Deerfield Embroidery

Yesterday at Seata we had an in-house talk and workshop by Ruth on the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework. It is little known, and several members had Googled it and found very little; few books are to be found on the subject, and a few have a chapter on it. Ruth had done a stirling job of bringing it all together for us to look, at and had samples in the style of Deerfield work.

It is similiar to crewel work in some ways but rarely done in wool, as they apparently have more of a problem with wool-eating moths in America. It was often worked on linen, with linen thread, and if I’d realised that I would have taken the linen threads that I bought years ago and have never used (yet).

I arrived a little late, and didn’t take notes as I usually do, but the talk was fascinating with lots of information about designs and stitches. Several we know by different names: “Spike” stitch is blanket / buttonhole stitch. Fabric and threads were hard to come by and expensive, so many stitches were ones that are only / mainly on the front of the work – rarely satin stitch, it uses too much thread. A similiar dense appearance was achieved with New England Laid Stitch, also known as Roman or Roumanian stitch.

The designs are often floral or natural, sometimes birds but rarely animals or insects.

It was often worked in blues, as they could get lots of shades using indigo, but other soft colours obtained from natural dyes were also used.

Ruth suggested we use 3 or 4 shades of blue. These were the only turquoise threads I had with me, and I thought they looked better than blue on the neutral background colour that I chose. White or pink were the alternatives.

We had no excuse not to get started, as Ruth had drawn in water-soluble pen two motifs on each napkin for us all. That alone must have taken her ages.

I started with “Spike” stitch on the flowers in perlé. Some of the stitches are easier to work with single strand threads, like the New England Laid Stitch. I’d just started with the very fine rayon for the centres, when Ruth came round again and recommended to some one else that they use the same number of strands for the whole piece. No, I have to go off piste somehow! And I wasn’t pulling it out. I like different textures in my work.

The other perlé was much finer too. I was surprised how well herringbone worked on the irregularly shaped leaves.

I just about finished the leaves by the end of the day, and want to use a different colour for the stems, which I think will be a heavier weight. I’ve not looked yet. I think that I’ll use the same threads but different stitches for the other motif.

Thank you, Ruth, for how much preparation work you put in, and giving us all such a lovely stitchy day, and something else to read up about.

November / December Stitchalong

This is how Sue’s piece looked when I picked it up last month at Seata. The brief was basically do what you want – stitch, colour, square.

Knowing Sue loves Christmas I decided to do straightish lines of feather stitch to look like trees in dark green perlé.

The rows overlapped and became less straight.

Once I’d finished the square I wanted to add some shiny threads – Madeira rayon, metallic and opal, the greens from my three tubs.

They all catch the light and give a subtle little shimmer.

Then I wrote this in her little notebook, which obviously I didn’t proof-read!!

It was then ready to pass on again.

I remembered to take a photo of mine this time. Elaine did the top one. And Alex has had it for two months. It is so pink, but I love it. I so rarely use pink myself.

The one I picked up today is also using gardens for inspiration, but more of that when I get to stitch on it. That’s probably after Christmas now.

A Happy Christmas, however you spend it, to all my readers.

October / November Stitchalong

When picking up a stitchalong bag last month at Seata, the autumnal coloured French knots drew my attention, particularly when I read Christine’s brief: please use a similar “autumnal” colour scheme, but feel free to stitch whatever you like in the remaining squares.

I love the autumn colours: orange, rusts and golds, the odd splash of reds, burgundies and yellows. I’m still a big kid at heart and enjoy scrunching through the fallen leaves, and can never resist a conker. When I put my hand in a pocket and find one I picked up weeks ago, it still makes me smile.

I started with feather stitch going diagonally across the square…..

…..in varying weights of perlé, then started changing direction…….

……. building up layers. I’d had fallen leaves in my head as I stitched, but by the time I’d got to this stage I thought it looked like flames. A bonfire? An open fire? Or a wood burner?

I added some rusty coloured rayon over the top, and decided that it did make me think of bonfires, the way the front of you is toasty warm and your back is cold, until you turn round to cool your face, going round and round like a spit roast. Happy times and memories.

Under the sea 2

I worked steadily on this project week by week at “In the stitch zone” until the end of the term in July. Alex gave us instructions and guidance with different stitches each week, some new and some with different approaches, her intention being to push us all a little, from beginners to more experienced stitchers.

I’d last blogged about it at the end of June when it hadn’t got very far.

I didn’t take many photos, I’d got so engrossed in the stitching, with Padded Satin Stitch, Couching over String Padding (which was left like this until yesterday), Bullion, French and Colonial Knots, Cup Stitch new to most of us (bottom left, certainly one to remember), Needlewoven Bars and Woven Feathered Chain Stitch.

Woven Picots….

….. Buttonhole Rings on the cream “stone”, Stem Stitch Band over beads bottom right…….

….. Woven / Backstitched Wheels and Fans…..

……..Yorkshire Buttons. I wasn’t sure about the variegated thread for this….

…… but once it was in place it looked just right, picking up colours from other areas.

It still needs more stitching in places, mainly more knots, Woven Bars, Drizzle Stitch, but I also want to add some real shells, etc.; I had fun sorting through my shells for ones with holes in, so that I can stitch them down. They’re not stitched down yet, I’m just getting the feel of how it might develop.

Then I finally did the short rows of the Couching over String Padding. I admit I’d not been looking forward to doing this, but as is often the case it was easier than I’d anticipated! I did a few rows of Feather Stitch. Also I found this strange variegated rayon metallic thread, which as you can see is separating all over the space, and I’ve started to couch it down along the bottom. It echoes the lines of the printing and catches the light. It’s moving on, and has been good to work on over the summer while the weather has been so hot, making me think of the sea and beaches even though we’ve not been. It needs a final push before the weather and the colours change.

Colour play canvaswork

I’ve started attaching the velvet and felt to the canvas background, stitching through the velvet with Sylko in the same colour with tiny invisible stitches. I didn’t want the felt to be even all the way round, so manipulated the velvet, pinching it up to make little folds and pleats, which make valleys and mountains to stitch into later.

I lined the felt up with the velvet at the bottom, as I didn’t like the way it looked separated through the scrim. The fold in the felt …….

……. gave me the idea to make a feature of it, so overcast a ridge up the side and across the top, which extended with diagonal stitches in the same perlé on to the canvas.

I had some eyelash yarn in the same tones as the metal, and did big straight stitches from under the scrim with the “eyelashes” hanging down. With a little care, they hang down well on the front and the back won’t be seen!

I then did some eyelets, and part eyelets in two shades of pink perlé between the diagonal zigzags. Using the fine pink perlé, I did long straight stitches in various lengths to anchor the velvet across the bottom.

I continued the straight stitches in varying lengths, it almost looks like freeform Bargello.

I wanted to add some blue to draw attention to the tiny glass beads, trying a selection, but none of them was quite right. They are much more turquoise.

I’ve done little French knots in a really fine turquoise rayon which wanted to knot, but not where I wanted! I used a perlé in shorter stitches, more of the mauvish one, then some turquoise and mauve in more broken lines. The bottom row is more green and ends in a straight line at the bottom. And finally so far, some more cushion stitches in the variegated ribbon to echo the other bottom corner. It’s all a bit random at the moment, but hopefully will blend from one area into another as it progresses. I’m loving the colours and textures, and seeing it evolve.

Dala horses

Today has been the Seata AGM and first meeting of the new programme.

For many years the group has decorated a Christmas Tree at Scunthorpe Festival of Christmas Trees, which has very much become an annual event. Ruth has booked the spot and decorated the tree for several years now, and this year she had booked within 5 minutes of receiving the booking form! If only I could be so organised!

Ruth had brought a box of goodies for us to use for our Dala horses, or to add to our own bits and pieces: felt, patterns, templates, trims, and a whole herd of horsey samples which were passed round as examples of what we might do. These two finished ones are hers.

After rummaging through the pile of assorted coloured pieces of threads, I opted to work in a bright green for the body, and two shades of sage green for the saddle and mane. A suggestion of not cutting out the horses until they were stitched was soon passed on around the group. Once the template had been drawn round and the mane and saddle cut out, I started blanket stitching them on with a single strand of orange.

Once I’d done that I used a rusty red rayon thread for fly stitching down the legs.

Then some orange lazy daisy stiches on the saddle …….

……. and mane, with pistal stitches in between in the rayon thread. This is as far as I’d got by the time we packed up; both sides are the same. It needs eyes at least before I cut them out , stitch them together and stuff it. I deliberately chose colours that are not Christmassy, as I don’t want to think about Christmas just yet!

Thank you for all your hard work , Ruth, it’s been a good start to the new programme. This is another one of hers that was on our table as inspiration.

Stitching mandalas

At Seata today we stitched mandalas, geometric designs put into a circular format. Instead of us all working on our own, they were to be collaborative pieces, a little bit from everybody on each table of eight. We all started with a piece of plain (or plainish) fabric, stretched in a 6″ hoop. Most used cream or white, but I chose the brown swirly print above.

We all did a central motif of some sort, knowing we had 20 minutes before passing to the next person. I did four long stitches into the centre, and continued to divide each section until I’d gone all the way round a couple of times. Then I did smaller stitches between each spoke, and finished with a cluster of French knots. I’d tried to make it so that it was even when the 20 minutes were up, and decided I would stick with known stitches….. it wasn’t the day for doing anything too complicated!

A little star was passed on to me, and I started couching down a slubby thread from each point……

……using a different colour between each one.

The time increased by 5 minutes every two rounds. The next one arrived like this……

…….. and I added yellow lazy daisy stitches.

To the next one…….

……. I added blanket stitch.

I forgot to photograph the one below when I got it. I used a shiny rayon thread to do herringbone.

Then it was time for a lovely shared lunch, and each place had a little tube of handcream, all different. I picked Lily of the Valley, which took me right back to my mum doing Avon when I was little. Thank you, handcream fairy!

There were only five (four after lunch) taking part on our table, and three of of us opted to continue passing them on rather than working on our own. I had the lazy daisy one back, and blanket stitched using the rayon again into the chain stitches of the previous row……..

…….ending up like this.

Last was the blue star one, and I added straight stitches in a grey perlé following the round before.

This is how mine came back. We had a few more minutes to stitch, so I whipped the chain stitch and the outer running stitch in the same mucky pink colour.

At the end of the day here are some of those that had been done.

A few have thread attached, where a row hadn’t been finished when it was time to pass it on. Some tables had drawn circles as guidelines, which I think in hindsight would have made things easier.

It was fun to respond to what was in front of you, with no time to change your mind, no procrastinating or deliberating, just choose your stitch and thread, thread your needle and stitch away!

It was a great idea, Alex, with very helpful and clear instructions; thank you. Just a shame you couldn’t be there.