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Finished stitched nativity

24/12/2014

Wow, the year 2014 has flown by. Christmas is upon us and in a few days we welcome the year 2015. And what a year 2014 was! For me personally, it was such a relief after the downright shitty year 2013... This year saw a wish come true when I moved back to Germany. I love my new life in the quintecential Bavarian rural village. Can't wait to up the stakes in my vegetable plot for 2015 (Dear snails, you're warned!).

In the past year, I made many new friends and I was fortunate to meet up with some very talented stitchers. Nadel & Faden in Osnabrück was a huge success for which I am very grateful. I worked on a number of lovely stitching projects of which the nativity scene above is the most recent. 2014 also saw the start of a new line of embroidery kits and workshops. I came into contact with the very creative bunch at ArtTextil in Dachau and learned a new thing or two during their workshops. And I set up my own profesional embroidery course in which currently three enthousiastic ladies have enroled.

What will 2015 bring embroidery-wise? Well; quite a lot to be honest! There will be at least one more beetle embroidery kit to come out. I will hopefully make my debut as an embroidery tutor for ArtTextil. Me and my husband will man our stand at Nadel & Faden in september. And I will start stitching some larger projects pretty soon so I have something new to show in Osnabrück :). Closer to home, I will host a series of informal stitching workshops in the village. Recent years have seen a renewed interest in the embroidery on the traditional Bavarian costume. I am more than happy to share some insider tips and tricks and pick a few up along the way too!

Let's move on to the thank-yous. A huge thank you to all my customers, old and new, who put bread on my table. Please keep up the good work! And another huge thank you to all those people who supported me through the past years with their kind comments on my work. You have no idea how much that is needed every now and then. Please, keep them coming in the new year too! Last but not least, I would like to thank my dear husband for making it all possible. I could not do what I love and do best without his support. Thank you so very much!

Merry Christmas & a happy New Year!

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How to stitch a Schwalm Shepherd?

22/12/2014

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You have seen my lovely nativity figures in the previous post and now you want to make your own? Fantastic! Here are the general instructions.

I am using 36ct natural linen even weave from Zweigart as my embroidery fabric. This guarantuees that I get a nice smooth and strong edge for my figures. And once the threads are cut, my embroidery grid is fairly fine so that the filling patterns look like lace. Using an aqua trick marker and a light box, I transferred the patterns onto the fabric. The embroidery is executed with one strand of Anchor coton a broder #25 in navy blue (224) and light blue (237). In order to keep both hands free and my work taut, I am working using a seat frame.

Now start by covering the lines of the figure with neat regular chain stitches. Whenever possible, follow the grain of the fabric meticulously (for instance the base of the jellabiya or the vertical lines of the shepherd's crook). I am using an embroidery needle #7 for this task. Make sure you don't use a tapestry needle as you are not working counted thread embroidery yet. To add some depth to the figure, think about the order in which you embroider the different parts. For instance: the hands are on the crook, but the sleeve of the jellabiya is covering the wrist etc.). It is simple things like this that give your embroideries that je ne sais quoi.

In order to be able to cut the finished figures out, it is necessary to cover those chain stitches that form the outer contour of the figure with neat fairly closely placed buttonhole stitches. The 'edge' of the stitch needs to be on the outside. Again, if possible, follow the grain of the fabric. I still used my #7 embroidery needle for this task as especially on the curved parts, you sometimes need to stitch through the threads of the ground fabric.

Before the actual Schwalm-fun can start, you will have to prepare the grid. From the back, cut every fourth thread in the horizontal and vertical direction and take them out. In this particular case, I started with the horizontal threads as there is such a nice on the grain edge at the bottom of the jellabiya. This is less of a daunting task as you might think. If, by mistake, you cut the wrong thread (weave it back and) put a little white glue on the cut. Let it dry and nobody will be able to tell once you covered it with embroidery! I like to cut my threads with the embroidery taut in the hoop as I find that, for whatever reason, I make hardly any mistakes. However, some people prefer to take the embroidery out of the hoop. See what suits you best.

And now the real fun starts. Don't forget to put your fabric back in the hoop and to pull it taut. Pick a Schwalm filling pattern that suits your figure. In this case, I opted for another stripy pattern to fill the jellabiya. As I did with Joseph's. This pattern is a little more open, i.e. it does not cover a lot of the fabric. I opted for "Kletterbäume" or climbing trees. As the area of the sleeve is rather small, I only repeated part of the pattern. A trick I used on Joseph too. After all, I stitch the figures, so I make the rules.... It is important to secure your threads well on the back in the previous chain or buttonhole stitches. And to use a tapestry needle, this case #24, so you don't damage the grid accidently.

Only one thing is missing now: a little bit of glittery stuff. Sew down different sizes of gilt spangles with bead-sized pieces of gilt bright check #6. Use a waxed double thread of Güttermann sewing polyester thread #488. Fill the spaces in between the spangles with more pieces (chips) of gilt bright check. The more random you place the spangles, the more bling the end result.

Now it is time to cut out the good shepherd. It is best not to aim for a close cut end result immediately. Cut him out a bit bigger and get closer to the buttonhole edge bit by bit. Again, don't panic if you cut a buttonhole stitch. Keep calm and put some white glue on it. Let it dry and nine out of ten, you don't need to repair it any further by placing a few fresh buttonhole stitches on top. I don't wash my finished figures, but I spray them with a little water to get rid of the aqua trick marker.

I hope you liked my blogpost on the making of a Schwalm shepherd. Have you tried anything similar? Please share it below with us! In the future, I would love to write a post on the work of my readers. So please don't be shy! My next blogpost will feature Christmas wishes and a picture of the finished result of my nativity scene.

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Stitched nativity: Melchior and co.

15/12/2014

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The idea for my stitched nativity figures was born after seeing Christmas decorations over on Luzine Happel's website. She is a wonderful Schwalm embroideress and scholar. The names for the used filling stitches in each particular figure were taken from her books: Limetrosen 1 & 2 and Wickelstiche 1. In my opinion, Luzine's books are a must have for a well sorted embroidery library. You can order her books through her website. English and French versions are available (how cool is that?!).

As most of you will be well aware, you can't repdroduce just any drawing of Melchior and co. into a stitch pattern. They needed to have bold, rather rounded shapes for this kind of embroidery to work. A bit like Dick Bruna's Miffy. I related my ideas to my very talented husband and he immidiately started to draw. Soon we had Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, a shepherd, two sheep and three wise men: Melchior, Caspar and Balthasar. I only wished stitching was as fast as drawing...

Firstly, I stitched Mary. Her dress is filled with a pattern aptly called "geteiltes Herz" which you could translate as broken heart or divided heart.

Time for the animal entourage. The standing sheep was filled with "Gefieder". Yes, you read that right: plumage. The reclining sheep was embroidered with the "Welle" or wave.

Next up was Joseph. I wanted him to look like a typical Middle Eastern papa from the first century BC. So, much influenced by Hollywood, Joseph got a striped jellabiya filled with "Hasenohren and Fischgräten" (hare's ears and fish bone). Very fitting, I would think.

And the latest stitched figure is good old Melchior. Tradition has it that he was the oldest of the three Magi or astronomers. Filling his rich garment with a star-like pattern called "Hahnentritt" (cock's step) seems fitting.

Followed by the adorable little star of my nativity: baby Jesus. His crib was filled with "Flechter" or wicker (this probably reminds you of another adorable biblical baby: Moshe). And his tightly swaddled body was filled with "Netz" or net.

I hope you liked my first blog post. In the next one, we'll take a shepherd as example to show you how these figures are embroidered. Until then: Happy Stitching!

P.S. Any comments are greatly appriciated :)!

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Historical Embroidery News...

Finished stitched nativity

How to stitch a Schwalm Shepherd?

Stitched nativity: Melchior and co.

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