Button Brooch

It's done. Finished....yeah!!! One goal completed. The RSN "Scabiosa" Button class (taught by Jenny Adin-Christie) I took at their Williamsburg classroom is completed. Here are the steps:

After very carefully cleaning the piece and drying it for several days I cut away the linen and backing from around the button (the fabric that held the embroidery in the hoop). You can see the sheer fabric in this photo that was left. Then the instructions said to sand the acid-free cardboard disk to bevel the edge. I next applied a cotton pad to the disk (again carefully trimmed) with supplied archival glue.

Here the piece is pinned to a tan linen backing, centered, and I started stitching a gathering (running) stitch around the button with the supplied Nymo thread. The running stitch was positioned about 10cm from the ladder stitch edge to allow for turning over the cardboard.

The the gathering stitch was pulled up and over the edge of the padded cardboard with the design centered on the front side. The padding is against the wrong side of the embroidery. After gathering it up, the lacing was begun with the Nymo thread. Lacing is done going back and forth around the circle, say, from 12:00 to 6:00, then 1:00 to 7:00, and so forth, circling around the disk until it's perfectly tensioned around the circle. The last step was to sew a brooch pin to a pre-cut piece of wool felt I had on hand, and then glue and slip stitch that to the back of the Scabiosa button.

Here's the finished project!!! I'm so pleased with the results. I learned a great deal from Jenny's wonderful classroom instruction and fantastic written instructions.

2017 Stitching

Ah.... the year has gotten off to a fast start. I just got back from Sewing at the Beach 2017 in Myrtle Beach, SC this past Sunday. A week of teaching classes, seeing lots of friends and meeting new ones. I taught three classes this time...so much fun! Here's a lovely photo of sunset from my hotel room....gorgeous!

A nice walk on the beach on Saturday afternoon was my treat since the hotel was right on Myrtle Beach! It was so beautiful.....

Now I'm thinking about my stitching plans for the rest of the year....my New Years Dream List. I like to stitch on UFO's during the winter months, so I'll work on kits from classes I took in 2016. Especially in front of the fireplace with some hot tea, the cat in my lap and the dog at my feet.

Flowers for a Fall Evening shawl (designed and taught by Kris Andrews) and the Colors of Abalone Necklace (designed and taught by Linda Chirby) from the two EGA classes I took
are at the top of the list.

Then there are the two white work classes from the Royal School of Needlework In Williamsburg.

There are ideas for magazine articles and new classes to put into thread and onto paper. I'm very grateful to be able to stitch, sew and do what I love. I'd enjoy reading what your stitching goals for 2017 are!

Another RSN Class

The second class I signed up for offered by the Royal School of Needlework was "Ayrshire Heart", again taught by Jenny Adin-Christie, our Tutor. Here is the kit, beautifully packaged with everything needed inside.

 Ah...the goodies inside to stitch up this wonderful project...bound, illustrated instruction booklet, special threads, lace threads, needles, bits of fabric....everything to embroider the heart. Of course we supplied our sit-upon-hoops, extra lighting and even magnification. And lots of patience and concentration!

The design was already silk-screened onto the fabric, along with some practice designs off to the side. And I needed the practice on the padded satin stitch!! These are not my best effort, but that's why it's so important to warm up on a separate piece of fabric (a doodle cloth) before working on the project itself, or, as in this case, on the side of the main design that will be cut away later on. You can see the wrapped hoop on the left side and eyelets on the bottom right in various stages of completion.

This was a three day class of intensive techniques, again all Whitework, some of which were already covered in "Whitework Button". But this class had so much more to it: beading, eyelets (all sizes, some with fabric cut away),  padded satin stitch, needle lace with really fine needlelace thread inside the eyelets, ladder stitch, buttonhole scallops, and more. It may be a while before I finish this exquisite Ayrshire Heart Satchet.....So much fun, so little time!

Ayrshire Needlelace

The Royal School of Needlework classes introduced me to Needle Lace in the Ayrshire Heart class taught in Williamsburg. Gorgeous stuff....tiny stuff.....miniscule. The threads used are even thinner than miniscule, but we were allowed to choose slighter larger threads for the weaving...thank goodness. There was 30, 50 and 80 gauge cotton lace thread in the kit, 80 being the narrowest of narrow threads (for me) to work with.

We first got to practice on a piece of fabric with a larger hole...about 1" wide, that was already prepared for us. Following the chart in the instructions, we used a larger thread (darned if I remember which...a pearl cotton?) to figure out the design and exactly what the procedure was. The long line in blue is where I started, and the other blue lines marked the joins around the eyelet circle. I didn't do too badly, and after I got the hang of it, enjoyed the process.

The spokes, and most of the design, have twisted threads and wrapped threads. The center of the needle lace is buttonhole stitch over lots of weaving around the spoke center.

But then the challenge was actually doing one on the project! Yikes...deep breath, and more deep breathing. I made the eyelet, one where the fabric is cut away and folded to the back and secured by whipping the edges carefully. Then I loaded up the 80 weight cotton lace thread and began the process, following the same design as the big one.....slowly keeping count of how many wraps and where I was on the design. Tiny stuff...under really good lighting, but I did it! Jenny Adin-Christie, our RSN Tutor, was very complimentary of my efforts.

You can see the next eyelet that will have a needle lace filling below the completed one. The Double Running Stitch is completed, fabric cut, and I will press the fabric to the wrong side to bind the edge before making the Needlelace. The completed eyelet at the bottom will also have an Ayrshire needlelace filling. Fun stuff to do inside in the air conditioning during the hot, Tidewater summers!

Here's another example of needlelace inside eyelets from an antique Ayrshire piece owned by Jenny. It was a beautiful piece to see in person and I was grateful to look and handle this incredible work of needle art. Thank you, Jenny, for sharing this with the class!