Hems and Edges Day 2

The second day of Gay Sanderson's Hems and Edges class at the Embroiderers' Guild of SA in September was every bit as good as the first. 

We began on a new square of linen, folded and pinned our hem, taking care to match our corner folds before tacking the hem down.

We then worked a pulled thread hem along one side. I had a go at a drawn thread hem in the same stitch on the other side of the square.

I preferred the drawn thread version on this 28 count linen, but I can see that the pulled thread one might be  preferable on a fine handkerchief linen.

I then worked an edging stitch without a hem - designed for such things as bookmarks or other items where you do not have room to turn a hem. This is a great stitch to learn and satisfying to do.







We needed to work enough to turn a corner, but I liked this one so much I finished it off at home and worked the fringe as well.

 

We finished with a picot edge. 'Satisfying' is the word that keeps coming to mind for this work. When I  worked such edges for tablecloths many years ago I had the same feeling.











There is something deeply fulfilling about completing something very simple yet so neat and shapely with a needle and thread where there was once a raw edge.

Again, I worked the whole hem around at home to get the effect.







I left, however, the back in several stages in order to use the piece as a sampler, to remind me how I did it.



Towards the end of the session, Gay produced a box of various objects she had created using these techniques. Amongst them was a hanging decoration made from a strip of linen twice as long as it was wide. She also gave us each a couple of pieces of linen she had machine-edged so we could try out extra ideas.

At home I used one of these to have a go at a hanging decoration, using a simple motif I found in the tiny Coats 50 Counted Thread Embroidery Stitches I had inherited from my mother many years ago.

I worked up quite quickly. Alas, I had checked the size of the fabric by folding, but did not get it right.




The technique worked, but did not deliver an object based on perfect squares.

It does, however, show the technique and the kind of result I can expect to achieve.

Once again, it was lovely way to spend a Sunday - learning techniques with a great teacher and sharing my learning and endeavours with a small group of like-minded women. Bliss.

Ort Pots Galore

On my recent trip to the NSW Southern Highlands, I took the makings of three more Ort pots. I thought the two friends with whom I was travelling might be interested in the concept and I had also promised to make one in the fabric I had used for my third Basics and Beyond project - a bonus accessory to the suite of products in the B2B course.

My friends were intrigued, then wrapt. They both wanted Ort Pots for their knitting threads!

Robin chose this one, from Liberty fabric given to me as a birthday present by a cousin in London.

Pat went for this Morris Meadows fabric left over from a skirt I smocked a few years ago.

I had done some fussy cutting to get the rose on the bottom of the pot - both inside and out.

This left me with my own one to finish in front of our wood fire before I came home and added it to my B2B suite of accessories.





Everyone is happy and I still have the makings of three more to meet the needs of my SitnStitch friends, who are still keen and one of my daughters who has put in an order.

They really are a lot of fun to make and use.

Embroiderers' Guild of SA class: Ort Pot

I recently attended a most enjoyable one-day class at the Guild to make on Ort pot. Orts are the left-overs, for embroiderers mostly bits of thread or small scraps of fabric. The word derives from Middle English 'orte' meaning food scraps, which was, in its turn derived from either Dutch or German. 

Gay Sanderson, a long-term member of our Guild, has come up with an ingenious design for a small, personal, portable ort bin to carry with you and collect those annoying threads such as I leave all over the house - and anywhere else I go.  Gay has enlisted her husband Peter to cut the rings of polythene pipe that are an essential part of the kit for this project. I had purchased a kit for one of these some time ago, but hadn't got around to making one. When Gay offered a class, I figured enrolling was a way to tick off one more project on my list.

My kit came with this attractive fabric all cut to size. Since I purchased it, Gay has modified the size a little, so I needed to do a tiny bit of cutting.                                                                                  There were eight of us in the class, and we had a really enjoyable time, adapting, cutting, stitching and watching the pot emerge. Gay is a relaxed and flexible teacher.

By early in the afternoon I had my completed pot.

The big attraction is the way it folds up to fit in
a work box, bag or basket. It takes up less space than scissors.
















As I finished with time to spare, I embroidered an initial on the base between the folds.

I have actually been using mine at home while working on my Jenny Adin-Christie roundel from my recent embroidery retreat.

Of course, at the end of the class I was so enthusiastic about my little ort pot that I bought another 4 sets of rings and circles so I could make some more with friends, or as gifts, so ticking this project off my list does not reduce my list at all. They are, however, objects I can make while travelling, talking or watching TV. I don't actually need any more projects for travelling, talking or watching TV.  They were such good fun to do that I'd like to share them with others - perhaps my SitnStitch group will be interested.

Back to Basics: Project 4

I have had quite a bit of time to think about my 4th Back to Basics Project. Since  last posting about Back to Basics my hussif has been assessed (successful!) and displayed. I have also done quite a bit of thinking about the next Project which is a library bag with an embroidery design and a construction element. The design has to be based around, or incorporate, the student's initial. It requires sturdy, plain fabric for the outside and a patterned fabric lining.


I wanted to keep the bag (which, since I read almost everything electronically, I will not use for library books) within the same colour and design range of my earlier Back to Basics projects. I also wanted to use fabric from my stash.

I came up with some khaki drill and a Japanese cotton floral.



Gay Sanderson, who runs the Back to Basics course, had pointed out to me that my Project 3 embroidery design incorporated stitches that looked very like the J of my initial - so I had been working on this. It led me to think about J curves and for a while I toyed with the idea of a pulled back curtain - but in the end I was drawn to extending the floral design of the husif.


This took me to framing the husif design with trees, incorporating upside-down J curves in the branches. I was also keen to make them Australian trees - so ended up with a flowering gum and a wattle tree. These also give me scope to use a range of stitches, since texture is also a criterion for this project.





One of my fellow students, Mary, kindly gave me some of her large graph paper so I cut it to fit the embroidery space on my bag and scaled up the drawing.
I'm planning to incorporate quite a range of stitches, and I've managed to get some of those elusive shisha mirrors from Barbara Mullan to include this time.

My first embroidery step, however, will be to get the outlines of the framing tree branches in place. I will miss the July meeting of the group next week because of my knee reconstruction (which, incidentally, has gone well - home tomorrow) but I'm happy to take my time on this one. It is such an enjoyable group to belong to that I'm in no hurry to complete the full 5 projects that comprise the course!

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.