Karen Ruane

torn papers

Just playing. A little bit of sticking and a little bit of stitch....

the second one

My second floral shape of what I hope will be at least five is now finished. I have laid it here alongside the first one. Number three and four are in progress.

Some of the girls in sewing circle are using this shape and others are creating their own patterning.

(it's not too late to join in by the way, we still have ten weeks left)

I'm just having such a good time, embroidery morning, noon and night.

A tip on ordering embroidery threads....I always buy my DMC coton a broder from the main distributor in France. They carry more colours in my experience. After Brexit there are extra charges for customs etc when buying from the EU but I believe if your order is less than £40 no extra charges are payable.

I ordered threads last week, the total amount paid by me for my order including postage was £38. My package arrived with no extra charges so perhaps little and often is the way to go.

lace and pattern, extending design

Recently as you know I have been looking at ways in which I can create lace like surfaces.

I was doing that as I was impatient to begin my own work for Alchemy 2020.

A couple of days ago I decided I was wrong to be doing this as it might have an influence on my thinking and sampling for class. 

What I have done instead is attach those lace exploration pieces to a larger piece of paper and added pattern taken from one of my design ledgers.

At the end of this post are images of design work from that particular ledger.

 

(If you are registered for Alchemy 2020 you should have recieved an email from me today. If you haven't received that please let me know as soon as possible.)

examining pattern

Pattern, a repeated decorative design.

Maybe not repeated but this is pattern, pattern as I know it.  Pattern created with thread and stitch on cloth. Maybe surface design is a more fitting description but I like to think I'm creating pattern every time I make a mark with stitch.

These pieces were created over 12 months ago and although the background cloth is white they are certainly evidence that colour was creeping into my work back then and even prior to these pieces being worked. Some people express surprise when they see colourful pieces like this one from a couple of weeks ago, surprise at the colour but really it's been happening for quite a while....you just didn't realise.

page two

The second page of my latest cloth book is now lined with pattern, ribbon, silk dupion and hand embroidery. This one and the one I shared with you earlier this week still need to have the edges finished with buttonhole lace. There are two pages remaining for which I need to piece and embroider the linings before I can put the book together....I'm aiming for the end of next week so wish me luck.

As I have said a lot recently, the current run of embroidery school is coming to an end. The next embroidery school term begins in September. All the information is below. (you do not have to have taken part in the current embroidery school to participate in the next one)

I have had to turn on comment moderation, hopefully only temporarily. There have been a lot of spam comments recently....these people need to pick up some embroidery to keep themselves occupied!

 

September Embroidery School.

A live blog running for 12 weeks from September 9.

You do not need to have participated in any of my previous online classes to take part in embroidery school.

Online format.... Private password protected blog.

No deadlines. No set tasks. Lifetime access to all resources.

Staged payments accepted. Please contact me for details.

This online learning programme is born from the success and popularity of previous 'fly on the wall' classes.

Join me for 12 weeks of creativity, a unique fly on the wall experience. Observe my process, my day to day, my working practice.

Throughout this online learning programme my aim is to use traditional embroidery process.

During the course of the first two weeks I will be playing with beads and buttons, creating unique adornments for use in larger embroidered pieces building a 'stash' of unique embellished trimmings.

Following on from this initial project I hope to create an 'art garment' piece, a purely decorative and heavily embellished cloth garment piece purely for aesthetic purpose, to be hung or draped and not worn. This piece will be embellished using traditional techniques of applique, cutwork and hand embroidery.

In addition, who knows what else will crop up, what will inspire and develop over this programme. We begin with a blank page of time and fill that page developing embroidered works on paper and fabric.

Posting once every week I will demonstraste my working processes, discuss my ideas and inspirations and develop various pieces of work which result from explorations demonstrated in class.

Group interaction will be facilitated within the forum of a private Flickr group where it will be possible to upload images and receive feedback and encouragement from the wider group along with input from me. There will also be the opportunity for wider discussion within the ''discussion'' area of that group. Interaction in this manner is however voluntary. There is no pressure on you to participate within this forum. If you prefer to work quietly, on your own that is encouraged too. My wish is for you to use this learning experience in the manner best suited to you, to learn in a way which makes you happy and furthers your individual creativity.

Please note, certain tasks within this programme may require the use of a sewing machine.

Our initial timetable will be as follows as I am going on holiday for one week on September 30.

September 9. Post 1.

September 16. Post 2.

September 23. Post 3.

September 29 (Sunday) Post 4&5

October 14. Post 6.

Access.... Unlimited. Forever.

Materials required.... List sent upon registration.

Images used here are for illustration purposes only. We will not be replicating these pieces during our 12 weeks.

***No prerequisites, suitable for beginners and the more experienced.***

Please allow 36 hours from registration to the receipt of a welcome email.

Register here

 

patterned lining

It's an explosion of pattern, of Liberty fabric, ribbon and hand embroidery. The reverses of my cloth pages for this one are going to be lined with masses of pattern. Each page will be turned and something like this will greet you. Contrast, very dramatic contrast. At the moment this is just tacked, basted. I will be edging each side with buttonhole lace before joining the finished pages at the head.

There are four pages for this sample book. That doesn't sound a lot I know but the one I showed you yesterday was four pages too...you can cram a lot into four pages.

Thank you so much for the enthusiasm for my next class which begins early in September. It would seem you all want to embroider......and why not, cloth and thread and stitch....there's nothing better.

Details are below and thank you again. xx

 

 

September Embroidery School.

A live blog running for 12 weeks from September 9.

You do not need to have participated in any of my previous online classes to take part in embroidery school.

Online format.... Private password protected blog.

No deadlines. No set tasks. Lifetime access to all resources.

Staged payments accepted. Please contact me for details.

This online learning programme is born from the success and popularity of previous 'fly on the wall' classes.

Join me for 12 weeks of creativity, a unique fly on the wall experience. Observe my process, my day to day, my working practice.

Throughout this online learning programme my aim is to use traditional embroidery process.

During the course of the first two weeks I will be playing with beads and buttons, creating unique adornments for use in larger embroidered pieces building a 'stash' of unique embellished trimmings.

Following on from this initial project I hope to create an 'art garment' piece, a purely decorative and heavily embellished cloth garment piece purely for aesthetic purpose, to be hung or draped and not worn. This piece will be embellished using traditional techniques of applique, cutwork and hand embroidery.

In addition, who knows what else will crop up, what will inspire and develop over this programme. We begin with a blank page of time and fill that page developing embroidered works on paper and fabric.

Posting once every week I will demonstraste my working processes, discuss my ideas and inspirations and develop various pieces of work which result from explorations demonstrated in class.

Group interaction will be facilitated within the forum of a private Flickr group where it will be possible to upload images and receive feedback and encouragement from the wider group along with input from me. There will also be the opportunity for wider discussion within the ''discussion'' area of that group. Interaction in this manner is however voluntary. There is no pressure on you to participate within this forum. If you prefer to work quietly, on your own that is encouraged too. My wish is for you to use this learning experience in the manner best suited to you, to learn in a way which makes you happy and furthers your individual creativity.

Please note, certain tasks within this programme may require the use of a sewing machine.

Our initial timetable will be as follows as I am going on holiday for one week on September 30.

September 9. Post 1.

September 16. Post 2.

September 23. Post 3.

September 29 (Sunday) Post 4&5

October 14. Post 6.

Access.... Unlimited. Forever.

Materials required.... List sent upon registration.

Images used here are for illustration purposes only. We will not be replicating these pieces during our 12 weeks.

***No prerequisites, suitable for beginners and the more experienced.***

Please allow 36 hours from registration to the receipt of a welcome email.

Register here

 

pattern

Following on from yesterday, another repost, new for some of you......there are beautifully patterned pages within this book which aren't clearly visible in the video today but you can see those here.

When this post was originally published I was asked many times where to buy these books.  In the UK they are available here and no, I'm not on commission unfortunately. 

Since this video was first posted I have worked more on these pages, images below. Again, these will not be new to some of you. Normal service here should be resumed tomorrow. 

Keep scrolling to the bottom for the video today.

 

 

extending a pattern and a new edge

The gingham piece....I have added to it since you last saw it. One or two flowers, a few cross stitch hearts on stalks, filling blank space and getting my head in pattern mode for ''studies in stitch''. The work I have started in the background for that class isn't really anything like this piece, this piece and the other two you have seen are  more a ''wake the brain up to create pattern with cloth'' exercise as I have been in ''artist book'' mode for a while now. The three gingham and silk pieces I have been working on will all be given headers and titivated edges before being made in to a cloth swatch book.

The sequins here...they follow on from yesterday's post, the first edge of another piece which will be combined with the piece from yesterday (and several others) to create a ''veil'' like cloth.  So, several things ''on the go'', artist book class still running and an artist book for me to finish cramming with all things stitch and cloth.

Related articles

this week in artist book class - Karen Ruane

Beads, buttons and bullion knots. - Karen Ruane

embellished scraps - Karen Ruane

developing pattern - Karen Ruane

pink, green and Broderie Anglaise

and then there were three

The day before yesterday I showed you the first of these experiments in surface design, my first attempt at kick starting my brain to gather ideas for patterning for use in my next class.

Yesterday I showed you the second piece, the second sample, today the third. I think this one needs flowers.....flowers similar to the ones on the first piece, perhaps upside down flowers depending on where I can fit them in. Watch this space.....

Pieces I create in my new class won't look exactly like these, the patterning will be adapted again. These are purely references for my own use, memory prompts, idea hors d'oeuvres. I have to leave these for a short while now though...I have headers to make for my ongoing swatch book. (a reminder of that is here)

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hankie corners and cross stitch hearts - Karen Ruane

developing pattern

Patterning from the piece I showed you yesterday has been altered, rearranged and a new piece has been created to live alongside the first piece. As I said in yesterday's post, this work will inform the embroidered surfaces which I will use to create all manner of things in my next class. 

Up to now I have a hankering for a drawstring type pouch with an accompanying pin pillow and some hand embroidered buttons. (you wouldn't believe how much the pouch idea excites me...really) The embroidered cloth in these images won't be used, I have plans for further developments of these surfaces. These pieces will be mounted in  their own swatch book (scroll down, there's lots of images on that link)....the swatch book which is another recent obsession. You can see a video here, some of you will have seen it already but others may not have. 

Along with excitement for my new class......I got very giddy yesterday putting my book together for my ''artist book'' class.  I can't wait for the girls in class to see those videos and once they have I will share images of progress on my book with you and talking of artist books.....once my ironing is done this afternoon I will be stitching pages for the next one.

Related articles

an edge of buttons and a sequined scrap - Karen Ruane

embellished scraps - Karen Ruane