I have only been away for a day and it feels like a week. That’s probably because I have been busy, busy….and the biggest positive, I have achieved a huge amount. Mostly on the domestic front but also on the give away front too. The puffs from my last give away were made to order in so far as I allowed the winners to pick which fabric they wanted as the focal point. I am pleased to announce
karen ruane
Working on oversized embroidery diagrams. This is a feather stitch.
This bed set, like all the hand embroidery that I have for my wardrobe I did when I was getting married, I have taken great care and I have new, plus they are pure cotton and are more pleasant to the touch than those of today with the mixture of fiber they have. I love it, it goes without saying.
I have taught hand embroidery in English primary schools but am not sure what age group you are referring to. The youngest I taught were four to 5 years, which was a real learning curve having spent most of my teaching life teaching post 16 up to over 80!
I suspect children are the same the world over. Firstly the boys in my classes were always more interested than the girls because it was different. They all enjoy bold bright designs and colours. I always gave them large eyed needles, the bigger the better and for the very young would just put one knot immediately under the eye until they got to grips with keeping the thread in the eye!
Where I was given the option to select a subject, my selection was always ‘stitch your own picture’, so they could select or create a picture that they wanted to sew, this way they are interested in the subject. I also found it useful to work with other media, so that as complete beginners they were able to use sewing as a highlight to their work rather than all of it, embroidery of any sort can become boring when you are doing the same stitch in the same colour for many lessons, and you’re only 6 years old. So I might use paints, dye sticks, or overlays of fine organza type fabrics to cover large areas. Of course each class is different but I hope this helps.
Cross stitch is easy to teach with any age, using Binca or 11 count Aida are the options I would suggest. I used Perle, Soft Cotton, wools and thrums with the children to give texture as well as colour. Blackwork should be easy too as children love repeating things, so filling stitches are easy and they could design it themselves on graph paper before they begin, which will make it that much more personal. You can begin them on the colour of threads traditionally used in Blackwork and let them experiment, children have a wonderful way of putting together things that shouldn’t work but do!
Monday morning, the start of a very busy week chez moi. Exactly one week from today my first online class will start. I am very, very excited about it and am wondering why it took me so long??? I got there in the end though……it’s going to be great, we are going to make wonderful cloths together, hopefully white but maybe not, that remains to be seen…there is more information about it
karen ruane
Flipping through a book of Elsa Schiaparelli‘s work at Assouline, I was thrilled to come across this embroidery collaboration with Jean Cocteau. This wasn’t their only collaborative work together, and Schiaparelli was known for working closely with the surrealists.
I think the most surreal thing I discovered while writing this blog post was that Elsa Schiaparelli was once the mystery guest on “What’s My Line”:
“Work” 2007, Wendy HuhnThis evening is the opening of Stitch: Modern Embroidery at the Haydon Art Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. From the website:
Stitch: Modern Embroidery celebrates the traditions of the thread and needle and uses them to explore contemporary issues of domesticity, gender roles & feminist perspectives. Artists Jenny Hart, Wendy Huhn, Elizabeth Ingraham, Lauren McEntire & Maggy Rozycki fill the gallery with colorful stitched works that drape from the ceilings, hang on the walls, and fill the room with sculpture.
Stitch: Modern Embroidery First Friday receptions will be held on Friday, October 1st & Friday, November 5th from 6-8:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public.
“Breathe” 2009, Liyen Chong
Melenie in New Zealand sent an email to let me know about the work of Liyen Chong (who is also in New Zealand). Her works in embroidery are exclusively worked with hair. There is a long tradition of embroidering with hair in China and, Chong works with blonde, red and black hair. Having attempted embroidery with my own hair only once, I am astonished at the results she achieves.
Link (thanks, Melenie!)
I will start shipping Auto’s today (Wednesday).
Creative Smocking and CS Distribution, Inc.
