Filet lace workshop

The August Embroiderers' Guild of SA Certificate Course workshop was taken by Deb Richardson and focused on filet lace. I knew nothing about filet lace, and had been unable to source locally any of the fish-net on which it is stitched. Deb, of course, had prepared a little kit for us to use and a design small enough not to be daunting, but large enough to try out five different stitches using three different thicknesses of thread.

I found some of it (mostly the woven section using 12 pearl thread) very hard on my eyes and I had not thought to bring magnifiers.

I wasn't sure I would finish it, but I picked it up a couple of weeks after the class - with a magnifier - and had another play. This time I managed the weaving.



This is my finished piece.

It is an adaptation of Deb's design as I stuffed up the border placement. When I began I was focused on learning the stitch rather than placement. The top and bottom borders should be shorter, so that the corners are open.

The pieces Deb had prepared were generously backed with calico, which we cut away carefully before beginning to stitch.

This provided a means of mounting the finished piece on to something else. I, of course, thought I would mount it on a bag.



I dug out a few pieces of fabric I thought might work and consulted with Katherine, Niamh and Veronica.

They chose this blue silk sleeve. My mother bought me the Italian silk in Italy in the 80s and I made myself a shirtmaker dress. It has long gone, but I kept (for some reason I don't remember) a sleeve from it. The colour shows up the filet lace quite nicely.

I removed the cuff, undid the gathering and squared off the shoulder fitting, to make a long thin bag that will hold (if all else fails) a bottle of wine.
In the end I reduced the calico mount to a narrow hem and hand-stitched both the inside and the outside edge on to the silk.





I feather-stitched the bottom of the bag (the top of the sleeve) closed
and the top opening into a drawstring channel.

I then made a cord and a tassel from the 5 pearl thread.

So here we have a slightly odd drawstring bag to show off the filet lace.

It doesn't exactly scream 'wine bag' but I'm sure it will prove to be perfect for some long, thin present in the not-too-distant future.

And I've learnt a bit, had quite a bit of fun and done justice to my mother's gift of fabric.

Thanks Deb.

Russian Drawn Thread Workshop

I'm a bit behind in my postings. I attended the CertificateWorkshop for July last weekend - before I had posted this one from June!

The Embroiderers' Guild of SA Graduate Certificate June workshop was on Russian drawn thread work and taken by Carol Stacy, who had spent months researching and Guild at it's very best - a learning community of members researching, practising and sharing their skills. Thanks Carol! 

I worked in 28 count linen. These days I avoid anything finer if at all possible. The work is traditionally, but not exclusively,  worked with the same colour thread as the linen, but to work on 28 count I needed to have matching thread in both Perle 8 and 12 and my stash gave me no choice but pink in the two thicknesses. It turned out well for me - it was much easier to see!

I didn't take photos of the early stages. It took me an hour or so to work the button-hole border and a bit longer to trace and edge a leave shape inside the square. We then removed threads in quarters of the remaining fabric in the square and bound the remaining threads. It was pretty exciting to see the emergence of the mesh of holes at that stage.

There are, of course, a lot of patterns possible. Counted work is not my passion, but I still love to see the transformation of a piece of solid linen into something open and patterned. There is a quiet joy in it. I feel the temptation to keep working more samples just to see the variety of patterns emerge.

Of course, I wasn't content to leave the piece as a sample. Had I been enrolled in the Certificate Course and not just attending for fun, I'd have filed this carefully with other samplers I had worked. As it is I, of course, turned it into a bag.

It was a small matter to buttonhole a hem, work a twisted cord and two tassels. It will make a useful gift bag or I can fill it with lavender or rose petals.                                                                                       Great workshop, great company and a useful product - so grateful to be part of the Embroiderers' Guild.

Second BATB class: French Birdcage

The second class I took at Beating Around the Bush in early October was a two day class with Christine Bishop, to make her French "Birdcage" Workbox and Accessories.

Christine was kind enough to hold up her finished piece so we could photograph it.

It has six panels - and quite a few accessories!


We spent the first day of the class learning the stitches required for the panels - by working one panel, not to completion, but to the point where the components were clear.

We worked Italian four-sided stitch, satin stitch and double running stitch, before learning Sorbello knots - which give texture to the birds.



On the second day we switched to the Scissor Fob and worked the whole thing in a day - helped along by Christine making all our cords for us!



It was terrific to go home with something completed. I have added a pair of scissors to my fob and will use them in completing the project - as an incentive.


Since the class finished I have worked on a second panel. I took it to one of the Guild's Thursday stitch-in evenings.

I need, however to take a desk light if I am going to continue to do this - counted thread work is hard on my eyes. I found even the double running stitch quite difficult without light. I found it hard to place my needle in the same hole on the return journey - you can see where the needle has glanced off by one thread. This, I learned from another class, is a common problem, addressed by angling the needle under the previous stitch.

Nevertheless, I have one panel finished - minus the bird.

I need to work on some Christmas items - as well as the other classes I am attending - so am not sure how much more I will get done in the next couple of months. This is a medium-to-long term project.