoon!

I had some partial skeins of DMC perle cotton #5 leftover from the kids' embroidery classes I taught last summer. Let's see... a pink, a light blue, a very little bit of dark blue, and a rather vibrant yellow. There was also a skein of bright orange, but that didn't seem to fit the bill, quite.

Sticking with an overall baby-colored scheme, then (with the exception of the yellow, which was too bright to be baby), I launched into embroidering the outside of one of my thread-wrapped balls from Lacis.

The ball was already divided into a simple 6 division, so I found, in Barb Suess's book Japanese Temari, A Colorful Spin on an Ancient Craft, a pattern for a six division ball and launched in.

I wasn't sure of the needle to use, so at first, I started out with a regular crewel needle (#3), but quickly switched to the only large darning needle that I had in my needle box. I have no idea what size it is, but it was the longest needle I had, so I stuck with that.



It isn't exactly my favorite design that I've seen on Temari balls. So many of these embroidered spheres have caught my eye lately, but this particular design didn't, exactly. Still, it was a six-division pattern and looked fairly simple (which it was).



Because the ball I had was so huge, I had to add extra rows of thread, so I expanded the original pattern a little bit.



My spacing and tension were not exactly what they should have been. I found I crammed the stitches into the end-points, instead of keeping them a bit farther apart and well-spaced. This caused some of the threads to bunch up against each other, and, in some cases, to overlap, covering up other threads.



Some of the little arms of the "star" came out better than others, but there's still a tension and spacing problem going on here.



As I altered the pattern a bit, I jotted down the alterations in the book. Yes, I write in my books. Not in all my books, but in many of them!

Barb Suess's book is really excellent for beginners. I recommend it highly! The other book I ordered was Temari: How to Make Japanese Thread Balls, by Diana Vandervoort. Once I got the hang of what I was doing, I liked the second book, too. It's not as nice a book, though, as Barb Suess's, if you're one who judges content by appearance. The pages are that rough news-printy type paper, and, except for a couple pages right in front, there is no color throughout the book. All the diagrams look hand-sketched. But the information is really good, and there are some neat designs in there, though you don't get to see them displayed in color.

As far as the pre-wrapped ball from Lacis goes, by the way, I find them rather large. I don't know if this is the standard size, but it "just" fits in my hand - it's like a softball. It feels large. I can see why making your own thread-wrapped core would be more enticing, since you can then determine the size of the finished product.

I'm eager to finish this ball. Once I see it completed, I'll know better if I want to invest in some specific threads for the black core.

Anyway, that's it - my First Attempt Temari.

Labels: needlework pictures, pictures, regional embroidery techniques, temari

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 16, 2009
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Embroidery on a sphere sounds pretty intriguing, I think, and the Japanese have this down to an art in the form of temari, which are wrapped, "embroidered" balls that are both decorative and meaningful. I've been captivated by temari for a while and itching to try it myself some day. That day has (almost) come; I'm a step closer to learning the craft, anyway...

While at Lacis in Berkeley, I didn't buy a whole lot of embroidery-related supplies, but I did buy books, and one of them is The Temari Book.



The book includes instructions and patterns for making thread-wrapped balls. Temari are given as gifts by the Japanese for a variety of purposes - to mark the birth of a child, for example.

The art of making these beautiful little globes of perfectly arranged and colorful thread has grown in popularity lately here in the States, and apparently around the world. The most recent issue of Inspirations Magazine (Issue #62) attests to this. In this issue, you'll find a thorough article and instructions for making your own temari, including making the thread-wrapped core. You'll also find a temari challenge (with prizes) in the issue!

If you are new to temari (as I am!) and want to try your hand at it, you might want to invest in a book. However, this book.... well... I like it in some ways, but in other ways, I don't. Normally, I don't have trouble picking up a book and "getting it" pretty quickly, but I found I had to re-read and think through the steps in this book a few times before really getting what the author was instructing, on some points. On other points, I didn't have a problem. Since I'm not too familiar with the craft, I don't know, really, if the difficulty is me, or if it's this book.

One thing I do like about the book is the inclusion of non-traditional forms, such as the egg shape. In fact, this is probably what sold me on the book. I like the idea of making temari for gifts - Christmas gifts, housewarming gifts, etc. Being able to make an egg-shaped "temari" would broaden the gift-giving perspective, I thought.

I started squizzing around the internet a bit, looking up Temari, and found a few very good websites that look helpful for the beginner.

Temari.com has a nice section on tips for beginners. The website is Diana Vandervoort's, who is an author of several books on temari and also has produced a how-to video that goes along with her book, Temari: How to Make Japanese Thread Balls.

Another great site is JapaneseTemari.com. Here, you'll find a history of the art, some interesting and fun ideas for temari, and, best of all, a good selection of free temari patterns.

Edit: (added at 10:00 am...) I forgot to add the website temarikai.com, which is actually the first website I ever read in depth on the subject of making temari. Don't be put off by the first page of the site, which is predominantly text. The how-to section is really thorough, with tons of excellent instructional information!

I'm thinking about investing in one of Diana Vandervoort's books and keeping The Temari Book (above) as a resource for ideas.

In the meantime, I have to admit that I did buy two thread-wrapped cores while at Lacis, too.



I know it seems a bit like cheating! And, trust me - they were kind of an extravagance, at $14.95 each! But I justified the purchase two ways (I'm always having to do this to myself!): 1. Time is money. It will take time to get a perfect core ready for decorating; 2. Since time is money, if I save time by cutting to the "fun" part of decorating, then I'll know that much sooner whether or not I want to spend the time learning the craft, right? If I find it to be as fun as I think it will be, then I'm pretty sure, in the future, I won't mind making my own thread-wrapped core.

Ok, do I really have to justify the purchase?!

So, what about you? Has this form of "embroidery-on-a-sphere" ever interested you? Have you made temari? Do you have any specific books to recommend, or resources for the beginner? Feel free to leave a comment below and let us know!

For now, I'm off to set up some flat-surface embroidery!

Labels: book review, regional embroidery techniques, temari

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, July 10, 2009
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Do you remember a while back, when Jayashree shared with us her hand embroidered sari? Well, today she's sharing with us her tutorial on the embroidery technique called Kasuthi.

Jayashree's embroidered sari is worked in this technique, which is characterized by a geometric look:



Instead of re-typing Jayashree's tutorial here, I've saved it as a PDF file. Feel free to download it and give it a good read-through. It's got some great tips for embroidering over net (or scrim), and she even tells you where you can find the right fabric here in the States!

Kasuthi Embroidery Tutorial (PDF)

Thanks, Jayashree, for sending this along!

Labels: needlework tutorials, regional embroidery techniques

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 01, 2009
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I must reiterate everything I said the other day about the generosity of needleworkers! Yesterday, I was thrilled and speechless when I emptied my mailbox. There, inside, was a package all the way from Portugal, from Méri, of Agulhas da Méri fame. Inside the package - some gorgeous threads and a piece of Portuguese linen, woven at the textile mills of northern Portugal.

I just have to show you pictures of this thread and the fabric. Pictures won't do the linen justice, or the threads, for that matter.



First, the threads. There are two kinds of silk here - one is still on the market and available in Portugal.



It comes in very long skeins, and the thread is beautiful - it's a fine twisted silk, non-divisible. The sheen is hard to capture in a picture...



...but a close up serves to show the nice twist in the thread.

I can't wait to give these threads a try! I haven't seen anything like them here in the States. Buttonhole silk is usually a bit fatter and more tightly twisted. And stranded silk doesn't have this kind of sheen.



Now, these other threads have captivated me! This is a soft, thick, luxurious silk, no longer sold, and Méri estimates that these skeins are from the beginning of the 1900's, as they were passed down through family. They are typical of the embroidery from Castelo Branco in Portugal. They are unbelievable threads!



You can see that the thread has a very soft twist to it. Each strand is rather thick - I'd say at least as thick as a #3 pearl cotton, though not twisted tightly like pearl cotton.



To explain the sheen - and even to photograph it well (for me, anyway!) is almost impossible. How can I get across the idea of the sumptuous "fire" of these threads? They're incredible! I would imagine that they will make beautiful satin stitching, if worked in short lengths. I'm eager as well to try them with long and short stitch and with stem stitch.



And finally, the linen - a beautiful, durable, medium-weight linen with a nice hand, and a good, practically even weave. It looks like it will be a perfect linen for drawn thread work. I also think it would be perfect for crewel work or Jacobean embroidery in wools. It's really nice stuff! Méri said this linen is sold as what we call "seconds" - that is, not suitable for shops or exports, but still available at the source. She buys it by weight. I can't imagine that this is "second quality" linen. It's pretty nice!

Méri, how can I thank you for the wonderful package?! I'll try to do the supplies justice! Thank you so much for your generous gift!

Labels: linen, pictures, regional embroidery techniques, silk, supplies

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, May 22, 2009
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