all the little stitches

have a great weekend.









neki desu

fanciful

have a good weekend.











neki desu

who said boys didn't play with needles?

東北STANDARD 10 山形県 庄内刺し子 from 東北STANDARD on Vimeo.


they are wrong.
have a good weekend.stay warm.






neki desu

treasure diggers

we were in madrid organizing  my late mil's stuff to start the renos at last! it was an intense month to say the least. thank goodness for long walks and wine. however, in two weeks i'm foreseeing other sort of headaches with the renos.

among  my mil's own possessions she also kept some of her mother's linens.

drawers and drawers full of old linens; i gave quite a few  because i cannot bear to throw them away and i kept many. 

 among the keepers; this beautiful hand embroidered linen damask tablecloth with tableware that goes with it. it is for a huge table and after it gets tuned i think i'll have some left over fabric for a skirt.

it needs a bit of a treatment,but as it had been kept a dry climate nothing sunlight can't remedy.

this is silk for sheets, hand embroidered monogram and the cut threads for the fagotting border, never done..

here is another linen damask tablecloth.How many huge tablecloths does one need? thinking about keeping the exquisite embroidery  and use it as the center panel for a tablecloth i have. the rest, meters and meters, for a dress. it is ironic that at a point in life that i should be downsizing i am collecting these.

there's going to be lots of sewing around here.

and dyeing as well.

i'll post a few more along this month for the enjoyment of stitcher friends.

feels good to be back .




neki desu
 

almost done

just needs some finishing touches and i can call  Plan A done.it will rest for a while to see if it needs something else. after that, beauty shots.
Plan B is on the beaming stage,threading today.


neki desu

and now sashiko!

 sashiko from yuza  in yamagata prefecture.
embroidery friends get out your rulers!
have a great weekend.


neki desu
 

work to do

another hand embroidered linen tablecloth from my mother in law. this one is casual and festive, sort of every day use. needs work because it has stains from being in storage. luckily i have old faithful savon de marseille and there's lots of sunlight now!

the linen is rougher than the white one  full of lovely slubs

 a closeup of the big motifs





neki desu

raining here too

but not with so much style.an anthology of movie rain moments by arte, the european cultural t.v. channel

have a good dry weekend!



neki desu

vintage embroidery chart

have not posted a chart for a long time. here's one to help you stitch away the weekend.
as ever go here to download.


have a good weekend.we'll be celebrating the diada on sunday!




neki desu
  

embroidered buttons

 maybe. you could use the motifs in placemats, napkins or clothes. or use your creativity.
download the chart here



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waiting for the weft yarn to dry

finishing this long neglected book, driving through toscana  un giro per la toscana.
which is in a sense reminiscing.

 the covers

and some details. bigger images at my flickr

also reading and pondering this.do not miss his friday post.it is also priceless.


neki desu

the ever gadgeteer

i don't think i  have to say i love gadgets, but just in case i love gadgets. today after many many cold and rainy days  with the first sunny albeit cold day  and my b'day coming up soon i crossed town to go to the Elna sewing machine dealer.as they say here i paid tribute to myself acquiring 4 different kinds of fancy needles.

these are the first bunch.Schmetz double eye needles which enable working with 2 threads. unlike twin needles these give just one line of stitch, but in two colors.

here is a test run, a free motion blurb.the needles look promising in what they can do. time to explore; zigzags, blanket stitch, that sweet eyelet stitch!
 the other needles will get their posts along the week. i have to finish the TAST for this week though. and start knotting warp ends for a weaving fantasy i have in my head.

 however, i saw a great embroidery machine at the Elna and i wonder if........

neki desu


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an announcement for embroiderers

The Hand Embroidery Network has announced their second on line exhibit. Details here
See their first on line exhibit here
C'mon let's get working!

neki desu


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today's word- astound

photo- http://pomegranatetextiles.com/

In another post i mentioned some islamic embroideries i saw at a recent show and how impressive they were. i set out on a quest to find more of them on line and by one of those happy turns i landed at a site specialising in suzanis the hand embroidered fabrics from the Uzbekistan area and linked to the silk road trade. i had never heard the term before, but thanks to their well documented explanation and their catalog i came out with a fair understanding of the textiles.
Just one word to describe them- astounding.
Moreover the page also carries hand woven ikats and hand knotted rugs from the Turkey. Note that the operative word here is hand.
Delving in further i found this other page with more suzani pieces.
What a nice way to relax on a Sunday ! i'm sure my embroidery friends will enjoy these finds too.

neki desu


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Takashi Iwasaki

Takashi Iwasaki's page is a real inspiration for embroiderers. His work is contemporary, yet incorporates some of the traditional Japanese patterns and motifs. Stylized and playful the embroideries show his graphic design training. In his CV he cites he's an"art enjoyer" something that struck me as absolutely brilliant. You can see more of his work here and while there check out his paintings too.
Enjoy!


neki desu

my brain feels like mashed potatoes without the gravy

i've been studying so hard for my Nihongo test that i'll go nuts if i don't take a break and do something else. So here i am in front of the computer,in a sort of occupational therapy mode.
The images are from the new series im working on -Shibori Twins where i've been experimenting with a few techniques and doing some fabric recycling. i went wild printing and stamping on a perfectly nice silk habotai shiboried scarf that did not meet the grade, but still good for cut and paste.The designs take advantage of the shibori motifs.

Here is what happened to the gum arabic tutorial fabric. i added digitally printed organza with fractal motifs and freeform embroidery.My first try at free form and if i overcome the fear of wrecking my sewing machine it will turn into a fun thing.


This is a detail of the fun part




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free wheeling

Very excited about this piece.Started out as an interpretation of a photo which got lost in the computer never to be found again.Taken in the fall in Tarragona it was a photo of a building that was being redone and it was covered with a yellow mesh which rounded and softened the angles.

The photo was turned into a grey scale image and some of the clutter was cleared leaving just some basic shapes.



When i was happy with the outcome i dyed a piece of raw silk in black and after that i freely painted on it with discharge paste taking the photo as a springboard.
On to foiling and embroidery to make it all come together.
As a piece i modestly think it is successful,but i've been hashing and rehashing it to be objective.
Need outside feedback. What do my cyber friends think? Does it need something else or should i stop before i OD?

neki desu

Eyelets

Wanted to stop, but i couldn't. Needed to stop, but i couldn't. Had to stop, yet i couldn't. It was like having a spay can in my hand and being surrounded by blank walls. It felt as exhilarating. This week TAST
sent my mind in all directions. Better start drawing and jotting down the ideas.
For the blue sample i used silk, linen and cotton threads. i tried small itsy bitsy spider eyelets, diamonds, upright lattice, square diamonds, off center centers, all i could think of. And i also explored being a bit more structured. Bummer, some of the blue threads bled.


Thank you Sharon!

neki desu

TAST5

This time i'm early i hope this doesn't set a precedent. I'm late for the weaving sample, can't win them all!
The chevron stitch was a success in terms of enjoyment. i used a variety of threads including metallic and could not stop myself from wondering what if..? and wandering around the stitch.

i've decided that time permitting i'll dye most of the yarns in a thurm reduction strategy and will also use some of my woven samples. But this will be when i feel more confident with embroidery.

Oh and by the way what do you think of my adopted scissors? Scroll down the sidebar and you can play with them.

neki desu