Friday, June 7, 2013

Lesson One


Yesterday I went for a lesson to learn about Schwalm embroidery. Here's a link to Mary Corbet's description of Schwalm embroidery. The teacher had assembled 'kits' for us with the right sort of material, pattern and threads. I chose a beginner pattern, which I was glad about when it came time to trace it onto the fabric. You can't really see the tracing in the photo above - I kept the lines as faint as possible to be sure that the embroidery will cover them! The material has to be an evenweave, with definite threads, as later we will have to pull some of the threads out. Yesterday we learnt to do coral stitch and chain stitch for outlining the main elements of the pattern. Here's a close up:

8 comments:

  1. Tour stitches look so nice and even! It all looks so interesting, and if you have to cut the fabric away in parts, that's a bit like Hardanger, isn't it?
    I wish I could do fine embroidery - it was something my mother did exceedingly well, but I never got past the sampler stage.
    One thing I did learn to do very well was darning - my grandmother taught me, but these days there's not a lot of reason to darn!

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    1. I think there are more threads left than in Hardanger, you only pull some of the threads out. I think darning is a useful skill to have, though these days we tend to chuck things out rather than mend them.

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  2. It looks a lovely pattern and you are off to a good start, looking forward to seeing it when you have finished
    Margaret

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  3. Fascinating! Having never heard of this type of embroidery, I am intrigued. Do show more as you are able.

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  4. I have a book on Schwalm embroidery, but I haven't gotten past reading it! Looks great so far!

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  5. How interesting. I can just about remember making a drawn thread work table cloth (which I still have) whilst I was at school!

    How did your knitted jumper fare in the national competition you entered it into?

    You have so many talents. Do you ever sleep???!!!

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  6. Amazingly beautiful sort of embroidery!
    I am really curious about the further steps of your work!

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  7. I will definitely show my progress when I make any! I think it could combine well with tatting, once I get the hang of it.

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