Karen Ruane

little scraps of cloth with stitch

Simple hand stitch, tiny scraps of cloth sewn onto vintage hankies.

This is old work. Old work which still inspires and which will inform my play with needle and thread for the next few days if not weeks.

My next class is listed here.

It doesn't start until July 5th but is listed extra early as I need a good idea of numbers sooner rather than later.

I will be removing the listing in five days so I guess this is your final call.

This class is much more hands on and personal than any other class I have done. (if that's possible)  It includes live face to face interaction via Zoom, live feedback and live q&a so please take a look.

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As you may know I have been away for a few days.

Whilst I was away I was contacted and asked to teach and exhibit at Pour L'amour du Fil 2021.

I was broken hearted to say no.....really, I was so sad but who knows, they may ask me again.

I have exhibited and taught there before and it was the most amazing experience, I am keeping everything crossed they ask me again next year.

a selection from embroidery school

The images today are from past 'embroidery school', 'sewing circle' online learning programmes.

I'm refreshing my memory, reminding myself of the possibilities.

It's my birthday tomorrow. The cake arrives this afternoon. You know where i'll be!!

page progress and a detachable Peter Pan collar

There are only two weeks left of my online class 'a little book of sewing'. This six weeks has been about creating unique surfaces to serve as pages which will hold samples of simple dressmakinmg techniques. My pages are almost finished. These really have been a labour of love and more time consuming than you could imagine. If I didn't have a deadline I might never finish these as I can always see another area for embellishment, more stitches, more beads or sequins, another edge of lace perhaps and on it could go....

This week, to add to the collars you have seen before, we created a simple little detachable Peter Pan collar. Fiddly? Oh yes....but worth it I think.

hand embroidery and ribbons

During my recent self imposed exile I continued to stitch. I worked on pieces for both embroidery school and ledger class in addition to sampling for my new 2020 class 'a little book of sewing'. Below are a selection of images from that time along with a glimpse for you of my early Christmas gift to myself from VV Rouleaux in London....ribbons and trims. (last image)

I don't know about you but at the moment my days aren't my own with preperation for the holiday season. Stitching time has been scarce but I am managing to work a little on a new piece for ledger class which is progressing well and I hope to share that with you next time I am here.

embroidered pages

This pile of embroidered cloth will soon be transformed into a little cloth book. There is an embroidered cover planned which I'm hoping to line with lace cloth.

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Meanwhile, this piece popped up in my Facebeook memories today...happy memories indeed...my 'happy cloth'.

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A post shared by Karen Ruane (@karenruane) on Dec 2, 2019 at 5:38am PST

studio time

I've been taking pictures as I work this past week, recording what I'm doing, keeping track. Mostly what's been happening is related to classes, titivating pages for ledger class, creating buttons and figuring out where to use them for embroidery school and then there's the cloth book. I've been thinking about that a lot, making plans for more pages and wondering how mnay pages there will be in total when I'm finished.

There's new thread too. A christmas gift which is only just being used properly. I will wind those onto cards as and when I use them. I did put these on my christmas list last year out of curiosity as I'd never used them before. They have glitter...a shocker for me but it is quite subtle and the threads remain beautifully soft despite the glitter.

adornment

If you can't find the perfect button to adorn your embroidery......make your own. You saw these buttons last week and I have been itching to use them in my work. This is the first one. It sits on a piece of embroidered paper. I haven't a clue what happens next but for now this will do, it makes me happy. The ribbon ties make me happy, the loops at the edge of the buttons enabling me to tie them on make me happy and hopefully the girls in embroidery school will be happy seeing how you can use these little adornments, these little fiddly things which I suspect may have caused a few headaches at the start.

new buttons

Hand embroidered buttons, in truth not very practical but I seem to be saying it a lot lately...who cares about practical. I fear there are addictions forming in embroidery school, there's definitely an addiction forming here and I can't wait to use these in my work.

The future of my online classes may be up in the air but embroidery continues and besides, I want to give my all to the two current groups. Embroidery, cloth, thread, it's who I am, it's what I do.

I'm in a strange place at the moment emotionally. It's a huge thing for me that I may I have to give up my online teaching, it has been central to my daily life for a long time and I will have to make adjustments............ just wanted to explain the reason for what will most likely be only sporadic posting on here for a little while.

Meanwhile, there is a lot of joy in other areas of my life. These two beautiful young people got engaged to be married on Tuesday. I can't tell you how proud I am of my son and what he has overcome to get to this stage in his life. His choice of life partner, his luck in finding his perfect 'other' couldn't make our family happier. She is perfect for him, kind, funny.... we love you Chelsey. It really is like this was meant to be.

 

 

teaching and learning

There are quite a few images today, images of past works. In this post I am hoping to illustrate my portfolio if only in a very condensed form. What you see here is a tiny selction of completed works be they embroidered pieces, embroidered samples, ledger pages, design exercises or surface design process.

As many of you will know I have been teaching hand embroidery for a long time. Mostly, almost exclusively that teaching and sharing of knowledge has been delivered through the vehicle of online learning classes of various durations with the occasional 'live' wokshop in London. It's how I earn my living and as far as I'm concerned it's the best, most perfect way to earn a living...doing what you love and sharing that process.

I am beginning to realise however that there is a shelf life to online classes, that they run their course and become less apppealing to people for whatever reason. Perhaps the market is saturated? Perhaps people are just too busy and goodness me I know all about that. So what to do?

I recently moved house and one bonus of that was gaining space for a dedicated studio in which to work. There may be mileage in that, in private one to one embroidery sessions which may take up the slack from the online classes. With that in mind I have listed that opportunity in my online shop here.

Also, maybe people can't commit to a full online class over several weeks. (I don't really worry about that though because one feature of my online classes is that you have them forever, there are no time limits, no date when it all disappears in a puff of smoke like other online classes) Having said that...I appreciate how commiting to a full run of several weeks can be intimidating. With that in mind I have listed private online tuition. Perhaps you just need to know how I made a specific button, how I put a little book together, how I approach the basics of a design ledger..anything.......again I have listed that option in my online shop here.

What to do going forward? I don't have an answer yet. I am loath to give up my online classes but can't force people to learn with me. I am not a 'printer', I can't print designs for people to stitch or churn out 'kits'........my hand work takes time, that's why I love it, it's a passion not instant gratification.

Maybe I need to take some time out and regroup......I will be thinking about all this over the coming weeks.

Thanks for hanging in with me up to this point. I have such affection for all of you.

the jury is out on the pom pom

You have been seeing this cloth book evolve for quite some time now. As each page has been lined I have shared it here. It's now stitched together and is another cloth sample book to add to my collection. These pieces are more valuable than I can say. They inpsire regularly, they are a record of my practice. They are a resource for learning. They are invaluable, priceless.

The pom pom? That was an urge. It came from nowhere, a desire to add a big fluffly ball to the lower edge. I can't decide if it works. It doesn't matter, it at least doesn't offend and I can always take it off if I finally decide it's innapropriate.

Yesterday my basics post was so popular!! Because it's evident some of you found it useful I have given it a page of it's own at the top of the blog, just look under the header image and I have also added a link in the sidebar on the right, just cast your eyes over there. My only fear now is you all dash off 'en masse' and order every strand of thread available leaving none for me....oops. Good thing I put an order in last week.

September embroidery school begins in less than two weeks. Embroidery school develops as it progresses, I can't ever pin myself down to a srict aim on what we will create because as you know one thing inspires another, ideas pop up from nowhere. Obviously I need a starting point and this time it's buttons, buttons which are new to me and I have a hankering to embellish a small garment piece too, a section of a garment. However.....(if you are already signed up don't panic, your supply list won't change)....however....I now have an idea fermenting for a 'sampler' pin pillow....there will be a lot to get through but we will do it, we will crack on and also address anything else which pops up and whilst we are creating the buttons, the pillow, the garment piece 'embroidery school' will not lose it's 'fly on the wall' roots. There will almost certianly be unexpected work, the introduction of varied creative exercises and an awful lot of chat.  You can never have too many ideas or too many beautiful pieces of stitch. (you've got to provide your own cake though)

If you would like to read more about September embroidery school then just go here.