Lockdown embroidery- an awareness gained from Design Online

I usually avoid writing about things that involve my family. Sharing what I do is one thing, involving others quite another.  I've chosen to write about the process of this project because it demonstrates clearly what I learned from Barbara Mullan's  Design Online Course with the Guild last year, and others may benefit from that. 

Part of my family was recently in Covid lockdown for 14 days when one family member contracted Covid and the family decided against insisting he isolate alone in his room. This decision doubled the isolation time for family members.

Towards the end of their isolation I had an idea to commemorate their decision and time of trial. I wondered if I could create a hoop embroidery as a memento.

I made a quick sketch late at night, found some linen and threads before I went to bed and the next morning set up my hoop and got stuck in. I also went out and bought a wooden hoop to display the final product.

I sketched it in pencil on to my linen. The hoop provides a manageable space in which to design and the wording defines initial eye movements. I simplified the words as I added them to the hoop.

 As I practised my Quaker stitch on the words, I realised my tense was wrong, so unpicked the 'd' to bring it to the present. As I added figures I also realised that I was projecting separation and isolation, when the essential factor in the length of isolation was the choice to not separate one member from the family, 

so I added 'together' right in the centre of the design ( where, luckily, there was space!).

I was then able to fill in the remaining spaces with small motifs ( like bees and musical notes) relevant to the family. Colour balance similarly emerges as I try things out.  I did quite a bit of unpicking as I didn't like the effect. 

The final adjustment was adding names. This was not an original intention, but it seemed important that the 'we' was not vague and anonymous, but named. 

This is a very personal item that has strong privacy requirements, so I am not going to discuss the content further. 

What I learned from Design Online was that I design as I go from a concept, not from a detailed planning process. I need to keep the concept in my head, see the story emerging, and keep modifying and shaping until the project gets close to the conceptual ideal in my head. It gives me a lot of confidence to know that's a successful way to do things. 

I finished the piece by mounting it in the display frame - gathering and lashing the back of the linen and then adding a backing piece. Green had become the unifying colour so that was my choice of backing fabric.

I've decided that these are the kind of projects I like most - targeted, topical, personal - and applying the skills I've learned over many years, from many knowledgeable women, to tangible, specific, manageable items.   And that's good to know.

Coat lapels for Design Online

As my final project for Design Online, the Guild's first attempt at an online course, I decided to design embroidery to go along the lapels of a woollen coat I made a couple of years ago. It is in Italian felted wool and I had always intended to embroider the lapels.

I began by adapting some floral motifs from Annette Rich's Australian Wildflower Embroidery, but decided this was too detailed and fussy for the wool coat.

I did want Australian flowers, and I wanted the design to blend a bit with the dark purple coat, so I went looking for plants that might work, Hardenbergia violacea seemed to fit the bill.   Its hanging habit and long, pointy leaves seemed ideal for the coat.   

I translated this into a drawing, adjusted it, traced it onto Solvi,                   .

and tacked the two Solvi strips to the lapels of the coat.I selected a range of wool threads in the colours of the design. I chose to use the Australian threads I bought at the beginning of 2020 for my bushfire embroidery. That embroidery topic got a bit overtaken by Covid, so I'm happy to use some of the threads here. They are mainly Mogear, with a bit of Cascade House.

I had originally planned to work this project every month at the Basics to Beyond class at the Guild, but once I got into it I didn't want to stop - and a month between sessions was going to end up confusing me. 

I tore some of the Solvi off as I progressed so I could see how it was working. Most of the Solvi tore off quite easily.

The rest came off  without any trouble when I dabbed it with water on a cotton ball.

I did need to use my wrist brace while stitching. There was no way to put it in a hoop, and I get RSI in my left wrist from holding work in the same position for lengthy periods.

I also manage to put a needle right through the nail on my index finger - the result of pushing the needle with my nail and unthinkingly pushing the wrong end!

The embroidery result, however, is pleasing.

I rather like the way the flowers flow down the coat as they do on the plant.                                                                  

It's a bit of a mad project, but I've had it in mind since I made the coat, and I'm pleased to have done it. 

I don't imagine I'll wear the coat this year, but hopefully it will be used next winter.