Embroidery bits and bobs

This weekend, I taught a goldwork class at my studio. It meant that I spend last week updating the class model and translating the instructions from Dutch to German. Why update a class model? Well, we embroidery tutors are mere humans and it sometimes turns out that what we think is a good idea for an embroidery class, in fact isn't. My old pomegranate model used Japanese Thread #12 to fill the pomegranate halves. It works up quicker as the finer Japanese Thread #8, but is a pest to get around the tight corners neatly. So I swapped that out for the finer version.

Furthermore, the old model had a red core out of long-and-short stitch in red silk. It is a smallish area and thus no problem for intermediately experienced embroiderers. But wrapping your head around the concept of long-and-short stitch when you are a new hand: not so easy. So I swapped that for a piece of red silk attached with Vliesofix. And I updated the leaves, just because I didn't like the old ones. And last but not least, I threw in a bit more sparkle by adding spangles for the pomegranate seeds. What do you think?

Want to try your hand at creating this pomegranate? I am teaching this at ArtTextil in Dachau on 12th of June and from my home studio on the 17th of September. I am also offering a five day goldwork course were you can work your own design or recreate something you saw in a book or on the internet. This course takes place from the 28th of March till the 1st of April. Only two places left, so hurry! And for those of you not near, but still very dear, to me: would you be interested in a download of the instructions and/or a full kit? Please leave a comment below.

One of Saturday's students brought with her a book she wrote a contribution for: Mit Leinen leben by Ernestine Reisinger-Brüger. It is a really nice coffee table style book on linen furnishings. Beautifully photographed and the texts are full of useful snippets of information on how to choose the right kind of linen and how to care for linen. At the end of the book is a list with suppliers of good quality European linen as well as a list with white work embroidery teachers in Germany.

The book isn't an embroidery book with instructions. However, it is packed with pure inspiration. If you like cross stitch and white work embroidery and you generally love the feel of a well-made book with superb photography, then this is for you. You can order the book through the author or on Amazon.

Last week, the mailman delivered this to my door. My parents had found it in an antiquity shop in the Netherlands and they were told that it came from Switzerland. It is partly cut out and partly has a temporary seam. The thread used is white and has lost is sheen in some areas. As the whole piece was quite dirty with rusty stains, I decided to gently wash it. I soaked it in detergent and rinsed it thoroughly. Steaming it brought back some plumpness to the embroidery. Although not really visible in the pictures, the piece greatly improved!

I will take the piece with me to Appenzell next week and hear what my tutor Verena Schiegg has to say. I'll keep you posted on this one.