Female Bishops Tote Bag

Last month (3 October 2025) Sarah Mullaly was named Archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to hold the office. The Anglican community has approximately 85 million members. About two thirds of the member churches recognise female priests. Australia has ordained 13 female bishops.

I still had 2 metres of the limited run Faces fabric produced by Tessuti Fabrics in Sydney.  This seemed the appropriate time to use some of that to mark the achievement of these women and all those who have worked so hard over decades to arrive at this point.

I cut out a bag and stitched it together, making it larger than usual to get 14 full faces, before mounting it in a hoop and digging out most of the purple cotton thread I had. I then used Quaker stitch to embroider the first name of each bishop, the year she was appointed, and the diocese in which that occurred.

To the 13 Australian names  I added that of the new Archbishop of Canterbury- a milestone for the Anglican communion.

Embroidering names is relatively slow work. The text can't be very large and it is hard to keep some letters clear, particularly e, the most frequently used in English! 

When I finished the names, it looked unremarkable. I discussed ideas with family and some of the World Embroidery Study Group, which I convene for the Embroiderers' Guild. They agreed I should add mitres and croziers. 

I had found some purple batik in my stash that I was tempted to use as lining. The World Embroidery Study Group made me promise to use plain purple. Spotlight had a choice of several and I settled for a dark purple quilting cotton. I also bought wadding. I was concerned that the Face fabric would not stand up to the wear and tear a bag gets. I should, in fact, have added wadding or interfacing before embroidering. 

I added the wadding to the lining before constructing the inner bag. This made for tricky corners and a bit of ironing. I had thought I might quilt around the faces, but, after one section, gave it up. Instead I decided to hand stitch the mitres and croziers into the wadding.

The design did not allow me to add mitres directly to each head, so I created a row running horizontally across the top, using a variety of gold threads. I fitted 4 mitres on one side of the bag, two on the other side. The shapes are far from precise, being fitted in between black lines, using thread that is stiff and prone to shredding.

I began the croziers using gimp, but quickly decided these were too thin, so worked herringbone stitch over them in a variety of metallic threads. I kept adding them in spaces between the faces until each side looked balanced and a bit eye catching.

In case there was any remaining ambiguity, I added a caption on one side.

As with many of my projects, I think it's a bit crazy. Who knows who, if anyone, will want this bag. Perhaps one of the bishops might use it to carry their vestments: it's just about big enough! Or one of the women who fought for years for the ordination of women might find a use. 

While this is definitely a one-off embroidery, I have once again experimented with using photographs of the embroidery to create printed bags. I photographed both sides several times until I had a clear photo and uploaded photos of both the front and back to the VistaPrint website. It took me longer to add a small print caption to each side, one acknowledging Tessuti, the creator of the Faces fabric, and the other claiming ownership. 

This is what it looks like in pre-print template. I have ordered 3 to be printed as a test. If it works, this will be a sturdy, normal size, useful, affordable tote that a few people might want. I'll see when they arrive in a few weeks time.

It's been another experiment, learning as I go, winging it. I've come to think the original faces might be too dominant. Maybe the names alone would have been enough. The advantage is the image of women, en masse, facing the same way, in your face.

A male friend from my Sydney University Evangelical Union days in the late 1960s recently reminded me of a meeting of EU women I convened, at the request of women members, in, I think, 1967, to discuss  the ordination of women. Our guest was Deaconess Mary Andrews, the head of the Church of England's Deaconess House. Her message was basically: don't waste your time, it will never happen. It wasn't, we felt, a position of belief, but of pragmatism, and pretty depressing.

Fortunately, some of those present ignored the advice. For my part, the battle was channelled into education rather than the church. More than half a century on, we have made some progress, in both education and the church. A very ordinary tote bag is my way of marking it.

Bluebirds needlepoint cushion

In September last year I bought this Bothy needlepoint cushion kit from The Fox Collection. I had forgotten I already had a similar peacock kit, but I do love a bluebird. I can’t hear the word without doing my Vera Lynn rendition.

I really am trying to keep stitching as I buy, but I don’t consistently manage it. In March I also succumbed to  an Ehrman kit for a poppies cushion. So, a year on, I set about working the Bluebirds.

I mounted the canvas in a roller frame which I clamped on to my Lowry. The roller frame was adequate. One of  the four wing nuts had worn out the thread and wouldn't grip. I could just manage with the others working.

I began in the centre and worked out. Unlike the last needlepoint cushion I did (the bee), this one is patterned all over, with tiny figures rather like a Morris wallpaper, so there are no big blocks of either background or figures. The white background is a pattern in itself, requiring not much less concentration than the figures. This makes working it more interesting- but slower. I now think it also meant my tension was more variable.

I worked sections at a time, beginning with the green leaves, then the red, then the blue and finally the white background. I put the tiny touches  (centres of eyes & flowers) at the end. This gave me some sense of progress and satisfaction in what proved to be quite a complex project.

It took me nearly a month to complete the first section of the roller frame, which was, I think, about 60% of the canvas.  I finished as much as I could on the first section late at night and went to bed happy, leaving it until the morning to rotate the frame and complete the challenge.

Completeing the green and starting on the blue took several days.               
Once the tedium of filling in the white was over, I set about adding a border, to make the cushion about 6cm wider. I'd rather have a 44cm cushion than a 38cm one.                                                                                                                

 I had quite a bit of creamy/white wool left, and a whole lot more in my stash from previous projects. Rather than stitching rows and rows in the same direction, I decided to stitch it in blocks, alternating the stitch direction in each one. The white wool was mostly in hanks and the shade inconsistent, either from age or dyelot. I figured the variation in direction would make this less a problem. As I got started on this, the roller frame was proving a liability. It loosened as I worked and tightened only partially.                                                      By now two of the four wing nuts were refusing to turn. I did a search on local slate frames. There was very little on offer, but Create in Stitch has a local maker, and managed to source one for me in seven days.  I picked it up within an hour of the phone call.                                                

It was newly waxed. I was setting it up within minutes of arriving home.     While it's a bit large with the full cushion exposed, I wanted to see the full border as I worked it. I had completed most of the side borders on the roller, but slate frame held the canvas taut and the Lowry allowed me to rotate the frame and keep the working surface in front of me.   

I worked on it every time I could manage to finish it over two and a half days. While it takes up space, it is a much better working set up.

The slate frame packs up fairly conveniently. It will store with the two Swifts!

It is now being blocked. The variation in the cream background looks a bit better. I used all the spare cream thread. I panicked a bit when I picked up the slate frame. Create in Stitch don't carry tapestry wool, so I called at The Needle Nook and bought their last two skeins of DMC Ecru. I didn't need them - but I came within 40 cm!

I have ordered 3 zippered cushion backs on eBay, which are on their way. The seller has a UK address, but I very much doubt that's where the parcel is coming from. There is no tracking, and it's predicted sometime in the next fortnight.

I'm not holding this post to include the construction. The post is alread too long and it could be a long wait.

I think I'm going to like the result. I'm planning to take a break from needlepoint until after Christmas. As much as I like it, you can have too much of a good thing!

Canvaswork Needlecase Sampler with Carol Mullan

This was a two-day class at the Guild. Carol is a great teacher, totally focused on students, always working to enable them to create for themselves. We were asked to bring blending threads and a contrast, and to try plain and variegated.

I began with blending, but then grabbed a set of variegated I had bought and forgotten about years ago. What a good idea!

At the class, all the sensible students are busy making colour harmony, while I am being carried away with my newly recovered colour possibilities.  

The design is Carol’s and I shalln’t discuss it. Obviously, it consists of squares in a grid. Mine is not accurate.  By the end of Day One I had stitched myself into a kind of colour gridlock (above) with only a vague idea of how I was going to escape.

Very few of the Guild chairs are comfortable for a full day class, but I didn’t do too badly. However, at the end of the second day, as I was trying to finish the first side, my eyes would not cooperate and I stopped half an hour early.

I had a few other higher priority projects on the go, and had  intended to finish the last corrner then put this aside until after Christmas. However, my mind kept playing. It occurred to me that I did not have to work the grid again. As the ideas kept coming, I decided to keep going. 

I worked a central set of squares to colour-match the spine, then the date and my initials. From there I worked designs all the way around the edges, choosing the colours to blend and merge.

 

I focused on colour and overall pattern rather than variety of stitches. By now I was so focused on finishing that I forget to edge it before cutting it out - forcing me to work the edge with very little leeway.

The back is certainly not pretty, but it does provide strength! I've tidied the initials so they are readable but not dominant.

I found an appropriate scrap of poplin to line it before adding doctor's flannel, a button and a loop. It came out surprisingly well.

  I hadn't expected to end up so quickly with a useful and attractive needlecase. Thanks Carol.

Embroidered trousers

Kasia Jacquot advertised a workshop on embroidering jeans. I really liked the idea and the pattern. I even liked the cinnamon colour of the jeans but couldn't find them in my size. When Nancy Bird advertised her Sol pants in a cinnamon colour and my size, I grabbed the opportunity and ordered a pair (the colour is now sold out). They arrived last Friday, along with some more printed linens from Kasia. As I reported last week, I turned some of the linens into ornaments for the Guild Christmas sale. I got working on the pants straight after.

I thought they might be too long, but they fitted really well, including the length. I transferred one of Kasia’s designs by hand using a washable ink, then went over it with a fine archival pen. You can see both lines are rough - fine as a guide for the bottom of my pants!

I worked it in a hoop -  necessary to get the tension and to preserve my hands. This meant the embroidery was some 6" up from m the cuff but I think that's better than working without a hands-free hoop. Although it looks messy, the hanging fabric was easy to manage and I could work some of it with one hand inside through the waist, some with my hand through the leg opening.

The stitches are simple - satin stitch, stem stitch and leaf stitch. I kept the colours close to the ten shades Kasia uses. The flower heads are DMC22, the leaves in three close shades of olive green and the centres DMC420.

The most difficult part was stitching over the seam that runs down the centre of the leg.  In a couple of places it was easier to do this out of the hoop 

For the most part, each of the three flowers fitted within a 6" hoop with a final move or two to connect up the stem.

I had originally intended to embroider both legs, but decided that was overkill. My granddaughters agreed - asymetrical is best.

I think it would, perhaps, be better located lower on the leg, but it is fine as is.

It's not my usual palette, and I haven't worn them yet, but I tried a few tops against them and think I have at least three that will work

Summer will tell.

Ornaments for the Guild Christmas Sale

The Embroiderers’ Guild holds an annual Christmas fundraising sale, sometimes as a Market, sometimes a Stash Sale. This year organisers appealed for bookmarks and ornaments. When I enquired about my printed paper bookmarks, the idea was readily embraced, so I have 40 of those ready to go. 

Recently Kasia Jacquot had a sale which included a print of her small Folk Motifs on Linen. One I have in mind as a Christmas gift. I thought the lower three could be backed and stuffed to make ornaments for the Guild. The linen arrived on Thursday and I set to work.

I began with the bird (mainly because it was the easiest one to cut out!), working it in my hand, then cutting it out leaving about half a centimetre margin, which I folded under.

I had  thought of beading the edges togrther, but decided that would be overkill, so buttonholed the edges together. It was a very fat bird when finished, but I wasn't going to undo.  

None of the regular wool felt I had was a suitable colour, so I used part of a piece of hand-dyed felt in my stash. It was a bit thinner than ideal, but worked well enough.

I added a message after It was stitched together. Awkward, but possible.

I tackled the next two together, embroidering both before cutting out. This time I didn't stuff them as full. 

I still decided to button-hole the back to the front. I was tempted to bead, but decided it wasn't secure. In the end I machined the edges together, then buttonholed over the machine stitches. That's secure and looks OK.

The backs use more hand-dyed felt, and have a word - stitched before cutting! 

I do hope somebody likes them.

The embroidery on the house motif was slightly more challenging - partly in deciding on stitches and also because the message is longer.

I decided not to embroider every component. The windows seemed best left as printed.

I finally got the chance to add sequins and beads. While I machined the sides and base, the roof line is secure and stable with sequins and beads.  Interestingly, the straight lines make it much easier to ensure the sides are secure. 

This is intended as a Christmas gift and I'm hoping the person I have in mind will like and use it.

I’ve had some little cross-stitched stockings ready to make for several years and was thinking of finishing these for the Christmas sale,  but other things have taken priority. It looks unlikely I will manage these this year.

So, in addition to the bookmarks, I now have a small collection of decorations for the Guild Christmas sale.  I also dug out a couple of hardanger snow flakes I’ve made but not yet gifted, and similarly a beaded Santa. 

I don't know if these will be of interest to people, but I'm very pleased to have brought the idea to fruition, rather than adding to my considerable pile of unstarted or unfinished projects! 

The two remaining motifs can wait. Given their shapes, I plan to back these with template plastic to make either pinwheels or flat decorations - maybe next year. This is enough for one weekend.