07.18.07
Posted in "Freestyle" embroidery at 11:39 am by deRomilly
I did indeed sign up for Sharon B’s Sumptuous Stitches class. And only one lesson in, I’m already glad I did. (Well, actually lesson two arrived in my inbox this morning, but I’m not quite there yet…)
I don’t know what I expected, but what I’m getting so far is a detailed design class that focuses on textiles. Yummy. I’m self-taught in the design area, so it’s rather nice to get some of the details and hints and “whys” that I might have gotten had I actually taken a degree program. A lot of my design learning has been book-taught, or instinct: I think I absorbed a lot from my mother, who was a graphic artist, even while rebelling against art in my growing up years.
In any case, the first lesson was to start with Concept. Mind mapping, which I’ve used to great effect in my writing, and being assured that any method of “just picking one to work first” including throwing darts at the list on the wall was perfectly appropriate has helped.
Googling “mind mapping” will get you more hits than you’ll know what to do with! I liked this step by step one. And this is the one that Sharon included.
I don’t design small. Because I’m expecting to actually FINISH stitching this piece in three to four weeks, I chose to work in the suggested 6 X 4 inch postcard format. It’s a challenge. As I said, I don’t work small. I tend to work both large and detailed. I’m a bit overwhelmed right now with design ideas, most of which need at least 8 X 10 inches to work properly. So narrowing the design down from the concept is difficult. I guess I just need to sit down at lunch today with my sketchbook and work thumbnails until I find one I like.
The concept I came up with was from starting with the mind map center of Peace and working outward. I’ve got quite a few ideas now from that one, but the one I lean toward in an exploration of the sea changes that come from finding inner peace: something that I’m in the process of going through right now. And probably always will be, for that matter! Sea changes, “Those are pearls that were his eyes” and so on. The process that takes a rough piece of glass and turns it into sea glass… I’ve also got ideas on the side of an oyster turning a speck of sand into pearls…
Glass, found objects, high-relief embroidery. These are things that I haven’t done a lot with over the years. So now I need to play with the ideas. When I actually have a sketch I’ll post a copy for you. Lesson two starts the stitching in the low parts of the design - that should go relatively quickly for me, so I feel I can take the next couple days to refine the pictures in my head a bit more.
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06.18.07
Posted in Historical, "Freestyle" embroidery, General at 10:56 am by deRomilly
Embroidered book bindings, when I hear the words “Embroidered book bindings,” I tend to immediately think of the book embroidered by Elizabeth and given to Katherine Parr. And, of course, that is the most famous.
The British Library has a Guide to Embroidered book bindings, and images of the bindings online to view . Well worth the time to snoop around them. Very very pretty. To get the best results from the binding search page, search for “embroidered” rather than “embroidery.”
Project Gutenberg has a book on embroidered bookbindings that was printed in 1899. The illustrations were not transcribed into the online copy, but there are detailed descriptions of the objects illustrated. In addition, if you download the html version, the plates are reproduced within it.
However, embroidered book bindings were extremely popular in the 17th century. The blog Mindsigh has a post on these embroidered bindings…
Then, of course, there’s the fact that one of my best friends was/is a bookbinder. I remember well the time in college that she did an embroidered book binding for an art assignment — it didn’t go together very easily and as frustrated as she was at the time, I’m surprised our then-roommate survived when she told her –but it will be so pretty when it’s done! I, also, made the mistake of pointing out that the roommate was just trying to help. If it helps, 15 years later, it WAS beautiful when it was finished! I wonder if that book still exists?
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04.10.07
Posted in "Freestyle" embroidery, Dance Accessories at 6:22 pm by deRomilly
I’m sorry I haven’t posted… I just realized that I haven’t gotten to a computer other than the one at work in two weeks! Bad Romilly!
I’ve got a couple of plans in the works, though. I’ve been plugging away at the embroidered fabric for my new bedlah (see last post) and the first piece is pretty much all beaded now. I’ll probably have to add beads here and there as I sew it together, but it’s a good start. The second piece is about a third embroidered. Beads to come. In this case AFTER I’ve got a pattern for the belt. It suddenly occured to me that I needn’t bead everything, even the parts that aren’t going to show… I want the embroidery to fold around, so it gets done first… but the beading?! Pshaw. That’s silly. And very me-like!
I did, however, finish sewing a turquoise jersey knit dress that I’m planning on wearing to the hafla over harem pants on Thursday and then for every day. Very simple, casual princess line. If photos come out after the show I’ll try to post them. Maybe even a video.
Not much needle art happening my way over the past week. But that will change. And I do have a backlog of posts to make. It’s just a matter of getting things pulled together. And wrestling the computer away from the ten year old nephew…
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03.21.07
Posted in "Freestyle" embroidery, Dance Accessories, Uncategorized at 5:09 pm by deRomilly
When you still like the effect of the stitching when you reach the halfway point!
The sample I posted about last time I was here is becoming a final piece of fabric quite quickly. I’m about halfway done with the first fat quarter. I’m guessing I’m going to need to stitch about three, maybe four fat quarters to make a full belt and bra set. I’m thinking it will be really pretty with a white vest and skirt.
And it’s pulling together in a way that I really like. It’s cotton, but the beads give it a shine that make it appropriate for a casual costume. I think it’s going to be interesting, and definitely different from anything any other dancer has! I did decide to switch to green and pink beads to match the embroidery. The entire thing is much lighter than the photo I posted would lead you to believe.
The problem is, since the herringbone stitch is so durn easy to do, and I’m a bit achey, it’s pretty much ALL I want to do right now. This kind of cuts into the enjoyment of the day job. And the husband would prefer that I help him maintain the house where we live as well… and there’s that garden that now needs to be planted…
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