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Mary Corbet

writer and founder

 

I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

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Silk & Goldwork Embroidered Medallion – Finished!

 

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It was last June when I sketched up the original design that would become the Medallion Project. Just short of a year ago! And approximately 450 hours of stitching later – most of which was done between the January and now – it is Finally Finished!

Didn’t you hear all that joyous shouting Saturday around 2:00 pm? That was me. I let out a regular hoop-dee-doo.

This finished medallion will be appliquéd to the back of a chasuble, but that won’t happen until the end of this week. Between now and then, there’s one more step to prepare the medallion for the appliqué process, and I’ll show that to you once I’ve done it. Today, I’ll share with you the final steps in the embroidery.

Goldwork & Silk Ecclesiastical Embroidery
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5 Gold & Silk Roses – & Dot Discussion

 

The last time we looked at the Medallion Project, it was undergoing a little demolition. But the demolition wasn’t really a set-back, you see! It was just Something that Had to Be Done. And I’ll tell you why, below. Trust me, the reason will not bowl you over with any brilliance. It was just a small, stupid mistake on my part!

The five goldwork and silk Tudor-style roses around the outside of the medallion are finished, too, which is a major chunk of the piece at this point. They were actually finished before I started in on demolishing the dots, though after a while, these little details begin to blur together…

Goldwork & Silk Ecclesiastical Embroidery
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Schwalm for Lefties Update!

 

Last week, we talked a bit about Schwalm whitework and a stitching challenge / give-away for lefties. The challenge part includes stitching up a Schwalm project from Luzine Happel’s book, Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework, re-written for left-handed embroiderers, and corresponding with Luzine about the clarity of the instructions and so forth. The give-away part is the fact that the three participants will receive all the materials necessary to complete the project, including the linen with the design already on it, the threads, needles, and the book.

Schwalm Whitework Embroidery
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There Ain’t Nothin’ Like Linen!

 

It’s true. There is no fabric quite like linen. When it comes to hand embroidery, linen is, in my mind, the ideal fabric. And there are many, many reasons why it is the ideal fabric. But there is one reason that shines beyond all the others: one Grand Reason that linen is the bee’s knees when it comes to hand embroidery.

And that reason? I’ll call it Flexibility. That sounds so very positive, doesn’t it? Linen is flexible. It can be used for a host of applications in embroidery. It can be used for counted work. It can be used for free style, surface embroidery. It can be used for goldwork. It can be used for needlepainting, for whitework, for blackwork – you name it! When it comes to practically any kind of hand embroidery, linen steps up to the plate! (With a few minor exceptions.)

But that’s not the Flexibility I’m talking about. Flexibility in embroidery can mean a lot of things. It can, for example, be the flexibility that the embroiderer has when it comes to changing her mind.

Some people may call this Fickleness. I prefer Flexibility.

Goldwork and Silk Embroidery on Linen
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