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y happy to see all the finished samples entered in the guild s semi annual show a couple of weeks ago tracy visher this piece was done by tracy visher of s acramento ca tracy made a whole set of pillows for her patio furniture of which this is one tracy is a very accomplished stitcher who has been doing hand embroidery for years so i was glad she enjoyed the class mitsuko sasaki this beautiful piece was done by mitsuko sasaki she has done a marvelous job and i love the additional edging she added to her piece roberta pabst betty eastham i offer the option of doing this design in either the bright or neutral color palette roberta chose to do her piece in the neutral color palette the neutrals really help you see the impact of values in your work one thing that really makes mandala type designs pop is the variation in value and the detail and scale of the shapes in each concentric row sandra crane and last of all we have sandra s lovely piece i love the way everyone has put their own spin on this embroidery pattern you can see what a difference the choice in colors and the variation in the fabric borders can make to the overall impact of the piece thank you everyone for sharing your work i will also be teaching this workshop contemporary hand embroidery at san francisco school of needlework and design on august 24 2019 posted by a sproule at may 15 2019 1 comment email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels design hand embroidery hand stitching mandala workshops friday april 19 2019 working in a series japanese boro stitching i have always admired artistic work done in a series it is interesting to see where people started and what the initial impetus was where that initial piece of work led them and what they gained from the experience i always seem to jump around a lot in the type of work i do i am constantly looking gathering ideas being inspired and wanting to try new things but now i really want to settle in and begin to explore things a little more in depth to see what i might possibly learn by working in a different manner instead of finishing a piece and instantly rushing into the next project on my design board i want to slow down and more fully contemplate what value or lesson each piece holds i think the biggest change over the years in the way i approach making my fiber art is to learn to completely enjoy the process i began with this one little sample of different fabrics appliqued onto a background of hand dyed navy and black fabrics the linen patches are printed from hand carved stamps i have made as i worked on this piece i realized too late that i really liked the negative spaces without any stitching my eyes beg for a quiet place to rest so began my little series of four pieces i will try to explore something different in each one maybe the next one will have only a few thoughtfully placed stitches in a very simple manner japanese boro stitching was common in 18th 19th century japan as a way of mending worn clothes to make them last longer it has become popular as an art form in itself these days so these are the parameters i used in setting this up all pieces had to be the same size at 8 5 squares they had to be in 3 basic colors black red and white but could include shades or tones of these colors the samples should include different textures and should include silk cotton and linen but not necessarily all 3 fabrics in each piece i can only use one basic stitch the running stitch it is so much easier to prep all these pieces at once so i don t have to dig everything out again that way i only have to clean up a big mess once i am working on sample 1 now sample 4 is finished i have been doing lots of hand embroidery over the last four years or so the funny thing is the more hand stitching i do the more i want to simplify my design aesthetic the work is not at all about how complex concentrated or perfect the stitches are but it is much more about the texture the stitches create on the fabric the way they catch the light and the way it feels in your hands posted by a sproule at april 19 2019 1 comment email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels collage fiber art hand embroidery japanese boro stitching monday march 11 2019 the blocking process over the past couple of months i have been taking an online embroidery class although i have gotten really comfortable and confident in doing hand stitching without an embroidery hoop i found that the hoop was an absolute necessity in experimenting with different needle weaving techniques these types of stitches are done by running the thread vertically the length of the shape to form a weft then your stitches are formed over this structure while only attaching to the fabric at the edges of your shape this can cause major distortion if you aren t using a hoop even when i finally resorted to using a hoop i still had a lot of puckers in my fabric i decided i really had to block my fabric to try and flatten things out a bit and eliminate the distortion what you will need to do the blocking a piece of foam core sheet of plastic spray bottle and some straight pins begin by spraying your embroidered piece on the front until it is evenly moist then flip it over to the back side and repeat the process let your piece rest for a couple of minutes so the water saturates and relaxes the fibers now starting by pinning a corner of your fabric close to the corner of the foam core so you can use the board for reference to keep your piece straight i know my square of fabric started out at 8 square in some places it was 3 4 smaller so i gently started stretching the fabric until i got a perfect 8 again the moisture really relaxes the linen fibers and as they dry the fiber tightens up again usually the fabric dries in a couple of hours when doing the blocking but because of the density of my hand stitching i let it dry overnight you can see what a remarkable difference this process made for me the blocking is well worth the effort and it only takes me a few minutes to do now my fabric lies nice and flat and the dimension of my stitching shows up even more posted by a sproule at march 11 2019 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels blocking thursday january 10 2019 gratitude for victor thomas jacoby award opportunities dec 14 2018 award ceremony at the morris graves museum of art with past and present recipients i am the second shortest in the front row just to the right of center last november i was notified that i had been selected as one the of the victor thomas jacoby award recipients along with nancy kennedy and sandra kernan victor thomas jacoby was a humboldt county ca textile artist who established this fund before his death in 1997 victor a talented hand weaver who exhibited his work throughout the us and canada struggled financially for much of his life near the end of victor s life he received an inheritance from his family and set up this fund to help other artists expand their artistic horizons and achieve their goals in 2018 the award was open to hand weavers dyers and spinners of humboldt county my focus is on the development of hand dyeing techniques for linen to be used in fiber art collage work along with the exploration of old and new needle weaving techniques most of my funds will be used for educational opportunities that were not possible for me before the funds will also allow me to set aside larger blocks of time to do more exploration and experimentation with new techniques and styles of mixed media textile art i am incredibly grateful to victor for setting up this fund and also to the selection committee who chose me as one of the 2018 recipients my revised dye calculations for a 3 step gradation easy huh the really wonderful thing is that this event has already prompted me to get back in to my dye studio the other day i needed some light gray fabric for the binding of the black linen tunic i am making it has probably been two years since i last dyed any fabric i managed to unearth all the binders of my dye notes calculations and samples when i first looked at those pages they might as well have been written in a foreign language i thought how could i know so much about a subject in the past and be so completely clueless about the process now ready set dye thank goodness it all came flooding back to me quickly as i pored over the pages i did a simple three step gradation of a subtle gray color on ultra sateen cotton fabric and came up with exactly what i wanted just for fun i threw in some scraps of linen to see how it took the dye amazingly beautiful i know this next year is going to be filled with incredible discoveries and opportunities as i forge ahead with and open heart and an open mind end results darkest on left lightest in center with linen strips on top medium shade on right success posted by a sproule at january 10 2019 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest friday december 07 2018 linen tunic my garden a little bit of this a little bit of that and before you know it you have something wonderful quite different and really fun to wear i have wanted to make one of the japanese style aprons to wear as a tunic or top for quite some time my theme or story for this piece is my little front garden it is quite wild and unruly but it gives me a great deal of pleasure just to be there in the midst of the nasturtiums ferns and other growing things just as i no longer strive for perfection in my art i have no desire to tame the great outdoors after searching for ages i finally came up with the closest pattern i could find to suit my needs simplicity 1133 this pattern had a huge dart along the side seam that i eliminated by pinning the edges of the dart together i wanted to have one entire piece with no seams so i could freely paint and stitch away it is made from the natural linen i carry in my shop after sewing the garment together my first step was to spray it with jacquard s airbrush ink after heat setting the ink i started applying my nasturtium shapes and rectangular strips of fabrics the flowers were glued on with a teeny bit of glue and the rectangles were hand basted on the last thing i want on a garment is a fusible that will be stiff and heavy feeling after machine stitching around the edges of the flowers and leaves i painted in my moths with my giant moth stencil using neopaque and lumiere next came the really fun part as i started drawing in the abstracted stem shapes for the hand embroidery to visually tie all the shapes together i wanted to emphasize the edges of the garment but i didn t want anything too fussy or exacting i first worked a row for cretan stitch around the edges then an irregular blanket stitch and ended with short little stitches for just a little touch of added color i found some beautiful old shell buttons that were just the right size for the tab closures at the shoulders detail of the stitching on the back for the rectangular overlays i used scraps of my hand dyed cotton i love the way the fabric puckered up after washing to give it that beautiful bumpy texture now i am getting ready to start another tunic my next effort will be in black linen that will be cut on the bias so it will be interesting to see how different the fit is i am thinking rust tones splashes of brilliant blues and little bits of a lovely pearl gray hand dyed sateen i haven t quite decided on a theme yet posted by a sproule at december 07 2018 5 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels design embroidery fabric painting hand embroidery hand painted linen mixed media stenciling stencils surface design thursday december 06 2018 a valuable resource san francisco school of needlework and design in recent months a new business has been brought to my attention the san francisco school of needlework and design snad it is conveniently located right on union square and several nearby parking are listed on their website i have not had the opportunity to visit this establishment in person as yet but i have found ample eye candy and information on their site to keep me very entertained and intrigued photo courtesy of snad lucy barter teaching a class snad is a non profit business co founded in 2015 by lucy barter and ellice sperber for the purpose of providing excellent educational opportunities in the needle arts to all levels of students and enthusiasts snad s offering of hand embroidery workshops ranges from week long stitch retreats to comprehensive studies courses and even to specialized classes with guest teachers they also have free stitch in sessions several times a week where you can bring your own projects to work on while visiting with fellow stitchers photo courtesy of snad example of class work one item that has piqued my interest is a rapidly approaching challenge called make do and mend snad has a gallery area in their space where current exhibits or challenges are displayed and you can submit your entry by either sending your actual piece or a photograph of your work to be included in the challenge i thoroughly enjoyed seeing the photos presented of previous challenges the wide selection of classes and all of the beautiful embroidery work featured on this site i can t wait to go there in person and maybe peruse their extensive library or take a class posted by a sproule at december 06 2018 no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest older posts home subscribe to posts atom village sewing blog archive 2020 1 january 1 new website no we haven t flown the coop 2019 7 december 1 june 1 may 2 april 1 march 1 january 1 2018 7 december 2 november 1 october 1 september 1 august 1 june 1 2016 2 april 1 february 1 2015 7 december 1 august 1 june 2 may 1 february 1 january 1 2014 11 december 1 november 3 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