02.12.10
Posted in Free Patterns at 1:52 pm by deRomilly
I’ve been planning on this for a long time, but haven’t managed to stitch on it to continue the series. So. Here’s the plan.
I’m going to start this today, and post the instructions as a stitch-a-long. You can stitch it with me, or wait for the end when I’ll post all the directions along with the crewel work instructions for the same design.
Supplies
- Tightly woven fabric of your choice, 9X9 inches square.
- DMC or silk embroidery floss in the following colors:
- red
- blue
- green
- yellow/gold
- 6 inch embroidery hoop
- 9X9 inch square of muslin
- One package or spool of wrapped floral wire in 32 gauge. You’ll want white. That way if it shows, you can use a permanent pen to color it into the right color – I often use green for the leaves, but we’ll be wiring the smaller petals on this piece as well.
- Embroidery needle – crewel or embroidery #9.
- Tapestry needle – #26
- OLD scissors or wire cutters to cut the wire Do NOT use your good embroidery scissors for this. Or even your not-so good ones!
Edited to add:
- 2 small pieces of yellow felt to match your yellow floss – about 1 inch square each.
Pattern - click for full-sized printable version
Step One:
Print out the design. Note: the image to the left may be HUGE. If it prints at a full 8.5X11 sheet of paper, you will want to reduce it to 40%. OR, Click FlowerPattern for a pdf version that you can open with Adobe Reader.
Transfer it to a tightly-woven fabric of your choice, with the following exceptions:
DO NOT transfer:
The leaves.
The four small petals
My flower drawn on my chosen fabric. It's centered on the 9" piece of sateen.
I’m transferring it by tracing it onto a piece of polyester/cotton blend sateen that I have in my box (I collect scraps from interior designer friends who are getting rid of them for just this sort of purpose) with a permanent micron pen. You can also use the blue pens ones that wash out with cold water, but they sometimes feather into the fabric. Once it’s on my fabric, it doesn’t look like much, but this will show you what to leave out in more detail. Click the image for a larger version, if you really want the details!
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01.27.10
Posted in General at 7:00 am by deRomilly
Because I am an overly ambitious woman, I decided some years ago (OK, around 20) to attempt to replicate a set of Dragon Robes, despite the fact that even in professional workshops, working with multiple embroiderers, full-time, a full set of robes often took 7 years of work to complete.
Did I mention overly ambitious?
I got part of one sleeve cuff completed before I gave up. There is already over 50 hours of work in just this area, not including the time to design the thing (yes, the entire robe is designed. It’s NOT going to be made in its current incarnation!) I was, for the only time in my life, actually keeping track of how much work I put in, because I was curious.
Click to see MUCH more detail
The gold is size #1 japan gold by Kreinik (I couldn’t afford the real stuff then, even less so now) Very fine. It’s about the thickness of flower thread, to give you a basis for size. The dragon is, from tip of tail to tip of that finished front claw, about four and a half inches. The satin stitch and split stitch are done in two strands of Eterna filament silk, and the entire thing is stitched on unbacked navy-blue dupioni. If I were starting over, I’d back it with muslin before stitching. (I’ve learned a LOT about goldwork in the intervening 20 years!)
It is, if I do say so myself, a pretty piece of work. And I decided today while scanning it that I DO want to finish this cuff. I’ll frame it and give it to its original intended recipient at some point. Maybe. If I can find the time for the fiddly. I’ll keep you posted when I do it. 
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01.20.10
Posted in General at 5:35 pm by deRomilly
Dragon robes fascinate me. Not only from an embroidery standpoint, though they are gorgeous, but also from a symbolic standpoint. Think about it: all that time, effort, and sumptuousness, and:
they were never meant to be seen!
They were usually worn under a plain robe with the rank badge of the courtier on it. Rank badges are also gorgeous pieces of embroidery, but they are more reasonably sized! The idea was that you kept a humble appearance and the glory of your soul and talents was truly a personal and interior achievement: the clothing was meant to remind you of that.
Dragon robes consist of a standard format: mountains and waves at the hem keep you grounded. There is a large central dragon at each center front and back, smaller ones on each shoulder, and two at the base of the central dragons. The ninth dragon is embroidered also on the center front, but on the underlap of the robe, so it is hidden under yet another layer of fabric.
The dragons play with flaming spheres – the “sphere of wisdom” that we all look for in life. Flying among the coulds around the dragons are often bats, a symbol of happiness, and if you are the emperor, the symbols of your power as well. The color of the ground fabric is determined by the birth rank of the noble in question.
Wonderful things indeed, dragon robes! You can see some in the following links, and explore a bit further.
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01.06.10
Posted in General at 7:00 am by deRomilly
I’ve been fascinated by this for years – specifically the later centuries – 18th century and later.
Part of this is probably due to the fact that the University of Oregon Art museum has one of the largest collections in the US, and I got to spend hours and hours there when I was in school (and after) just looking at it. Especially interesting to me was the huge wall hanging of peacocks done in #1 japan silver couched down, and flat silks. And when I say huge, I mean it’s at least 8 by 12 feet.
The museum has changed a lot since I lived in Eugene – it’s expanded dramatically, and added to its Asian collections, making it even more tantalizing to me to get back there! (I think it may also have been renamed – or is finally broadcasting it’s name: the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.)
At the time I was there you could get very very close to the some of the stitching. I don’t know about now, but sometime this year I aim to find out! 
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12.31.09
Posted in General at 2:12 pm by deRomilly
Zahra - A New Series Start
This has been quite a month for me, as you probably noticed, I didn’t post a lot.
My day job was getting stressful, and it culminated in a layoff at the beginning of December. The day after that, my 4 year old Dora-cat was in the Emergency Vet being diagnosed and treated for kidney failure. I’ve spent the last few weeks nursing her, thinking a lot about where I want to be in the next year, and recovering from a cold I’ve been suffering with as well. Dora is doing much better, thank you, and I should be soon.
I have, over the course of this year, wanted more time to work on designs, and on trying to make things more interesting here on the blog. Some of the things I want to provide you require stitching on my part! and as you’ve seen, that just hasn’t happened. So the extra time, is welcome, if the extra paycheck is missed.
Things I’d like to happen for 2010 around here:
First, I’m going to post regularly here. I’m planning on once a week, at the very least. I’ll try to get a button up soon so that you can have the blog sent to you via email or RSS feed if you would rather. I suspect once a week will become plenty, since I can’t keep up with the blogs that I want to read daily! One that went monthly, very apologetically and I sent her an email thanking her, because now I’ll get to not only read it, but probably even have time to use the information she posts!!
Second, the newsletter. I want to try to get one out to those of you who have asked for it monthly, at the very least. It will contain lots of information about things to stitch on, how to use your stitching in ways other than framing it on the wall, and possibly some free patterns.
Third, the business. I really don’t want to go back to work for corporate America. What I find myself living for is designing, drawing, making art, and writing. So I’m going to try to build that into a way to make a living. I have a lot of ideas, including translating the designs and art I have built up into more than one form of needlework: for example, offering both a cross stitch chart and a quality crewel kit or design…and I’m teaching – both shimmying and stitching.
Fourth: Myself. I want to develop my abilities as an artist, and to develop myself as well as everything else. To this end, I’m taking Kelly Kilmer’s “Life Made by Hand” art journaling class this year. And I’m taking more walks, continuing to practice ShivaNata, and trying to listen to my Spirit more.
Which all leads to: I’m excited about the New Year. I hope you are, too.
Happy New Year everyone!
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