Have you seen this? I offer it to you because I discovered it, and now I want to share.
The Royal School of Needlework has been around since 1872. They are located in London (and all around the UK.) Last year, they offered a series of classes in the U.S. I’m looking forward to further US offerings, as it is my goal to attend at least once–here or overseas.
But getting back to what they refer to as their stitch bank. I was so impressed by the quality of all the information. The whole idea is that historians and stitch artists (also known as embroiderers) needed a place to reference stitches on antique garments. The School also wanted to supply a fertile ground for those who want to experiment with new stitches and preserve techniques that could easily be lost forever.
So the Royal School of Needlework created their stitch bank.
Every stitch listed has photographic instructions on how to make it, an accompanying diagram, to make things clearer, and a short video, so you can see exactly how the stitch is made.
That’s fantastic!
You’ll want to use the menu on the lefthand side to explore stitches categorized by their utility or their structure.
The “Stitch Wall” shows you a simple graphic of each stitch and you can choose to explore.
The number of stitches grows all the time.
I hope you find something there that excites your imagination or challenges you to try something new. I’ve decided that I will commit to at least one online class in 2025…to challenge myself.
I bought a pair of those baggy overalls the young people are wearing. For me, they are at the very least, cool and comfortable.
They are not flattering.
They should be worn while working around the house. Not in public. (Not by me, anyway.)
However, I got it into my head that I wanted a row of flowers across the top of the bib.
It was not a difficult task, but it is a challenge to transfer a drawing onto a dark background. I don’t have the solution to this yet. For these, I just redrew the image I wanted directly onto the overalls using a blue wash-away pen.
Then I stitched it out.
I thought it was cute. But then the dark color of the hyacinth on the end was bothering me. It’s actually very true to what a hyacinth looks like. I have pics of them starting to bloom in my back yard.
But every time I walked past them, the dark color of that flower on the end bothered me more and more. I was not going to relax until I picked out every single one of those french knots and redid it.
Since I wanted to stay true to the color of a hyacinth, I went with peach. I have peach hyacinths in my front yard.
I am much happier with this result. The hyacinth looks a bit bright in this pic but that’s just the lighting. It now blends in with the others much more.
Tip:
I wanted to protect the stitching and the knots on the back so that when this gets machine-washed, nothing will fall apart.
I remembered a product that OESD carries called Gentle Touch. It is designed to iron onto the back of machine embroidery so that the stitches against your skin (or a child, or baby’s skin) will not irritate. It really is very soft, with fusible on one side.
I ironed it onto the back and now, not only does it not rub, but all the stitches are given an extra layer of protection when going through a washer and dryer. The front stays exactly the same, There’s just an added layer of protection on the back. I’m going to use it on the back of all my hand stitching.
It’s funny that there is a product for every single need. Of course, when I needed Gentle Touch, I did not have it in my vast stock of stabilizers. Here’s a link for you.
My next challenge is a patch on my husband’s grass-mowing pants. No pressure there. If my mending is a complete failure, who cares? (Trust me, not my husband.) So that leaves room for me to be a bit experimental.
Anyway, the season is starting to turn here in the Northern Hemisphere. We are prepping for a solar eclipse and an onslaught of cicadas. Nature is keeping us occupied this spring.
As my grandmother used to say, “Keep your hands busy!”
Do you have a pair of pants that are past pretending to be cool with all their holes? Shirts with stains? ( I seem to have a lot of these, I can’t seem to keep my food in my mouth. Kids, this is something they don’t tell you about aging. You constantly have your food on your shirt. Yes, it’s gross. You’ll get there soon enough.)
My husband is particularly good at wearing down the hems of his pants. (Another sign of aging…you seem to get shorter and your pants drag on the ground.)
Although for those of us who have never been considered tall, dragging hems is a lifelong problem.
But hey! We fix our clothes now. I’d love to do a blog post on fast fashion and where all our cheap clothes end up. We all know it’s a problem. We can’t just keep purchasing new clothes and throwing out the old ones or even just donating them. Third world countries are telling us to keep our crap. They have enough stupid t-shirts, thanks.
Here’s a pair of stretchy pants that were way too long and were an easy fix on a serger using the cover stitch.
Of course, mending and hemming are where a serger really comes in handy. For the shredded hems. I just run them through the serger and hem on the sewing machine. Takes a few minutes, and the pants get a bit shorter, but a really quick solution, all things considered.
Speaking of all things NOT considered, here’s another mending project.
I have this sweatshirt which I made, and it is actually quite loved. Worn and worn and worn. But I set it aside when I realized it had grease stains on the front. Probably from cooking at some point. Aprons actually do have a function, but I’m not yet ready to wear one around the house. (That’s really crossing an old lady rubicon for me. Still, why deny the inevitable?)
I decided to cover it with some hand embroidery. Looking back, I probably should have just embroidered a few strategically-placed daisies and been done with it. Instead, I used a photo out my back window, and converted it to a hand embroidery design.
I drew it out onto a piece of wash away stabilizer, so I could see it on the dark fabric. I think I should have just drawn it using a white pencil. The washaway stabilizer made every stitch a bit harder to push and pull through. And there are a LOT of stitches.
This design took me a ridiculously long time to finish. So simple, yet so time-consuming.
And to be honest, I’m not a hundred percent sure I love it, but it is interesting. The washaway was rather stubborn and I had to rinse it in the sink for quite a while.
I finally threw it into the wash and pulled it out before it got to the dryer. I ironed it while it was still damp.
Here’s a tip:
When ironing embroidery, even machine embroidery, use a towel on top of the embroidery. A hot iron will flatten it and take away all the dimension, and it might even harm the thread. So just use a towel over the top which allows the threads in the design to have a place to go.
It turned out kind of fun, almost like a window in the middle of my sweatshirt. In fact, I’m thinking I just might add a frame around it to make it look like a window. It has that hand-made feel, which is something that was important to me. I also get a kick that it’s the early spring view out my family room window. All in all, it was a learning experience.
I love the look of visible mending that all the kids are doing these days. I’ll be trying more and more. I have plenty of jeans with holes in the knees.
Here’s to making things last a bit longer. Like the planet.
Anyone remember that line? It’s from A Bug’s Life. My son was old enough to watch it over and over and over again until I had it almost memorized. The grasshoppers threaten the ants to come back for their winter supply of food “When the last leaf falls”.
Well the last leaf has not quite fallen, but the temps are finally starting to drop, and that means only one thing: get ready for the holidays.
As I get older I find that I am SO SICK of the same old holiday decorations I’ve had for the past 30 years…some even longer. And I know, I know…TRADITION.
But who wants to look at all of that over and over and over again. I need to rotate it at the very least. Let it become new again in a few years.
So this year, I’m attempting to decorate with a soft neutral-y palette. It’s tougher than it looks. Tree skirts are all red and green (especially the ones I own). Ornaments are all the colors of the rainbow. What about those old weathered stockings? Handmade by Grandma, or Aunt So-and-So, or, of course, the ones made by people who passed away years ago.
It feels like we are supposed to honor them by at least putting up their things once a year.
But frankly, I’m really sick of hanging on to the possessions of the dead, and having no room to do anything my way. Before I’m the dead one.
So this year, I’m starting fresh. Oh, I’ll still dig out a few of my favorites. But my theme is natural. Or low-key. I want only low-volume ornaments and holiday decor.
And I find it invigorating to search out only certain colors, only certain things.
Let’s be honest. We’re all friends here. There is no shortage of white, pink, natural colors in all the retail stores and shops. It’s everywhere. So it’s very fun to allow myself a budget to do something creative.
But let’s start with handmade ornaments.
These are hand-stitched and stuffed with polyfil. Yes, I allowed myself some green because it’s natural. Nothing bright and overpowering.
Here’s a closer look at all of them.
My advice to you this holiday season:
Give yourself a theme. It’s much more fun to go out searching than to just wander. Two years ago, I went with black/white buffalo plaid. Last hear was red checks (hello Bob Evans restaurants). So this year it will be the soft palette, with white lights and fairy lights.
I’m not sure how it will work out. But it will be fun along the way.
But I have taken an interest (again) in hand embroidery. It’s certainly not something I want to do all the time, and of course quilting is always in the back of my mind.
I’m not entirely sure what the attraction is. For me, it’s a form of painting or artwork I’d moved away from years ago. I don’t really want to drag out my paints again. (Heaven knows it would go much faster to paint than to embroider by hand.)
Still.
When I am working from my own picture, my own drawing and not using anyone’s pattern, I find it very freeing. There’s a time for everything, as you know. Some days, I just want a pattern, and I just want clear directions and I just want to mindlessly sew.
Other days, I want to put something of myself into the project and own it.
That’s where hand embroidery comes in for me. It’s a disciplined form of expression. Takes time. Takes devotion. Takes thread, for pete’s sake…a lot of it.
But I can do it while listening to music, or a podcast. I can do it while I’m catching up with someone else on the phone.
Find your peace of mind. Whether that’s quilting, by hand or machine, reading, sewing, drawing, cooking, taking pictures, woodwork or crafting, literally anything that brings you joy.
Find it and hang onto it. And never let anyone tell you that you should be doing something else. The world only gives us one chance to live and to process it. Be sure you take your chance, and do the things you love and the things that color and fill your world.
The asters have started blooming and that means only one thing — summer is over.
This year I attended summer camp. Well, it was a virtual summer camp, sponsored by Modern Quilt Studio. We all worked on a Mystery Quilt together. Well, together separately. If you are interested in the pattern, you can purchase it here. I’m not sure how long it will be available…possibly only until Oct. 1, 2023.
I was very pleased with my color palette, as it caused a great deal of agonizing on the front end of the project. But I was very happy with the way it turned out. The quilt is approximately 83 x 60.
In between installments, I was inspired to start some handwork. I really haven’t done any hand embroidery in years. Yet, my garden this year got me interested in trying something new.
Here is a pic of one of the cosmos in the garden.
And below is my interpretation of this flower in hand embroidery. Obviously, it takes quite a bit longer to stitch out when it’s done by hand…and designed in my head as I go along. A few more days, maybe a week.
And then what am I going to do with it? Well that’s a good question. I’ll have to think about it when it’s done.
I hope you have been keeping your head and hands busy this summer. As I sit here, it’s over 90 degrees outside. The warm weather seems to hang on longer into the fall season these days. But I know it’s time to start hauling out the autumn decor. And even as I stitch a piece of summer onto this fabric, I am thinking about the cooler weather, orange lights, and spooky trees.
