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Linen vestments from Tyrol

26/3/2018

For the past couple of months, I have been investigating a particular silk embroidery technique from Tyrol. In lieu of a better name, I called it 'Italian couching'. Since this name is already taken in the embroidery universe for not one, but two very different embroidery techniques, I have dropped it. The sparse German literature on the matter refers to it as 'linen vestments from Tyrol'. Perfect! Taken.

Linen vestments from Tyrol

What is so special about this particular silk on linen embroidery? Several things. But my most recent discovery involved the embroidery technique itself. Upon closely studying my pictures I had taken in the Diözesanmuseum in Brixen, I discovered that there were no short stitches in the laid-work. Not even when a shape narrowed. Hmmm. Not a 'normal' Bayeux stitch in silk after all. So what did the stitchers from Tyrol do different?

Basically, to achieve a curving petal or leaf, they sculpt their laid-work when placing the long couching stitches on top. As this is a little hard to explain in writing, I made my first ever instruction video. You'll see me work a simple leaf. Whilst stitching the laid-work, I sometimes push previous stitches out of the way. When adding the long couching stitches, I really 'work' my laid-work to form a nicely curved leaf with really nice tips. And I think this is the reason why the Tyrolian stitchers 'sculpted' some of the embroidery elements: really, really nice tips! And I think this sculpting is what makes this style of embroidery differ from, for instance, the Castelo Branco embroidery from Portugal. But please correct me if I am wrong.

By the way, you can help me a lot in promoting my Vimeo channel! Please take the time to not only like my video, but please also subscribe to my channel. The more views, but especially subscribers, and my videos will get noticed by many more stitchers. I will try to add to my channel regularly. And I also have an ebook in the pipeline on these linen vestments from Tyrol. So far, I have written up instructions for two of the eight flower designs seen on the chasuble from Brixen.

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CIA: Craft Industry Alliance

19/3/2018

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As I know that many of my readers are in fact crafters themselves with blogs, websites and Etsy-Stores, I thought I'd share with you a new kind of trade organisation, based in the US, from which I benefit greatly. I have been a member of the Craft Industry Alliance since well over a year now. The CIA provides support and handy resources for craft professionals. No matter how small their businesses are. So let's explore some of the benefits of becoming a member!

For me, the best part of the CIA is their Coffee Klatsch. It is held twice a month and for the duration of 45 minutes we meet in an online meeting room. This is great, great fun! As we all know, crafting can be a lonely business. Sure you'll communicate with your customers, but how many of us have fellow crafterpreneur friends? I for instance live very rural and although I am in several local artisan organisations, they are heavily geared towards wood carving and painting. In addition, marketing, social media and webshop are not their cup of tea. Contrary, the attendees of the Coffee Klatsch are usually much more advanced with their marketing and social media strategies than I am. After all, most of them are Americans and especially social media is and has been a part of their lives for a much longer time. This provides a great learning opportunity for me with lots of friendly mentors. And most of them are female and work with textiles, just like me. The times of the Coffee Klatsches generally suit me well as they tend to be in the evenings for Western Europeans and mid-day for Americans.

Another great resource is the CIA Journal which comes out twice a month. This is a fantastic online resource with many interesting topics. Although Insurance or Tax issues are always written from an US point of view, points raised make you think about your own business and how this is regulated in your country of residence. Since we are artistic people, we tend to put off dealing with the nitty-gritty...

The Journal always comes with a resource. This is often a Checklist or a list of organisations covering a particular article in the Journal. I especially liked the checklist on how to gain more subscribers for your mailing list. It contained many obvious points which I had NOT implemented yet. After all, we as solopreneurs tend to wear many hats and not all we have to do now was taught to us in school.

And last, but not least there are the Webinars with knowledgeable people on a specific topic. Although these are live events, they are also recorded and kept in the archive (just as the past issues of the Journals are!). These webinars contain a wealth of information. I particularly liked the one on making short videos. The idea of starting my own Vimeo-Channel is a bit daunting. Especially as I had no idea where to start! Thanks to this webinar, I now have an idea of how to make this happen in the not too distant future :).

I hope this blog post with my personal experiences with Craft Industry Alliance has given you an idea of the benefits of becoming a member! Why not click the below link and join today:

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Strawberry Fayre: inner Hearts

12/3/2018

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I've continued work on Strawberry Fayre and have finished the first of the four inner hearts. The stitching is largely the same as for the front and the back heart. As I really did not like the way the picots under the strawberries had turned out on the front heart, I swapped threads. The instructions tell you to use a stranded variegated spun silk (Gumnut Yarns 'Stars'). This thread is far too fluffy to make a nicely defined stitch. As a result, my picots turned quite fizzy. Strangely enough, the picots in the Inspirations pictures are sharply defined... Another hint that the threads listed in the instructions might not have been the ones used by Carolyn Pearce :). As I wanted better picots, I looked for a thread less fluffy and with a tighter twist. So here are my new picots using House of Embroidery #12 perle 'bush'. Much better indeed!

Carolyn Pearce Strawberry Fayre

Unfortunately, I ran out of the green Güttermann Sulky thread. Although I was able to substitute it with a thread from my stash, I wasn't a happy bunny. I am not the only one who has run out. I don't think this is acceptable for a kit priced at €138 or $170. So far, I only had good experiences with kits from Inspirations. I stitched my needlecase 'Cottage Garden' and 'Home Sweet Home' with the original kits and had no problems. My issues with Strawberry Fayre, and the solutions I have started to implement, have given me the confidence that I will be able to stitch future projects from Inspirations using my own stash!

Note: I did not finish this project as the instructions were faulty and there was not enough material in the kit.

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Historical Embroidery News...

Linen vestments from Tyrol

CIA: Craft Industry Alliance

Strawberry Fayre: inner Hearts

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