Favorite Needlework Site: V&A
I'm changing the title of this series a bit--from "Needlework Site of the Week" to "Favorite Needlework Sites." I'm hoping readers will nominate sites they think are particularly good for cross stitchers and needle artists. Meanwhile, I'll continue to post great sites as I come across them.
Today I'd like to share the online needlework resources of The Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England. My focus today is on a feature called "Florence Caulfield and The Illustrated Needlework Book." Caulfield was a needle artist from South Africa. She wrote The Illustrated Needlework Book in the early 1900s, drawing on South African wildflowers for her designs. Read about Caulfield, then click on the link to free designs to print or save so you can embroider some of Caulfield's Art Noveau-styled creations yourself (color photos of the completed desgins are included to guide you in thread and color choices).
--Nancy
Needlework Site of the Week: redwork and more
Seems I skipped last week's "needlework site of the week" entirely. Yikes! (I turn 54 today--can we chalk it up to either a "senior moment" or a "meno-moment"?)
To make up for the omission, the site I offer you today starts with redwork; however, do some exploring and you'll find a lot more here on needle arts. A whole lot more.
A Redwork Embroidery Primer by Rissa Peace Root provides a fascinating history of redwork, and then goes on to discuss threads, fabrics, stitching techniques, pattern transfer methods, and a must-read list of "tips and tricks" to help you avoid such problems as thread colors running.
I enjoy redwork, although I prefer to do my own patterns. The photo above I adapted from the following sketch my mother had done for a Valentine's Day card:
Years later I wanted to make a gift of a redwork piece for her quilting, so I scanned the card, used photo-altering software to remove the color, and fiddled with the contrast to make the lines more pronounced. Next I printed the sheet out, went over all the key lines and details with a fine point Sharpie, then turned the sheet over and traced all the lines with a transfer pencil. I ironed the finished design to muslin and worked it. In fact, I stitched it backed by batting and another piece of muslin (a "quilt sandwich"); that's probably a no-no, but it adds dimension to the finished piece. (If you'd like to read more about this sketch and the quilt made from the redwork piece above, read "Valentine's Day in the 1940s" at Lillian's Cupboard.)
As for A Redwork Embroidery Primer--don't stop with this great page. It's part of Root's Pretty Impressive Stuff website, where she addresses a wide range of needle arts techniques as well as providing a stitch guide, gallery, blog, and more. (To get better acquainted with Rissa Peace Root, see her About page.)
Great New Board Game
Wow, have you heard of Stitch-opoly?
DMC have just launched this great new board game. It's a stitcher's take on that world famous board game Monopoly. I'm going to have to get one for my best friend Debbie! Now you know what we will be doing one weekend with a few bottles of wine.
DMC - ‘A fun, new property trading game to share your love of needlework with friends and family.
Players select their favorite needlecraft token to represent them as they navigate the board. Each player collects needlework techniques and becomes an expert by buying and trading different needlecraft stitches. The goal is to "Start Stitching" and progress around the board without having to "Pull Out Thread" or "Lose Your Needle" while building your own needlework studio and empire. Players get chances to "Go Shopping" and look in the "Needlework Stash" pile of game cards that keeps the play fun and exciting. Game includes directions for standard play or shorter version.'
Needlework Site of the Week: huck embroidery
Have you ever tried huck embroidery? Also referred to as Swedish weaving and huck towel embroidery, this technique is incredibly simple, fast, and pleasing in the effects that can be achieved. Traditionally done on huck toweling (a thin cotton fabric with raised threads--if you ever used one of the old-fashioned cloth towel machines in a bathroom, you've seen huck toweling), huck embroidery is frequently done in a larger format on Monk's cloth to create afghans and throws.
Huck embroidery basically consists of following a simple charted pattern to guide fiber through raised threads to create geometric designs and borders. Some can be simple, some can involve many rows of threads overlapping for a complex result that's further enhanced by creative choice of colors.
I've done a lot of huck embroidery over the years, making everything from dish towels to placemats to table runners. Although there's no knotting of the thread, the woven fibers stay in place on the surface of the huck fabric very well, and the end products are quite durable.
If you're interested in trying this embroidery technique, go to this week's website: Avery Hill Designs. Here you'll find history and instructions, FAQ, design books and supplies available for order, a free pattern, and color examples of huck embroidery.
Do try this technique. It's so simple and effective, and offers many opportunities for creativity!
My latest project
What a busy time I've been having, both at home and at work.
I'm having a new kitchen installed and there's dust everywhere so we are trying to limit the amount of rooms we need to go in. The easiest thing is for us all to stay in the lounge for most of the evening. My husband can watch the TV to his heart's content and I've managed to really steam ahead with my latest cross stitch project. I'm stitching an adorable design from Faye Whittaker's book ‘All Our Yesterdays Cross Stitch Collection' (UK edition). To see the design I am stitching see our group's gallery. It reminds me of when I was young when my dad and my uncle made a swing outside our beach hut for my cousin and me. I'm going to use it to cover a photo album and give it to my mum for her birthday. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is doing the French knots. Does anyone else struggle with them too or does anyone have an easy way of doing them?
