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ISSUE 177, MARCH 15 2019
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INSPIRATIONS. ALL Stitched Up!
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Hi There,
Are you a planner? Do you plan for the future as well as planning for things to go as planned?!

Some of us take to planning naturally and find ourselves feeling a little lost when either the plans we’ve made run out or when the plan we had is no longer going to plan. Some of us avoid plans at all costs, preferring to fly by the seat of our pants, ready to tackle whatever comes our way whenever it may come.

At Inspirations, our production timeline and schedules mean we have to be planners, like it or not!

Whilst it’s only Mar ’19, we find ourselves already knee deep in plans that won’t come to fruition until Oct ’20. We’re thinking about projects, locations, props and event details, and whilst the planning can sometimes seem like it goes on forever, we’ve learned from experience that the ‘magic’ of the final result is usually directly correlated to the number of hours we’ve poured into the planning.
The same is true of our time with needle and thread. We often find that the time we’ve spent planning – reading and rereading instructions to make sure we’ve got the order of work clear in our minds, sourcing just the right supplies, creating a timeline to ensure we finish what we start and then creating a plan for the parts of the project that didn’t quite go as planned – is what brings the final result together.
So, whilst the ‘magic’ usually happens as we lay the final stitch, it’s important to remember that it’s often the hours of planning that went into the piece that allowed the magic to come to pass!
 
World of Needlework
Showing Off Your Sewing Skills
By Nancy Williams

My sewing machine and I aren’t always friends. Oftentimes we have arguments because of its nasty habit of doing what it wants to do, not what I want it to do. I’m a hand embroiderer first and foremost. However, this standoff was becoming unpleasant for both me and my machine and so I took the initiative and started sewing classes. And suddenly, I began to see how we could work together to make beautiful things.
The first step to working with my sewing machine was to find a pattern to make. Modern commercial paper patterns for making garments first became popular in the 1860s, when McCalls and Butterick produced tissue paper patterns for both women’s and men’s clothing in various sizes. Over the years, patterns reflected fashions and were available for all kinds of garments and accessories including hats, bags and gloves. Soon, ready to wear fashion became cheaper and more available, and so dressmaking shifted from an essential skill to a leisure activity, not unlike most other handcrafts today.
Vintage sewing patterns (source)
Modern patterns are readily available at fabric stores and haberdasheries. However, if you prefer vintage patterns, you have a choice of tens of thousands of free patterns available online. Once you have your pattern, you just need to choose your fabric, and you can begin.
But as embroiderers, we have that extra ability to look at a pattern and imagine something more.
What’s to stop us adding some smocking to an empire line dress? How about some satin stitch flowers on the front of a homemade shirt or blouse? Or a stitched panel in place of a waistband or wristbands? And this is just on clothing – when one starts to consider accessories, the possibilities open even further.

We’ve all faced the issue of seeing something we want to stitch but wondering whether it is possible to put one more thing up on the wall. Not to mention the enormous cost of framing.
A leisurely flick through the accessories and home decorating tabs in the latest Butterick catalogue can be a revelation. Bags, cushions, curtains, chair covers, hats and even stitching totes are all available and could all be used to show off our embroidery skills. Suddenly, not everything is limited to the walls of our own homes. The world can see what we do every time we leave the house.
We know there are many of you who are skilled at creating wonderful things with the sewing machine, often without even needing to refer to patterns. I can but aspire to be like you. In the meantime, I am grateful to Mr. Butterick although I have yet to succeed in sewing a straight seam. But I’m pleased to report that my sewing machine, my needle and I are forming a deep and lasting friendship.
Have Your Say
HYS | ANTIQUE TEXTILES

After sharing one of the latest books to come across our desks at Inspirations - ‘A Life Less Ordinary | Interiors and Inspirations’ – in issue #174 of our newsletter HERE, Dina from Montreal, Canada shared how her life is all the richer for the inclusion of antique textiles in her home…

‘Your recent newsletter truly resonated with me — on a couple of fronts. Firstly, the theme of antique textiles: I’ve always loved browsing in antique shops, with folksy pieces and vintage needlework being my weakness. I bought my first sampler at an antique mall in San Antonio some 25 years ago. That started me off on a collection that now numbers close to 100 and covers most of the walls of my condominium.’
‘It was only after I retired a few years back that I decided to try embroidery myself. I joined a local guild, took class after class and got hooked! I enjoy my antique samplers on a whole different level these days.’
‘Secondly, the line quoted from A Life Less Ordinary - Interiors and Inspirations about ‘a very old pair of tiny shoes’ also struck me as I have just such a pair on display in my home. They are a family keepsake that my late husband brought home from England after a visit. They were worn by his father’s sister, little Alice May, before she passed away at three years of age in 1907. Love your newsletter and magazine! Dina Marshall.’

Dina, we love that antique textiles have made not only your home all the richer for their inclusion, but also your life as they prompted you to pick up needle and thread for yourself. And those shoes! What treasure they hold in construction, history and a very personal connection to family.
Needlework News
New Digital Pattern | Abundant Riches
One of the great things about going to a bar or restaurant with a jukebox is not only can you choose some of your favourite tunes, you also get to share your brilliant song choices with everyone else in the room.
This week it’s Jo Cooke’s turn to share her project of choice with everyone as we have just added ‘Abundant Riches’ by Margaret Light as a digital pattern after receiving Jo’s request.

This superb jewellery roll, from Inspirations issue #80, features exotic crewel work blooms in a rich palette of colours.

If you have a favourite Inspirations project you’d like released as a digital pattern, slip a dime in the Inspirations Jukebox by sending us an email with your request and we’ll do our best to play the song for you!
 
DIGITAL PATTERN
Abundant Riches
 
Joyful Stitching
Joyful Stitching is not just something we get to experince everytime we pick up our needle and thread, it’s also the name of a wonderfully fun and colourful new book by Laura Wasilowski.
After our editorial team fell in love with Joyful Stitching while reviewing it for Inspirations issue #101 (see page 15), we just had to stock it on our website so we could share it with all of you.
This book is a creative catalyst designed to inspire the reader to not only replicate the designs included, but to design their own pieces using free-form or improvisational stitching. It is the perfect companion to hold your hand while taking the first steps in experimenting with your own designs, patterns and textures.

Limited copies available, order today to avoid disappointment.
 
PRINTED BOOK
Joyful Stitching
 
Stepping Back in Time
We’ve probably all looked at those magnificent dresses from movies such as Dangerous Liaisons or Amadeus and wondered what it would be like to actually wear one. Well, Lauren Rossi did more than just dream. She combined her background in costume design with a love of fabric, colour and embroidery to make her own historical wardrobe.
Once of Lauren Rossi’s creations (source)
Modelling her creations herself, Lauren soon discovered the benefits and drawbacks of corsets, panniers and oodles of skirts.
I find my actions to be more controlled and feminine, my posture to be better and overall it slows my pace so I can appreciate what I see around me.
Each creation is accompanied by historically accurate underclothes and exquisite embellishment (source)
Not especially practical for kicking the football with the kids, but who wouldn’t want to be a princess for a day or two?
 
Featured Project
Jacobean Stag by Phillipa Turnbull
The historical accuracy of Phillipa Turnbull’s work is such that, when you view one of her designs out of context you would be hard pressed to determine whether it originated in 2019 or 1619. Philippa, a queen of embroidery in her own right, has spent her career researching and perfecting the art of crewel embroidery, including recreating traditional designs and motifs which were laden with historical meaning.
Animals, including the stag, were used widely as embroidery motifs. Unlike today, the choice of an animal frequently had symbolic meaning which viewers of the period would have understood easily. It is believed that stylistic influence during the Jacobean period – when crewel embroidery was becoming popular - came from the increased trade via the East India Company with the Middle East, India and China. However, various animals, both domestic and exotic can be found throughout the Opus Anglicanum of the Middle Ages and even before.
In early art, the stag originally symbolised Christ. It was believed that the stag could trample on the devil, often represented by a snake, thus expressing the triumph of good over evil. However during the reign of Elizabeth I, embroidery shifted from its ecclesiastical purpose to being widely used in domestic and secular settings. As a result, meanings changed accordingly.
The stag was the royal beast of the chase, a sport reserved for kings and their guests and therefore a symbol of nobility.
Additionally, appearance of the stag in heraldry denoted wisdom or acute hearing, associated with musical skill.
Phillipa has reproduced this handsome stag in a traditional position. He is standing with his head up, antlers back and foreleg raised, as if listening for the sound of hunters. Before him is an oversized tree with stylistically large flowers. The play with perspective and scale was also characteristic of the Jacobean period. The traditional tree of life, represented in many embroideries from the period, was often oversized with comically large leaves and mismatched flowers and foliage.
Seated beneath the tree, or in this case positioned beside it, was an animal, bird or insect which was too large or too small to be realistic. But therein lies the beauty of the Jacobean crewel style, which Phillipa has captured perfectly in this piece.
Many people say that working with wool is more forgiving than working with stranded cotton or silk, particularly when one is trying to master the ever challenging long and short stitch. But one mustn’t become complacent, simply because of the thread. It is just as important to place the stitches correctly, using the close-up photograph as a guide, to achieve the subtle colouring of the stag.
When you’ve worked this project, we defy you not to find yourself eagerly looking for more like it. Crewel work is immensely satisfying and Phillipa’s designs are the closest you can get to our embroidery ancestors of the seventeenth century. Thanks to her years of research and work, their stitches are now ours and we can get a tiny taste of what it was like to live at the time.
Make Your Own Jacobean Stag
Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions

Jacobean Stag by Phillipa Turnbull is an elegant crewel panel featuring a splendid stag overlooking leafy hillocks.
 
PRINTED MAGAZINE
Inspirations Issue 101
 
 
DIGITAL PATTERN
Jacobean Stag
 
Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit

The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for Jacobean Stag includes everything you need to re-create this majestic scene: Pre-printed linen twill, embroidery threads, bead and needles.
 
READY-TO-STITCH KIT
Jacobean Stag
 
Looking for more Jacobean Designs?
Garden of Earthly Delights
Garden of Earthly Delights by Margaret Light from Inspirations #62 is a wonderful design of colourful parrots amidst stems of exotic foliage, flowers and berries, echoing the lavish style of the Jacobean period.
 
PRINTED MAGAZINE
Inspirations Issue 62
 
 
DIGITAL PATTERN
Garden of Earthly Delights
 
Fantasia
Fantasia by Hazel Blomkamp from Inspirations #98 is a fabulous cushion adorned with ornate Jacobean embroidery.
 
DIGITAL PATTERN
Fantasia
 
 
PRINTED MAGAZINE
Inspirations Issue 98
 
 
READY-TO-STITCH KIT
Fantasia
 
Garden Sonnet
Garden Sonnet by June Godwin from Inspirations #77 is a gorgeous needlecase with traditional Jacobean motifs.
 
PRINTED MAGAZINE
Inspirations Issue 77
 
Jacobean Delight
Jacobean Delight by June Godwin from Inspirations #59 features superb Jacobean style blooms on a lidded pot.
 
PRINTED MAGAZINE
Inspirations Issue 59
 
What Are You Stitching?
Animals and birds are a common feature of traditional English crewel work and this week, inspired by Phillipa Turnbull’s Jacobean Stag, we’re sharing some of the animals and birds that are also a common feature of our What Are You Stitching? files!
Hare | Delphine Morris
‘I loved the Leaping Hare design from your book A Passion for Needlework | Factoria VII and was in the mood to try something with a calmer colour scheme as I normally like vibrant colours. I've sewn some Hardanger and a little bit of pulled thread work, but Casaguildi was a technique I hadn't tried.’
‘When it came to sewing the border I changed how it looked by using somersault hem stitch with some matching beads, instead of the peahole hemstitch used in the book. Then I added the beads to the border around the hare just for balance.’
Overall, I'm pleased with the final result although I can see the faults - I'm hyper critical of my work and doubt I'll ever change! Best wishes to all and many thanks for producing such beautiful publications.’

Delphine, you’ve done a beautiful job of recreating Barbara Kershaw’s Leaping Hare! We love that you stayed true to her original design but found a way to incorporate a little of yourself along the way with a change of stitch and the addition of beads.
Hare | Vicky Jackson
‘This is the embroidery I did for last year’s Christmas card. Each year my husband scans and then prints that year’s design. This year I decided to feature a hare which I drew from an image on the internet. Originally the hare was to have a halo of mistletoe around his ears, but after two failed attempts at different stumpwork methods I ran out of time and decided a hanging sprig of mistletoe would have to do instead!’
‘If I were to do it again I would have him peeking out from the branches of a Christmas tree but, so be it, thus are the delights and hazards of creating your own design within a very short time! The most commented upon, and loved, element were his eyelashes.’
Vicky, we think your hare is just gorgeous and that you and your husband make an amazing team! The recipients of your Christmas cards definitely benefit from the time and talent you pour into them each year.
Owls | Pat Armour
‘A very good stitching friend of mine had a significant birthday and I wanted to make something special for her. Christy loves owls and introduced me to the beauty and intrigue of paisley designs. I combined these two elements into a stitching companion, Christy's Paisley Owl!’
‘There is a needle case and scissors holder on the back. Another good friend had given me some beautiful pale-yellow Shantung silk which I gladly used as the ground fabric. The stitching is done with embroidery floss with the addition of some beads, square sequins, and crystals for a bit of bling.’
‘I'm very pleased with the outcome and I hope you enjoy it too. The arrival of my new issue of Inspirations whets my appetite and urges me to try greater things. Thank you for your continued high-quality projects, articles and inspiration.’
What a fabulous gift Pat! You’ve poured your time and talent into something that is equal parts form and function and has combined Christy’s love of owls and paisley into something that will be both well used and much treasured.

Although animals and birds are usually a common feature of our What Are You Stitching? files, this week’s newsletter has made them all but extinct! If you’ve stitched a little critter or a fine feathered friend, our files are crying out for them. Email photos of what you’ve created with needle and thread along with a few details about your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com
 
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You May Have Missed
Les Amaryllis
Les Amaryllis by Catherine Laurençon is a beautiful threadpainted study of a stately amaryllis.
 
PRINTED MAGAZINE
Inspirations Issue 101
 
 
DIGITAL PATTERN
Les Amaryllis
 
 
READY-TO-STITCH KIT
Les Amaryllis
 
Bauhinia
Bauhinia by Nikki Delport-Wepener from Inspirations #75 is a superb botanical study featuring the elegant bauhinia, with its distinctly lobed leaves and graceful flowers.
 
DIGITAL PATTERN
Bauhinia
 
 
PRINTED MAGAZINE
Inspirations Issue 75
 
Redouté's Tulips
Redouté's Tulips by Trish Burr from Inspirations #100 is a magnificent image of threadpainted tulips based on a botanical watercolour.
 
READY-TO-STITCH KIT
Redouté's Tulips
 
 
DIGITAL PATTERN
Redouté's Tulips
 
 
PRINTED MAGAZINE
Inspirations Issue 100
 
Le Magnolia
Le Magnolia by Catherine Laurençon is a stunning threadpainted magnolia worked in vibrant colours on linen.
 
PRINTED BOOK
A Passion for Needlework | Factoria VII
 
 
READY-TO-STITCH KIT
Le Magnolia
 
Grandiflora
Grandiflora by Julie Kniedl from Inspirations #99 is a beautiful three-dimensional white magnolia
 
DIGITAL PATTERN
Grandiflora
 
 
PRINTED MAGAZINE
Inspirations Issue 99
 
Magnolia
Magnolia by Trish Burr from Inspirations #68 is a gracious botanical study that captures the fragile, transient beauty of this stunning flower.
 
PRINTED MAGAZINE
Inspirations Issue 68
 
 
DIGITIAL PATTERN
Magnolia
 
 
This Week on Social
 
Next Christmas?
 
Wonderful design by Jenny McWhinney
 
Quote
‘Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.’
~ Alan Lakein ~
What's On
Stay informed of upcoming needlework events taking place all around the world in our new What’s On page on the Inspirations Studios Website HERE.
If you’re holding an event or would like to suggest one to be added, we’d love to hear about it. Email us the details at news@inspirationsstudios.com
INSPIRATIONS
© 2019 Inspirations Studios

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