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Stitched up with Thread

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Stitched up with Thread

Category Archives: Monogramming

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Summer Holidays – with recreational stitching

03 Monday Sep 2018

Posted by Sally in Canvas Stitches, Canvaswork Module, Embroidered Gifts, Monogramming, Needlework Accessories, RSN - a learning adventure, RSN Adventures 2018

≈ 4 Comments

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.

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Shops I visited in Paris
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
Little felted folk
Waterfalls
Waterfalls
Northern Lights
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.

image

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.

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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.

 

 

 

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Monogramming – a short course at Hand & Lock

21 Tuesday Aug 2018

Posted by Sally in Embroidery, Monogramming, RSN Adventures 2018

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Bullion, Goldwork, Hand&Lock, monogram

After stitching solidly on the RSN certificate in Technical Hand Embroidery for the last 8 weeks I decided that I needed to plan some recreational stitching to help me wind down. Scrolling across websites I noticed that Hand and Lock were offering a two day weekend Monogramming class in London on the very weekend after I finished the last of the Certificate modules.

Hand and Lock  have been Embroiderers since 1767 and they specialise in Military Goldwork along with bespoke embroidery and beading on garments. Their school offers classes in Tambour and Monogramming, and they will also be taking these classes to SanFrancisco shortly.

Louise, who was one of my classmates on all of the RSN intensives, decided to join me for these two days of fun, so we travelled in together each day by train and tube to attend the class at the H&L premises in Fitzrovia. It was great to have her along as a fellow adventurer.

Our tutor was the lovely Juliette Ferry, who had undertaken her Embroidery training in France (she is French) and has been working at H&L for a couple of years now. Across the weekend she took us through applying stitch guides via prick and pounce, and stitching three different styles of Monogram fonts (Block, Fishtail, and Script).  The class was very relaxed and lots of fun and I managed to get a few small monograms stitched on my working cloth.

The other wonderful part of taking a class at Hand and Lock was the opportunity to take a tour of their workrooms and see the wonderful Goldwork military badges, uniform elements, and goldwork supplies they have in their storerooms. I was drooling over the gorgeous gold braids and cords.

This was two fun days that have really helped me to wind down from  the RSN intensives. Tomorrow I am off on a short trip to Paris – where I hope to get to an Embroidery shop or two!

Juliette’s embroidery frame in the H&L workroom.
Juliette’s embroidery frame in the H&L workroom.
The Hand & Lock front door.
The Hand & Lock front door.
Our class was conducted in the middle of the main workroom. We were surrounded by pieces in progress and lovely samples of work.
Our class was conducted in the middle of the main workroom. We were surrounded by pieces in progress and lovely samples of work.
Look at all that Gold Braid!
Look at all that Gold Braid!
Juliette demonstrates script monogramming.
Juliette demonstrates script monogramming.
I managed a few small samples, but I need to work on my technique.
I managed a few small samples, but I need to work on my technique.

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