A textile workshop...stitching memories.

I'm currently on an enforced break with carpal tunnel syndrome in my right hand. Sewing, drawing, writing, even typing this post sends my thumb and forearm into a strange mix of tingling/numbness/ache/ burning... and I have to stop.

The word 'pants' comes to mind! 

It's been a challenging couple of weeks, not being able to do anything creative. So today I want to focus on some lovely stitching...keep my mind on things to look forward to when my body decides it's ready...... (please be sooooon!!!)

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to do a little intimate workshop where we played with a transfer technique along with some embroidery to stitch up a little memory, using a personal photo and a mix of neutral fabrics and vintage linen.

I stitched a couple of 'sentimental stitching ' samples which I shared on my blog here and here.

I opted for a neutral colour theme for a few reasons. The main reason being that each person coming along was to send me a photo in advance so I could edit it and print it out for the day. Knowing that these photos would vary in quality and colour I reckoned turning all the images to black and white would help get the best transferred images.

This also helped reduce the amount of fabric to bring which was necessary as we were working in a small intimate studio space.

(Which is helpful as I've discovered from experience that it's impossible to cater for everyone's colour preferences! A limited palette means I don't have to worry about missing someone's preferred choice out.)

This also presents an opportunity to try something new and work outside the go-to colour choice. (never a bad thing me thinks!) 

Saying that however almost everyone managed to add in a little pop of colour!

Above are the ladies busy stitching away which you can tell by the glasses balanced on the end of noses . Love that :) 
Below are the beautiful pieces sewn on the day....

You can't tell from the photo, but the darker fabric was a gorgeous, sumptuous, deep purple velvet. It was inspired from the clothes that Kate remembers her Great Grandmother wearing, depicted in the photo on the right ...she lived to be over 100 years, and was quite a character by all accounts. Really like the variety of textures in this piece....sumptuous like the velvet.

This is Karen's work (below) in progress, with her Grandfather in his milking gear. A lot of time went into her beautiful stitches...I love the little white running stitches which contrast with the black lace.

And I love how the stitches follow the fabric shape and create a little arc. I'd like to see this piece when it's finished.

This is Sharon (below) as a young girl with her family, and some fantastic floral wallpaper in the background! I really enjoyed seeing the layers build on this piece and the addition of blue stitches and ribbon are such a great compliment to the tiny seed beads that were on the recycled lace.

Dorothy's photo was the most recent....a sweet embrace of her husband and son. She created a super composition, combining a mix of shapes and textures with fun pops of blue....feels quite reminiscent of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. 

All unique and gorgeous, I think you'll agree.

And while we are on the topic of these stitched memories,or 'sentimental stitching' as I like to refer to it,  one of the samples I created caught the eye of Amy who hosts Friday instagram finds for the popular sewing blog 'Feeling stitchy'. So some of my stitched bits and bobs got a wee feature....that made me smile :)

Hope all is good in your world...and if any one has the urge could you do a couple of stitches for me ;)xx

Some more sentimental stitching....

 Last weekend I managed to fit in some time to create another sample piece for an upcoming workshop I am hosting. The workshop 'theme' is to create a little personal textile piece playing with transfer techniques, applique, embroidery, vintage fabrics, suffolk puffs and a bit of kantha stitching too! I'm only taking fabrics of a neutral colour, to match the black and white photos....something a little different for me, and which I must admit my brain finds a little weird! (it's like...hello! something is missing here....)

 

If you are interested in having a go at transferring an image onto fabric, I created a tutorial on how to do this a while back, which you can find HERE.

stitching in progress...

This is my Granny and Grandad 'Jink and Chick', celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. I wasn't even a sparkle in my Dad's eye at this point ;) 

They met when my Granny was 14 and he was 15, and got married several years later, when they had both carried out their military service after 'signing up' during the 2nd World War. My Grandad never spoke about 'the War' and his experiences in the front line trenches in Europe. I can't even begin to imagine the horrors, but I do know how much he loved my Granny, and can imagine how much comfort and happiness this brought him. She was the absolute apple of his eye.

Granny had all kinds of weird and wonderful superstitions,which I can only remember little snippets of. Suffice to say if I see a blackbird or a robin I think of her. They were both real lovers of gardening too, which after my Grandad died my Granny embraced wholeheartedly...boy did the garden bloom once she came along!
                             

 They are both together now.... which makes me smile. 

Lovebirds are meant to be together.

xx

From two tender hearts grew my Home

This weekend I spent hand embroidering to create a prototype for an upcoming workshop where we play with image transfers and embroidery. 

It felt like a welcome breath of fresh air ........ and got me feeling emotional!

'From two tender hearts grew my Home'.........my gorgeous Mum and Dad on their wedding day some 45 years ago :D

It fills me with so much emotion; gratitude and love, to see these 2 youngsters and their tender hearts...without much of a clue about anything else.... who together managed to fumble along and create this deep, strong and love filled home so I was always able to know who I was and where I was from.

x 

So blessed :)

Transfer an image onto fabric using gel medium

This tutorial has been re-located to my website. You can find it here.