Jacobean Crewel module and a little Recreational Stitching.

Tags

#royalneedlework, Crewelwork, Crewelwork; stitches, Future Tutor, RSN

The RSN Future Tutors course has a very packed schedule and we are now well into the first term. We have received our marks and assessors comments for our first Basic Skills piece and I am very happy to get the feedback on this as we have already moved onto stitching our next assessed pieces. Must remember that I still need to pay attention to the rebate when Mounting!

Jacobean Crewelwork

The first assessed technique I have stitched is Jacobean Crewelwork. Our tutor has guided us through developing our design, choosing colours, applying the design to the fabric and then finally commencing the stitching. I developed a stitch plan and, using traditional Linen Twill fabric and Appleton’s crewel wools, I am now almost finished stitching the design. In my design I have tried to represent the elements I have seen in the parks around Hampton Court Palace and I think it is coming along fairly well.

Dogs everywhere!

Art and Design classes have also commenced – this is an area that I do not have very much confidence in. The exercises that our tutor has set will hopefully build on my very limited skills, and maybe one day I will be able to get a sketch design down on paper so that it actually looks like the design I have in mind. Until then I will practice and continue to trace and adapt.

Recreational Stitching

I love to try new stitch techniques so when I saw Jacquie McDonald‘s Stumpwork Vegetable Garden advertised on the RSN website, I had to make time to take this one day class – luckily for me it was on the weekend. It was a wonderful kit with all the supplies so nicely packaged and the fabric printed ready for us to commence. Jacqui took us through all of the vegetables one by one as we created our own gardens.

Lovely Kit

Here is my finished piece still in the hoop. I think I might use it in the top of a box when I find time to make one, or maybe I will be able to find a wooden box with the right sized opening. Love the Cauliflower!

Jacqui McDonald Vegetable Patch design, stitched by Sally Randle

Knitting and Stitching Show – Alexandra Palace.

The other adventure I have been on recently is attending the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace. This event is huge and I found it somewhat overwhelming to see so many stalls and traders – and so many goodies – all in one place.

I was lucky enough to be demonstrating on the RSN stand and also assisting in a Learning Curve class along with two of the other Future Tutors. The class was lots of fun and the students so eager to learn that the hour and a half just flew past. What a great experience. I will need to be more organised for it next year as I will get to lead one of the classes myself. So exciting!

I will also have to get my shopping list ready so I don’t get so distracted by all the shiny objects on sale. I mostly restricted myself to some interesting threads and needles this year. As Canvas Stitches is our next assessed module I was on the look out for interesting threads to include in my piece. I also found some curved Tapestry needles that might come in useful.

What a guy!

My other surprise from this event was that my husband purchased me a pair of handmade Ernest Wright embroidery scissors for our anniversary, which just happened to be right after the show. They are very beautiful, feel very good in the hand, cut superbly, and certainly are one of those tools to treasure for a lifetime then pass on. Ernest Wright have a Utube video on how they make their scissors that is worth watching.

Thanks for reading, now I must get back to stitching.

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!

Moving in and getting on with Embroidery

Tags

#HamptonCourtPalace, #royalneedlework, #royalschoolofneedlework

From my last blog post you will be aware that I was super excited to have been offered a place by the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) on their 3 year Future Tutors course, and that taking up this offer involved packing up my life in Australia and moving to the U.K. to follow my dream. The planning and preparation for the move had taken over from everything else in my life for the last few months, and has been a huge effort, greatly supported by family and friends, with lots of tedious admin, some sheer physical hard work, and a little luck, but now its done.

As of this week we have finally settled into a cute little cottage in the village near Hampton Court Palace. The Future Tutors course will actually commence in early September so, just to keep my embroidery hand in, I decided to take a couple of recreational stitching day classes at the RSN during the second half of August. Fortunately this plan allowed me to have a break from assembling all the Ikea bits and pieces we purchased to furnish the cottage in order to make it our home for the next 3 years!

Being at the RSN also enabled me to catch up during lunch time with some of the lovely girls I had met in class last year – they were there all completing their Goldwork intensive classes. Really lucky to see the beautiful Goldwork work being done by Sonja, Louisa, Marlous and Caitlin.

Rachel Doyle – Sailing kit

My first RSN day class was with the lovely tutor and designer Rachel Doyle. The class piece was her gorgeous little “Sailing” boat design in Pulled Whitework. I first saw this design pop up on the RSN Facebook site when they were advertising the next batch of day classes and immediately knew that this was one I would love to try. I was also fortunate to have had Rachel as a tutor previously when doing Canvas Stitches classes, and I knew her designs and kits were really special. I briefly in a previous post about another of Rachel Doyle’s kits ‘ The Wool Rack’ that I completed last summer.

It was a lovely day to be at the Palace with the summer sun shining after a few grey days. For me it felt like I was returning home – the lovely RSN course managers Noleen and Hari are so welcoming – and Rachel had the room beautifully set up ready for the class of 12 eager students. See all those Purple bags!

In Class at RSN Hampton Court Palace

The best thing about taking a day class at the RSN is that you can simply turn up and everything is supplied – however I still need to remember to take my close up stitching glasses!

My stitched pulled work – Rachel Doyle’s design and kit

I did manage to get this piece finished and in my next post I will show you what I plan to do with it.

I am loving being back in the U.K.