Sollerosom Biscornu

The May workshop for the Embroiderers' Guild Graduate Certificate was on Sollerosom and taught by Gay Sanderson. A group of Guild members, myself included, took advantage of the Guild's generosity and attended the class along with the enrolled Certificate students. It was a lot of fun.

Sollerosom is a Swedish embroidery technique from Solleron Island, in Dalarna Province. It is worked on even-weave linen. I used a white 28 count linen and Perle 8 thread.

It is worked in two colours in layers. I chose a dark green and a pale mauve, initially working the first layer with the dark green and the second layer in the lighter mauve.

Gay provided us with a range of motifs and we could try them as we wished.  I decided to learn to turn corners in the motif with which we started.








I ended up working a small square, using as a model one of the samples Gay had bought along to show us.

I experimented with a filling stitched that reversed the border, but didn't like it on the small sample. One good thing about Sollerosom is that it is very easy to undo!

I replaced it with Swedish four sided stitch - again, inspired by one of Gay's samples.















This is how my first square turned out.










For some time I have wanted to make a biscornu. I have never made one and, liking the finished effect, wanted to try. One of Gay's samples was a partially completed biscornu, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to try. Gay obligingly produced a set of instructions about constructing one!

I decided to repeat the square using the pale mauve as my first layer and the dark green as the second layer - to see what difference it made.
After the class I put aside other projects to create the second square.

Sollerosom works up quickly and is fun to do, so before long I had my first layer. The second layer was mostly whipping. I added some tiny cross-stitches over the Swedish four-sided stitches.

There is not, in my view, much of a discernable difference between the green on mauve side and the mauve on green side.




Following Gay's instructions, I mitred the corners of my two squares and put the two sides together. I whipped the two outer rows of stitching together, stuffed it very tightly and used a couple of small buttons to draw in the centre.

What I really like is the view from the side - where the edging lines show to good effect.  

I like Sollerosom a lot. It is satisfying, easily grasped and a great effect. And I got to finally make a biscornu! Many thanks again to Gay for her generosity, skill and flexibility, to Christine Bishop for her commitment to learning and management of the certificate course and to the Guild for making it possible.