January 28, 2015

Cleaning Pina Cloth Embroidery – My Misadventures

When I make mistakes with needlework or embroidery projects – you know, the kind of mistakes I should have known better and avoided? – I call them Misadventures.

They’re often the result of exploring or experimenting with some technique, some process that has to do with embroidery (because I live, eat, breathe and drink embroidery and it’s the only thing I ever do in my life. Oh wait. No, I do other things, and I have Misadventures in those pursuits, too).

As I explore and experiment, it’s not unusual for something to go amuck.

Maybe this doesn’t ever happen to you. Perhaps you are the one of those amazing people that I look at, with Eyes Wide in Wonder, thinking, She always gets it right. When I grow up, I want to be like her!

But in the meantime, I keep Misadventuring away!

Here is my first laundering misadventure with the piña cloth embroidery pieces that I recently acquired.

When I set out, I even had instructions, so what could possibly go wrong?

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January 27, 2015

Late Harvest Embroidery Kit by Hazel Blomkamp, Reviewed

Today, we’re going to take a close-up look at one of Hazel Blomkamp’s embroidery kits from her latest book, Crewel Intentions, which I reviewed last year.

The book, if you remember from reading the review, is full of magnificent embroidery projects that incorporate all kinds of stitching techniques, thread types, beads, and other embellishments into modern interpretations of somewhat Jacobean-esque embroidery designs. It’s a fantastic book, full of fun, challenging embroidery projects!

Hazel sells kits for the projects in her books through her website, Hazel Blomkamp Fine Needlework. I’ve always wanted to buy one of her kits, to review it for you and experience working through one of her projects, but I’ve put it off and off again, due to time constraints.

Well, right around this past Christmas, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a package whose contents to me were unclear? I sprang to the mailbox, my heart gave a flutter, and I opened the package and started to stutter!

It’s…it’s….it’s a kit! I cried.

(And that’s where my ability to rhyme ceases.)

And not just any kit, but Hazel kindly sent me her Late Harvest embroidery kit, replete with fabric, threads, beads, needles, and necessary notions.

Late Harvest Embroidery Kit by Hazel Blomkamp

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January 26, 2015

Treasure Hunt: My Big Adventures with a Pincushion

It all started on a gloomy winter afternoon, not long after lunch. I was feeling restless. Deep down, I was yearning for an Adventure.

But like a good girl, I betook myself to my studio to work.

Now, I know most people wouldn’t consider embroidering while listening to good music or an audiobook work, and I don’t, really, either. But it is what I do for a living, and there are days when it seems a little less than adventurous.

With the winter sky forcing its grey light through the windows, I sat silently in the half-gloom.

An Adventure! said I to me. You need an Adventure!

Suddenly, the sun broke through the clouds. It’s rays slanted across my work table. With an angel choir swelling into sweet song in the distance, the light glinted on the needles protruding from my Ubiquitous Red Tomato pincushion.

And next to the tomato was a pair of….

scissors!

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January 24, 2015

All About Embroidery Needles – Types, Storage & Resources

Hand embroidery is a relatively inexpensive and easy craft to take up, because, unlike most other hobbies, the basic tools required for embroidery are simple, few, and affordable.

While the woodworker needs saws and carving tools, the weaver needs a loom, the cake decorator needs bags and tips, the sculptor needs chisels and hammers, the potter needs a wheel, the painter needs a variety of brushes, and the magician needs props … what does the embroiderer really need, as far as tools go?

You can embroider without scissors. You can embroider without a hoop.

But one thing you can’t embroider without is a needle.

The needle is the Most Important Embroidery Tool for the stitcher. It is the one tool a stitcher cannot do without.

Because needles are essential to embroidery, if you’re interested in embroidery, the subject of needles is worth exploring.

Embroidery Needles - Types, Storage, Organization, Resources

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January 23, 2015

Pina Cloth for Embroidery: Old & New, Compared

Last week, we enjoyed an initial foray into exquisite embroidery on piña cloth, a cloth made from pineapple plant fibers.

Many questions arose about the cloth itself, about the embroidery on the cloth, and about where to find piña cloth. The most frequently asked question, though, was what does the fabric feel like?

The latter is a very difficult question to answer via the internet! Today, we’ll look at old examples of piña cloth and a new sample, and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.

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January 22, 2015

Hungarian Redwork Runner … It’s… It’s….

…it’s almost finished!

Howdy ho, friends! I’m in a jolly mood this morning, because I get to share with you The Big Milestone in an embroidery project that’s been going on since October of 2012.

In my excitement to share this milestone with you, I betook myself and the Hungarian Redwork Runner outside in the post-dawn blue light of a chilly, early morning, laid out some towels on the driveway, and put the runner down so I could get a bird’s eye photo.

Incidentally, while I was going back and forth to my workroom, that’s the one thing I was a little wary of – the birds. I wasn’t so worried about dirt – the wind was still, there was no Kansas dust swirling about – but, since it was early morning, the birds that weather the winter in Kansas were twittering about, flying overhead. Dirt would be nothing, compared to the damage a bird can do!

But they were kind, those birds, and though probably a little appalled that someone was messing around in their backyard at that hour, they stayed away.

And here you have the redwork runner, with the embroidery finished:

Hungarian Redwork Runner, Embroidery Finished

Hand Embroidery Tutorials

January 21, 2015

Figure Embroidery – Musings & Designs

One of my embroidery goals this year is to face a challenge – to embroider something that I think will be particularly challenging.

And when it comes to embroidery, I can’t think of any type that is more challenging (at least in my mind) than figure embroidery.

Figure embroidery is embroidery that involves human figures. Depending on your approach, the figures can be realistic or they can be stylized or symbolic.

Although figure embroidery is not limited to just ecclesiastical embroidery, it has played a significant role in ecclesiastical embroidery for a thousand years. To me, pulling off a decent piece of ecclesiastical figure embroidery is a definite challenge, and it’s something I’ve wanted to explore in-depth for a long time.

I’ve decided that this is the year I’m going to explore figure embroidery. This doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to succeed, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to finish in 2015 – but I am going to explore it, test ideas, and work a project.

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

Cleaning Pina Cloth Embroidery – My Misadventures

Late Harvest Embroidery Kit by Hazel Blomkamp, Reviewed

Treasure Hunt: My Big Adventures with a Pincushion

All About Embroidery Needles – Types, Storage & Resources

Pina Cloth for Embroidery: Old & New, Compared

Hungarian Redwork Runner … It’s… It’s….

Figure Embroidery – Musings & Designs

Connect with Mary

How-To Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos