Boxing up the Whitework Ship

Tags

#royalschoolofneedlework, RSN, Whitework

The second RSN short course that I had enrolled in – just for a little recreational holiday stitching – was Advanced Box Making with Heather Lewis. This 2 day course was conducted over a Saturday and Sunday in mid August at Hampton Court Palace.

Creating fabric covered boxes – usually incorporating embroidery – is one of the techniques that the RSN offers as an option on their Diploma. Heather Lewis, our tutor, has been working at the RSN for almost 20 years in a variety of roles across both Studio work and tutoring, and she has significant experience in box making. She is actually now in the final stages of preparing to release a book on Box Making, and she brought along a number of her beautiful boxes to inspire us.

Fabric hinge on Purple box by Heather Lewis.

This was my first attempt at making this type of stitched box and for this advanced class we were encouraged to design our own box that would incorporate both a drawer and a hinge. I decided that I would also like to incorporate the Whitework piece that I had worked earlier in the month. The little Ship motif in Rachel Doyle’s design led me to selecting a navy coloured outer fabric with small anchors printed on it.

My fabric choices

The fabrics we used for our boxes were standard quilting cottons, as these hold up well to being firmly pulled and stitched around the cardboard forms. There was a lot of curved needle stitching in this piece, and lots of math/calculations working out exactly how to make all the pieces fit together.

My box making in progress

I am happy with how the whole box eventually came together – though I do need to pay more attention to mitred corners and ensuring to that the drawer fabric pattern matches and fits seamlessly into the front.

I was really happy when I found these really cute little Anchor charms in a bead shop in Kingston to use as drawer pulls which I think helped to finish the piece off nicely.

The Future Tutor course starts this week – Can’t wait for the adventure to start!

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Summer Holidays – with recreational stitching

Tags

#royalschoolofneedlework, Canvaswork, needlebook, Needlecase, RSN, Travel

For the last two weeks I have been having a short break from taking RSN classes.  The RSN doesn’t schedule classes during the assessment periods (there was an Assessment week at the end of the last of the summer Intensive classes) and the late August/ early September period is also their Summer break before classes start up again in mid September. I know that my RSN tutors have earned their break, and I think after 8 intensive weeks I really needed to focus my eyes somewhere else as well.

I have used these two weeks to get in a little travel, starting with five days in France and, after a short trip back to our U.K. base, another 5 days in Iceland. These trips were not meant to be anything more than relaxing sightseeing however I have not been able to resist a couple of thread and fibre related excursions.

In Paris, which was mostly hot and sunny,  I used the Metro to get around and managed to visit a few haberdashery shops – you can see which ones in the photo of business cards attached. Some beautiful silk and linen threads, some plain handkerchiefs ideal to Monogram, interesting beads, along with a couple of small kits from Sajou made their way into my luggage.

Shops I visited in Paris

 

During our short break in Iceland, during which we experienced rain, sleet, freezing temperatures, blowing winds and hot sunny periods, my fibre explorations were limited to fondling Icelandic wool products, with some lovely felting to be seen in many shops. There were so many amazing sights to enjoy – waterfalls, tectonic plates, lava beds, and northern lights –  that each day was filled with excursions and exploring.

Little felted folk

Waterfalls

Northern Lights

 

On both of these trips I took along recreational stitching in the form of a Rachel Doyle Canvaswork kit called ‘The Wool Rack’ that I had picked up in the RSN shop. Rachel has intended this small kit to be made up onto a pincushion and each stitched square is about 2cm square.

Rachel Doyle – Canvas Stitches ‘ The Wool Rack ‘

My reasons for commencing this kit included using it as an introduction to some basic Canvas stitches before commencing my next RSN class in Durham on the 7th September, and as a lovely reminder of the wool rack that can be found in the RSN studios at Hampton Court Palace, which I managed to get a photo of during a special studio tour.

The wool rack in the RSN Studio at Hampton Court Palace

 

I decided that to give myself more practice in Canvas stitches I would extend the stitching area of this small project out to 10 columns of 5 stitches. This gave me room to practice some of the additional canvas stitches that are recommended in the RSN brief for the Canvas Stitches Module. Rachel had allowed plenty of extra canvas around her design so it was possible to extend the grid of squares reasonably easily. I intend to make up my stitched piece into a Needlebook.

We have arrived back at our U.K. base tonight and currently I have 4 columns of stitches remaining on this project. After a couple of days here catching up on washing etc we will then head north by car aiming to reach to the RSN satellite site in Durham ready to commence my next class. My next update should be about the Canvas Stitches class.

 

 

 

RSN Goldwork- 4th (and final) Certificate Module finished

Tags

#HamptonCourtPalace, #royalneedlework, #royalschoolofneedlework, Goldwork, RSN

Goldwork is done – yeah! Time to relax and let it all sink in.

Stitching the RSN Goldwork on silk is challenging but fun, and the best thing was that of all the Certificate classes this was the most relaxed. Maybe I have just become accustomed to the pace of stitching needed in an intensive class?

With the fabulous Shelly Cox as our Tutor, and Nikki as her efficient assistant, and 6 willing students, they made the class a joy. We were organised and assisted, we were given homework sheets to follow, we were told what we had done well and also what needed to be redone, and we all managed to finish our piece on time.

Thinking back over this last two weeks, the thing I have enjoyed the most with Goldwork is learning the order in which to work all of the gold techniques and threads. Padding sets the foundation and getting this right is critical to the success of the final piece. Couching takes concentration and plunging the ends of couched threads is noisy and scary – so easy to get it wrong. Tying back the plunged ends is tedious but necessary. Solid Chipping is a puzzle to solve – can I fit another chip into that space. Cutwork is challenging and needs lots of practice to do well. However I think the end result is worth the effort.  Here are a few images of these steps as I did them on my Goldwork piece.

Padding with felt and string

Tying back plunged ends

Solid chipping

Couched work with Japanese, Twist and Rococco

Cutwork – Bright Check and Smooth Purl

RSN Certificate Goldwork Module – SallyR

Embroidering Pinchusions

Tags

Bullion, Chain Stitch, French Knots

One of the things I love to look at when I go along to stitching groups and classes are the beautiful stitching accessories that so many embroiderers have in their work bags. So often the items will be both useful and pretty. My own work box has mostly practical rather than decorative items so time for a little embellishment I thought.

Coincidentally I had just finished up a container of Baking Powder and as I was about to dispose of the container into the recycling I was struck by the idea of using this cardboard tube container as the base for a new embroidered pincushion. I found a long narrow strip of linen left over from a previous project, thinking there should be just enough in the piece to make up into two small pin cushions which I could make by cutting the container in half.

The pictures show how I stitched the pincushion sides first as two facing strips of embroidery – I was being very economical with the fabric. Then I embroidered the circular tops which were hand sewn to the side strips and the resultant piece pulled over the polyfilled half container. The bottoms were made from fabric covered card circles. A little twisted cord around the top to finish and wow two small pincushions done!

The embroidery design is my own based on basic embroidery stitches, and using DMC threads left over from previous projects. This was very much a ‘use up what you have’ project. Now what could I do with that empty Bisto Gravy Granules container sitting on the counter?

 

 

 

Embroidered eyes – character in a few stitches.

While embroidery is my real love I have found myself side tracked or rather “hooked” on crocheting Amigurumi creatures lately.

My first attempt at a crocheted creature was the little sheep I posted previously, and they were a great way to get into the swing of the continuous spiral method of working that is central to Amigurumi.

I really fell for the TOFT Bunny design though it took me a little while to get into the swing of this ‘Emma’ pattern, and I think a good part of the problem was that I was not 100% happy with the feel of the yarn as it moved through my hands. Changing to a yarn with a better hand / feel meant that the ‘Bridget’ Elephant just jumped of the crochet hook. Amazing how touch is such an important part of our enjoyment of a craft.

The only embroidery on these little creatures is the eyes and maybe a nose – I am not a fan of plastic eyes –  but those few little stitches can make such a difference and really establishes the character. On my first attempt my Bunny had a terrific squint. I think that they both have their correct faces on now.

Emma Bunny has now gone off to her new home. Bridget Elephant is sitting on the dining table while I decide if she needs little tusks embroidered on.

Patterns for both can can be found in the Edwards Menagerie book by Kerry Lord.

Quick Stitched Christening Gifts

Tags

Bullion, Chain Stitch

Happy New Year to all.

The Christmas /New Year season in Brisbane is so hot and humid that I have not had either the time nor inclination for stitching – leading to a decided lack of progress on all my current pieces. Amongst the many enjoyable activities with Children, Grandchildren and extended family across the holidays, I had forgotten that one special event was the Christening of our dear friends first grandchild.

Knowing that an embroidered gift was expected I was at a loss for ideas on what to stitch, and time was running out. Pinterest to the rescue! though I do have to be careful or the hours just slip by as I look with fascination at the pretty pictures. The answer to the Christening gift was resolved with a little embroidery on a small onesie and a personalised wall hanging for the nursery.

A good evening of enjoyable stitching for me, and gifts that were loved by the new parents.

Bullion Roses and French Knots

Nursery wall hanging.

Now to find the time to get back to that Redwork…