What Are You Stitching?

‘I live in France near Nantes and I have been embroidering since I was eight years old, having learnt from my grandmother. Although I stopped stitching for a long time as I spent my career teaching, I have now returned to making many different things with needles and thread.’

Elisabeth, the hours you’ve poured into stitching make your bag a worthy addition to anything your wardrobe holds!

‘A few months ago, my son chided me for not having a project in process. I do love all kinds of handwork, but there can be long, dry periods between such activities. His phone call was the instigation I needed to start work on ‘Sitting Pretty’ that I had just fallen in love with in my weekly All Stitched Up email!

‘I didn’t need a seat cover, but a throw pillow can always come in handy, so that’s what it became. The pattern called for dark blue Aida Cloth, but the tiny shop near me didn’t have any, however after some scrounging, I discovered they had one lone piece of even weave natural colored linen, and, with the warm, red Perlé Cotton, the end result fits much better in our home’s color scheme.’

‘The Kogin Embroidery works up surprisingly quickly, but the piece sat for a while as I contemplated just how to make the pillow. As is usual with me, it didn’t end up looking the way I pictured it, and elements were changed mid-stream, but it is now a comfortable addition to the living room.

Heidi, the phone call from your son inspired precise and beautiful stitching and your finished cushion is the epitome of thinking outside the ‘frame’ – you worked with the materials you could put your hands to, in a colour scheme that suited your home and then finished the piece into something you would find useful.

‘Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you for your very inspiring magazine and newsletter! Like most people I can remember having sewing lessons at school learning the basic stitches of running, chain and blanket stitch and then making a gingham apron.

 The next stitching memory I have is doing tapestry kits using tent, long and short stitch that had been given to me as a child. After many years and many stitching experiences, I went to one of the first stitching shows held in London and tried my hand at Bobbin Lace – I was hooked! I have recently finished a peacock worked in silk threads and had it mounted as a fire screen.’

Tina, your peacock is complex and intricate, we love that you found such a creative and unique way to put your many hours of hard work with bobbin and thread to such good use!

‘I have recently adapted the wine bag ‘Late Harvest’ from Inspirations #95 into a waistcoat for a bottle of wine.’

‘This came about because many moons ago I made a cross stitched waistcoat for my husband and since then he has always expressed a wish for a waistcoat to go on a bottle of wine. Having reduced the size of the design, it was too small to use crewel wool, so I used embroidery threads instead.’ 

Tina, we love that you took inspiration from Anna Scott’s Late Harvest and adapted it to make your husband’s wish come true! What a practical and fun way to make use of the time and talent you’ve poured into your stitching.

Have you thought outside the frame and created something practical with your needle and thread? We’d love to see it! Email photos of what you’ve created along with a few details about your stitching journey to date to news@inspirationsstudios.com