Small applique pockets have been added to this piece, I love a pocket.
There's still a lot of work to do on here and there's quite a bit of white space that I want to embellish.
I'm mulling over adding small cross stitch motifs to those areas.....let's see what happens.
There has been progress on the piece I showed you in my last post.
More appilque, more patchwork, more hexagons, a little piece of vintage lace and some prairie points.
There is no plan as such for this piece. I'm just going to keep embellishing with whatever takes my fancy until the surface is covered with hand embroidery.
I am trying to keep it cohesive by using the same Liberty cloth throughout but there will hopefully be more randon things appearing on here too, like the vintage lace.
This piece will be a wrap for the samples I showed you in this post.
More embroidery has been added to both silk pieces here.
In the first image are two hand stitched paper 'wraps' I created for artist books which I am thinking of using as inspiration to move my pattern choices forward for the silk pieces.
I will of course let you know how that goes.
My aim for 'sewing circle' is to use purely hand stitch and hand embroidery techniques on cloth and create embellished surfaces using 'traditional' process.
For example, rather than use ribbon.....create a sense of ribbon with hand embroidery.
Instead of using lace....create a lace like surface with French knots perhaps.
Does that make sense?
Hopefully it will become clear as I develop this sampling further.
This is new work inspsired by past work.
The inspiration for this comes from doodles I created during the online class 'swathed in stitch'.
There is a screenshot from one of the class posts at the end of this post for reference.
I still have all those doodles. It definitely pays to never throw things away.
These drawn papers were inspired by domesticity hence the ironing board in the screenshot and also pockets, pockets to keep things safe, pockets for protection.
At the moment I am playing with the patterns I have whilst thinking about more pocket shapes.
Hopefully I can mix and match what is here with new shapes through overlaying on my light box and a little bit of doodling.
The pattern on this piece was hand drawn onto the silk. As yet I'm not sure if this one is finished. It might be nice to leave a bit of the pen visible.
Whilst I decide I have started another piece, more hand drawn pattern on silk, patchwork and hand embroidery.
Thanks for all the good wishes yesterday. The patient is improving despite having me for a nurse. Considering I can't even keep a pot plant alive he's doing well!
I had thought the size of this was set, the embroidery would be finished soon and then I could back it. But....yesterday I added the long strip you can see on the right in the image above. I just can't stop.
The teardrop like shape with the cutwork is a new addition on here too. I have no idea when this will eventually get finished, I am adding little stitched areas as and when the inspiration strikes. As you can see there's still quite a bit of space to fill. (this piece measures 18 x 20 inches at the moment)
I've had a query about the new class, specifically about requiring the use of a sewing machine. You do not need an all signing all dancing machine with millions of fancy stitches. All that is required is a basic machine which has the ability to stitch straight stitch (zigzag stitch would be useful too but not essential)
This new class is still open for registrations and you can read more here.
The large sampler piece on silk continues to grow and meanwhile more work is happening on my 'stitch ledger' for embroidery school. I honestly can't tell you how much I love this work. Embroidery school has fed my library of favourite stitches and inspired more than the large silk panel you see here. I have many more ideas for using this work, for developing it and moving it forward.
I am so inspired I have almost worked my way through a yard of silk Dupion I bought last week. More was ordered this morning. Just goes to show you can never have too much cloth whatever your favourite might be.
Since you last saw this yesterday I have added another panel. I have also added a cross stitch seam, a strip of cross stitch along one side, more gingham and three drops of bullion knots and the loopy stitch I love so much and am fast becoming obsessed with.
This will stay at this size now. The next stage is to fill the remaining open spaces.
Tomorrow I will give you a break from this and show you my progress from 'embroidery school'. Things are rapidly coming together over there, we are in the latter stages of class with only a couple of weeks left to go. Time flies when you're having fun and learning new stitches.
A couple of pieces I managed to finish last night. One is the final overlay for a book we will soon be putting together in artist book class, the other a little sampling I have done on paper with the beaded silk I bought in London.
The overlay now has a sequined edge to accompany the seam of buttons I added last week. This as I said is the final piece we were waiting for in class and now that particular artist book can be put together . We will be doing that in a couple of weeks and as soon as it's done I will share that with you here.
(these pieces, here, here and here were created in our artist book class. It's not too late for you to join us and get access to everything from day one.)
The beaded silk I bought in London is taking over my life or so it would seem. It's featuring on the handkerchiefs you have seen over the past week and here it is again on the first page of what I hope will become a little ledger devoted entirely to this cloth. I purchased 10 cm x 60 cm....not much at all. The test will be how far I can stretch it. I guess it's so ornate and beautiful I only need to use tiny pieces and it will still stand out.
Earlier this week I spoke about a plan I had for a summer project, a new wrapping cloth. Several of you mentioned this piece.....the long untouched body bag. Some of you mention it a lot.....I ignore you.
Why body bag? Basically it will eventually become a human sized wrapping cloth...a wrapping cloth for a body, the body bag. I can't even remember when I stared it. Maybe some of you could tell me.
Why has it been untouched for so long?
I can't quite put my finger on that....many reasons. It's daunting. It's such a huge project. There are feelings of inadequacy that it's not yet finished. I buried my head in the sand. I buried the embroidery in a wardrobe (it is hung properly, it's well cared for and pristine, it's not shoved in a box under the bed)
So when will I finish it? When I am ready. I can't force it. I want to embrace with pleasure every single stitch I ever sew. I don't ever want to be sewing out of duty, on demand.....
Don't get me wrong, I still love this work as much as I did when I started it....I'm just not ready to pick it up again yet.
The body bag isn't going anywhere and neither am I.............hopefully you aren't either so one day.....one day.
There are lots and lots of posts about this piece if you aren't familiar with it, including videos. You can access those here. (this post will be the first thing you see when following that link, just scroll past this one)
Last week I made you a video about this piece of work. I spoke about how it would need extending, about how I would have to create more ''patches'' of the surface cloth to piece, to enlarge this . Yesterday I created another section of pieced silk and lace which is now ready for hand embroidery. In the video today I speak about the various stages of embellishing this fabric, referring back to the last video which you can see here.
Today there's a short video, buttonhole lace on a seam.
Yesterday I had cause to look back through several of my ''old'' Flickr groups from classes I have held. If you have ever taken one of my online classes a question. Do you go back to those groups? You should. The incredible, inspiring work over there captivated me. I could have stayed for hours....do me a favour, go back, way back and take a look. What an enormous library of information and inspiration....you never fail to blow me away.