At a time when fast fashion has become all too common, American fashion designer Emily Adams Bode Aujla is setting a completely different pace in the fashion world.

Emily’s brand, Bode, has become famous for tailor-made pieces that employ traditions of quilting, mending and appliqué. Her collections feature pieces from bygone eras where shirts are fashioned from hand-mended French linens, coats are cut from timeworn quilts or mid-century tartan blankets, and overshirts are made from coverlets.

Emily has built Bode with the intention of preserving American traditions through her small collections. As a result, it’s been said that ‘Thumbing through a rack of Bode clothing brings to mind the sense of curiosity and discovery you might feel when sifting through a grandparent’s attic or a tucked-away antique shop in an unfamiliar city. You can perceive echoes of a romantic old way of living.’ (Samuel Hine, ‘The Making of the Next Great American Fashion Designer’)

Emily credits an early interest in collecting and antiquing to her mother and great aunts, and as such feels an intrinsic value to vintage clothing. Consequently, Bode was founded in 2016 with the belief that ‘clothing is meant to be worn and cherished’. As the brand continued to grow, however, it became apparent that the use of vintage fabrics would limit the scalability of the business, and so Emily began the process of developing her own range of textiles.

Whilst it became clear that the newly woven fabric ‘could replicate priceless antiques with better workmanship’, Emily has vowed to keep runs small so as to ‘stay true to the collectability and rarity of the original objects’. Emily’s goal is to ‘encourage people to get back to wanting to repair and alter and make clothes and appreciate them and preserve them.

As a self-confessed ‘organised hoarder’, Emily has amassed an enviable assortment of vintage textiles. Bode’s collection now boasts hundreds of rugs, 800 embroidered French linens from the 1920s, 1,200 mid-century tablecloths, 2,000 quilts (some from as early as the 1840s), more than 2,500 bolts of vintage wool suiting fabric, and a million antique American pearl buttons. Now that’s quite the stash!

As with Mourne Textiles that we wrote about in ASU #389, we love that at Emily’s hand, Bode is ensuring the legacy of needle and thread will live on into the next generation as they find themselves appreciating the textile traditions of generations past.

Over the past weeks, we’ve received numerous delightful emails continuing the conversation from All Stitched Up! issue #387. Every story is a small glimpse into the lives of each stitcher and we’re incredibly privileged to share some of these accounts with you today.

Our first story is from Catherine who reflects on the legacy passed on by each generation within her family: ‘My mum passed just a few weeks ago at 89. She taught my two sisters and I how to sew and knit. She has left a huge legacy for us with all the garments she knitted for herself, us and the grandchildren, as well as everything else she made.’

Next, Roberta shares where her love of stitching came from:

‘My love of needle, thread and fabrics started when my grandmother taught me to sew for my doll when I was five or six years old - a very long time ago now!

Spending time in bed with tonsillitis and the usual children’s illnesses back in the ‘40s, my mother kept me occupied with her box of embroidery threads, Singer book of embellishments and some muslin printed quilt squares from the Five and Dime store.

As I was growing up, summers spent with my grandmothers gave me time to expand my horizons to dresser scarves until I got frustrated with the fact that they were never printed with the grain of the fabric. That led to a hiatus that lasted until I was married, became a faculty wife and formed an interest group with other wives to learn about embroidery.

Fortunately, one of the women who was our mentor put us on to Danish counted thread embroidery which, needless to say, solved my problem with finished work going off grain!’

Margo wrote in to share with us how her needlework journey also started with her grandmother:

‘I learned the very basics of knitting from my paternal grandmother when I was four years old. She was a most patient teacher, and it started a lifetime of knitting, and I am still learning.

My interest in embroidery and sewing began about the age of nine, when I attended a one-teacher school in Far North Queensland, Australia in the 1950s. The wife of our teacher took an embroidery class once a week on a Friday afternoon. We started out with a sampler which began with tacking and running stitches and gradually progressed to not only decorative stitches but also different seams, hemming and buttonholes.

She taught us to sew on different kinds of fasteners, and buttons.

Our final story for this week is from Harriet who has never shied away from taking on a challenge:

‘At a very young age my first needlework was a small cross stitch cottage. My mother then tried to teach me to crochet but I just wanted to play sport. She did, however, teach me to sew later on.

Then I got married and had a son. While waiting for him to arrive, I embroidered my first quilt squares for a baby quilt. Then to my surprise I taught myself to crochet. I made an Afghan and entered it in the State Fair. I actually won second place! My mother was so surprised because I never told her I was making it!

For my son’s wedding, I made him a Baltimore Album quilt - seems I like to test my abilities by big challenges! It turned out lovely. It was a block of the month quilt which helped the project to not be so overwhelming.

While making this quilt a friend taught me to knit. Socks were the first thing I made. There's that challenge again. Then I taught myself to knit lace shawls, and what lovely things they are.

It is such an honour to receive and share these wonderful narratives and we hope they may have some similarities to your own legacy stories or prompt some enjoyable reflection. We have a few more stories to share, so stay tuned for Part II in next week’s issue of All Stitched Up!

Chrissie Juno Mann’s ‘50 Essential Blackwork Patterns’ series now comprises two volumes thanks to her most recent release.

This is a blackwork lover’s dream with Chrissie’s books containing a collection of stunning designs ranging from beginner friendly to more detailed and complex. Each design has clear step-by-step instructions to follow.

Whether you already have her first edition, or are just learning about them now, Chrissie’s blackwork books are quickly becoming a must have for any needlework resource library.

It’s no secret Au Ver à Soie produces some of the finest embroidery threads available.

Their Soie Perlée threads are particularly wonderful, a 3-ply, non-divisible filament silk thread in the most magnificent of shades.

We have four different thread packs available, each with six gorgeous colours wound onto adorable wooden bobbins.

Whether you’re looking for a more subtle sparkle to add to your projects, and love Shades of Pastel and Shades of Vintage, or you prefer a vibrant pop of colour, and love Shades of Summer and Shades of Glazig, there is something for everyone.

Selecting your next project can sometimes be a little daunting with so many options available to choose from. Lucky for you, we’re here to help narrow down your selection by letting you know the final few kits from Inspirations issue #111 are on their way out, and into your hands…

Perhaps Taetia McEwen’s Angel’s Breath catches your eye, with her exquisitely elegant lampshade and wreath made with stunning ribbon and velvet florals.

Or maybe Maria Rita Faleri’s demure yet sophisticated Natural Wonder is more your style, a charming cushion cover featuring captivating bird motifs and hand-knotted tassels.

Impossible to resist, Interlude by Di Kirchner and Revival by Brenda Sortwell are vibrant crewel designs, each featuring summer fruits and leaves.

Whatever your style, there’s something to suit, so look no further for your next embroidery project.

This notification is for two groups of people. The spontaneous and the last- minute lovers.

For the organised ones among us, you will have already registered, chosen your classes and be looking forward to joining everyone in London from October 5th to 15th.

The thrill seekers who are yet to do anything about attending, it’s ok… we’ve got you!

You have until August 18th to make it happen, so this is your final boarding call. The last minute has arrived.

We still have a few spots available in most classes along with accommodation and of course you’ll still make it to all the shopping events, day tours, evening presentations and can partake in all the sumptuous meals.

BUT… you have to act now!

Due to the logistics associated with coordinating an international, world class event like this, we are unable to accept registrations past the cut-off date, including event only attendees. That’s ok though, because you can avoid missing out by registering today.

Whether you’re coming from afar or you’re a UK ‘local’ register to attend by clicking HERE.

For more information about the World Needlework Convention click HERE.

From wares to kits and all kinds of tricks, if it has recently come back in stock, you’ll discover it below.

How do you define embroidery? Do you have some guidelines you might use to discern if something is deemed an embroidered piece? Or is it simply a matter of anything that pierces a substrate with a needle and thread is now an embroidery?

In an ever-changing world we might like to think that embroidery is our one constant, something that has, and will be, around forever.

While that may be true, it’s also a reality that needlework is changing.

For the first time in history, we have access to a technical understanding of embroidery that reaches as far back as historical records allow us to travel, married with an industrial and technological revolution of materials, ideas and processes.

The result? What we stitch and how we stitch is no longer confined or restrained by, well… anything! You can stitch on any material using any type of thread, creating any style of design you like.

The project Myosotis by Di van Niekerk from Inspirations magazine #119 is an example of a modern-day approach to embroidery. Today we have the luxury of printing any image we want onto a piece of fabric and embellishing it with needlework.

This notion of starting with a bespoke image on your canvas further removes embroidery from its traditional restraints and means that as much or as little of the project as you like has been completed before you even begin stitching.

For Di van Niekerk it’s just part of the creative process of stitching in the modern era. Myosotis (the botanical name for forget-me-nots) uses an image Di was particularly taken with from the 1857 book ‘The Language of Flowers: An Alphabet of Floral Emblems’ published by T Nelson and Sons.

Once printed onto a linen panel, Di added her trademark ribbon embroidered magic to really bring the image to life.

In this way it’s a beautiful marriage of both worlds where an illustrator or painter sets the scene and as stitchers, we get to bring the foreground to life with our needle and threads.

Once completed you are left with a symphony of ideas, design styles, textures, colours, layers, and dimensional elements that achieve more than any singular endeavour can do on its own.

If you’ve never tried embellishing a pre-printed design before, it’s both liberating and satisfying all at once!

PS… Our Ready-to-Stitch kits include both the printed linen and all the materials you need to complete the project, or you can purchase just the printed linen HERE and use your own stash to embellish as much or as little of the image as you like.

Step 1 – Purchase Project Instructions

Myosotis by Di van Niekerk is a pretty silk ribbon panel of forget-me-not flowers framed with metallic threads and beads.

Step 2 – Purchase Ready-To-Stitch Kit

The Inspirations Ready-To-Stitch kit for Myosotis includes everything* you need to re-create this charming panel: Fabrics (inc. printed fabric panel), silk ribbons, embroidery threads, beads and needles.

Wood Anemones by Di van Niekerk from A Passion for Needlework | The Whitehouse Daylesford features flowers and leaves in dynamic ribbon embroidery to enhance a printed panel.

Wildflowers by Di van Niekerk from Inspirations issue #113 showcases pretty wildflowers worked with hand-painted silk ribbon in a contemporary display.

Primroses & Violets by Di van Niekerk from Inspirations issue #115 features sumptuous blooms brought to life with dimensional silk ribbon and layering techniques.

The Shaggy Dog by Di van Niekerk from Inspirations issue #51 is an endearing threadpainted dog.

Di van Niekerk’s ribbon embroidered magic has inspired our selection of projects today with work from three What are You Stitching? regulars. May the magic of ribbon carry on…

‘This embroidery measures 10 x 11 inches (25 x 28cm). I used Tsukineko fabric ink and Treenway Silk Ribbon. I am hoping that sharing this embroidered garden will prompt others to incorporate vintage handwork into their own needlework.’

Carolee, we love seeing how you incorporate vintage needlework into your pieces and this is another beautiful example. Although not how you intended the painted background to turn out, we think it adds dimension to the piece without taking away from the focal point. And the flowers… your stitched garden is bursting with so much life and variety! Much easier to maintain too.

‘I’ve never tried needle felting before and I ‘needle’ more practice, but I think it gives him a little more depth.’

What a cute little mouse, Nina! You have created such a sweet home for him. There is such a showcase of stitches here and an extra attention to detail that really makes the project come together in harmony.

They are both wonderful, Desiree! Once again, you’ve brought these printed scenes to life with beautiful stitches and an amazing array of colourful threads and ribbons. We look forward to seeing what scene you stitch next.

Have you ever tried incorporating doilies or tatted edging into your work? Do you stitch your flowers with ribbon? If you enjoy stitching onto printed fabric, what criteria do you have for the design you choose to stitch?

Whatever you are stitching, we’d love to see it! Email photos of what you’ve created with needle and thread along with a few details about your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com

Become part of the Inspirations family by subscribing to the magazine... we'd love to have you join us!

New Sashiko Starter Kits with a 100% cotton panel designed by Hitomi Fujita and handprinted in Japan.

Summerberry by Taetia McEwen is a summer garland in soft, shimmering shades using silk, beads, sequins and metallic mesh ribbon.

~ Theodore Bikel ~

Stay informed of upcoming needlework events taking place all around the world in our What’s On page on the Inspirations Studios Website HERE.